Baker, Not a Breakfast Maker

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“Please do not confuse me for a waffle maker,” says the device in the photo above. “I am a baker, not a waffle maker. I bake cookies.”

I grew up with this device in my home. When it was turned on, the entire house smelled of waffle cones baking.

Okay, for those of you unfamiliar with this device … it’s a Pizzelle maker. It makes these cookies.

Growing up in an Italian-American household, I can barely remember a time when they weren’t sitting in a cupboard. Any friends who weren’t Italian looked at them cock-eyed. Kind of the way my in-laws looked at me when I first included pasta with Thanksgiving dinner. Oh yes, we had the traditional turkey, but, I mean, come on … Italians always include pasta, at least the Italians I know. You can read about some of the delicious foods and funny stories of cooking in my short story anthology, Home Avenue. The story is titled, Hope Lies in Meatballs.

Anyway, back to the Pizzelles. In case you aren’t familiar with them, they taste sort of like a waffle cone, but are texturally different. However, if you include anise extract (which is optional), the flavor changes. It’s pronounced, pitz-ell, at least that’s how my Chicago-Italian family pronounces it.

I thought about sharing the recipe here, but if you don’t have a Pizzelle maker, it won’t do you any good.

I LOOOVVE baking for the holidays. I thought I’d offer a few recipes and have readers decide which recipe they’d like to see. I’m trying to do a poll for the first time, so bear with me.

POLL CLOSED – WINNING RECIPE IS HERE: And the winner is …

You can buy the Pizzelle maker online, and I’m still offering that recipe as one of the options.

Here is the list  (poll is below):

Pizzelles – Now you know about them, and if you have the maker, I’ll be happy to share this recipe.

Dee’s Biscotti – These are not the kind of cellophane wrapped biscotti you buy at Starbucks. These are authentic Italian homemade biscotti’s. They are my cousin Dee’s recipe. In case you’re wondering about the Italian authenticity, Dee’s maiden name was the same as my Grandma’s, Vecchiollo. Dee plays a role in a couple of my anthology stories.

Church Windows – This is a chocolate and marshmallow delight that my Grandma used to make. It’s more like a candy than a cookie. She likely found the recipe in a magazine back in the 70’s, but they became a staple at Christmas time for our family. Grandma is also in my anthology, and I devoted a blog post to her here. (Note: This one includes multi-color mini-marshmallows that are seasonal for the holidays, but still might be difficult to find, depending on where you live.)

Grasshopper Pie – I mentioned this recipe on my pumpkin cookie post. It is a no-bake pie and includes Crème de Menthe.

Okay, the poll is below. Hope I did this all correctly. Let me know which one you’d like to see on my blog. Instead of my usual wisdom quote, I’ll post the winning recipe on Wednesday the 5th.

POLL CLOSED – WINNING RECIPE IS HERE:
And the winner is …

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