Cherry Snowballs

Father's Day fell on Sunday. Eduardo wanted to grill. He has wanted to grill more in recent years. He bought a small Weber three years ago and uses it ten times a year. We had the family over. Twenty people. Eduardo made carne asada — beef, marinated overnight in citrus and garlic and oregano, grilled at high heat — and chicken thighs with a lime adobo. The grandchildren ate corn on the cob. Lucas ate three. Camila ate corn off Lucas's plate. Andrés gnawed on a corn cob until Rosa took it from him because Andrés cannot have corn cobs at one and a half.

Mami came. Eduardo drove her. She stayed two hours. She sat in the kitchen and watched everything. She did not eat much — a few bites of chicken, a small amount of rice — but she sat with her hand on Eduardo's arm for most of the visit and at one point she said, "Eduardo, you are a good father." Eduardo said, "Doña Luz María, thank you." She said, "Eduardo, my Carmen is lucky." Eduardo said, "Doña, no. I am the lucky one." Mami smiled. She closed her eyes. She rested with her hand on his arm. The kitchen kept moving. Children ran. Sofía bumped into me by mistake and apologized three times. Rosa caught Andrés before he ate a piece of plastic. The day moved around Mami like water moves around a rock. She was the still center.

Tuesday food bank: pollo guisado. Yolanda did most of the cooking. I supervised. She did well. Mr. Patterson said at the end, "Mrs. Carmen, Yolanda is good." I said, "Mr. Patterson, she is."

Wednesday I met with Tamika at City Hall. We finalized the satellite locations. Three: Asylum Hill, Frog Hollow, North End. Each location would launch fall 2026 — fifteen months away — to give us time to train Marcus and one or two more teachers besides Yolanda. The fall 2025 cohort at Parkville (the only Cocina then) would have Marcus and Yolanda as paid TAs.

Thursday Mami had a long lucid stretch. Three hours. She told me, "Carmen, when I die, I want pasteles at my wake." I said, "Mami, of course." She said, "Carmen, twelve dozen. Make them ahead. Freeze them. The pasteles will be ready when I am ready." I said, "Mami, twelve dozen is a lot." She said, "Carmen, my wake will have many people. They will be hungry. Pasteles." I said, "Mami, I will make twelve dozen." She said, "Good. And arroz con dulce. The funeral version." I said, "Yes, Mami." She said, "Carmen, the menu is set." She closed her eyes. She slept.

I cried in the car on the way home. I came in. Eduardo asked nothing. He held me. Sunday dinner: Father's Day round two with the family who had not come Sunday. Pernil. Tostones. Wepa.

Mami gave me a menu and a timeline and closed her eyes. I drove home and cried and Eduardo held me and that was Thursday. By Sunday I was back in the kitchen, because the kitchen is where I go. I cannot make the pasteles yet — twelve dozen is not a Thursday-night project — and I cannot make the arroz con dulce, not the funeral version, not yet. So I made these instead: small, sweet, a cherry hidden at the center of each one, rolled in white sugar until they looked like something you’d bring to a table full of people you love. It felt right. It felt like practicing.

Prep Time: 20 min | Chill Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 1 hr 5 min | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus 1 cup more for rolling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
36 maraschino cherries, drained and patted thoroughly dry

Instructions

Make the dough. Beat softened butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar together with a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2—3 minutes. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine.
Add dry ingredients. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour and salt gradually, mixing just until a soft dough comes together. Do not overmix.
Chill. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This keeps the balls from spreading in the oven.
Preheat oven. Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Wrap the cherries. Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough and flatten it in your palm. Place one dry cherry in the center and fold the dough up around it, rolling gently between your hands until you have a smooth, round ball. Set on prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
Bake. Bake 12—15 minutes, until cookies are set and just barely golden on the bottom. The tops should remain pale.
First roll. While cookies are still warm (not hot), roll them gently in the remaining 1 cup powdered sugar. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.
Second roll. Once fully cooled, roll each cookie in powdered sugar a second time for a thick, snowy coating. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cherry Snowballs — Sweet Bites for the Table She’s Already Setting