Tali's Cookies

First of all, apologies for the slow posting (or, rather, no posting) this week: I was in Georgia doing research for a top secret project that may or may not go anywhere--you'll have to wait and see. But now I'm back and do you know the first thing I ate after walking back into my apartment?

One of Tali's cookies.

Tali is my future sister-in-law and, almost two weeks ago, she handed me a bag of cookies that she made before Craig and I returned from Boca Raton to Brooklyn after Thanksgiving. The cookies are cookies her grandmother used to make and they're interesting because: (a) they're not really cookies; (b) you can make them really easily; (c) they last a really long time in the refrigerator (hence, my ability to eat them two weeks later.)

Basically, they're Ritz Cracker sandwiches--peanut butter smeared in the middle--dipped in white chocolate.

In fact, that's the entire recipe: buy Ritz Crackers. Spread peanut butter on one, sandwich it with another. Then melt some white chocolate in a microwave (stirring every 30 seconds, just until melted) and coat the cracker sandwich with the melted chocolate, drying it afterwards on a rack.

The result is a happy combination of salty, savory and sweet. And they're pretty filling: one cookie goes a long way, as I learned on both the airplane back from Florida (I ate one instead of the bag of pretzels) and last night, when I snacked on one before starting to make dinner.

If you're intent on making holiday cookies to give away, fancy ones with cookie cutters and icing and little sparkles, Tali's cookies are the cookies you should make for yourself. Other cookies may be more refined, but these are cookies that hit the spot. Thanks, Tali, for the recipe.

P.S. Yes, my mom keeps a cardboard cut-out of my book cover on the piano. Can I help it if I have a doting Jewish mother?