Some of the calendars were cardboard, like a regular wall calendar, others were shadow boxes with cubicles covered by numbered doors. Others were felt wall hangings with pockets, like hanging shoe trees.
Each one of them held a season's worth of treasures -- pieces of candy, pretty pictures, tiny Christmas ornaments or toys -- to be discovered each day. My favorites were the calendars imported from Germany with their festive foil-wrapped chocolates. I still buy those for my niece.
The Recurring Gentleman Caller has kept the tradition going for me. Every year, he buys me a beautiful Advent calendar fashioned like a famous cathedral with windows that open to reveal beautiful stained glass windows -- Notre Dame, San Marco. This year's calendar is a row of Venetian villas.
I love this tradition.
Advent, like Lent, is really supposed to be about fasting and deprivation, but since it leads up to Christmas, and includes the feast days of St. Nicholas and St. Lucia, there is a certain sense of joy and celebration. This was traditionally the start of cookie baking in our household. One of the cookies we always made this time of year was Nona's recipe for Chinese Chews. I'm not sure where she got it -- probably a ladies' magazine from years ago. It may not be original to the Point or even Biloxi, but it sure is a keeper.
Nona's Chinese Chews
The dates in these moist cookies make them chewy, but to this day I'm not sure why they're considered "Chinese." They are one of the easiest cookies I know, and they keep well.
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup all purpose flour
Cream together eggs and sugar. Mix in vanilla and pecans and add the remaining ingredients and beat well. Bake in an ungreased 9 x 9 or 10 x 10 pan at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into small pieces and sprinkle with confectioners sugar.
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