Peppernuts!

My Gramma W is first class all the way. In addition to having impeccable taste in literature and cinema (she is credited with introducing us to the Marx Brothers), she is a top-notch chef. Everything she makes in her magical kitchen in Aberdeen, Idaho, defines the term "homemade." So when that box arrives in the mail each Christmas with the Idaho postmark, I just go crazy.

Inside are Peppernuts!

True to the name, these little cookies have a hint of spice in them (perhaps anise?) and they are just the right size to pop in your mouth. I had never heard of them anywhere else, but after we were married R got to try them and said that they taste a lot like a cookie recipe that has come down through her family several generations on her dad's side. Apparently, the name 'peppernuts' is a literal translation from the German Pfeffernusse, and they are traditionally Christmas cookies in Germany and Denmark. That makes some sense, since that side of the family is from that part of the world if you go way back. I don't know the lineage of the peppernuts on my side of the family.

Really, it doesn't matter to me whether they originally came from Germany, Denmark, or whatever -- what matters is that these little wonders keep landing in my mailbox.


We love you Gramma W!!