D likes to remind us that he's not a "chocolate person," that I am a chocolate person, & that I am, in fact, probably made of 50% chocolate, because that's what I'm eating nearly every time he looks at me. That's what he tells the kids, & me, but it's not exactly true. And I have very clear memories of all the boxes of chocolate-peppermint Newman-O's he'd eat in one sitting, & more recent ones of half-eaten packs of Kinnikkinnik's version of Oreos. So even though he doesn't crave cocoa, per say, I happen to know that this here cookie is that of his dreams. No question.
Cinnamony-bitter cocoa spiked with peppermint. Straight-up white chocolate in thick peaks. A "snap" when you bite into it. Yes. We call them Snow-ie-ohs.
Not to mention the non-stop, three-day-long bowl-banging glee session of three boys trying to clean the rock-hard white chocolate off the mixer. (Apparently chopsticks work good for this. They are too soft to screech the metal. Not too pointed, but hard enough to break through.)
On the day we made these, my super-cool physician friend came over at 8pm. She had just gotten home, threw on her jammies & asked where her 11 year-old girl was. "Next door making Christmas cookies." The kids had all just made pizzas on bread slices & were dipping these cookies as she walked in to fetch her daughter. "It's a school night, crazy girl!" She then had a cookie & started cleaning up the play area before plopping in front of the fire for about 20 seconds. Then they left.
The whole scene was a bit surreal for me. Who knows how hard she's worked to get where she's at - where she saves lives on a daily basis. Her kids are over here all the time & she thinks I take care of them, but they help take care of me. I think it looked a bit magical, this moment with the fire, the music, the cookies & what-not. The fact that we homeschool made it seem all the more footloose & fancy-free. But it was just a moment, with real-life before & after. There's so many ways to do life, to live our dreams. I'm grateful for the moments our worlds come together.
snow-ie-ohs notes:
*I used this Martha recipe & replaced the flour with our GF Everyday Flour.
*We omitted the peppermint candies, & used cinnamon to dust the board.
*This made about 2 dozen little guys, even though it says 6 dozen bitties.
*I first formed the discs on silicone-lined parchment, then simply wrapped them in the sheets they were on to chill. I opened each disc, lay a larger parchment over the top & rolled it out. The kids cut the shapes on the same surface, then we transfered the parchment to baking sheets, so cleanup was a cinch. (For that part, at least)
*My double-boiler was missing, so I lay 4 chopsticks on the bottom of a large saucepan filled halfway with water. I placed a metal mixing bowl on the chopsticks to melt the white chocolate, & it worked just great.
Recent Comments