These are a favorite in my house around the holidays and they’re just the kind of cookie you’d savor with a cup of tea or coffee. On the cakey side, they’re sweet with a hint of anise.

Cookie Ingredients:

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1⁄2 cup butter

2 teaspoons anise, almond or vanilla extract. (Or you can blend. I’ve used a teaspoon of almond with a teaspoon of vanilla,

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Sweet Chemistry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie

Viti Prasad, the proprietor of the fictional Sweet Chemistry Bakery in Angel Harbor, is a former industrial chemist who found she liked combining butter and sugar more than the polymer compounds she worked with at her former job. Here’s her addictive chocolate chip cookie recipe.

2¼ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½+ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

½+ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup butter,

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This twist on an old favorite is sure to warm your insides. It’s just the kind of soup Lina would serve at Rinaldi’s Cafe in Compass Cove.

Jeannie’s Italian Chicken Soup

This recipe takes about 40 minutes, start to finish.

• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1-2 plum tomatoes, diced
• ½ lb. Italian chicken sausage (sweet or spicy-your choice — use ground sausage if you can find it;

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