Anna Sultana’s Orange Honey Cookies, Honey Cookies and Honey Cake / A Christmas Bargain by Margaret Ullrich

Honey Cake

This has been quite year for cooking in Canada.

Starting in February 2023, the Windsor Salt workers in the salt mines in Pugwash, Nova Scotia and Windsor, Ontario went on a 192 day long strike.
Since Windsor is the salt supplier in Canada that meant that the there was a gaping hole on the shelves where we normally could pick up some salt.
Yes, just like toilet paper at the start of COVID-19, salt was nowhere to be found until September.

Then, on September 28, 138 workers at Rogers Sugar refinery in Vancouver went on strike.
For a while there was enough sugar on the supermarket shelves.
Well, now it’s holiday baking time and the shelves are bare.
The clerk told me that people are showing up at 7 a.m. hoping that a bag or two will make an appearance.
Professional Canadian bakeries and chocolate makers are also having problems due to the lack of white sugar.
The sugar strike has been going for two months and there’s no end in sight.

In Canada salt is supplied by Windsor and sugar is supplied by Rogers.
That's it. Nobody else.
So, if they aren’t producing there’s nothing on the store shelves.
Okay… first world problems, but we’ve just gotten through the COVID-19 restrictions, we’re tired and we just want to do a traditional thing, like cooking up family favourite recipes.

Alright, on to plan B.
Sugar is out, so honey and molasses are the sweeteners for the duration.
They may not be what the family is expecting, but home baked items are less of a a shock than ending a holiday meal with Oreos and a McCain cake.


Hints:

About the Cookies…
Don’t like orange? Use lemon extract and lemon juice.

These cookies are very soft and lose detail when they bake.
Just use really simple cookie cutters. Non-detailed, simple round cutters work best.


                        Orange Honey Cookies

36 cookies

Grease well or line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper

Sift into a medium bowl
2 Cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place in a large mixer bowl
3/4 Cup butter
1/3 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup honey
Beat at medium speed until well blended.
Add
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon grated orange rind or 1 teaspoon orange extract
Stir in the flour mixture, about 1 cup at a time.
Cover and chill 1 1/2 hours.

Place half of the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out 1/4 inch thick.

Preheat oven to 350º F

Cut dough into desired shapes and place on prepared sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown.
Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.

For the Orange Butter Frosting

Combine in small bowl
1 teaspoon grated orange rind or 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
1 1/2 Tablespoons orange juice

Place in a small bowl
1/4 Cup butter
Beat until soft, then blend in
2 Cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
alternately with combined juice and rind.

Ice the tops of the cookies using a baster brush or a knife.


                        Honey Cookies

36 cookies

Grease well or line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper

Place in medium bowl
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Cup light brown sugar

Place in small pot
1 Cup honey
Over low heat, heat until boiling, then add to the butter and sugar.
Stir until sugar is dissolved then cool 10 minutes.

While honey is cooling, sift into a large bowl
2 1/2 Cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add to the butter and sugar
1 large egg, beaten
Stir to combine, then add to large bowl.
Stir well then add
1/4 Cup buttermilk
Stir to combine.
Cover and chill overnight.

Place half of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
If it feels sticky gently knead in 1/4 Cup flour.
Roll out 1/4 inch thick.

Preheat oven to 350º F

Cut dough into desired shapes and place on prepared sheets.
Bake 12 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown.
Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.


                        Honey Cake

Heavily grease an 8 inch square pan

Sift together in a medium bowl
1 1/2 Cups flour
3/4 Cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Place in a large bowl
1/2 Cup shortening or oil
1 Cup oatmeal
Stir in
1 Cup boiling water
Let stand 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325º F

Add
2 large eggs
1 Cup honey
Beat to combine well.
Stir in the sifted dry ingredients.
Bake 60 minutes, or until cake tester inserted into centre comes out clean.

While the cake is baking place in medium bowl
1/4 Cup butter or margarine
3/4 Cup chopped nuts
1/3 Cup honey
1/4 Cup coconut, flaked or shredded
Combine to make a topping.

Remove cake from oven and spread topping on cake.
Broil until bubbly, then remove from oven.


                                                       ~~~
Back in November, 2002, I wrote an essay for the CKUW radio show ‘2000 & Counting' about getting Christmas gifts.  
It was a meant as a light piece, filled with hints.
Many of our listeners were seniors or college students, folks known for having to stretch their dollars.
Now, in addition to Covid-19 and its variants making us nervous about going to crowded places, we’re facing problems in the supply chain.
Christmas shopping never gets any easier.  Darn!!


Okay… listen up! There are five weeks left until Christmas. That means gifts. I know, I know, it's more blessed to give than to receive. But, unless you have ways of shopping that you'd like to keep secret, giving gifts means money.  

It's a little late to start a Christmas gift account at your bank and the utility companies really lose that Ho Ho Ho spirit if you try to skip paying their bills. 
 
If the charge cards are already maxed out - or you just want to keep your nearest and dearest on a cash and carry basis - gift getting is going to take a little effort.  

Desperate times call for desperate measures. As we're all stuck with holidays - oh, lucky us - I'll tell you some of my desperate measures.

Live off your hump. You know what I mean. Things like the 18 cans of tuna you have left from the time you bought 20 cans so you could get 50 bonus airmiles. Now's the time to crack those babies open. I know the family hates tuna. That's why there are 18 little cans of fishies swimming around your pantry.
Well, the family would hate a Giftless Christmas even more.

Think about it. Lousy dinners happen to everybody. But the family Grinch who comes up giftless at Christmas gets blabbed about throughout the neighbourhood and the generations.
You don't want to be remembered by your great-great-grandchildren as Granny Grinchie.

Try creative cooking. Pretend you're on the TV show Iron Chef. You've just been given a tube of ground beef, a bag of marshmallows, a jar of salsa, a bottle of raspberry vinegar, a carton of frozen spinach, a jar of maraschino cherries and a box of rice-a-roni. Think only a nut throws odd things together? How do you think raspberry vinegar was invented?
If the family gets snarky, tell them you found the recipe in a magazine. Drop names. Martha is always good, and if they can't appreciate all the effort you put into making dinner interesting… Well!
You know the speech.
Remember, guilt, when the other person has it, is a good thing.

Go ethnic. Granny's recipes don't have to be saved for Folklorama. God bless family. Go to an Italian restaurant and get a load of the prices they charge for a plate of Pasta Fagioli. That's two cheapies: noodles and beans! Grandma would die laughing if she saw those prices. Starch and beans got millions of people through tough times. Go thou and eat likewise.
  
Beans aren't good enough? Go past the recognizable cuts and shop the mystery meats. Put enough spices on them and the family won't know what hit them. I once made spaghetti and meatballs using animal organs only a mother could love. Guess what? Hubby had invited a friend. Well, the buddy was getting a free meal, so I followed the Cook’s Golden Rule: Don't apologize and don't explain.
The buddy said it was delicious, like the meatballs they serve at the Bay.
Hmmm… I notice the Bay is still in business. There's more than one way to skin a cat.   
  
Shop your house. No kidding. Grab a bag and stroll through your house. Look for things somebody foisted… uh… gave to you. Well, why should you be stuck with it until you're six feet under? Unless it was made by your preschooler - don't even think it, they DO remember - you're free to pass it on to someone else.
Just don't give it to the person who gave it to you.
   
Pack your own. Ever notice the little overpriced goodies the stores stuff into baskets and bowls? One current gift item is a box of pasta, a tin of sauce, some cheese and some wooden spoons nestled within a large bowl.
Are you too stupid to do the same thing? I didn’t think so. It's one way to get rid of some of those extra airmiles purchases. Let somebody else eat the tuna.


Still thinking about the folks in the flyers looking wildly happy over a toaster? 
Toss the flyers. Those models were paid big bucks. Stores want you to buy. A stress-free family holiday is not their goal. If they had their way you'd replace everything and pay 50% interest.
     

Remember how the best presents were things that showed that someone cared?
Maybe somebody hunted down an out-of-print book by your favourite author.
The gadgets that looked amazing seem strange on December 26.  
    
While you're shopping, get yourself some treats. 
I have a friend who picks up a bag of  pfeffernusse cookies every year. When she feels like all she's doing is giving, giving, giving, she pops a pfeffernusse into her mouth and gives herself an old time Christmas. It doesn't take much.   

God bless us, everyone.