Cherry Almond Biscotti

 

Chilly grey day ... baking to warm up the kitchen and give SB and I a nice, crisp snack to have with a cuppa this afternoon.  The days of baking sweets once or twice a week have long gone. I'm convinced that we appreciate cookies more, now that they are truly an infrequent treat.

Fig and Walnut Biscotti

The wind is wailing this evening. We've come through the first major snowstorm of the winter. Before this, it's been all rain and slush, a few small spits of snow that accumulated no more than three inches. That's all very anticlimactic for a New Hampshire winter, thank you very much. If it must be cold and grey, let it snow, I say!

That being said, I always like baking up a treat for hot tea when the snows hit. SB does all the shoveling and plowing, so my pay off to him is a sweet treat for his hot cuppa when he comes in to thaw out.

Shortbreads and Scones

Book club this month discussed Romantic Outlaws - The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley , a worthy read about two of the finest minds of the Romantic Age. Our book club always has a nice little luncheon to celebrate our reads and whet the appetite for discussion of all manner of things. The books we read are sometimes superseded by what's going on in our lives and the world - talk being a spontaneous process. That being said, the food is always pretty darn good. Yesterday's lunch included chicken pot pie, light and airy cornbread, a spinach and almond salad, and cranberry sauce.

Two Words ...

Crumbly Crust

Pressed Firmly

Boozy Bath

Kipferl for Christmas

It's almost Christmas and I have been so busy that I haven't done much cookie baking ! Until today ...

Pecan Sandies

Today was a milk and cookies kind of day. I spent the morning baking Ina Garten's foolproof Pecan Sandies and playing Words With Friends. Periodically, I'd stare out the back window into the grey foggy drizzle that's coating New England, then back at the cheery blaze in the kitchen wood stove.

The idea of baking cookies and reheating some chicken noodle soup for a cozy lunch was particularly tempting, as it kept me in the warm kitchen. Must be getting old. I find the warmth far better for my bones than being outside on a day like today!

Lime Meltaways

Back in the springtime, our neighbors travelled to Savannah, GA for a vacation junket. SB and I were left to watch the fish and the turtle and keep the house for them while they were playing with family and friends. When they returned, they brought us a small tin of lime flavored shortbread cookies that were just wonderful! I have just found a recipe for the same type cookie! SCORE!!!

These cookies are as close to those little citrus packed shortbreads that I can come! So delish and just a small bite of a cookie. Each cookie is the size of a 50 cent piece. It is loaded with fresh lime zest, lime juice, butter and a conservative amount of sugar. The REAL sugar comes when they are tossed in a bag of confectioner's sugar while they're still warm. This coating makes for a sweet hit on the tongue before one chomps into the super tangy lime burst of the shortbread. Heaven with a cup of hot tea or even a cold glass of iced tea.

Apricot or Prune and Pine Nut Jam in Hamentaschen

My friend, Amy came for a snowshoe outing and lunch the other day. As we were sitting over our soup and sandwiches, she was saying that Purim is here! Purim is a Jewish holiday that involves remembering Esther's success in defeating the evil Hamen's plot to crush the Jewish population in Persia of the 4th century BCE (nutshell story - for more info on Purim, do a Google search or read the Book of Esther in the Old Testament). Modern day Purim celebrations include games, tricks, costumes, and special foods that symbolize the Purim story and characters involved. Amy said that hamentaschen are a traditional treat prepared ... and they sounded tasty ...

Virtual Supper Club - Chocolate-Hazelnut Thumbprints

This month, the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club honors Oscar-nominated films and this girl has gone straight for the Chocolat ! Or is that chocolate? Well, a bit of both, I suppose!

Making Cookies ...

It's been an age, it seems , since I made a good batch of oatmeal cookies for Silent Bob. He's not a complainer, but I'm pretty sure I heard a sigh when he came in from loading the woodboxes yesterday and rattled the top of the cookie jar. He must have been expecting the elves to have stocked it overnight, but alas. Hence, the sigh.

So, this evening, while he is off at a planning meeting for a series of bike tours he'll work on come Spring, I am baking him oatmeal cookies with pecans and butterscotch chips. The fire is humming along in both stoves, the cats are chasing each other through the house and stirring up the smart Corgis, and I am blissfully baking cookies, taking photos, and ...

Magic Cookie Bars - Hello Cookie Season!

This weekend brought a host of holiday fairs to the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. Our little church was one of the many churches that rolled out the baked goods and homemade gifts. Every household does its part to contribute to the long bake table at the church fair. These chewy, sweet cookies bars were bagged up and offered along with a loaf of cranberry nut bread and a big round boule of herbed bread. I baked all day on Friday!

We Should Cocoa - Spicy Chili Chocolate Cookies

This batch of cookies will last a nanosecond, once Silent Bob gets winds of their smell. They're full of dark chocolate and cayenne pepper and they deliver a hot kick when you've swallowed a bite - that warm chili-spice heat that stays with you until you swallow some milk.

Pumpkin-Pecan Cookies with Rummed Up Icing

Jenna, my neighbor, recently asked for a plate of pumpkin cookies when we were yakking about the next baking projects we were planning. Since this is her Homecoming Week at school, I figured I'd treat her and her family to a plate of these to top off an easy dinner. There's always a lot of running around when kids are in their teens. Both Jenna and her brother are members of the high school band, so this week is very busy for them as Spirit Rally, the Homecoming Parade, and the football game loom large.

Martha Stewart's Mocha Shortbreads

Cocoa, coffee, and cocoa nibs all in a shortbread dough. I'll admit. That concept grabbed me by the neck and made me double take a recipe in the latest Living magazine. Having never worked with cocoa nibs, but having been gifted a bag of cocoa beans, this was an accessible recipe for this country hick!

Maple Pecan Cookies

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to seek out some new and worthy cookie recipes ... score! I picked up a cook book from the church rummage sale last weekend and found these cookies staring me in the face ... and isn't it Kismet that it's maple season here in New England?

Sunshine In A Cookie - Oatmeal Spelt Cookies with Pineapple, Coconut, and Cashews

Coconut, cashews, dried pineapple chunks ...all folded into an oatmeal cookie dough that is made with spelt flour. This, my latest effort to see if what I'm having problems with is highly processed all purpose flours. This, after having had a similar cookie at a vegetarian restaurant over the weekend made with spelt flour (with no reaction on my part after knoshing). Hmmm ... I plan to push the envelope on this one a bit and test the theory. That means I'll have more than one cookie ( read three)  in a serving and see if I have a reaction.

Dinner With The Recipe Club

A little light reading with cookies included ...

Making Macaroon Sandwiches - IHCC

This week, it's all about the sandwiches here at the I Heart Cooking Club! Sandwiches, you say? Okay !

How about these little coconut sandwich cookies that make me sing that old chocolate bar advertisement jingle ... "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't ! Almond Joys have nuts, Mounds don't ... because sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't!"

Ebay and Inspiration On A Hot Day

I collect cookie jars ... the campier, the tackier, the more kitschy, the better ! Periodically, I go on an Ebay spree and spend a few days  weeks looking at the auction offerings for vintage cookie jars. I have given neat cookie jars to my kids for Christmas, to friends as birthday gifts and housewarming presents, and I still keep going back to look for just one more. The only other item that snags my attention as much is a good vintage bean pot.

Black Forest Cookies

In my book, when you put together cherries and dark chocolate, you've got a Black Forest something ... today, it's cookies for me. I have baked up a batch of these tasty cookies as a 'thank-you gift' for Richard, my daughter's employer. You see, Richard holds season tickets to Boston Red Sox games at Fenway Park in Boston. For fans like SB and I, a pair of tickets to see the Sox is just about the finest thing we could ever wish for once the season starts. The only thing finer would be good seats in front of the TV watching them play in  win the 2013 World Series. That seems to be putting the cart before the horse though, as our boys are just seven games into the 2013 season!

Last week, we received a phone call from Sprout Sara. Richard had two tickets for the third game of the Red Sox opening home series. Would we like them? WOULD WE LIKE THEM ?!? There is an entire series of questions involving a bear/woods, Popes/Catholicism, fat babies .... yeah, well. YES! The answer was yes! So, these cookies have been baked with love and gratitude and tomorrow, we head off to Beantown to deliver these cookies to Richard, grab those precious tickets, hug our sweet girl, and head off to see our boys of summer try to beat the Baltimore Orioles. Hopes are high here in the grey cottage! We're whistling "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" and "Sweet Caroline" and getting psyched!