dried zests have a different ‘feel’ and purpose. combined with the pepper and other things in that recipe, the dried ingredients would have a specific aromatic purpose.

far different from the fresh.

i am also a diffident dried peel person, including onions, but, i have found that they have a specific use when it comes to baking. dehydrated onions are a way different thing in breads than fresh, as an example.

and adie, yes, i learned from watching. and from the stories they told of how/and in what circumstance they learned what they were doing/making. which is why i said to bob geiger that cooking is an excellent way to get to know someone, and how you get along in a kitchen also tells how you operate with each other in real life, good or bad, it tells.

I also had the joy of knowing a wonderful mother-in-law who, although not a particularly enthusiastic experimenter in the kitchen, nevertheless went through the excruciatingly difficult AND pleasant process of translating for those of us who were yet to come, some absolutely FABULOUS recipes from the generation preceding hers, simply by patiently standing by, watching and guestimating intently, as an elderly relative baked her wonderous creations by handfuls and blops.

We owe these bakery-goods researchers a vote of thanks, and an obligation to continue the tradition, if only by writing down what they passed on to us. A happy task indeed!

No, I have not made it with fresh orange and lemon zest. I don’t think it is authentic and I try not to deviate from what I’ve been given (too far, anyway). Think of it this way: these cookies (And, remember, they’re actually a kind of bread) originated in Northern Bavaria – Nuremburg when the fastest transport system was some animal. The nearest orange and lemon trees were possibly in central Italy, 600 or 800 miles and the Alps, Dolomites and Appennines away. And oranges and lemons ripen most prolifically in March-May, IIRC.

Unlike most of us, who just toss the peel from our citrus b/c it’s too bitter or whatever to eat, they didn’t. The peel they didn’t candy for later use that way, they dried and kept for all the uses orange and lemon peel get used for. The inner, white peel, they probably segregated for the pectin.

So, I’d suggest using the dried lemon peel and orange peel.

Also, do you have any idea how many oranges and lemons it would take to produce those quantities of zest? This was poor people food, and poor people couldn’t afford that many.

In interpreting these old recipes, one has to remember that the people doing the baking and acting as the source for them (a) were almost certainly illiterate, (b) if women, baked bread in quantity for a large family weekly or more frequently and had been doing so since about the age of 8 or so, (c) if men, were baking these professionally, were members of a guild and had secrets to keep. They would not have to have made any measurement of the flour and leaven because it would have been as familiar to them as making a cup of tea or something. So we, who do not have that knowledge from day-to-day experience with bread-baking, are at a serious disadvantage. They knew, almost without saying and certainly without formal measurements, what a strong dough was and how much sourdough to use. We don’t.

And, just because they were illiterate does not mean they didn’t know how to bake. I have recipes for delicious cakes in which all the measurements are multiples of “7″, and different cakes in which they are all multiples of “11″ or “13″. If you can count, you can bake.

this one is my sister’s favorite–the recipe is from a bed and breakfast in nashville, indiana……the cornerstone i think. she took me there for my birthday last february. nashville is like a little gatlinburg, about an hour below indianapolis. really like it there, and i’m not a ’shopper’, but i like shopping there, all kinds of cool places, and good food…and three wineries…the town pretty much closes at dark, so, that explains the wineries….first went to nashville in the 70’s, the same jewelry guy who made my carnelian earrings then was still there. we stayed in the cornerstone’s annex that was above the jewelry store. really nice place. highly recommend it for a getaway weekend. the state park there has amazing things in the gift shop, too. for my friends, i got laminated mushroom field guides that can fit into your back pocket to take with you into the woods. for three bucks.
all kinds of things there.

Candy Crackers

Spray cookie sheet (i use a jelly roll pan, not as adventurous as a cookie sheet though.)
Line with foil
Spray foil ( a lot)
Lay out club crackers edge to edge to cover, one layer.

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 sticks of butter
3 T of light corn syrup

Boil 2 minutes

Add 2 t of vanilla

Pour mixture over the crackers–spread quickly to coat.

Press down chopped nuts of your choice on top. No measurement written on the recipe, just load it up…(we use pecans, but if you like black walnuts, is really good with them also.)

Bake 25 minutes @ 350

Let cool and break into cracker size.

–mom stirs in the nuts into the mixture then spreads it, gotta be quick, and make sure the nuts are not cold. in fact, warm them in the preheating oven first.

gotta do the spreading FAST either way.

these are addictive, don’t say i didn’t warn you. i don’t make them often because i will eat them until they are gone. are perfect to put into holiday goodie tins.

they are like a hard praline.

pretty cool idea.

she used to move her kitchen table closer to the sink with a new tablecloth on it, and put the dough bowl on the table, cooling cookies and she was loading sheets next to it. behind her is the sink, the oven and the mixing counter….her whole operation is evident in the photo, a reminder to set it all up however it works for you.

i love it.