Poem #3 A poem-a-day until Christmas
Will you be baking Christmas cookies? What are your favorites? I plan to begin baking on Friday. I've stocked up on butter and flour and sugar and spices and nuts and chocolate chips...all the goodies that make each little gem delicious and unique.
Here is a poem about one of those gems which has turned out to be a family favorite...
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| Photo Credit: threedifferentdirections.com |
A NEW RECIPE
I flip through a cookbook
and select, as I sometimes do
a recipe I’ve never tried before—
a cookie, full of aromatic spices
cinnamon, nutmeg, clove
even a pinch of pepper
I stir some dark, robust molasses
and the spices into flour
butter and sugar
then roll teaspoonsful
of the thick brown batter into balls
line them neatly in rows
on cookie sheets
and slip them in the oven
Gradually the kitchen
fills with an old, familiar fragrance
I can’t immediately identify
In a few minutes I remove a pan
from the oven, wait for the cookies to cool
then roll each one in powdered sugar
as the recipe indicates
One taste
transports me to childhood—
This is pfefferneuse!
that classic Christmas cookie
that spicy little gem I hated
the cookies that turned to rocks
clunkers at the bottom of the cookie jar
These were the cookies Mom offered
when there was no other sweet in the house
the ones that bobbed in her coffee cup
dripping as she ate them with a spoon
Today, all those mingled spices
the dash of black pepper
are pleasingly hot upon my tongue
the sweet sugar coating
the pungent aroma
are positive proof
the taste buds of my youth
have definitely
matured
Maude Carolan Pych
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