For Gene, Wendy, and Eliana

Not long ago, a remarkable man and dear family friend passed away. Illness prevented Gene from frequently indulging in decadent gastronomy, but I imagine that made him appreciate those experiences all the more. As it happens, I sent cookies to my mother one day and she took them over to Gene and Wendy's house for dinner. And the cookies promptly disappeared. Freed from a restrictive diet, Gene could eat what he loved and happened to love my cookies, and so did Wendy. Not only did this bring them pleasure, it made me feel good, too, to be able to help keep up their strength and spirits.Later, as Gene's condition worsened, I told my mom how to make the cookies so she could maintain a ready supply. Gene was no longer eating very much, but apparently he kept consistently eating cookies. As did Wendy, as she later told me, who joked that they were what kept her going as she wasn't eating much, either. She closely guarded them to ensure they didn't run out.

Gene died, and while I was not there in person, Wendy tells me that I was certainly there in spirit and I feel I was, too. And that's something that I value about the experience of cooking and eating: sharing is as much a part of the experience as the actual chopping or chewing. By sharing a recipe, a flavour, a technique, you can share so much more, even across continents, becoming part of the interwoven fabric of humanity.

I feel very fortunate to be woven closely with Gene, Wendy, and Eliana, and this one is definitely for you.

GENE COOKIES
A variation on the more common Mexican Wedding Cakes, Russian Tea Cakes, and Pfeffernusse that often show up among Christmas Cookies.
Note: These are basic proportions - multiply as appropriate.

1 C Butter, chilled but not cold.
1 C Flour
1 C Mixed Nuts, ground - a good mix is Hazelnuts, Pecans, Cashews, Almonds, and Walnuts. Grind them in a food processor until very fine and starting to clump.
1/2 t salt
1/2 C Confectioners Sugar, plus more for dusting.
1/2 C Candied Ginger, chopped - you can buy this in bulk in many stores now and the pieces are about 1/2 in cubes. Avoid the expensive stuff that is sold in little jars.
1 t Cinnamon
1 t Nutmeg
1/2 t Ginger, ground
2 t Vanilla Extract (NOT fake)
2 to 4 t Orange Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well incorporated. (You can do this the quick-and-dirty "throw-everything-in-at-once" way or you can do the more formal "sift-all-powdered-ingredients-together-and-then-mix-in-butter-and-then-liquids-and-then-chunky-stuff" method but they end up coming out about the same.) The dough will be crumbly but will hold together when you roll it into a ball in your hands.
3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on parchment-papered cookie sheets. They expand hardly at all and do not flatten so you can space them close together.
4. Bake for ~15 minutes (every other recipe seems to indicate too short a baking time - they should start to squat a little and turn golden, and have a dry exterior that yields to the touch only a little when hot.)
5. Transfer to cooling rack and dust liberally with more powdered sugar. Some recipes say when hot, some when cool. It's up to you.

Enjoy with a steaming mug of spiritual humanism.