Diane Jenkins

Hand-kneaded, elegant and dusted with cinnamon to resemble the color of fresh clay, bizcochitos are the perfect refreshment for Native American potters Diane Jenkins and Krieg Kalavaza to serve in their San Ildefonso Pueblo studio/gallery. After all bizcochito cookies and San Ildefonso pottery have much in common.

Bizcochitos (also spelled biscochitos) are so popular that they have been declared New Mexico’s Official State Cookie. San Ildefonso pottery is revered around the world and represents the best of New Mexico’s Native American art.  Recipes for both cookies and pottery are centuries old, with each generation adding their own enhancements. And both pottery and cookies are made in somewhat the same way (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Krieg Kalavaza

To produce their famous polychrome pottery, siblings Jenkins and Kalavaza work as a team, both collecting clay for the pots, plants for paint and natural materials for firing. Jenkins hand forms the pots, which Kalavaza then refines. Both sand the pots, after which Jenkins polishes them and Kalavaza adds paints before they are fired.

To make bizcochitos, the brother/sister duo gather ingredients, mix and shape the dough by hand, adding their own refinements, before setting the cookies in the oven to bake.

The potters sent me their recipe (below), which I am truly delighted to have and to share, but in my heart of hearts (and I only tell you this), I wish they had also sent a pot.

BIZCOCHITOS

(Recipe used to bake cookies served in pottery workshops and demonstrations in the San Ildefonso Pueblo studio/gallery of Diane Jenkins and Krieg Kalavaza.)

Yield: 2 to 4 dozen cookies depending on how they are cut.

2 cups shortening (lard is used in traditional recipes)

1 cup granulated sugar, plus additional 1/4 cup sugar to coat cookies

2 teaspoons anise extract

2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

6 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cream shortening with 1 cup sugar and anise extract; stir in egg yolks. Sift together flour, baking power and salt. Combine the two mixtures, adding water,  and knead until well blended.

Pat or roll the dough 1/3-inch thick and cut into desired shapes. (Jenkins and Kalavaza pat the dough into 2-inch rounds).  Combine 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over top of cookies.

Place cookies, cinnamon side up, on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in preheated 350°F oven until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

We thought you’d like us to define

What people do when they pitch woo

And spoon and neck and bill and coo.

They pucker up their lips and press

Another’s lips in a caress.

What we’re describing is a KISS.

In other words, it’s also this:

A PECK, a BUSS, a KISSAROO,

A SMACK, a SMOOCH—to name a few.

The XXX that one bestows

On a letter with some Os.

A dictionary will confirm

That OSCULATE’s a kissing

term.

And so is HONEY COOLER,though

It’s not in use much that we know.

To make our kiss-word list complete

We should include those that people eat:

The little foil-wrapped chocolate drops

(Available in many shops),

And sweet, delicious cookie bites

Of sugar beaten with egg whites.

Before we go we’d like to say

We hope that kisses come your way,

And those that you consent to share

Are given with a bit of flair.

And just in case you don’t know how

To give your kisses extra WOW,

We’ll tell you all the steps to take

To make your kisses double great!

Copyright S M. Katzman, 2010

DOUBLE GREAT KISSES

3 egg whites, at room temperature (Be sure whites are free of all yolks; whites with even a touch of yolk will not beat well.)

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Pinch salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

About 24 chocolate kisses (foil wrap removed)

Preheat oven to 225°F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set baking sheets aside.

Put egg whites in a large bowl. Beat whites on low speed with an electric mixture until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt. Beat on high speed until whites stand in soft peaks. Constantly beating at high speed, very slowly add sugar to whites. Continue beating until whites stand in straight peaks. Beat invanilla.

Using 1 level tablespoon for each mound and leaving space between mounds, drop mounds of whites on paper covered baking sheet. Put a chocolate kiss in the center of each mound. With a kitchen knife, carefully bring whites up and around each chocolate kiss, completely covering chocolate with whites.

Bake in a preheated 225°F oven for 60 minutes. Then turn off heat and leave cookies in the warm oven for another 20 minutes.

Remove baking sheets from oven and set on racks to cook. When completely cool, remove kisses from paper.

Yield: about 24.