By Thanksgiving Thursday went the way I had hoped. I want to write the holiday down briefly because the holiday this year was the second six-person meal in our kitchen, and the pattern of the year-long table has, over the last twelve months, repeated and held.
The crew was the same as Easter. Aunt Tammy drove down from Tulsa. Mrs. Tilford. Mrs. Henderson, who is at our table for the holidays now because her son’s family was in Galveston. Mr. Briggs and Linda. Mama and me. Six people total.
The turkey: a 14-pound bird from Walmart at $11.20. The dressing: Mama did it, Grandma Carol’s recipe. The mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, scratch cranberry sauce: me. The dinner rolls: me, baked Wednesday and frozen, reheated Thursday. The pumpkin pie: me, baked Wednesday, the all-butter scratch crust holding through the slice. Linda Briggs brought a wedge of brie and a box of crackers as an appetizer, which is the first time anyone has brought brie into our house. Aunt Tammy brought a coconut cake.
Mr. Briggs gave a brief small toast at the table, in the same shape as the Easter toast. He said: To the recipes that find their way back home. He said it after Mama and Aunt Tammy and I had been talking about Grandma Carol’s dressing, about the way the recipe had come down through three generations and was now on the table again. Mama held my hand for the whole toast. The table was quiet. Then we ate.
And the recipe Saturday was cranberry almond coconut macaroons for the post-Thanksgiving thank-you tin run. Six tins again, the same six recipients as last December. Mrs. Tilford, Mrs. Rivera, Mr. Garcia, Aunt Tammy, Mrs. Henderson, Mrs. Patel. The pattern is now an annual one. Two years running.
The variation this year is the cranberry-almond version — dried cranberries from the Aldi baking aisle and slivered toasted almonds folded into the standard sweetened-coconut-and-condensed-milk macaroon dough. The cranberries add chewy tangy red pockets. The almonds add toasted crunch.
The math: three bags of sweetened shredded coconut $2.99 each, three cans of sweetened condensed milk $1.99 each, a small bag of dried cranberries $1.99, a small bag of slivered almonds $1.49, vanilla and almond extracts and salt from the kitchen. Six tins, $0.99 each at the dollar store, $5.94 total. Total: about $22.40 for the six tins, paid out of the savings envelope on the round of paychecks just before the holiday.
The technique is the same as last year — pack each cookie tightly into a dome on the parchment-lined sheet, bake at 325 for fifteen minutes. The variation: stir the cranberries and toasted almonds into the coconut-and-condensed-milk mixture before scooping. About a half cup of each per double batch.
I delivered the tins Saturday afternoon. Mrs. Tilford cried again. Mrs. Rivera said she was saving them for the Monday she would need them. Mr. Garcia at the auto-body shop, who I dropped off through Anthony, said it was the second year in a row, and that Cody had been talking about Kaylee’s tins for weeks at the chapbook reading. Aunt Tammy ate three macaroons standing in her doorway. Mrs. Henderson was on her front porch waiting. Mrs. Patel was at her office, and Mama dropped that one for me on Tuesday.
The annual round is now an annual round. The neighborhood is the neighborhood. The cooking is the work, and the work is the gratitude.
The recipe is below. The trick is the dried cranberry and toasted almond variation — the proportions are about a half cup of each per double-recipe batch. Make these for the people who carried you. Some lists are worth keeping in pen.
Cranberry Almond Coconut Macaroons
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 24 macaroons
Ingredients
- 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Heat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the shredded coconut, chopped dried cranberries, and sliced almonds until evenly distributed.
- Add wet ingredients. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir until the coconut mixture is fully coated and holds together when pressed.
- Whip egg whites. In a clean medium bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt using a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 3–4 minutes.
- Fold together. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the coconut mixture in two additions, being careful not to deflate the whites. The batter should be light but cohesive.
- Portion onto baking sheets. Using a tablespoon or small cookie scoop, drop rounded mounds of batter about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Gently press each mound to compact slightly.
- Bake. Bake for 22–25 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through, until the tops and edges are deep golden brown. The centers will look just set.
- Cool completely. Let macaroons cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. They firm up as they cool.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 108 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 13g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 58mg