from How to Have A Romantic Holiday

Set aside one holiday night during the holidays to create an international night. Pick a country--one you've visited together or would like to visit--and celebrate that country’s holiday traditions with holiday foods and music. You can even get creative and make a traditional holiday ornament together!

Putting an international twist to your festivities can be as simple as making Christmas cookies from another land. Try out one of these recipes together:

Swiss Cinnamon Stars

3 egg whites
8 ounces powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 drops almond extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
14 ounces ground almonds (or ground hazelnuts)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Whip egg whites to a peak. Sift powdered sugar and slowly add to egg whites. Remove 3 tablespoons of egg whites and set aside for later to decorate cookies. Add vanilla, almond extract, cinnamon and ground almonds. Put dough into a plastic bag and roll out to about 1/4 inch. Refrigerate bag for about 15 minutes. Cut bag open. Cut out cookies with a 2-inch star shaped cookie cutter and transfer onto baking pan lined with parchment paper. Brush cookies with egg whites Bake at 250 F for approximately 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 210 F and bake for another 30 minutes.

Hungarian Spice Cookies

1 pound walnuts, ground well
1 pound or 6 cups of bread crumbs
9 egg yolks
1/4 pound butter (1 stick), melted
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pound sugar (2 1/2 cups)

In large mixing bowl, mix ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, ground clove, ground nutmeg and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks and melted butter. Slowly mix egg and butter mixture into mixing bowl ingredients. Set aside.

Butter and flour two 9 x 12 inch pans. Divide mix and press cookie mix flat into each pan until each is about 1 inch thick. With butter knife, cut dough into 1 x 2 inch bars.

Bake in a low oven about 325 degrees until firm, about 20-25 minutes and bars slightly darken in color. Cool bars in pan; when cool, recut with knife and store in tin.

Mexican Cookies
Romantics, this recipe is not only a favorite at Christmas but also at weddings!

1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and salt. Gradually add flour. Fold in pecans. Cover and chill dough for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

Roll dough into walnut size balls and place on cookie sheets about 2" apart. Bake 25-35 minutes or until set but not brown. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar and place on wire racks to cool. When cookies cool dust with additional powdered sugar.

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