It was bound to happen, of course: No sooner do I open my beak and accept a part time job writing for the parish newsletter than I get press–ganged into writing commercials about the Cookie Walk.
Please don’t think I’m boasting, but I’m well aware of the fact I write pretty good advertising copy—my “come-ons” for the Cookie Walk Cook Book, for example. But that doesn’t mean that is all I want to do. I don’t mind trotting out the occasional “ad” as a favor to the Rector. But I’m sure you would much rather benefit from my 200 years-plus experience in the sphere of church management.
But no! All I get is: “Isaac do me a favor and dig out some cookie recipes for the newsletter. You’ll find them in the files.” It’s no easy matter for a brass eagle to schlep up to the Rector’s office, let me tell you. And when you get up there, can you find anything in the files? It’s hard enough to locate the blessed man’s desk, let alone unearth a filing cabinet!
Be that as it may, I’ve got nothing against the Cookie Walk. It makes a nice change of pace and it helps us all get in to the spirit of Christmas. But the fact of the matter is that my interest in it is entirely academic.
Brass eagles don’t cook cookies. (I was going to say life for us is all spit and polish. But that’s a very nasty concept. We exist on a modest diet of brass polish and lemon juice. Expectoration (a posh way to say “spitting”) is a disgusting habit emphatic and firmly to be discouraged. But I digress …)
Nor do brass eagles cook, thus I can take no credit for the recipes in this week’s Newsletter. They come from James Beard’s American Cookery Book—so we know they work! They are also firm favorites with the St. Stephen’s Cookie Walk crowd.
The good thing about them is this batch of recipes are for freezer cookies. You make the dough in advance, freeze it, and bake the cookies in the week before the Cookie Walk. We have also printed some variations on the basic theme.
One word of warning, however: The unbaked dough is delicious, so don’t let the children get at it. Not only will you have to start all over again, but you’ll have to put the kids on a diet before Christmas.
My appeal for cookie cooking, however, doesn’t mean that we no longer need the recipes for your favorite beverages for our latest Cookie Walk 2011 Cookbook. The Cookie Walk 2011 Cook Book is going to be a comprehensive guide to the art of making and mixing beverages, both alcoholic and non–alcoholic.
The rector has promised us the recipe for his “Montgomery Martini.” This is your guarantee that the book will be strictly within established Anglican tradition. So please answer our call for your recipes for punches, teas, shrubs, smoothies, malts, shakes, hot and cold drinks, and flavored alcoholic drinks. Anything you love that is potable.
Please bring your favorite recipes to church or email our editor Peter Threadgill (the best way) his address at petrus@ststeve.com. All recipes must be in no later than Sunday November 6th. Thanks awfully!
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