Walking into my grandmother’s house, I gaze at the Christmas tree, sparkling lights winding their way to the peak where a silver star adorns the top branch of the petit pine. Beneath, is a mini lit-up Christmas village, with a fragile train chugging its way through the town and winding through the snow-coated cottages. My grandmother has arranged this small village for nearly fifty years, since she married my grandfather. This year is no different; the same train whistles. I hear my aunt’s dog bark a cheerful “hello.” Nat King Cole’s, silky tone is singing “The Christmas Song” alongside the joyful chorus of voices from my aunts and uncles. I sigh blissfully. I breath in the sweet, spicy smell of the Ponche. The list of ingredients gallop through my mind: cinnamon, cider, cloves, coconut, pineapple, papaya… Just this past autumn, my grandmother taught me the recipe, patiently helping me prepare it, and write down what had been locked away in her mind. My grandmother greets me at the door, giving me a hug, and smiling, the words spilling out of her mouth soft, smooth and sweet, “Feliz Navidad!” She proceeds to present me with the Ponche, and I gladly take it, daintily slurping the flavorful drink: spices, apples and raisins fill my mouth. The cup is warm to the touch; heat is radiating off the white ceramic mug and filling my heart with happiness. Serves 7 Ingredients 1 medium Granny Smith apple 1 small Gala apple 1 ½ cups (350g) papaya (any variety) 1 ½ cups (350g) pineapple 1 baby Thai coconut 9 pitted prunes ½ cup (115g) raisins 4 cups (1 litre) water 4 cups (1 litre) apple cider 3 medium cinnamon sticks 3 cloves 4 allspice berries ½ cup (115g) raw sugar Method Dice the apples, papaya and the pineapple into small cubes. Place them in a large pot. Have an adult open the coconut. Empty the juice into a separate glass. (You will not need it in this recipe.) Scoop away the coconut flesh with a spoon. Place the coconut in the pot. Cut the pitted prunes in half. Place them in the pot, and add the raisins. Pour the apple cider and the water into the pot. Put in the cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Pour in the sugar. Set on the stove with medium heat until it boils. Lower the flame and simmer for 18-20 minutes. Serve hot. Catherine Gruen, 10Chino Hills, California

My mom always makes these for my family and me. She also made them for my neighbors when they first moved in, that was our way of making them feel welcomed. They also loved them. My mom is an amazing baker and can make anything that requires baking for any type of occasion. Ingredients ½ cup (115g) butter, softened ¾ cup (175g) brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/3 cups (200g) all-purpose flour ¾ cup (65g) graham cracker crumbs (or crushed wheatmeal or Digestive biscuits) 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt 5 Hershey bars, or 200g other milk chocolate) 1 small container marshmallow crème, or 200g marshmallows Method Heat oven to 350ᐤF (180ᐤC). Grease one 8-inch (20cm) square pan. Beat butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla beat well. Stir together flour, graham crackers, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture and beat well until blended. Press half the dough into pan. Arrange chocolate bars over dough. Spread marshmallow crème over it and press rest of dough over it. Bake 30-35 minutes.

  It all began with boredom. It was a sweltering August day, and my younger brother, Ciaran, and I couldn’t agree on what to do. “We could play Go Fish,” Ciaran suggested. I shook my head. “No.” Okay,” Ciaran fidgeted a little, trying to think. “How about—” “I could read to you,” I interjected. Ciaran sighed. “C’mon, Evelyn, it’s summer. School doesn’t start for two weeks. How about—” Once again, I interrupted: “We can pick raspberries and make a raspberry smoothie.” On the side of our house, there is a colossal, overgrown raspberry bush that produces many raspberries from about May up until mid-October, when the weather turns cold. One of my favorite summer activities is picking raspberries and then eating them. But it was a small spark of genius that it might be fun to try to make raspberries into a smoothie. After all, we had a blender—though I had never used it before. Ciaran smiled and agreed with me. “Let’s do it.” And after grabbing a couple of bowls and calling, “Mom, going outside to pick raspberries!”, we were on our way. When we pick raspberries, it isn’t the most pleasant thing in the world. It just so happens that the bush is west of the house, and that at 3:00 in the afternoon, the scorching sun is in the west, too, and it decides to roast your back. It doesn’t help that the bush produces raspberries as well as thorns. The thought of getting a cool smoothie at the end of all of this kept me going, and at least it was only 90°. As soon as we filled three bowls with raspberries, we went inside, dumped the raspberries in a strainer, and washed them. As we did, Mom came into the kitchen. “Hi,” she greeted us. “What are you doing with the raspberries?” “Making a smoothie,” Ciaran replied as I set down the strainer and searched in the cupboard for the blender. “You’ve never made one before,” she said. “Do you need help?” I shook my head. “We’re good. This was our idea, after all.” “Okay,” she said and left. As we dumped the raspberries from the strainer to the blender, we couldn’t help but be excited. We had never made anything with raspberries, and now we were making a smoothie. “Moment of truth,” I told Ciaran as I plugged the blender into an outlet and switched it ON. The blender began to whirr, and the raspberries began to spin. It looked pretty good, actually, in the minute before raspberry smoothie bits began spewing out the top and onto the counter that had just been cleaned. “No, no, no!” I fretted. To Ciaran, who was closer to the blender, I said, “Switch it off!” “I can’t do that without—” Ciaran began, reaching for the switch. Before he could, mushed raspberry bits sprayed him in the cheek. “Who cares?” I snapped at him. “You can wash your face after!” A few raspberry bits in the face later, Ciaran flipped the switch and it was off. I reached for a towel so that I could cover the top of the blender. A few minutes later, after we drank our smoothies, Mom came into the kitchen. “How did it go?” she asked. I smiled. “Perfect. Just perfect.” Now picking raspberries and making smoothies out of them is one of our favorite summer activities. Of course, we put a rag over the top now so that raspberry bits stay in the blender. But if I were to choose, I wouldn’t put a rag over the blender, just for the fun of it. Serves 1 Ingredients 1 cup (200g) fresh raspberries 1 Mandarin orange, peeled 2 ice cubes Method Put all ingredients in a blender and switch it to high. Blend until thick and smooth. Note: If your blender is over-reactive, make sure to screw the top on tight and put a towel over the top, just in case! Evelyn Kelly, 10Spokane, WA

My best Brownies ever. The first bite of my OWN recipe. All in that one bite, I tasted what I had been working on for such a long time. About a year before I made my brownies, I had found a recipe on the internet that I wanted to try. It turned out so well that when people tasted it, with a smile on their face saying it was so good, that they wanted another one, saying they couldn’t stop, it made me want to keep going. I bake for many reasons, it makes me happy, I go into my own world in the kitchen, I forget all my troubles and just BAKE. But the main reason I bake is that lots of kids have allergies like me and my family do. I can’t have gluten or wheat. I also can’t have too many eggs or dairy. The rest of my family is allergic to things like me but they are also allergic to nuts and soy. It sounds pretty impossible to bake without all of those crucial ingredients, but I do it differently. I put my heart, soul, love, joy, sorrow, sadness, my everything into what I bake. I hope that you give this recipe a try and come to adore baking as much as I do, and I hope that you and your family enjoy these brownies as much as we do. Serves: 16 Ingredients 1 cup (175g) vegan/dairy free butter, melted and cooled in the fridge 2 tablespoons (30ml) grapeseed oil 1 cup (200g) brown sugar 1 cup (200g) white sugar 4 flax eggs, made from 4 tbsp ground flaxseed 5 tbsp hot (not boiling) water 4 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup (200g) gluten free flour blend 1 cup (85g) good quality, unsweetened cocoa powder (I use a combination of regular and dark) 1 teaspoon salt Dairy-free chocolate chips added to your liking (up to 1 ½ cups (200g)) Method Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) then line a 7×11 inch baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. Make your flax eggs: combine your ground flaxseed meal with your warm (not boiling) water and set it aside for at least 5 minutes. In a large bowl combine the cold melted butter, oil, and both sugars. Add the flax eggs, vanilla and salt then whisk for about one minute until evenly combined. Over the same bowl, sift in the gluten-free flour blend and cocoa powder. Gently fold the all of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until JUST combined (do NOT overmix). Fold in half of the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then smooth the top. Generously top with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 35-40 minutes*, or until the center of the brownies is JUST set to the touch. Remove your brownies from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before removing from the baking tray and cutting into pieces. *A note from the Stone Soup test kitchen: we only needed 30 minutes of baking, as our oven is quite hot, so you might want to check yours a bit sooner. Ours came out of the oven bubbling like lava so if yours do too we’d advise not touching them until they have cooled! Charlotte Weimer, 12McLean, Virginia

My family makes three kinds of cookies every year at Christmas. There’s a dark chocolate mint brownie, a sugar cookie, and a chocolate chip peanut butter cookie. Ever since I’ve been small, I’ve asked my mom every year if I can help. For as long as I can remember, she’s let me get things for her—whisks, bowls, measuring cups. However, this year, even though I’m twelve, I don’t expect any more than a “Not this year, Lily. Maybe next year.” But when, as she’s getting out the ingredients for the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies, I ask, “Can I do them this year, Mom?” I’m surprised when she says, “Sure, Lily. You’ve helped me for a bunch of years. Do you think you could manage it?” “Sure,” I say, thrilled. I’ve made muffins before, but never one of the Christmas cookies. She hands me the recipe, and under her watchful eye, I gather the ingredients and begin to mix them together. When I’m about halfway through, the phone rings. My mom picks it up, saying, “I’ll be on the phone for a little while. Finish mixing them and put them in the oven. I should be off the phone by the time they come out, but if not, let them cool and put them in some Ziploc bags and put them in the box with the rest of the cookies.” Then, to the phone, she says, “Hello? Oh, hi, yeah, this isn’t a bad time…” She walks up the stairs to talk in peace. I finish mixing most of the ingredients. The last ingredient is butter—I look at it for a moment, then shrug. Dad always substitutes oil for butter. I get out the oil and pour in the correct amount. Mixing them together, I accidently spill the chocolate chip bag a bit. Oh well, I think. A few extra chocolate chips never hurt anybody. I set them on the cookie sheet in little balls and stick them in the preheated oven. By the time I’m done cleaning up the timer is beeping and I open the oven. The cookies look slightly…flatter…than usual, but I think nothing of it as I let them cool, then lay them in plastic bags and put them with the other Christmas cookies. A few minutes later, Mom comes back in. “Done?” she says. “Good. It’s time the Christmas cookies were done, we’ve never been doing them on the twenty-third before.” *          *          * Now it is Christmas day, and we’re spending it, as always, at Aunt Lavinia’s with the rest of our family. Mom and I lay out the cookies on a large tray. She unloads our box and looks at me very, very hard. “What did you do to the cookies?” she asks, rather angrily. “I only traded the butter for oil like Dad always does,” I say, brushing my hair out of my face nervously. “Not for cookies!” she said. She never fools around with recipes. I’m expecting more, but she just sighs. “Oh well,” she says. “Too late to change them. They’ll have to do.” About halfway through the night, Aunt Lavinia comes up to me and Mom, one of my cookies in her hand. “These are the best you’ve ever made!” she says enthusiastically. “What did you do differently?” Mom’s face breaks into a smile. “Ask Lily,” she says. “She’s the one who made them.” Aunt Lavinia turns to me. “These are great,” she says. “You should make them again next year!” Since then, I’ve always made the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies at Christmastime. Aunt Lavinia’s yet to be disappointed. Note: “Christmas Cookies” is a fictional story! However, it was inspired by the following recipe. Recipe makes approximately 36 cookies. Ingredients 1 cup (200g) all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt ⅓ cup (80ml) vegetable oil ¼ cup (60ml) milk ½ cup (55g) granulated sugar or honey 1 cup (200g) packed light brown sugar 1 cup (200g) peanut butter 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup (200g) chopped peanuts 1 cup (200g) semi-sweet chocolate chips Method Preheat oven to 350⁰F (175⁰C). Prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper or butter. Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set it aside. Cream oil, milk, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a mixer or with a whisk. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla, continuing to mix until they are incorporated. Then add the peanut butter to the wet ingredients and combine thoroughly. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring constantly, to make a soft dough. Stir the peanuts and chocolate chips into the cookie batter. Scoop tablespoons of dough onto sheet pans, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for about 12 minutes. Cool for about 2 minutes before removing from pan. Ella Martinez Nocito, 10Sunderland, MA

This cookie was discovered when I was bored. I wrote up a recipe and the Lembas cookie was invented! This cookie is named after the Lembas bread from the Lord of the Rings that the elves make. And, just like the bread, you can eat one cookie and be full for a couple of hours. As my family says: “It tastes like gingerbread, smells like banana bread, and has a texture like a sponge cake.” This cookie is truly unique. Ingredients 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour (or cake flour. I use all-purpose for everything) 1 cup (200g) sugar (less if you like. You can use ½ – ⅔ cup (200g) of honey as a substitute. I found that honey tastes better if you like that sort of thing.) ½ cup (115g) butter (unsalted, as salted doesn’t taste good. Blech!) 2 eggs 1 pinch salt 1 tsp baking soda (to make it rise. Don’t be surprised when something bubbles in the oven, it’s just the soda!) ½ cup (120ml) milk (lactose-free works just as well as the real thing) Optional ingredients These optional ingredients are just suggested flavorings. Some people don’t like ginger, so if they don’t want to, they can take it out with no ill effects, same with the cinnamon, and the molasses. Ginger (½ – ¾ tsp) Cinnamon (½ – ¾ tsp) Molasses (up to 1 tsp, to taste) Method Put all the dry ingredients into a big bowl. If using honey instead of sugar, please see next step. Melt the butter (but not completely!) and add to the dry stuff. If using honey, pour it in now, please. If you use honey, it might be runnier, but once it’s baked, it’ll be fine. Add the eggs and mix in. Pour in the milk and mix everything together. In the meantime, you can preheat the oven (some ovens heat up almost immediately, like mine does, so for me, heating the oven is always the last step. If yours heats up slowly, turn it on while melting the butter). Pour the mixture onto a baking tray tray (approx 9 x 13” / 23 x 33cm) covered in parchment paper, and bake at 400 ̊F (200 ̊C) until golden brown (around 20-30 mins). Don’t worry if the mixture is runny at first, because this is what is supposed to happen. Enjoy with jam or butter. Yum!

One Saturday night a long time ago, my grandma and I had nothing to do. I went in the pantry to find some baking recipes.  I saw a recipe that said Very Berry Pie. “Grandma,” I said “come look at what I found!”  My grandma told me this was her great grandma’s recipe. “LET’S BAKE IT!” I said excitedly.  We got out the pans and got the oven ready. We rolled out the pie crust and put it around the rim of the pie pan. Meanwhile my little brother sneaked into the kitchen and took some pie dough to play with. “WHERE DID THE PIECE OF THE PIE CRUST GO?” I hollered. I saw my little brother run off. He was so fast I could not catch up! DONK! I tripped over the stairs. He dropped the piece of pie crust and I caught it! “I HAVE RETURNED THE PIE CRUST!”  I shouted like a brave knight.  I looked at my arm and saw that it was bleeding. “That little rascal”, I whispered.  I grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around my arm.  It stop bleeding. When we finished baking the pie, the crust was golden brown.  The filling was warm and looked like a mixture of thick berries and sauce.  I will always remember the first day I made Very Berry Pie because I still have a scar on my arm, and I bet my little brother will remember, too. Ingredients List of ingredients for the crust 1½ cups (180g) flour 1 stick (120g) butter ¼ cup (60ml) ice water a pinch of salt 1 egg yolk List of ingredients for the filling 8 oz (200g) blueberries 8 oz (200g) blackberries 8 oz (200g). raspberries 3 thinly sliced strawberries 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar ½ cup (55g) cornstarch 1 lemon Method How to make the crust First, get out a 12 inch (30cm) pie pan. Next, you need your flour and put it in a bowl. Rub the butter into it with your fingers. After that, take your egg. To separate the yolk, crack the egg in half over a bowl, let the yolk settle in one half of the shell and then keep transferring the yolk back and forth allowing the egg white to fall out into the bowl. Tip the egg yolk in another bowl. Make sure there are no egg shells in it. Whisk it with a whisk until it gets thick. Put it in with the flour and mix it in. Grab your half cup of water and pour it in the flour. Mix until thickened and combined. Take your hands and pick up the dough and sprinkle some flour on the counter. Take a rolling pin and roll out two pie crusts. Then gently set one crust in the pie pan. Put the crust around the rim. How to make the filling and bake the pie Take out a two quart saucepan and put in the berries and the sugar. The berries should be boiling. You want to reduce the heat, then add the cornstarch, and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook the berries over medium heat until they reduce. They should be thickened after 15 minutes. Let them cool off for 19 minutes. Take your lemon and stab it with a fork. Cut it in half. Squeeze the lemon juice in with the berries. Mix until thick. Scoop up the filling and drop into the crust in the pie pan.  Wet the edges of the bottom pie crust so the top crust can stick together. Take your 2nd pie crust and put it on the top of the filling, then crimp both crusts together using a fork. Take your fork and put a little hole in the top of the crust so the pie can have some air. Bake the pie for ¾ – 1 hour at 350⁰F (175⁰C).*  Let it cool for about fifteen minutes. *A note from the Stone Soup test kitchen: the pie will turn golden brown. This might take a little longer or a little less time, depending on your oven. You can start to check it after 35-40 minutes. Skylar Carroscia, 8South Euclid, OH