Seasoned Lightly is on hiatus until after the first of the year when Anne Michael, who is taking a break, will return to BiblioBuffet. In the meantime, we invite you to revisit some of her early pieces.

Now that Thanksgiving is past, folks all over town have been decorating their homes with lights and big plastic snow globes and greenery adorned with everything from pine cones and velvet ribbon to silk flowers and gilded sticks. The drive home from work, as darkness falls, has been considerably cheerier, so much so, I don’t even mind the extra snowbird and shopping traffic mixed in with the usual rush hour mess. The downtown streets have wreaths intertwined with tiny lights hanging on lamp poles. And at work we lugged out the big artificial tree whose branches defy being fluffed anymore. It looked much like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, falling over and surprisingly naked. But, like his tree, by time we were done decorating, it didn’t look quite so shabby. In fact, it looks quite nice.

Every evening, when the work day is through, there is always something to do to get ready for Christmas. I’m sure it is not any different for you than for me. There is the inevitable shopping and wrapping of gifts, which is particularly fun since the grandbabies came along. Since none of my kids and grandkids live nearby I have to get the gifts ready for shipping in enough time to mail them. Then there are friends to visit and parties to enjoy. It’s an exhausting and busy time of the year.

My nose has been stuck in cookbooks trying to find this year’s perfect cookie recipe for the upcoming cookie swaps. My famous Raisin Ketchup cookies (recipe below), my all-time favorite, didn’t go over well last year. So when I came across “Lemon Coconut Melon Balls” I was ecstatic; they sounded great, cool and delicious, perfect for a Florida Christmas. Unfortunately, in describing the recipe to my husband I was met with a shudder and grimace. Normally he loves the things I make, especially cookies, but that was too much for him. My sweetie is a flavor minimalist. His sense of culinary adventure takes him only as far as chocolate chip or plain chocolate or vanilla cookies. However, I have a lot of cookbooks so I am back to searching plus there is the Internet and the library.

Christmas cards are waiting to be written and sent. I’ve managed to get as far as addressing the envelopes. My stack of must-read books next to my comfy chair just keeps growing. I only wish the stack of cards to sign and make notes in was magically getting shorter.

I considered dragging my Steve (kicking and screaming) into the attic to help me get the conglomeration of lights, ornaments and decorations down and assemble it, but he has not yet been infected with holiday fever. He has not even unconsciously whistled a Christmas carol, which surprises me since I’ve been playing them continually since Thanksgiving. I have a feeling it’s going to be one of those years where the fever won’t strike until late April. 

With all these things still hounding me, I have lately been wondering where the time to do all these extra things is supposed to come from. As it is I never seem to have enough time to do much but work, cook supper, do laundry and iron. Now these extras are causing me to cut the one area where there is some give—my relaxation time. I have not read a book. I’ve not even picked one up except to dust beneath it. Cookbooks don’t count. Leafing through them in search of recipes is not the same as a satisfying read—which I miss. The truth is I am not as relaxed and comfortable when I don’t make the time to read as I am when it is a daily part of my life. Reading is as essential to me as eating, and right now I am as hungry for a good tale as I’d be for a good meal if I’d not eaten in days.

So, since I’m starving and can hear the books next to my easy chair tugging at my soul, I’m going to wish you a joyful holiday season. Hopefully, you’re like me and you have at least one book of favorite Christmas stories. If not, may I recommend O’Henry’s “Gift of the Magi”? Or perhaps a collection of short stories? One of my perennial favorites is Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis. I discovered it five years ago, and it’s been a regular holiday companion ever since. It is a compilation of Christmas fantasies with odd twists. “In Coppelius’s Toyshop” is a weirdly fun and delightfully creepy tale in which toys and other strange things come to life. It has just enough eccentricity to make it as enjoyable as it is memorable. And like all good Christmas stories, everything works out in the end.

Oh, I am suddenly shivering. My husband has turned the air down low again, making the inside of the house chilly enough to bake cookies. But I think rather than work I will take a cup of hot cocoa and a book of loved Christmas tales to my easy chair for a couple of hours. It sounds like a grand idea to recharge my overworked batteries. In fact, it sounds perfect.

Here’s wishing you good books and good reading—even during this busy season.

Raisin/Ketchup Cookies
Ketchup gives cookies a rose-beige color and faint spicy taste - fresh Lemon Glaze contributes pleasing piquant flavor contrast.

1 cup regular margarine or butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cup sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Lemon Glaze

Beat margarine until light. Gradually add white and brown sugars, beating constantly. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla to blend well. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Stir into creamed mixture alternately with ketchup. Fold in raisins and nuts. Drop heaping teaspoonfuls of dough 2” apart onto lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake in moderate oven (375°) 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are browned and almost on imprint remains when touched lightly with fingertip. Remove cookies to cooling racks. Brush on Lemon Glaze while cookies are hot. Makes about 4 dozen.

Lemon Glaze: Combine 1 1/2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar with 2 Tbsp strained lemon juice; stir until smooth. If mixture is not thin enough to make a transparent glaze on cookies, add more lemon juice, 2 or 3 drops at a time until right consistency. Makes 1/2 cup.