THE HOLIDAY TABLE

THE HOLIDAY TABLE

Holiday baking has always been a tradition in my family. As soon as the leftover Thanksgiving turkey had been eaten and there was enough room in the refrigerator, my mother would start preparing and storing her Christmas cookie doughs. This was quite an ordeal, as our family usually made three or four different kinds of cookies, as well as lefsa, krumkaka, stollen, and rosettes, all from recipes my mother had learned from my grandmother. Relatives and friends could look forward to receiving a basket of our holiday goodies every year.

The year Macrina opened, I asked my mom to come in and teach the pastry crew exactly how to make her cookies. It had been ten years since I had been home to bake with her, and I couldn’t remember a lot of her special touches. She drove up from Portland, Oregon, with her special Christmas apron, and went to work with the staff. Our equipment was a little different from what she had at home. I remember that she kept saying, “Well, these cookies aren’t perfect or fancy or anything.” But I thought they looked “perfectly” homemade and delicious, which is what we were striving for at the bakery. Years later, my mother is teaching her four granddaughters how to make the same cookies, and they can still be found in our pastry case every Christmas.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are the busiest time of year for us at Macrina. Preparations start as early as September, with our first “holiday meeting.” The lead bakers and retail managers sit down with me to talk about past holidays, reminiscing about favorite items such as the Winter Pear Crowne and the Harvest Pie. We also toss around all kinds of new ideas, and after a lot of discussion and recipe testing, we come up with the season’s list of offerings.

This chapter includes the most popular of these holiday recipes. At Macrina they are most commonly prepared for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but there’s no reason they can’t be enjoyed all year long. The Chocolate Cherry Heart Bread, for example, is a perfect Valentine’s Day gift and makes decadent French toast. Try the Sweet & Spicy Nuts or the Baked Brie en Croûte at your next party, or slice up a Roasted Pear Galette for a unique appetizer. When the holiday season arrives, serve a fresh Maple Pecan Pumpkin Pie or—my personal favorite—the easy-to-prepare Holiday Tart.

One of the biggest joys of operating our neighborhood bakery is the knowledge that our products are part of so many personal celebrations. I love seeing our pink boxes, packed with cookies, tarts, and more, being carried home for the holidays. By offering these recipes, we are taking this concept one step further.