Hey ya! Merry Xmas all.!!! My Moms' dad, grandpa Rene DeVlaeminck came here from Belgium. Grandma from Holland. In both countries, but originating in Belgium, these cookies have been made on these irons:
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They are 2 piece, the base, and the hinged iron itself. The baking surfaces
on the iron are checkered, it is hinged as you can see. The base and iron
work together so that the iron will fully rotate on it 360 degrees in either direction, and designed so it comes to rest in place flat to the cooking source.
The base is cast iron the cookie iron is steel.
This iron comes from Belgium (all do, only source). I grew up among many many folks of Belgian descent in Minn. My sis lives in the small (133) town of Ghent (a large city in Belgium) just 10 miles from the farm I was raised on.
It has many Belgian residents, just an area that however it happened, was
settled by a goodly % of Belgians back in the mid 1800s. All of SW Minn is like that-flat rural prairie settled by scads of Scandinavians but also many German, Polish, Czechs, etc.........
Anyway, Belgian cookie irons came here with them and the tradition has been passed down where it is still prominently practiced today. My mothers' generation all had irons, now it is being lost somewhat. Sis makes dozens & dozens and people flock to buy em.
The dough for this 15-1/2 doz batch is :
1 lb melted butter
8 c flour
6 eggs
2 T vanilla
2-1/2 c ea white/brown sugar
pinch of salt
*jigger of whipass optional
It is alot of work makin the dough, gettin all the sugar and flour worked in well. Then it is a 1 at a time process that too me 1-1/2 hrs of steady diligent attention. It also took 40 min to roll the dough into balls. You put 1 on the iron, close it, squeeze a bit, flip over & let cook a few sec and flip back-open-remove cookie-repeat.
They are some kind of good.
Theres a "bridge" open to this day between SW Minn Belgians & the native country. Communications and friendships founded on mostly blood family ties or during the process of emmigrating and settling are maintained but waning
with each new generation. A man I know in the town sis lives in is not only 1 of the people mentioned who go to Belgium to visit and host people from Belgium who come here to visit, he is the dude imports Belgian Cookie irons.
Lukken=cookie
Yzer=iron
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Take care all!!
No presents, no Xmas dinner yet.
Anyone else of Belgian descent out there??
OT Xmas Tradition on My Moms Side
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