Porn ‘n pizzelles

The topics pornography and pizzelles are not connected but in my mind inextricably linked and remind me of my Grandma Maria. I know sounds strange, right? Let me explain. My grandmother is NOT in the porn industry but she is an indelible part of my family’s story during the Deep Throat days. She went to see the movie Deep Throat and visited my dad’s strip club the Golden 33. She was on a relentless pursuit to protect her family and do her own investigation and understand first hand what her son-in-law was up to. She is tough, smart and any son-in-law’s worst nightmare.  I still marvel at my grandmother’s progressive and even eccentric ways. A perfect example of her eccentricity was her pet ocelot Kitty. This South American jungle cat lived with her in the heart of the city. I feel fortunate to have this larger than life character in my family. Grandma Maria is also intertwined with all my Christmas memories. Even after we moved to Florida we always spent the holidays at Grandma Maria’s house in South Philadelphia. Every year my Grandpa Frank was in charge of making her Italian pizzelle cookie recipe. Grandpa Frank would lock Kitty in a cabinet (no joke) so I could come into the kitchen to watch him labor with the hand blender to combine the dough and patiently press individual cookies in the pizzelle iron. It took forever to make the hundreds of cookies my family would devour within a couple of hours on Christmas day. I still make these cookies every Christmas and the smell of anise takes me back to the many holidays spent in Grandma Maria’s kitchen watching my grandfather make these cookies.  So in honor of my grandparents I am sharing Grandma Maria’s pizzelle recipe with all of you. You need a pizzelle iron to make them and can find this tool in any department store. Mangia! 

Grandma Maria’s Pizzelle Recipe
Makes 70-75 pizzelles

1 ¼ cups of sugar

6 eggs

4 teaspoons of baking powder

2 tablespoons of anise oil or extract (World Market carries this)

2 sticks of butter or margarine

3 cups of flour

Melt butter and set aside to cool

Beat the eggs with hand blender or standing mixer and add sugar gradually

Add cooled butter

Add Anise

Add flour and baking soda

Coat the inside of the pizzelle iron with cooking spray.

On a pre-heated pizzelle iron place a tablespoon in the center and press.

You will have to experiment with the heat of the iron as to how long to cook.

To remove use a fork to peal the cookie off and place flat on a counter to cool.

Happy Holidays!