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Published December 09, 2006 07:20 pm - “Clever food is not appreciated at Christmas,” wrote Jane Grigson, the British cookbook author. “It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous.” Christmas is time for tradition, not innovation By Marialisa Calta Associated Press “Clever food is not appreciated at Christmas,” wrote Jane Grigson, the British cookbook author. “It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous.”
“Don’t,” she intoned, “Be original.” Now those are words to live by. Christmas is a time of returning, if not physically -- as in going home to one’s parents or revisiting the old neighborhood -- then emotionally, in remembering Christmases past. It’s a time when grown men and women shed a secret tear while watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” with their own kids and retell the tale of waking up to find the Lionel train set under the tree. They crave the turkey dinner and shortbread cookies that their own moms used to make. Christmas, then, is not the time to make your first ceviche or to introduce the family to Mongolian barbecue (unless you grew up in a household in which ceviche or Mongolian barbecue was traditional Christmas fare). Christmas is the time to dust off the old recipe box -- the one with the filing cards filled with your grandmother’s perfect, Spencerian penmanship -- and get to work. If you don’t have an old recipe box, you can get the next best thing, the “Betty Crocker Christmas Book” (Wiley, 2006). There are a few culinary flights of fancy here -- Champagne Risotto and Chai-Spiced Bread, for example -- but the book is essentially grounded in the old favorites: cheese balls, dinner rolls, eggnog and fudge. The cookie recipes will send you back to your childhood -- or to a childhood you wish you had had: gingerbread men, thumbprint cookies and other goodies that have stood the test of time. Making something familiar -- as opposed to trying an exotic new recipe -- is a way to reduce some of the stress that can overcome us around the holidays. The cookbook can help in other ways -- with straightforward decorating tips and gift ideas. But my favorite tip is on the very first page, “Look for the good in situations.” More words to live by.
COOKIE TIPS -- Preheat the oven thoroughly. (It will take at least 10 minutes.) -- Ovens have “hot spots.” To keep cookies from baking unevenly, rotate and switch the cookie sheets between racks (if baking more than one sheet) halfway through the baking time. -- As a cookie sheet comes out of the oven, allow it to cool before refilling to prevent overbaking. If you are in a hurry, you can run the sheet, upside down, under cool tap water. -- When a recipe calls for a greased cookie sheet, you can instead line it with baking parchment. I use baking parchment all the time - whether the recipe says to use a greased or ungreased pan -- to help prevent burning. Silicone baking mats are expensive, but many home bakers swear by them. -- Use the best ingredients you can: Pure vanilla extract and butter (unsalted) -- not margarine or vegetable shortening -- unbleached flour and fresh spices and eggs will make your cookies taste their best. -- Most cookie dough freezes beautifully if wrapped well. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight. -- If you plan to make fudge or other candy, invest in a good candy thermometer. 
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