Postcard, Postkarte, and recipe, for frohes Weihnachten

My maternal great-grandmother came from Germany with her five sons, right before the onset of World War I. Two of the boys were fast approaching the age when they might have been drafted into the Kaiser's army, and she wanted none of that. She and her boys then had to work hard to learn a new language and many aspects of the new culture, when they settled in Illinois.

But she never surrendered some of the things she had valued from back in the old country. A woman of her time and place, Great-Grandma had her little secrets in the kitchen -- many of which went with her to her grave (as do so many family secrets, for better or for worse).

Still, Mom managed to coax out from her grandmother the secret to tasty, rock-hard, perfect-for-dunking-in-your-coffee-or-hot-cider Pfeffernusse. Mom remembers the Christmasses from her own childhood, when she'd gnaw happily on these cookies for the entire of the season.

Mom has given me permission to share the family secret with any and all -- start your own tradition, if you want. So here's the old family recipe from Mom's family:

Grandma H's Pfeffernusse
preheat oven to 375º F

Ingredients:
1 quart Dark Karo syrup
1 pound granulated sugar
1 pound butter

2 Tablespoons baking soda dissolved in a small amount (about 2 Tablespoons or less) of very hot coffee (or boiling water, if you're a sissy)
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons allspice
5 pounds all-purpose flour
grated rind of one lemon
1 1/2 to 2 cups finely chopped nuts (we use pecans; Grandma was less specific)

Directions:
In a very large bowl, cream syrup, sugar, and butter. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Form into teaspoon-sized balls, drop on ungreased cookie sheet (they will expand somewhat, so give them room to breathe -- about 1 1/2 inches between them).

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until browned. (The longer you bake them, the harder they will become. At 12 minutes' baking time, they will be truly hard cookies, and will have a shelf life of about 3-4 weeks. The dough also freezes well, for about 3 months in an airtight container.) Allow to cool on rack.

These cookies do not have a strong flavor, since they're designed to be served as dunkers. They do, therefore, go very well with other treats, such as gum drops and peppermint sticks.

One year, Mom used this recipe to make the walls, doors, and roof panels for our gingerbread house, since gingerbread tends to get all crumbly if you're working with kids and their clumsy little paws. We had the coolest Hänsel-and-Gretel layout, all set up for when they showed the animated film of the Humperdinck (Humperdinck! Humperdinck! Humperdinck!) opera on Chicago's channel 11, on Christmas Day in the morning.

And they all lived happily ever after. So, I hope, will you.