Here in Boston, it’s hard to ignore St. Patrick’s Day. If you live here, you know just what I mean.

From the annual parade in Southie (complete with local politicians belting out Irish ditties at breakfast), to the week of shows by hometown boys the Dropkick Murphys, to the tourists trouncing around the city wearing giant bright green hats (or shirts, or big plastic sunglasses).

If you’re in the city, here’s my guide to Boston’s Irish pubs. (If you’re not, take a peek as a tourist. There are plenty of photos.)

If you’re looking for a little last-minute inspiration in your own kitchen, here’s a collection of recipes to help you throw together an Irish-inspired feast of your own, including several that feature Guinness stout.

Mussels in Ginger Stout Broth

Panfried Smashed Potatoes

Guinness Stew with Sage and Ginger

Guinness-Braised Short Ribs

Super Simple French Fries (Crisp & Crunchy in Just One Step)

Chocolate and Vanilla Guinness Floats

Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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So The Hawthorne is one of those grand old hotels, in mini form, nestled right next to the Common.

The first time I walked in (a few weeks ago, to have coffee with Juli Lederhaus, the hotel’s general manager and one of the nicest people on the planet), it felt like a historic Manhattan hotel.

The Hawthorne also happens to be right up the street from The Mouse House, making it extra convenient for holiday feasting. Now that we’ve finally managed to get ourselves inside, I know we’ll be spending a fair amount of time at the Tavern this winter, tucked in by the fire with cozy beverages and snacks.

We walked in through the side entrance on Essex Street, which puts you in just the right position to peek into Nathaniel’s, the fancier of the hotel’s two restaurants.

Here’s the proper entrance to the restaurant.

And what you see once you walk inside.

For Christmas brunch, however, they transformed the entire lobby into a banquet and buffet area, with seating in Nathaniel’s, the Tavern, and the grand ballroom.

We were seated in the Tavern (the door on the left).

We couldn’t have asked for a better table.

The Tavern opens up to the grand ballroom, which is just as grand as it sounds—and makes you want to put on your best posh frock, drink champagne, and go twirl around in the center of the room.

Enough poking around. We were there for the food. And it didn’t disappoint. We ordered a bottle of wine and went to investigate the buffet.

Right before we got up, Juli came by and snapped a few family pictures for us (thank you, thank you!). And, of course, because I always have my camera with me, I had to reciprocate.

To the buffet!

The lobby was packed with food. There was a bunch of delicious brunch-y stuff. Bacon. Waffles. Eggs. Sausages (mmm, sausages)…

And a carving station with prime rib, roast turkey, and ham.

There was an assortment of other stuff, including a nutty cranberry pilaf and some outstanding butternut squash ravioli with sage brown butter cream sauce.

The Angry Chef loaded up on waffles and bacon to start. (Everyone drinks scotch with their waffles, right?)

While Mom and I took a little bit of everything.

As someone who used to review restaurants for a living, I have to say: Buffets are hard to pull off.

There’s a ton of food. You need to keep it hot. You need to keep replenishing the chafing dishes. You need to keep it from drying out.

I can safely say that The Hawthorne Hotel threw one of the best buffets I’ve ever seen. The food was great, and the service was outstanding.

I’m not quite sure how, but we managed to leave room for dessert.

They even had mini apple pies—one of my favorite desserts. (Hey, I’m a mouse. We’re partial to food in miniature form.)

Visit The Hawthorne Hotel

18 Washington Square W
Salem, Massachusetts, 01970
(978) 744-4080

www.hawthornehotel.com

Hope you and yours all had a wonderful holiday!

December was great and packed with adventure, but I’m looking forward to the new year.

I can’t wait to get back to serious business in the kitchen. We have a metric ton of new recipes to test, as well as another book and a few other top-secret projects in the works.

Thanks again for all your support this year. Don’t forget to download your free copy of our cookbook, a Holiday Feast!

Cheers!

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We hope you have a magical holiday!

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So, if you’re like me this year, you might be scrambling around for a few last-minute gifts. (Seriously, where did the time go?)

Here’s a dozen ideas for delicious gifts you can make at home in the few days before Christmas and New Year’s.

1. Black & White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve never met anyone who would really argue with a bag of homemade cookies. Hands down, this is one of my all-time favorite cookies. It’s a classic chocolate chip cookie dough that’s been packed full of crushed Oreos and then baked until just crisp.

2. Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur

This stuff is seriously delicious. And because it only lasts for a month, it’s actually the perfect thing to whip up at the eleventh hour.

3. Simple Syrup

While we’re on the topic of cocktails, homemade simple syrup is right at home in a gift basket for your favorite barfly.

Package it up with a good bottle of vodka, a few nice martini glasses, and a swank cocktail shaker. Make flavored syrup by adding in different flavorings. (Try pink peppercorns or ginger or orange peel.)

4. Vanilla Extract

Now, there’s a disclaimer on this one: It’s too late to produce a deep brown vanilla extract before Christmas.

That said, you could certainly bottle up some vanilla beans with a few baking goodies (brownie mix, a pretty bundt pan, nice wooden mixing spoons), with instructions that it will be ready in about 5 weeks.

5. Chocolate-Peanut Butter Hearts

This is my homemade version of a Take-Five bar (pretzels + peanut butter + chocolate), minus the caramel. I make them in heart shape using mini pretzels, but you could use any small, flat pretzel you can find.

6. Homemade Marshmallows

These need to be made a day in advance, so that they can set up overnight. I like to package them up with a couple of mugs and some good hot chocolate mix.

7. Candied Orange Peel

This recipe works just as well with lemon, lime, and grapefruit peel. Pack up a bunch plain, or dip them halfway (or all the way) in bittersweet chocolate.

8. Walnut Butter Ball Cookies

This is my version of Mexican Wedding cakes. They’re buttery, crumbly, and sweet. Definitely one of my favorite cookies to make around Christmas.

9. Homemade Peanut Butter & S�mores Cups

Um, yum! (Need I say more?)

10. Pomegranate Mollasses

This stuff has been popping up everywhere lately. It’s sweet and tangy and is a great way to boost flavor in everything from appetizers to baked goods. And? It’s super easy to make at home. It makes a great gift for anyone who likes to cook.

11. Easy Dark Chocolate & Walnut Fudge

This is the easiest fudge I’ve ever made.

12. Quick Fresh Pickles

Pickles? For Christmas? Are you serious? No, really. (Stop laughing!)

It’s going to sound silly, but this is one of my signature things to bring to a party. Folks really love ‘em.

The best part? These pickles don’t need to be canned. They just need to soak overnight in an herb-laced, briny bath. Here’s a variation for Classic Bread & Butter Pickles. If you can’t find pickling cukes, just use small, regular cucumbers.

Happy holidays!

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So the other day, I posted a few pictures of my springerle cookie mold on our Facebook fan page. (Come join us!) Here it is. It’s an impressively heavy thing.

A lot of folks were interested, so I figured I’d write a little about cookie molds, their history, and include a shopping guide so you can get one (or three) for your very own.

‘Tis the season, right?

I preface this by saying: I am not a springerle expert. I do however, have a ton of fun playing with my cookie mold, as you can see by the untraditional chocolate shortbread cookies in these pictures.

For this post, I was messing around with leftover chocolate shortbread dough from the tarts I brought to Bon Appetit’s Holiday Bake-Off Party.

What are springerle cookies and where did they come from?

Springerle are pretty German cookies that are usually made around Christmas. Some of the oldest springerle molds are actually traced back to the 14th century.

In Old German, “springerle” means “little jumper” or “little knight”, which refers to how the cookies poof up in the oven. (Some folks hold that many of the early molds depicted a springing horse.)

Through history, springerle molds have been carved with all sorts of images—from animals to biblical scenes to everyday life. They’ve been used to celebrate weddings and births, served as decorations, and were even exchanged like holiday cards.

Raw dough

Baked

What do they taste like?

Traditional springerle cookies are flavored with anise oil and anise seeds.

They’re hard when they come out of the oven, but soften up if you keep them covered. They’re a little like biscotti and are great for dunking.

Wait. How the heck do you pronounce “springerle”?

Ha! Excellent question. OK. Put on your best German accent, and repeat after me: SHPRING-uhr-lee.

(Say that three times fast and try not to giggle.)

How to make springerle cookies

To make springerle cookies, a simple, stiff cookie dough is embossed using ornate molds and rolling pins that are carved out of wood or resin.

To do this, roll out your cookie dough, firmly press the mold (facing down) onto the dough, then carefully remove it.

And…presto! Your dough should have an impressive, raised picture on it. (Sorry, that’s much more exciting when I do it in person, with a flourish of flour, after a glass or two of wine.)

Cut the cookies apart carefully (or not so carefully, as you see in my example below).

Alternately, you can also roll the dough onto the mold, then peel the dough off. You stand a better chance of ripping the dough this way, though.

Connie Meisinger from House on the Hill gives a really good overview of how to make them here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

My springerle mold

Springerle molds are like little works of folk art. And like good cast iron, they’re the kind of thing that you pass down to your favorite family members and friends. (Don’t believe me? Check out the stories behind these fabulous, antique molds.)

I bought my mold at Sur La Table years ago, on sale.

They actually still sell the same one (the Vignette Springerle Mold below), plus a handful of other beautiful molds.

This is the springerle mold I have

For traditional, anise-scented springerle cookies, you let the dough dry overnight to cure a little and help preserve the details on the image.

It’s probably not proper, but I use my cookie molds with a lot of different kinds of dough, and just omit the over-night drying period. Any relatively stiff dough usually works well.

That’s chocolate shortbread dough in the pictures, which was a little on the sticky side, but still worked out just fine.

A recipe for springerle cookies

Springerele cookies are easy to make.

They only have a handful of ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, some kind of leavener (hartshorn is traditional, but baking powder is commonly used), flavored oil (anise is traditional), and anise seeds.

I’ll track down my mom’s recipe and will do a step-by-step walk through for you. For now, Martha Stewart has a great recipe here.

Springerle Cookie Mold Shopping Guide

A word of warning: Springerle molds aren’t the cheapest things in the world, especially as far as baking implements are concerned.

The great thing about springerle molds is that they’re so pretty, you can use them as decorations. When I’m not using my big cookie mold, I display it in my china cabinet (along with my growing collection of wishbones, but that’s a story for another day).

Here are some of the prettiest molds I’ve seen lately.

House on the Hill Tannenbaum Springerle Mold

Menagerie Rolling Pin

Winter Sleigh Springerle Cookie Mold

British Isles Springerle Kit

Floral-Motif Springerle Cookie Mold

Springerle Rolling Pin

Pine Cone Springerle Mold

Other springerle resources

• House on the Hill Cookie Molds
• The Springerle Baker
• The Springerle House

Four other ways to make picture cookies

There’s more than one way to put a picture on a cookie. Take a peek!

1. Shortbread molds
Shortbread molds are different than springerle molds in that the cookies are typically baked in the mold, then cut apart afterwards.

This Nordic Ware Snowflake Shortbread Pan is pretty.

Nordic Ware also makes a non-snowflake version.

This Chicago Metallic 12 Days of Christmas Cookie Mold is also kinda cool, especially if you have kids.

2. Cookie Stamps
You can also achieve the same embossed effect with cookie stamps, which work just like a regular ink stamp to press an image onto the dough.

3. Chinese moon cookie molds
Traditionally used to make cookies to celebrate the harvest moon festival, moon cookie molds work well for a variety of stiff doughs.

4. Gingerbread molds

I don’t have one of these pans, but they’re definitely on my list of things to pick up before the holidays.

Cast Iron Gingerbread Snowman Cookie Mold

Cast Iron Gingerbread Boy & Girl Mold

Small Gingerbread Cookie Mold from Taste of Home

Happy baking!

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