Editor's note: This story was originally published in December of 2015.
In these last two weeks before Christmas, home cooks are racking their brains and rifling through recipe boxes, trying to recall just how Grandma worked her magic for those traditional holiday treats.
Every ethnicity has its favorites, and Italians are especially fond of cookies.
In today鈥檚 Quick Bite, WKSU鈥檚 Vivian Goodman visits a Bath Township kitchen and an Italian grocery in Highland Heights to nibble a few.
TonyAulettaknows what her customers want at Christmas time.
鈥�The name of our store is Authentic Italian Foods, and we鈥檝e been here almost 44 years now.鈥�
It鈥檚 a family business in Highland Heights that Auletta runs with her husband and brother now that her parents are in their 80s.
鈥淢y dad still comes every day and kind of walks around and make sure everybody鈥檚 still in line.鈥�
Every year at this time, the ovens at 顿颈厂迟别蹿补苍辞鈥檚 hardly get a chance to cool down with all the cookies they have to bake.
鈥淟ike our Italian biscottinis, pignoli cookies, macaroons and cannolis, big. Cannolis are probably the No. 1 seller.鈥�
So many to choose from, and Emma鈥檚 only 3.
鈥淗ow about the chocolate one?鈥�
Her dad says Emma really likes Christmas cookies. 鈥淎s long as they have frosting or sugar on them she鈥檚 all good.鈥�
Instant nostalgia
Tony Auletta says when older customers find the bakery case at the back of the store they get nostalgic.
鈥淧eople come back here and always say, 鈥極h, this reminds me of my grandmother when she used to make these kind of cookies.鈥� And that鈥檚 what I like about this time of year, because all that authentic stuff comes back, things that you only get once a year, you know? And they鈥檙e good.鈥�
She says customers return every year for Christmas cookies either because they鈥檙e too busy to bake or can鈥檛 find the family recipe.
She can relate. 鈥淢y grandmother used to throw flour on the table -- boom, boom, boom -- and she was done. Never a recipe, nothing. It鈥檚 the truth.鈥�
A labor of love
It鈥檚 a hard grind making the filling for her favorite Italian Christmas cookies, butDolliQuattrocchiof Bath Township warms to the task.
It鈥檚 a labor of love.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something about these cookies that evokes our childhood.鈥�
Grinding takes time
So she slaps a grinding wheel onto her trusty 1974 Kitchenaid mixer and lets it wail away on three boxes of raisins and half a pound of citrons.
鈥淎 citrus fruit,鈥� Quattrocchi explains. 鈥淭hick-skinned. It鈥檚 candied, and you can find it in the produce section of the grocery store, especially at the holidays.鈥�
The dried fruit goes into the grinder along with a pound of fresh figs and a pound and a half of toasted hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds.
Making the cookie filling is the most time-consuming part of the process because she can鈥檛 grind everything at the same time.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want anything to get jammed in there, and so you alternate the nuts with the raisins and the other sticky things.鈥�
Grandmother鈥檚 recipe
After retiring from a 31-year career at the University of Akron and caring for her ailing parents, Quattrocchi's glad to finally have time to bake.
鈥淥ne of the things I wanted to do was bring back all of the recipes that we loved when we were growing up. In particular the horseshoe cookies, a recipe from my Grandma Quattrocchi.鈥�
The horseshoe cookies are a Sicilian specialty. 鈥淭he Italian name iscucidate, and it means little bracelets.鈥�
Quattrocchi says she wouldn鈥檛 dare tweak the recipe her late Aunt Helen wrote on a stained, frayed, 3-by-5 index card.
鈥淓very family has their own version of it. Sometimes they鈥檒l make it in a little horseshoe shape and cut notches in it. We don鈥檛.鈥�
Quattrocchi wants her cookies to taste exactly like they did when she was growing up.
鈥淲hen we would have family gatherings at Christmas time, I always managed to get a seat close to the horseshoe cookies so that I could keep eating them without anyone noticing. I would eat them until I got caught.鈥�
She also loved her parents鈥� pizzelles and wanted to try making them, but all she got were verbal instructions.
鈥�'Open up a 5-pound bag of flour and dump it on the kitchen table. Make a hole in the middle of it. Crack in a dozen eggs.' No, I鈥檓 not going to do that. So I never made pizzelles until I got my Dad鈥檚 notecard after he passed. And now I鈥檒l make those.鈥�
But not today. She has her hands full with the horseshoes.
Putting it all together
Now that the filling is well-grinded, she has to warm the mixture.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to cook for 20 minutes on the top of the stove, and all the flavors will meld together.鈥�
She鈥檚 stirring constantly with both hands to get the gloppy concoction to the right consistency. Quattrocchi'snext concern is the wrapping for the filling. She had to use a hand mixer for the dough. Twelve cups of flour, 3 1/2 cups of sugar, four eggs and a pound of lard were just too much for theKitchenaid.
Once the dough鈥檚 thin enough, she grabs a drinking glass for a cookie cutter.
鈥淎nd then I鈥檒l just make some circles.鈥�
With a teaspoon she dabs some nutty, figgy filling on each dough circle. a one-inch strip goes across the top. Then she rolls them up, keeping the fold on the bottom and sealing the ends.
鈥淥K, let鈥檚 see how these will cook up.鈥�
Icing and sprinkles on top
While they bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven, Quattrocchi whisks milk into confectioners鈥� sugar for a loose icing. That鈥檒l let the sugar sprinkles adhere to her horseshoes.
Quattrocchi鈥檚 husband can鈥檛 wait to try one, warm out of the oven.
Harvey Gold, the self-described geezer/hipster rock musician of Tin Huey and Half Cleveland is Jewish. But he loves Christmas.
鈥�I love the lights,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 love the smells. I love the music. I love all the cookies Dolli makes.鈥�
And that鈥檚 a lot.
鈥淎 bazillion. I鈥檝e never counted them because usually as soon as they come out of the oven, they start disappearing.鈥�
Sharing sweet memories with the treats
Quattrocchi made sure her sister Tina in Florida got some.
鈥淲hen she received the box she called me and said, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe it. I started crying. I tasted the first one. It鈥檚 perfect just like Aunt Helen鈥檚.鈥�
Making her favorite holiday cookies gives Dolli Quattrocchi a sense of accomplishment.
She says baking the horsehoes also helps her and her two sisters cope with a sense of loss this holiday season.
鈥淎unt Helen who took over for Grandma making these cookies, we lost her two years ago. Having lost Dad a little over a year ago, it keeps us connected to our roots.鈥�
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