Roxanne Snopek | A Merry Mennonite Christmas

I'm a Mennonite. I know, I know: how is that possible, since I wear make-up and jeans and don't have a little black beanie pinned on my braids? My path branched away from that of my ancestors but there is much I cherish about my heritage.

For instance, the food: Wareneki, rollkuchen, cabbage borsch, plumi moos, that cold, sweet pudding-y soup filled with prunes and raisins and cherries...

Anyway, since I don't spend my days hitched to a plow, I rarely indulge my Mennonite appetite.

The Mennonite love of music, however, is a different story. Especially at Christmas.

Despite a deep suspicion of the arts, it's a culture that embraces music as form of worship. (Nothing you might want to dance to, though. Dancing is Very Bad. There's an old joke among us Mennos: why don't Mennonites have sex standing up? Because it could lead to dancing.)

So although we do not dance, most Menno kids grew up with music lessons of some sort; most of us sang in the church choir. Some of us sang in chamber choirs that even went on tour.

We did not sound like this:

I can still sing along with The Hallelujah Chorus of Handel's Messiah and it remains one of my favorite pieces of music, especially at Christmas.

In SAVING THE SHERIFF, I tell the story of Red, who has lost his love of music and irrepressible Frankie, who loves to sing. I had a wonderful time putting a new spin on the Christmas carols they grew up with. I hope you sing along with them!

And here, just for you, is another Christmas treat I grew up: spice cookies called Peppernuts. (or Pfefferneussen, according to my low German relatives, who liked to dip them in coffee)

These are an understated cookie, plain, nut-sized (hence the name!) and deceptively addictive! Traditional wisdom says these must be made weeks in advance, as they slowly increase in flavor. But truly, there is nothing like a handful of peppernuts, hot out of the oven.

Here's my take on this old favorite:

Ingredients:
¾ c butter
½ c white sugar
½ c brown sugar
¼ c corn syrup
¼ c dark molasses
3 tbsp sour milk (or plain yogurt)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾ tsp cardamom
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp cloves
¾ tsp fresh-ground pepper (peppernuts, get it?!)
½ tsp ginger
¾ tsp cinnamon
3 ½ c flour (I used a mixture of white, whole-wheat and spelt flours)

Cream together butter and sugars. Add syrups and sour milk. Mix dry ingredients together in separate bowl, then gradually add to the wet ingredients mixture. Roll into ropes (or "snakes," if you've got kids helping) then cut into ½-inch pieces and bake on a greased baking sheet at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Merry Christmas!

And for one final treat, here's the famous light show version of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus: