Holiday Goodies

When we were home in Colorado for Christmas, we visited my friend Allison and her parents John and Charlotte. In addition to treating us to a wonderful impromptu wine tasting (at noon I might add…I love the holidays), they gave us a bottle of homemade limoncello, a strong, sweet Italian digestif, or after-dinner liqueur. We’ve bought a couple of bottles in the past but having a batch of Charlotte’s Christmas limoncello was special indeed. Per instruction we kept the bottle in the freezer where it became icy cold but didn’t freeze thanks to the astronomically high alcohol level. On New Year’s Eve we brought out the bottle to share with the friends we had over for dinner, and the limoncello was outstanding – bracing and lemony. Next time I’m in Colorado I’m planning to pop by Charlotte’s and ask, pretty please, for a lesson.



On another note, my mother asked how the chocolate pistachio cookies that I blogged about earlier turned out. The answer: pretty good. The cookies looked beautiful – deep brown and studded with shards of the pale green pistachios. The flavor was rich and chocolate-y. But they were crisp. As a soft, chewy cookie person, a crisp cookie seems like a bit of a waste to me. Even if the flavor is nice, I’m not satisfied with the texture. So, I think these cookies are off my list…even though Rosa couldn’t keep her hands off of them.