The second recipe on my Christmas list is Vanilla Strips. The German name has been lost to too many generations on this side of the Atlantic. It requires no special tools or 'board' as Springerles do. VANILLA STRIPS Recipe By : Elizabeth Emrich Schertzer/ Susan Hodem Emrich/ etc Categories : Christmas Baking Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 pound shelled, unskinned almonds -- grind fine 4 large egg whites -- (little less than 2/3 cup) 1 pound 10 X sugar 2 tablespoons Vanilla extract Beat whites to soft peak. SLOWLY add 10X sugar (at first, about 1 Tablespoon at a time. If you add it too fast, the egg whites will turn runny), then add vanilla slowly. The old recipe said, "Beat for one half hour." That was undoubtedly by hand. Beat for 15-20 minutes on elec. mixer. Meringue should be stiff. Divide dough in approximately half. To one half, add the ground almonds. Mix well. Pat or roll out into a rectangle about 1/4" thick onto a board or counter that is liberally coated with 10X sugar (use sugar rather than any flour!). Use reserved half of dough as icing, spread over rectangle evenly. Heat oven to 325°F . Using sharp knife, cut a strip about 1/2 inch wide - then just divide the 1/2" strip as evenly as you can into bars about 1" to 1 1/4" long. Move one at a time onto a baking sheet, covered with parchment paper. Do not let them touch, altho they can be placed fairly close together, as they do not spread much. Repeat cutting 1/2" strips, dividing them into bars, until cookie sheet is full. Bake 10 to 15 minutes until set, and are turning a lite straw color. Remove from paper, allow to cool, store in covered cookie tin. May be frozen for several months, if desired, although the meringue icing sometimes will crumble. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : This is one of the original recipe brought by Catherine Schertzer Niermeyer, (Grossmutter) that supposedly her grandmother brought from Germany with her when she emigrated from Finkenbach, Bavaria. Merry Christmas. Nancy __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com