time: 10 minutes

1. Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl of electric mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in lemon rind and juice. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture and ground almonds into butter mixture to make a soft dough. Divide dough into quarters. Refrigerate dough, wrapped in wax paper, until firm, at least 8 hours or overnight.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Have ungreased baking sheets ready.

3. Roll out one dough portion on lightly floured pastry cloth with a rolling pin covered with stocking or roll between sheets of lightly floured wax paper to 1/8 -inch thickness. Cut out with cookie cutters. Return dough to refrigerator if it gets too soft. Transfer to baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired.

4. Bake until very light brown at edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Store in a covered tin.

This second-place winner, from Judy M. Drux of Dyer, Indiana, makes very thin, crisp, delicate cookies. The dough keeps well in the refrigerator if well-wrapped. This cookie was a tribute to her husband's grandmother, Antonia Drux, who emigrated to this country from Germany in 1923. (Oma means "grandma" in German.) The recipe has been passed down as just a list of ingredients. Drux added a few hints to help make baking them easier for future cooks. from the Chicago Tribune fourth annual Food Guide Holiday