I read a lot about pie this weekend : about how it’s fast becoming a lost tradition because Americans don’t want to spend time making a pie crust and about how, without putting in the time to make pastry over and over again, you will never really get it right. In the opinion of some, store-bought ready-to-roll pie crust is crap. (Full disclaimer: I am not entirely in that camp. I will use a pre-made crust and enjoy my pie all the same when I don’t have time to make a crust.) I thought about that as I set about making these little bites of Rosemary and Lemon deliciousness baked in a ...
Cookies
A WALK IN PARIS—AMERICAN STYLE
An easy-to-make Almond, Toffee and Cherry Cookie Last week I took you to Paris in 1982 and gave you a recipe for a cookie which, while admittedly delicious, contained a number of steps and processes which made it more than a simple walk in the park to make. This week, I am going to take you on a walk in the USA in 2021. Where a cookie is a special treat but relatively easy to make. It is something Moms make for their children, friends bring to friends and it is the cornerstone of the American Bake Sale. I am doing this because I want my blog to be about making baking easy for people, ...
A WALK IN PARIS COOKIE
A walk through the streets of Paris is the inspiration for this Strawberry and Almond Brittle Studded Cookie. I took a break from my blog and I went for a walk in Paris. I was 28 years old and lived on the Avenue Du President Kennedy where I could see the Eiffel Tower from my apartment window. In the evening the lights of the Bateau Mouche, the tourist boats, on the Seine raced across the ceiling of my bedroom. It was a morning in June and I had just taken a dance class at a nearby studio. As I walked home I stopped in a small boulangerie at the entrance to a market street. In the ...
PFEFFERNUESSE: A GERMAN CHRISTMAS COOKIE
“Pfeffernuesse”, it’s almost as much fun to say it (feff er noose) as it is to eat it! It is not a gingerbread cookie although it is filled with spices: anise, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper. It is a soft cookie and, like so many traditional cookies of the season, it doesn’t look like much, even after being covered in icing sugar. But it delivers a punch of flavor!, Pfeffernuesse has been around for ages, more than 200 years so there are a lot of recipes out there. I am not laying claim to the recipe or reinventing the wheel. My recipe comes from Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor Michigan. ...
GINGERBREAD (TO EAT AND TO SCUPLT)
How does this always happen to me? December starts and it seems like I have so much time to get ready, and then I add one or two new baking projects to all the other baked goods I usually make, and before I know it I am baking at 7AM and again at 7PM! It’s a good thing I enjoy it. Years ago, when my girls were little, I had the bright idea of keeping them entertained in the lead-up to Christmas by giving each of them a small gingerbread house to decorate. The recipe was one I found in a magazine back in 1971. It was a clunky recipe which made a hard gingerbread which was not great for ...
TAKING IT A DAY AT A TIME WITH SPICED APPLE OATMEAL COOKIES
Fresh apples and butterscotch chips take these spiced oatmeal cookies to another level! Has time ever been so surreal? The days seem to drag on forever and yet it’s already mid-October. This year has been a tough ride but it almost over. Except what if it isn’t? My newest fear is: What if it’s not just 2020? What if this chaos and discord continues? When I think of that, I turn off everything, go for walk and come home and bake cookies. Then I go for another walk and drop the cookies off at a friend’s house. By the time I do all that I feel better and the day has passed. Did I ...
SOS! SAVE OUR SHAKESPEARE! LEMON-LIME POSSET AND SHREWSBURY CAKES
What do you love about your neighborhood? What is it that makes it home? And what would you do if something threatened that? My neighborhood consists of wide quiet streets, lined with gardens and flowers. The houses reflect both the history of our town and the personalities of the owners. Children play in the backyards of large, restored Victorian homes, next to small bungalows aching for a little care. Poetry pops up on the sidewalks, porches are festooned with art. Dogs are walked, exercise is undertaken, and rocking chairs are occupied. But my favorite thing of all is ...
TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE: RASPBERRY JAM AND CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Peanut butter and Jelly, Bacon and Eggs, Biscuits and Gravy, Salted Caramel, Pizza and Beer, Ham and Cheese. What do all of these things have in common? Each of them starts with one perfect ingredient and adds another perfect ingredient to come together in a more perfect union! Add to that list Raspberry Jam and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Honestly, I can’t take credit for this idea. We were hiking and stopped at our local Whole Foods to pick up some food for lunch. I was in charge of snacks, so when I saw the small packet of Raspberry Jam and Chocolate Chip Cookies from a local baker, I ...
BRITISH BAKING SHOW CHALLENGE 2: BISCUITS (COOKIES)
It’s week two of my Great British Baking Show Challenge. This week’s show revolved around Biscuits. For those of you who don’t know, a biscuit is what Americans call a cookie. Each episode of the Baking Show has three challenges to it. The Signature Challenge in which the bakers get to show off a recipe that they have perfected at home, The Technical Challenge in which the bakers are asked to show how much they know about baking in general by baking from a recipe which they have never seen before with limited instructions, and The Showstopper in which the bakers are asked to ...
CHRISTMAS COOKIE SERIES: PEPPERMINT CHOCOLATE MACAROONS
Every holiday cookie tray needs a show stopper, don’t you think? Here's mine for this year! These coconut macaroons are topped with dark chocolate and sprinkled with crushed peppermint for a cookie that is reminiscent of a Mounds Bars. Not to be confused with the French macaron, the macaroon was initially an Italian confection. The two are similar in using beaten egg whites as the leavening agent. But, aside from confusingly similar spellings, the similarity stops there. Shaped like small mountain peaks the Macaroons rise above their flatter cousins and catch the eye of everyone’s inner ...
