Baking Almond Cookies In Village Courtyard

Whitewashed walls with sky-blue shutters frame a sunny cobbled courtyard shaded by a sprawling olive tree, its branches heavy with green fruit. A striped cat dozes on a low stone wall nearby while pink bougainvillea climbs a neighboring wall. At a long wooden table, three women in floral headscarves shape dough into crescents and rounds, dusting trays of finished cookies with powdered sugar. Burlap sacks labeled with flour and sugar lean against the table legs, and a basket of whole almonds sits beside a stone jug and rolling pin. A stone staircase curves up to the right, and more trays of cookies wait stacked in the foreground. Flowerpots of red geraniums brighten the doorway of the house behind them. The cookies already sit in neat rows across each tray, each one shaped and finished before the next begins.