An American Family

One of the things that always come out this time of year is the idea of "time honored traditions." Every other magazine or web page is asking what your favorite traditions are. Or suggesting new ones to add to your repertoire. And while I can say there are things that we do every year at Christmas time, I really don't think we have any set-in-stone traditions. So I guess that would be our tradition, is to not be traditional. We don't want Christmas to be something that is the same every year, where eventually, our kids go through the motions instead of remembering what's important to them about the holiday.

This year, Abigail has begun studying her nationalities at school. Instead of just one or two, the poor girl has a handful, and that has had me thinking that as a family, we are not just one nationality, and that truly makes us an American family. We're not immigrants, nor are we children of immigrants. Both born here, on American soil, with ancestors of several different nationalities. In trying to help Abigail learn a little about each of her nationalities, this year I will be making something from each country. Yesterday I posted about the Pierogi form her Polish heritage. Today I will be posting about her German heritage, and later I am still looking for things to explore her Dutch and Irish heritage with (I just don't think Irish whiskey is appropriate for a 6 year old.)

And so today I have a fantastic German cookie to share. Caramel Almond Wafers hail from the city of Bremen, Germany. The cookie itself is nice and buttery, with a fantastic crunch and texture to it. It reminds me of the perfect cross between a shortbread and a sugar cookie. This cookie base is topped with a caramelized cream and almond mixture before baking. It is a simple cookie once you've chilled the dough, and it was definitely worth making- it also makes the cut for the cookie platters this year. The only thing is that I would like a little more caramel flavor to the topping. The topping starts with cream and sugar which you reduce down. The end product really tasted a lot like sweetened condensed milk, and I can't help but wonder if that could be a shortcut. However, I'm really thinking that I need to try and make this cookie using a can of dulce de leche... I will most definitely report back if I do so. But in the meantime, you can find the recipe in the trove. It's a really good cookie.