My husband informs me that our granddaughter told him (and this conversation is already too complicated for me to follow) that she's really looking forward to having Santa cookies for Christmas, and I assumed she meant cut-out cookies decoratef like Santa, but he said no, she wants Santa's Whiskers, and I said "How can I make Santa's Whiskers without a refrigerator? The dough has to be chilled!" And he said, "You can wrap it up and stick it out in the car overnight and then bake 'em in the morning."
Now I had already promised myself that I would not do any heroic holiday baking in the absence of a refrigerator, and I was feeling pretty much at peace about not baking since we won't even be home for Christmas this year. But if my granddaughter wants Santa's Whiskers, then by golly I'm not going to let a little thing like the absence of a refrigerator deprive me of the pleasure of baking them for her--and furthermore, if no one else is around to lick the mixing bowl, then I'll just have to take care of that little chore myself.
Which is why I now have flour all over my shirt and two cylinders of cookie dough chilling out in my car.
It's not the first time we've used the car for cold storage. Yesterday's leftover lasagna spent last night out there, and so did a casserole last week. It's also not a bad place to store leftover pizza. In fact, I can think of only one place that would be better: an actual refrigerator.
People keep asking me whether it's a nightmare to live for two weeks without a refrigerator, and I keep saying no, it's more of an annoyance than a nightmare, except for the actual literal nightmares about errant refrigerators that kept waking me up the other night. That was the day when I had my most recent discussion with the guy in the appliance department who keeps trying to explain why the refrigerator that was supposed to be delivered Nov. 30 is still not on the premises. It may be here Saturday, or it may be here sometime after Jan.5.
The old refrigerator waltzed out the door in the company of the recycling dudes on Dec. 9. Since then, we've put a bunch of stuff in the deep freeze, sent some things over to the refrigerator in our son's apartment (so if you're looking for the hoisin sauce, you're out of luck), and stashed the things we use frequently in a pair of coolers that keep getting underfoot in the dining room. And then of course there's auxiliary cold storage in my car.
I'll bring the dough in tomorrow morning and bake the cookies while awaiting delivery of the new recliner for the living room. And if that delivery is also delayed, we can sit on the floor and eat cookie dough. Try 'em yourself:
Santa's Whiskers
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup finely chopped maraschino cherries plus about a tablespoon of the juice
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (I like pecans)
flaked coconut
Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla, chopped cherries, flour, and nuts. Stir just until dough holds together. (Add more cherry juice if it's too dry.) Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a log. Roll each log in coconut until it's coated all over. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill a few hours or overnight.
Cut logs into 1/4 inch slices. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. If coconut comes loose, sprinkle it over the cookies. Bake at 375 until golden, about 12 minutes. Cool and eat.
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