Cherry Flips

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Reader Marguerite writes, "I ran across this in Sue Grafton's 'I is for
Innocent' and it cracked me up. (I do enjoy her novels, particularly
the very witty comments and asides.)"

Eating out is close to a religion these days. People used to tithe
to the church. Now the ten percent goes to the waiter instead.

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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I spent Sunday afternoon with the Atlanta Ring, a group I am honored
to belong to. We met for lunch at a Mexican seafood restaurant in
Atlanta, and several of us participated in a cooky exchange. This not
only inspired this week's theme, but contributed several of the recipes
as well. Here is the lineup:

(Recipes in brackets are in the PLUS Edition only.)

Monday's Extra
Cherry Flips
[Chocolate Souffle Cookies]

Tuesday's Extra
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Meringues
[Ring Around the Cookies]

Wednesday's Extra
Hermits
[Pineapple Cookies]

Thursday's Extra
Forget About Cookies
[Lemon Love Notes]

Friday's Extra
Finnish Almond Cookies
[Graham Cracker Cookies]

These are the cookies I brought to our cooky exchange. It is a recipe
I got from my favorite recipezine, and they have been a holiday staple
in my house ever since I published them. The recipe was contributed
by aptly-named lifetime subscriber Kim Lovely of Regina, Saskatchewan,
and this is her recipe as it appeared in the Pen-Pal Forum of the PLUS
Edition on November 18, 2002, along with her introduction:

I got this recipe more than 20 years ago when I worked at the RCMP
"Depot" Division Mess. "Depot" Division is where RCMP officers are
trained, and a "Mess" is military-speak for a place where people eat
or drink. In this case, it was where the recruits ate. If you or any
other RecitoPLUSians plan to visit this area, make it a point to take
a tour out there. It's well worth it.

These cookies were always made for Christmas and for anytime when a
dainty tray was needed. I always loved them, so I made it a point to
get the recipe. Luckily for me, the recipe isn't one of those that
serves 500 (sometimes there were that many and more for lunch). I
used to make them at Christmas every year along with cream cheese
brownies, Nanaimo Bars, coconut cream cheese balls, and shortbread.
I made a lot so I could give a selection of baking as gifts to friends
(much appreciated especially by those friends who didn't bake for
themselves). I stopped a few years ago because I found I was eating
too much of it myself. I should warn you that, when making and
dipping these, the first dozen did not make it any farther than my
mouth.

Cherry Flips

1 cup (250 ml) butter
1/2 cup (125 ml) icing (confectioner's) sugar
1-2 tsp (5-10 ml) almond flavouring (I never have it so
I use vanilla and they're still terrific)
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp (1 ml) salt
2 cups (500 ml) flour, sifted
30 maraschino cherries (or more), well drained
(I generally rinse them with warm water)
(Reserve juice for icing)
Finely chopped walnuts (optional - I hate walnuts)

Cream butter and sugar, add flavouring and mix. Add egg yolks and
salt and beat. Stir in flour. (Dough will be quite soft.) Pinch off little
pieces and press flat in the palm of your hand. Insert a cherry and
fold and roll dough around it forming a ball. Place on greased cookie
sheet. Bake at 325F for 25 minutes or until golden. When cold, dip
in thin icing made from 1 1/2 cup icing sugar and 1/4 cup cherry juice.
Roll in nuts (if using - I really hate walnuts).

Note 1: You want the icing thin enough that it will drip a bit over
the cookie but not so thin that it falls right off. Basically, they
should look like little, white mountains topped with pink snow.

Note 2: Also, you might think 1/4 cup of the cherry juice is not
enough for that amount of icing sugar. Trust me, it is. I found that
out the hard way and ended up having to add more sugar. I had icing
left for next year (good thing it keeps well in fridge, it just needed
to be stirred up because juice separated and was floating on top).

Tip: I used to take dough, cherries and cookie sheets and sit in front
of the TV and roll them there. It seemed to make it go faster.
Received on Mon Dec 5 12:33:34 2005