The magical time of Christmas season arrived in Gig Harbor. The streets, neighborhoods, and stores were all lit up and decorated nicely. Don’t we all love hot and delicious meals that keep us warm on these cold, stormy, winter days? As it gets colder, having your favorite food makes your day more bearable. Even though everyone has their own way of celebrating the holidays, every student enjoys being somewhere he or she can relax in and enjoy the spirit of the season

Gig Harbor High School students tell what and where they like to eat during these times. From hot soup to homemade cookies, to pizza, cinnamon rolls, and hot drinks, they share their favorite snacks for this time of year.

Jonathan Schneble explains that he likes Christmas sugar cookies the most. Madison Delacruz says she loves going to Starbucks on a cold day and having a peppermint mocha. Hanah Sutich’s  favorite food and place is a gyros from the Greek restaurant in uptown Gig Harbor.

Finally, I wanted to share with you a recipe from Switzerland. These are my most favorite Christmas cookies, Zimtsterne.

…for the dough

• 2 egg whites
• a pinch of salt
• a little less than 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon
• 5 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 3/4 cup finely grounded almonds

…for the topping

• 1 egg white
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

…for the working

Sift the caster sugar into a bowl. Add the other dry ingredients for the dough and mix. Add egg whites and knead until a still sticky dough forms. Wrap into cling wrap and put into the fridge for 1-6 hours.

Roll out the dough about 1/3 inches thick or a little less, add more ground almonds if the dough is too sticky. Cut out the cookies with a star shaped cookie cutter. Again if the dough is too sticky, prepare a bowl of sugar to dip the cutter in.

Line the parchment paper and put the cut out cinnamon stars on the tray. I usually let them sit at room temperature for about an hour.

For the topping, whip the egg white in a bowl and add the powdered sugar. Add more if it’s not thick enough in order to get the right consistency.

…for baking

Preheat the oven to 370°F and bake the cookies for about 4 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let the Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars) cool completely on a cooling rack. The cookies are supposed to be soft taken out of the oven.

…for finishing

Put on the topping when the cinnamon stars are still warm. Dip them lightly into the sugar topping and let them cool down.

Store them in an airtight container, and they will last up to two weeks. The cookies will get better in taste over the next few days because the flavors blend more and more. Mine are always gone too soon though!

Enjoy and happy holidays!