Christmas is About Cookies

As a favor to a choirmate, I sang with the community chorus at the town Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Sunday evening. This was remarkable for being a Christmas party that had been completely secularized. Santa was everywhere, as was Frosty the Snowman. We sang about snow and merriment and Santa Claus. The town served coffee and doughnuts. I can't believe tax dollars went for this, but it was fun for the kids who showed up.

Mrs Vache Folle has been on a baking frenzy. It's a holiday tradition for her to bake and for me to get rid of the product by sharing with workmates, the choir, anyone I can. She's a fabulous baker, and I am doomed to obesity.

Here's Mrs VF's famous holiday fruitcake cookie recipe, or what I call the best cookies ever:

Mix 1 cup melted unsalted butter, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons of cream sherry (not the crappy cooking sherry from the supermarket, please), and a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Add 3 cups of flour and a teaspoon of baking soda.

Here's the fun part. Add 6 chopped up slices of candied (or dried) pineapple, 1 cup chopped red candied cherries, 1 cup chopped green candied cherries, 2 cups chopped dates, 1 15 ounce box of white raisins, and 4 cups of chopped pecans or walnuts. Originally, the recipe (as it came from my mother) called for 7 cups of nuts, but it's just not possible to get that many nuts into the batter.

Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

The batter is to die for.