Melomakarouna!

My mother was Greek, born in America to immigrant parents. Her rich cultural heritage included some kick-ass recipes that I remember fondly from childhood and, as The Family Cook, I have faithfully recreated as many of them as I can.

Jennie and I are particularly fond of Melomakarouna, which is ridiculously easy to make. Simply mix together the following ingredients:

1 1/4 cups oil (I use canola oil)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
Rind of one orange
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup whisky or rum
1 Tbs. honey
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (either in the batter or sprinkled on top)

You'll also need a medium size bottle of honey, but don't put that in the dough.

The consistency of the batter is a little weird, kind of like wet Play-Doh. Form the dough into little oblong or round cakes (about 1 1/2" in diameter) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes, or until light brown.

In the meantime, put the honey into a deep saucepan (trust me on this one), and bring to a boil. Honey boils up and over VERY easily, by the way, so don't walk away from it. When the cookies come out of the oven, drop them a few at a time into the boiling honey and then just as quickly take them out. That's the time to sprinkle the nuts on top, if you haven't put them in the batter, because they'll stick nicely in the honey. And I'm SURE my readers are smart enough that I don't really need to say "please use tongs to pick the cookies out of the boiling honey," right?

These cookies are great for a decadent, carb-filled breakfast with a cup of coffee, and they stay moist for days, if they last that long. My mother used to make a big batch of them before a family vacation, and we'd have them for breakfast with a cup of coffee in the motel rooms instead of spending money for breakfast at a restaurant. No complaints from me -- I love Melomakarouna!

Today I'm going to make Kourambiethes, a Greek variation on traditional shortbread. This was my grandmother's specialty, and I'll regale you with family stories in my next blog. Opa!