Three-Cheese Stuffed Shells

I can't believe it's been over two months since I last posted a recipe. All I can say is that Mommyhood and the holidays combined to steal most of my free time.

Anyway, I have a new dinner recipe for you today. It's easy as can be, with hands-on time hovering around the 30-minute mark. They look a lot harder than they are and will impress your guests.

Here's what to do.

Iced Italian White Cookies (The 11th Sweet of Christmas)

Ah!  The bread and butter of an Italian cookie tray, the cookie that, for my entire life (and the lives of my mother, aunt, grandmother, and all who went before me), meant, "Christmas is coming!"  The simplest of Italian cookies!

We called them "biscottis", even though true biscotti are the crunchy, twice baked delights you often find in coffee shops and specialty bakeries.  But the word biscotti in Italian can be used to refer to any type of cookie, which is probably why that's what my great-grandmother called them.

But in perfect honesty, even though my family persists in calling them biscottis (with the predictable flat, short o sound inherent to most American speech patterns), they're really iced Italian white cookies.  There are a gazillion variations on this type of cookie, because it really is the quintessential family recipe.  No two Italian white cookies are exactly the same, but they are all beautiful things.  You can use just the basic vanilla flavoring and call it a day, or make it your own by using other flavor extracts like lemon, orange, cherry, peppermint, anise, almond... the list goes on.

What's particularly great about these cookies is the fact that even little kids can get their hands in the action.  With a consistency similar to Play-Doh, they can be shaped in countless ways.  Letters, circles, loops, and so on.  Or just roll them into balls or, if you're like me and want to get the whole job done quickly (because you realized on December 23rd that you were totally out of biscottis already and decided to make more that very night), you can use a cookie scoop.

Italian Nut Chews (The 8th Sweet of Christmas)

Ah, Italian nut chews!  This is another family favorite that has been passed down from my great-grandmother. Turns out it wasn't one of her "original" recipes brought from Sicily, but rather one she clipped out of a newspaper before my grandmother was born.

Even though it looks daunting at first, it's really very easy and quick to make.  The longest part of the process is waiting for these cookies to cool.