The sight of my mother and my grandmother cooking together in the kitchen at the same time is, for me, one of God’s little tastes of Heaven here on Earth. Each with their own glass of white wine completes the other’s sentences about what needs to be fried, whipped, breaded, and chopped as they sashay their ways around the kitchen. I enjoy the spectacle of them each singing Barbara Streisand off key as they wipe powdered sugar off their brows so much that as a child I would linger in the doorway of the kitchen and just watch them, admiring lovingly as my mouth would water. No matter what they make, it is delicious. No matter what they do, I am thrilled.

By far my favorite part of the Christmas holiday is the multiple sightings of this duo in the kitchen, and the wonderful additions that add into their mix. Some special women in my family all pile into the kitchen and make a special fried cookie called strufoli, a classic cookie with many variations, which is made by many Italian families around different holidays. Different families have different ways of shaping and dressing these cookies; our cookies resemble a bird’s nest and are drizzled with honey. Since they are shaped in the likeness of a bird’s nest, my family refers to the cookies as il nido.

Il nido are not the kind of cookies that you whip up in between ballet class and an appointment with your accountant; they are a labor of love. The ideal way to make il nido is with good music and the company of 3 good people – one to roll, one to cut and shape, and one to fry. The 3 good people remain the same every year, which heavily plays into the tradition of il nido, for the cookies bond the family forever in memory.

During Christmas, my godmother joins in the mix of lovely ladies with ladles in their dance around the kitchen sink to make il nido. Just as my mother will always remember making these cookies with her mother, father, and grandmother, I will always remember the wonderful sounds of laughter and smells of honey that warmly emerged from my kitchen every year in December.

Il Nido

Ingredients

• 2 large thick skinned oranges
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 eggs
• 6 egg yolks
• Anisette
• 1 cup sugar
• Flour
• Vegetable or corn oil

Preparation

1. Grate the orange skins, be careful not to grate the pith as it is bitter, fry in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, let cool
2. Mix the eggs, yolks about a shot of anisette and the sugar together, beat until well blended, add the fried orange and the oil
3. Begin to add flour ½ cup at a time, when you can no longer mix with a spoon, turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and continue to add flour until the dough no longer sticks (it will take 3 to 4 cups of flour). Knead dough into a ball being careful not to add too much flour to make the dough stiff, just enough so that it doesn’t stick.
4. Heat the oil in a deep fryer.
5. Take a small section of the dough, cover the rest with plastic wrap so it does not form a skin.
6. Flour the surface and roll the dough thin, about 1/8 of an inch thick. The dough will try to shrink back to its original size, you must keep turning it over and stretching it, careful not to add too much flour or the cookies will be hard. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 1 inch strips. Pinch the dough firmly so that it sticks to itself every 1 ½ to 2 inches along its entire length. Next, begin to roll the strip of dough in upon itself and again pinch it together to form the shape of a bird’s nest. (try not to pinch the same spot twice, go between your original pinches). Gently lift from underneath and carefully drop into the hot oil. When it pops back up and turns a golden brown, turn it over using a long pair of tongs, let it cook a little longer and then quickly remove from the hot oil. Let drain in a colander and remove to a big box lined with waxed paper. This is how they are stored until ready to eat.
7. When ready to serve, heat honey on a low flame, drizzle the cookies with the honey, place on a plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar. For those who don’t like honey, just the powdered sugar will do.