Rainbow Cookies

An Oklahoma Granny asked if I would share the recipe for these delicious Rainbow Cookies, so here it is:

1-8 oz. can of almond paste

3 sticks of butter, softened (1 and 1/2 cups)

1 cup of sugar

2 cups of flour

1 tsp. almond extract

1/4 tsp. salt

4 eggs

1 jar of seedless raspberry

12 oz chocolate chips

red and green food coloring

Oven temp: 350 degrees

Bake time: 12-15 minutes

Break up almond paste in a large bowl and beat in butter, sugar, eggs, and almond extract until light and fluffy. Beat in flour and salt. Split batter into 3 equal portions. Mix one portion with green food coloring and one with red food coloring, leaving the last portion as is. Spread each portion out to 1/4" thickness into the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Bake until lightly browned. Allow to cool. Place one layer on a cookie sheet and spread seedless raspberry jam on top, place uncolored layer on top and spread with raspberry again. Place remaining layer on top and melt chocolate chips and spread over top and sides. Chill for at least 1 hour or until firm. Slice into small rectangles.

I sure miss....

My friend Darlene recently posted about a jewish deli in Birmingham, Alabama that she tried and loved. When she talked about the different food that she and her family ordered, it made me start to think about all my favorite foods that I no longer get to enjoy because they just can not be found where I now live. I am a much more picky eater than she is, I don't like as varied a food choice as she does but I sure do miss some simple food pleasures. Things like a loaf of Italian bread. Oh, sure they sell Italian bread (or what they label as Italian bread) in the supermarkets, but it is not the same bread that I ate when I grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. The kind of bread that you buy in an Italian bakery, the kind with a hard thick crust. And speaking of Italian bakeries....cannoli's, black and white cookies, and my favorite...rainbow cookies, oh how I miss them all. There is an italian bakery in town and their stuff is good, but not really close enough to what I remember, something is missing. I have tried my hand at making these delicacies and found that my black and white cookies came out better than the local italian bakery, and my rainbow cookies aren't too bad either....but the bread just cannot be duplicated.

My rainbow cookies before I cut them.

And another thing that I miss is Spumoni. Real spumoni the kind that you get at Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn. We used to go there often when I was a kid. They served pizza and heros and italian food but on a hot summer night, nothing was better than spumoni from Spumoni Gardens.

Oh the memories!! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

I only dream about these delicious treats while living in Florida

but I guess it is just as well

'cause I would never lose weight if

I still lived in Brooklyn.