Pigs, pigs, everywhere! These Finnish Spice Cookies are as delicious as they are adorable! With an army of piggies like this one, it seems like there should be a story. Hmm.
The Finnish Spice Pigs
Once upon a time, a pig farmer from Finland got angry with his widower neighbor for looking lustily at his daughter. Fearing the neighbor would ask to take her as a wife, the Finnish farmer decided to send an army of his best trained pigs to devour all of the widower’s crops so that he could claim that, without a means to support a family, he couldn’t possibly allow the match to occur, out of concern for his daughter’s happiness and well being. So the stealthy piggies snuck out into the night and consumed everything in sight, including a sizable field of herbs and spices, then slunk back to their own pen, full and content. The widower was devastated at the ruin, and the pig farmer felt very guilty for what he had done, but could not bring himself to admit it was his doing. As a secret act of atonement, the pig farmer not only gave his blessing to the marriage, but also offered half of his pig herd as part of his daughter’s dowry. The biggest and fattest pig was slaughtered and served at the wedding feast, and all in attendance marveled at how wonderfully seasoned with spices and herbs the pig was! The pig farmer’s wife, who cooked the feast, accepted the accolades with confusion, and whispered to her husband, “I don’t know what they are talking about! I don’t even have any spices. The widowers’ crops were all ruined this year, and I always got my spices from him!”
Okay, not the best story, but it was still fun to write!
So FINALLY, ‘tis the season…to MAKE & BAKE! One of my favorite things about fall is the FOOD! I love the baking, and roasting, and candy making, and… well, all of it! And don’t get me started on mulled apple cider and wassail! Yum! So this weekend, I decided to try a recipe from a giant cookie cookbook I’ve been having for years. The book showed the cookies in the shape of pigs, so naturally I HAD to have a pig shaped cookie cutter! Too cute! I had thought about doing a Julie & Julia-inspired venture, and bake my way through every single cookie in the book, but there are recipes involving coffee that I just don’t want to touch, really, and others that are more for kids to decorate, rather than for a tasty cookie. But with “over 150 cookie recipes,” I’m sure I have enough recipes to keep me occupied for quite a long time! My next planned cookie is the Fall Leaves recipe, now that I have managed to find a nice set of leaf-shaped cookie cutters! I can’t wait! And I’m still debating where this small batch of pecans will go…into a caramel pecan log, or into spiced candied nuts (they taste JUST like the ones you can get at the Renaissance Festival)!
The fall and xmas seasons just never really felt like cake was the right thing to bake (with the exception of carrot and red velvet cakes, respectively). Pies, cookies and candies, however, are a different story! So this weekend was my official kick-off of the Autumn Baking Season. Yes, I am turning it into its own season! And isn’t food always a celebration?
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