Spammy Jerks

And no, this isn't a recipe, for Spam jerky, it's a minor bitch about something that's been bugging me for a couple of months. Spammers and random folks have been posting comments at the FoggyFoot Review to advertise everything from pictures of female escorts to investment opportunities, and I'm pretty damn over it. I've got the spam filter on and that's helping with spam, but it doesn't block actual people who are doing basically the same thing. It's making me cranky and I'm thinking about moving the blog elsewhere, but before I do, does anyone have any other ideas for blocking unwanted advertisements / comments? Thanks!

Addendum: Thanks to Little Weaver for her excellent suggestion. I've changed my settings, and it seems to be working just fine :-)

Pfeffernusse

For Christmas this year, I made my German aunt pfeffernusse. Pfeffernusse, which is very pfun to say, are traditional German Christmas cookies made from pepper (pfeffer) and spice. Apparently they came out all right, because my aunt really like them. She also told me that they're great dunked in coffee or hot milk and honey. This was nice to learn because pfeffernusse are pretty hard, even after they've ripened for two weeks with an apple slice (don't even think of eating them before they've had a chance to soften, or you could crack a tooth).

That said, pfeffernusse are really lovely little cookies, and a nice break from the heavier and sweeter ones that are also popular this time of year. Initially I thought that they were definitely adult cookies, but by one year old nephew seems to think they're pretty swell. Then again, he did have one the day after they were baked, at the peak of hardness, and he was teething at the time.... :-)

Pfeffernusse (from Rose’s Christmas Cookies)

Ingredients:

- 3 cups all-purpose flour

- ¼ tsp. baking powder

- ¼ tsp. salt

- 1/8 tsp. white pepper

- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

- 1/8 tsp. ground cloves

- small dash black pepper

- ½ cup chopped candied lemon peel (I couldn’t get this in time, so I substituted the zest of 1 medium lemon.)

- ½ cup unblanched almonds, toasted / roasted

- 1 cup granulated sugar

- 3 large eggs

- 1 cup powdered sugar

- 1 apple slice

Process:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves.
2. In a food processor, process the candied lemon peel (if using, if not put the zest in now), the almonds, and the granulated sugar until fine.
3. Add the eggs and process until blended.
4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour mixture. Process just until incorporated. The dough will be crumbly.
5. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for no more than one hour.
6. Meanwhile, place two oven racks at the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat to 350.
7. Roll the dough out onto a generously floured surface to ¼ inch thickness. Cut with smallish cookie cutters. Re-roll and cut until all of the dough is used.
8. Place the cookies ½ inch apart on cookie sheets. I like to use parchment paper to keep cookies from sticking, but that’s just my preference. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
9. When done, transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool. When they’re completely cool, place the powdered sugar in a bag and toss 5-6 cookies in until they are well coated. Continue until all the cookies are nice and snowy looking.
10. Store the cookies in an airtight container with the apple slice for two weeks, so they’re ripen up and soften.
11. Enjoy! (And I especially will now that Tia Dagmar’s told me how to pair them with coffee and hot milk J