The Cook and Kitchen Staff wish you a warm "Noel" as we're off to France for the second stop on our whirlwind holiday cooking and baking tour.

Just after the December 6th celebration of the Feast of St. Nicholas, France comes to life for the holidays, reveling in its richly religious celebrations of Noel. Suddenly "Pere Noel" (aka Santa Claus) begins to appear in the windows of shops and restaurants throughout France, and students of every age, enjoying a holiday break from their studies, are often to be found in Paris cavorting about the Eiffel Tower. This is France at the holidays, which will be celebrated for an entire month, through "Epiphany" on January 6th.

Peering into one of the bakery shop windows, you would most likely see today's recipe, prepared and awaiting your purchase. Just in case you can't make it to France for Christmas, The Cook and Kitchen Staff offer you this savory little cookie to sample with your holiday fare. You'll find this licorice-like crunchy cookie comes in many different shapes and sizes and is great baking fun to prepare.

Pre-heat oven to 350-F degrees. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat egg whites, confectioners' sugar, and flour with a wire whisk until well blended and smooth. Beat in melted butter, anise extract, and salt.

Drop one heaping teaspoon of the mixture onto the prepared cookie or baking sheet. Repeat the process to make 3 more cookies, about 3 inches apart. With a small spatula, spread each cookie to a 3-inch round. Note: Do not place more than 4 cookies on the baking sheet because almost immediately after baking, the cookies must be shaped before they harden.

Bake cookies for 5 to 7 minutes, just until the edges are golden. With a pancake turner, quickly remove one cookie to a wire rack. With freshly cleaned hands, gently shape the warm cookie to flute the edges.

Repeat the process with remaining cookies on cookie sheet, working as quickly as possible. If the cookies become too hard to shape, return cookie sheet to the oven to soften the cookies slightly.

Continue baking, repeating the spreading and shaping process with remaining batter. Store cookies in an air-tight container for up to 2 weeks.