When The World

Most of the citizens in the small town where I now reside are snuggled in their own abodes this December morning savoring the joys of the onset of Advent, Hanukkah and the end of Black Friday shopping.

Melissa Clark’s fabulous shortbread cookies are baking slowly in my oven and filling the small apartment with the comfort of their aroma.

Last night I indulged in streaming THE IRISHMAN and I must admit to being totally mesmerized. However, I must also confess I am just a bit uncertain about the accuracy of the admission.

While there can be absolutely no doubt about the brilliance of Martin Scorsese’s film and the memorable performances of DeNiro, Pacino and certainly, Joe Pesci, still I am not totally confident about the validity of Frank Sheeran’s death bed confession.

When I awoke this morning and realized the view from my bedroom window resembled a Norman Rockwell Christmas painting, I breathed almost a sense of relief.

Immediately I knew I was snowbound, and needed absolutely no excuse for the luxury of digging a bit further into the once almost forgotten Jimmy Hoffa mystery.

After quickly mixing the butter, flour, sugar and just a mite of salt, I filled two round cake pans with the batter and quickly placed them into the oven. The wonderful NYT recipe bakes ever so slowly for close to an hour and provides a wondrous anticipation of an incredible culinary delight.

Then because it is Sunday and I am allowed, I poured a second cup of coffee and opened the Amazon site. To my surprise (I can be incredibly naive) there are nineteen Books claiming an answer or solution to the now highly discussed disappearance in 1975.

I selected two. Because I felt almost an obligation to read THE IRISHMAN’S written saga after enjoying the film version so thoroughly, I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES was first on my list.

As I slowly read the other titles, I came across IN HOFFA’S SHADOW, a book that provides a totally different version of the mystery. That volume became my second choice.

Both quickly downloaded onto my Kindle app, as I yielded to temptation and enjoyed just one of the warm triangular cookies with my remaining cup of coffee.

Then I remembered how absolutely lovely a Sunday snowstorm can be when the world seems to stand still.