Photo: Greg Rannells
Light streamed through the windows of Julia Usher and Dr. Bryan Meyers’ Webster Groves home, its wide porch beckoning unto guests’ chilly feet. A fully bedecked Christmas tree glowed at the door, ornaments swaying with the occasional gust. Standing in the foyer, Ms. Usher invited in a group of new arrivals, smiling widely, and took their coats.
“Hey, Merry Christmas! Hiiii! Hey, you look gorgeous!” she cried, greeting each in turn. Before long, more than two dozen neighbors, friends, colleagues, and family members were mingling in the kitchen, laughing together at shared stories and jokes, sampling delectables and wines, and rapidly getting to know one another. Dr. Meyers’ medical colleagues (he’s chief of thoracic surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital) and Ms. Usher’s baking and food writing friends (she’s a food writer and stylist) had little trouble finding common ground. Even newcomers to the couple’s circle were quickly drawn into conversation—much of it concerning Ms. Usher’s attractive home and delicious desserts.
Guests repeatedly returned to the room between the foyer and the kitchen to sample sweets from golden trays, clustered amid antique lace and golden boughs on the dessert table. The hostess, who was once a mechanical engineer, honed the recipes for these delicacies—many of which appear in her new book, Cookie Swap, which hit No. 2 on Amazon.com this summer—through diligent testing at numerous cookie-swap events and years of work at her former bakery, AzucArte (a combination of the Spanish words for sugar, azúcar, and art, arte).
“Doesn’t everything look good?” murmured Ms. Usher’s mother, Carol. Like the desserts, the savory treats on hand had been a long time in development, based on heirloom recipes passed down the Usher family tree. Those curious could browse a set of Season’s Greetings recipe cards in a little red box on the counter. A tray of homemade salsa and apple butter, canned just a few months earlier, reflected Dr. Meyers’ green thumb. Guests testified that during the warm months, his garden’s bounty is enviable.
The couple’s home is a study in creative reuse, exemplifying a hardy New England frugality, with distressed cabinetry and pendant lamps made from retrofitted, industrial-size whisks. On this particular evening, vintage ornaments, costume jewelry, books, and postcards peeked out of every corner, amid shining candles and winter greenery. Candies could be found nestled into a World War II–era Shiny-Brite ornament box, and even the basket bearing guests’ wrapped gifts—an antique shopping cart, the metal dark with age—had been given a second chance at life.
Soon, Ms. Usher circulated among those gathered, encouraging each to pluck an old-fashioned numbered tag from a bright-red stocking, Scrabble- style. The metal-rimmed tags would denote the order of the evening’s Yankee gift swap, an East Coast custom in which each guest chooses a gift to unwrap, then has the option of either keeping it or swapping it for a previously unwrapped gift. “We’ve done it up in Maine, where we have another house,” said Ms. Usher. But they hadn’t yet held one here. “We’ll see how it works!”
Once everyone had gathered in the kitchen, the children’s hallway twirling calmed, Ms. Usher began calling out numbers for the gift swap. The bearer of tag No. 1 picked first—and would also get last choice of the unwrapped items at evening’s end.
Even those who would normally never consider lifting a gift from a child’s hands were quickly emboldened by the game: A beautiful sand globe, opened early on by one of the youngest girls, changed hands several times before being traded for later on by a parent.
Guests crowed over each gift—a beautifully embroidered throw pillow, a gold-lacquered gourd birdhouse, a thick cookbook, a sparkling set of sun-catching ornaments, a brand-new set of kitchen tools—and cheekily bartered amongst themselves. Laughter rang out at a gift unsuited to its new owner or a particularly daring swap.
As the pile of presents dwindled, ownership established, the couple looked at each other and grinned. The Yankee gift swap had captured their guests’ hearts—and delighted their spirits.
Details
Hosts
Julia Usher and her husband, Dr. Bryan Meyers
Location
The couple’s home, Webster Groves
Guests
Carol Usher; Barb and Steve Adams; Shawn and Mike Blaes; Felicia and Dr. Traves Crabtree and their children, Ellie, Abby, and Jakob; Dr. Gokhan Ergene; Dr. Xiang-Yan Liu; Helen and Mike Fletcher; Frances and Dr. Bill Gay; Dr. Laureen and Mica Hill; Drs. Friederike and Dan Kreisel and their children, Sarah and Stella; Shauna and Dr. Sasha Krupnick; Ann Huston; Dr. Charles Roper; and Jane and Richard Winter
Menu
Savories
Mom’s Mushroom Turnovers
Mrs. Beebe’s Crab Dip
Chicken Liver Terrine
Mrs. Erda’s Artichoke Spread
Gougère With Smoked Salmon and Caviar
Stuffed Endive Spears
Bacon-Wrapped Dates
Homemade Herb Biscuits, With Chutney Trio and Cheeses
Olive Wreath
End-of-the-Garden Salsa
Sweets
Golden Fruitcake Nuggets
Gingersnap Thumbprints
Figgy Pudding Bars
Cardamom Shortbread
Chocolate-Raspberry Truffle
Deer Isle Gingerbread With Rhubarb Cream
Anise-Scented Sugar Cookies
Earl Grey Créme Caramel
Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
Bryan’s Apple Butter
Recipes
Savories
Mrs. Erda’s Artichoke Spread
Makes about 3 cups
1 8-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Combine all ingredients in medium ovenproof dish or saucepan. Heat to bubbling in preheated 350-degree oven or on stovetop. Serve warm with crackers.
Mrs. Beebe’s Crab Dip
Makes 4 to 5 cups
1 pound fresh crabmeat
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated yellow onion, or to taste
Dash Tabasco sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in medium ovenproof dish or saucepan. Heat to bubbling in preheated 350-degree oven or on stovetop. Serve warm with crackers.
Mom’s Mushroom Turnovers
1/2 cup and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, finely chopped
11/2 cups and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sour cream
Fresh thyme, to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and cook another 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low; add 2 tablespoons flour and the sour cream. Cook until thickened. Stir in thyme, ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Cover and chill until ready to use.
Mix together remaining 1½ cups flour, a pinch of salt, cream cheese, and remaining butter. Flatten dough into disk, wrap in plastic, and chill at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line two or more cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 3-inch rounds. Top each with 1 teaspoon filling, fold in half, and seal edges by pressing with fork. Prick holes in top of each turnover with a fork and bake about 15 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom. Serve warm.
Gougère (Mini Savory Puffs)
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk (for egg wash)
3 tablespoons milk (for egg wash)
Smoked fish spread or filling of choice
Generously butter two cookie sheets, then rinse them under cold water. Shake off excess water. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine water, butter, and salt in medium saucepan, and bring to rolling boil. (Make sure all butter has melted.) Remove from heat and stir in flour. Return pan to medium heat, and dry paste 7 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Cool slightly, then stir in eggs one at a time. Pour dough into pastry bag fitted with ½-inch round tip, and pipe 1- to 1½-inch mounds about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
Whisk together egg yolk and milk. Lightly brush mixture atop each mound.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes until mounds are very puffy and lightly browned. Pierce side of each puff with toothpick or cake tester in last 5 to 10 minutes of baking to dry insides of puffs. Cool completely before filling.
Cut each puff in half. Fill with 1 to 2 tablespoons smoked fish spread or filling of choice. Puffs best served soon after filling, or they will get soggy.
Sweets
Panforte Pieces
Makes about two dozen 1½-inch squares
Adapted from Cookie Swap
1 cup whole hazelnuts, toasted, skins rubbed off, coarsely chopped
1 cup blanched, slivered almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 cup candied orange peel, coarsely chopped
1 cup citron, finely chopped
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
11/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/8 teaspoon ground coriander
3/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch ground white pepper
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
Powdered sugar (for dusting cookie bottoms)
Line bottom and sides of 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Affix paper with a bit of butter in each pan corner. (Avoid excessive pan greasing, which will make it difficult to remove bars later.) Lightly coat paper with nonstick cooking spray, and set pan aside.
Put rack in center of oven; preheat to 300 degrees.
Mix nuts, candied orange peel, citron, crystallized ginger, lemon zest, flour, spices, and pepper in large bowl, breaking apart fruit or ginger pieces stuck together.
Place granulated sugar and honey in 3-quart saucepan. Stir until sugar is evenly moistened, then add butter pieces. Place mixture over medium to medium-high heat, and bring to gentle boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until syrup registers 246 to 248 degrees on candy thermometer. (Syrup will be ready when a small drop forms a firm yet malleable ball in ice water.) Immediately pour over fruit-flour mixture, and stir until well-blended. Work quickly or syrup will cool and stiffen, making mixture difficult to spread. Transfer batter to prepared pan, and spread to uniform thickness with small offset spatula.
Bake 40 to 42 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned around edges but soft in the center. (Batter will harden considerably as it cools.) Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let fruitcake cool completely in pan.
Invert pan onto cutting board. If fruitcake doesn’t fall out on its own, loosen by running small knife along the edge and rapping pan against your work surface. Peel parchment paper off fruitcake and invert, so top faces up. Using a sharp knife, trim fruitcake block to a perfect square, then cut into 1½-inch squares.
Store in airtight container lined with parchment paper. Dust cookie bottoms with powdered sugar to prevent sticking, and do not stack. Cookies can be stored five to seven days.
