Have the holiday spread all planned out, and just got word your no-meat-for-me pals are stopping by? Chef Carlos Caula of Greenwood’s Carmelita offers up a simple, vegetarian, and most of all, merry snack that’s bound to please all types of eaters.

Folks at Carmelita always dive for the cheese plate, which features toasted nuts, two kinds of local honey, and four cheeses from Estrella Family Creamery. (Find all these at the University and Ballard Farmers Markets.) Serve these local treats on Venetian Zaletti biscuits—they’re lovely year round, but their raisin-and-brandy sweetness is particularly suited for the holidays.

Here’s how to make them:

INGREDIENTS:

75 g of raisins
50 ml brandy
225 g flour
150 g semolina
1/4 t salt
3 egg yolks
175 g honey
100 g melted butter
40 g pine-nuts
1 grated lemon
1 1/2 t vanilla essence

DIRECTIONS:

Move raisins and brandy to a small bowl and let rest for 2 hours
Beat egg yolks with honey until light in color
Add flour and cornmeal
Now mix the melted butter, raisins, pine nuts, lemon, and vanilla
Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for about 30 min
Roll the dough 3 mm or 1/8 in thick. Cut into small squares
Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 min or until golden

*Note that the recipe is in grams, so the home cook should have a scale.

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Read more tips from Maria Hines, Holly Smith, Brian Parks, Eric Donnelly, and Tom Douglas.