Freya, age 6, the daughter of Andrea who writes “The Kitchen Lioness, notes from a very small German kitchen” drew this picture of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus for me. Her Mother included it in the Christmas card she sent as part of the FFWD exchange. It now hangs center-stage on my refrigerator. Neither Mother or Daughter realized how especially meaningful it would be to receive the drawing this week. Thank you, Freya.
My daughter, Melissa, and her best friend, both busy women, make time to walk together early in the morning, once a week. This Fall, during one of their sojourns, the friend said to her, “You know, Melissa, your Mother loves you SO much.” (They obviously were discussing me!!!)
To that remark, Melissa replied, “ I know. That’s the problem.”
When Missy related that story to me, she knew I wouldn’t be offended, that I would understand. And, of course, I did.
Cheez-it-ish Crackers, the FFWD recipe choice of the week, can be entirely made in the food processor and results in moist curds, shown here, that are turned out and kneaded together into two disks.
Therein lies the rub. We Women – Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts – to name a few, love our children soooooo much. Mine. Ours. Yours. Theirs. That’s why the pain of Sandy Hook is so unbearable. While there’s nothing more I can say – those more knowledgeable and eloquent already have – I will only add this.
I realized how naive I was about classroom security when I didn’t even know school doors were now locked. It made me wonder what else I don’t know about a world I’ve grown out of now that my children are adults.
But what I am not naive about is politics. And, once these 26 are mourned and buried, Life returning to normal for most of us, there is little chance that Congress will pass effective, meaningful gun-control legislation. Trust me on that.
Unless……those of us who believe our kids deserve a childhood as safe and secure as we can possibly provide, are “all in” for the “long haul.” ***
Form the moist curds into two disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Honestly the very last thing I wanted to do this week was walk into my kitchen and make Cheez-it-ish Crackers, this week’s FFWD recipe choice. Like many of you, my thoughts are in Newtown. However, normalcy was my goal and Dorie’s crackers needed to be made.
These little wafers, oozing with cheese, were fabulous. Dorie suggests them as a nibble with before-dinner drinks (white wine or champagne, perhaps). These are not crackers with a specific purpose. I suggest them warm out-of-the-oven or as a mid-morning lift or as a late afternoon pick-me-up. An anytime snack. These are two bites of goodness to whet your appetite.
I used a champagne flute to cut the rolled-out dough into wafer-like crackers. Dorie suggested making them smaller but I liked the two-or-three bite size better.
Five ingredients – butter, cheese (I used Gruyère but Conté or Emmenthal would work), salt, pepper, flour. In a hurry? Treat them as a slice-and-bake, as Dorie suggests in her Bonne Idée. I rolled my dough out, after chilling it for 3 hours, and used a champagne flute for my cookie cutter. After 14 minutes in a 350 degree oven, they were lightly golden and firm.
I taste-tested these with good friends who joined me for dinner Tuesday evening. They would be leaving to enjoy a family Christmas in California so we needed to do our celebrating early. The verdict? Enjoyed by all.
I served these very tasty Cheez-it-ish Cracker to my friends, Ardyth and Harold, who joined me for dinner to celebrate an early Christmas together.
As you read this, I am also in California because tonight is my grandchildren’s school Christmas program, something we’ve been coming to since Emma started preforming in preschool. Clara (9) is playing the piano (“I’m even using the pedal, Grandma.”) while her sister, Emma (11), sings “Away in a Manger.” Clara has been practicing the piece since September. As both girls explained to me last night, this is not easy!
It’s not difficult to understand why I’m “all in” for the “long haul”, is it?
If you wish to try this recipe, go here. If you want to see what my colleagues made this week, go here. If you want more information about involvement in the gun control legislation process, go to my friend Diane’s Blog, Simply Living and Eating: Newtown, No Simple Answers.
Weren’t these fun? Yours, like Dorie’s look more like shortbreads but mine were like Goldfish. But still delicious! Have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to cooking along with you in 2013!
These look just perfect, Mary! I wish I could see you while you’re in CA – one of these days. I know you’ll have a moving experience as you watch your girls perform! They are lucky to have Melissa & you!
I’m home sick – UGH! But Braveheart is doing great. I’ll be making these this afternoon.
As Mary’s only friend who is not a cook, baker, or salad maker I count the days between invitations to savor her fantastic creations—and these cheese wonders were just fantastic!
I could have cleaned the entire plate, but reluctantly limited myself to three…
Oh, what a lovely gift from Andrea and Freya…I can see why you were so touched. Enjoy your grandchildren…I bet they are thrilled you are there!!!
These crackers were a delicious surprise, weren’t they? Merry, merry Christmas, my friend!!! xo
That drawing from Andrea´s kid, so heartwarming! I´m glad you´re enjoying your family Mary and hope you have the best christmas!
These crackers were so yummy and simple and that’s just what we needed this week. I don’t have any children but I do have nieces and nephews and like everyone I was really upset by this whole story as well. I didn’t know about schools being locked during the day until I went to pick up a friend’s sick child from school this year and had to be buzzed in. At the time I thought it was weird but now I think it’s a very smart safety measure that I hope all schools will put in place.
Beautiful post to go along with your beautiful crackers (and your beautiful gift!). Merry Christmas to you and your family, Mary. I hope it’s a peaceful, joyful holiday.
Mary, you’re so right about our children and the way all of our hearts have gone out to those sad moms and dads. Hope you’re enjoying this time with your family. Love your crackers, I’ve seen them on a few other blogs – they sound wonderful! Have a blessed Christmas my friend!
How touching-what a sweet gift to include in your card-perfect for this week;-)
We loved these buttery crackers and I loved the easy recipe, although I think you went to a bit more work than I did-using the form into a log and slice method, at any rate they are delicious;-)
What a beautiful picture Freya drew and colored for you! Lovely treat … as were the crackers. I’m glad you took time for some kitchen therapy this week. 🙂 Merry Christmas.
Touching post! And tasty looking crackers as well.
Mary, your crackers look great. I understand the love thing, as a mother of 2 girls, and grandmother of 4, 3 girls, 1 boy. I am in for the long haul too. thanks for your thoughts.
What a thoughtful post, Mary. It seems appropriate that you used a champagne flute to cut out your crackers. I did slice-and-bake because I was feeling lazy.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family in California. Merry Christmas!
P.S. I loved that Andrea sent me a Freya drawing too.
That was so sweet of Freya to make that for you and for Andrea to send it! I wish you a peaceful, joyous Christmas and I look forward to your posts through 2013.
It’s when you don’t feel like doing the usual things like making and posting about cheez-it-ish crackers that you realize that you simply must. It’s how we get through times like these. I’m glad you made and enjoyed them, Mary, and I am glad that you are spending Christmas with your family. Have a great one!
Cher –
Awww – that is so sweet.
Merry Christmas to you and enjoy your family.
I am playing catch up on reading posts (and doing everything else this holiday season 🙂 and was touched by this for several reasons. First, the Newtown sadness. Just earlier today I mentioned to my husband that their parents must have had holiday presents tucked away- don’t ask me why I thought of that but it was another spontaneous reason for tears to well up. On a MUCH lighter note – I enjoyed your family stories as well as that stunning artwork you were lucky enough to get from Freya 🙂 My own guys keep marveling at all the “special stamps” on the Dorie cards. Which brings me to the next issue- your post on “memory lane” was PHENOMENAL. Thank you for taking the time to jog my memory and take me along on this trip. It has been a special journey for Nana and I, concreted with the snail mail cards our electronic friends sent….and it captured it perfectly. Happiest of Holidays ~
And, may I once again say, Tricia and Nana, how much I enjoyed your Christmas card. It was wonderful.
I wonder if cooking tempting foods evolved from trying to get our finnicky kids to eat…part of our loving our kids too much or just enough. I am aware of the feeding disorder I have when it comes to both children and my puppies.
Have a very merry christmas…Love you, Donna
Mary, sorry, I am running a bit late with commenting this week – we were out of town and soo busy but I would like to take this opportunity to send the biggets of hugs from Freya – you have no idea how happy and proud you made her by sending her the delightful mail (that I translated for her) and posting her drawing on your blog – she beamed with pride, my little artist. She loves drawing and painting and loves to give away her “work” as gifts and since I talk about you and your blog quite a bit at our house, she looked at me as she handed me the drawing and said “Why don´t you send this one to Mary with your card?!” So I did. I am so glad that I did. What thoughtful post you wrote about the unbelieve heartbrake. And how wonderful it is that you get to spend time with your very talented grand-children and admire them when they perform! Hope you will have a fabulous time! Looking forward to our upcoming cooking and baking adventures! Thank you for all your support and wonderful comments and Happy Holidays to you and your entire family!
onewetfoot December 29, 2012 at 7:55 PM # Edit
Your captcha code is reading me as a spam bot, so I thought I’d better put my comment here: What a beautiful Christmas feast, Mary! The lobster pot pie sounds delicious, as well as a good solution for your (mostly) meatless meal dilemma. I’ve yet to try the mousse, but yours looked so good, I might have to get to it soon. Happy New Year!