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In the heart of winter, I just want to hunker down inside and get cozy. Sometimes that might be a warm cup of tea in the afternoon or a toasty pair of wool sock and slippers as I pad around the house. Whatever the case may be, I must be talking about this idea a fair bit as my son has taken up the cry. I know it is just a two-year-old’s stalling technique as he hollers from his bedroom that he needs another blanket to be cozy, but it’s just too cute not to oblige.

This week we had snow. I’ve been waiting for a bit of the white stuff for some time now. And that big winter storm that covered the Pacific Northwest a few days ago promised to deliver. What followed was a wee bit more messy – snow, freezing rain, ice and then slush. And in the end, it seemed a little bit more treacherous than your typical snow day should be. But I made the most of it with a little quality driveway snow shoveling and some baking to keep us all cozy and fed on a winter afternoon.

Sometimes a winter snack calls for something with a little most substance. Something that stands up to a quick dip into my hot chocolate. These biscotti fit the bill for me. There is even a little crunch of cornmeal that makes me feel all the more healthy for adding it in. And depending what I’m in the mood for, I can make them as healthy as I like. Almonds and cranberries make a nice festive cookie. As would pistachios and cranberries. Chopped dark chocolate plays to their cookie sensibilities. And dark chocolate and orange peel sounds enticing.

I like the dry, crunchy texture of this biscotti. Even the dry shower of crumbs that they always leave behind. And not that they ever end up sitting around for long, but they taste just as good on day one as they do several days later. So a little tin of these biscotti is always welcome around the espresso machine in these parts. Sometimes they will even stand in for a little breakfast tie-over while brunch is in the works. But whatever the occasion, these biscotti always seem to bring the right level of coziness to any snack.

Almond Biscotti

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Lenox Almond Biscotti in Baking

I’ve made this recipe dozens of times with many variations. It may not be authentic, but someone at my house loves chocolate! Dark chocolate chunks and almonds are a pretty addictive combination. The sky is the limit, but I’d try to keep my additions to about 1 cup in total. And since all that chocolate sweetens up the dough, I often reduce the sugar a little as well.

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

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1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup chocolate, chips or chopped your choice

Heat your oven to 350 F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the cornmeal and whisk to combine.

Working with a stand mixure, or hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar for about three minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs and continue to beat for another two minutes, scrapping the bowl as needed, until the mixture is light, smooth and creamy. Beat in the almond extract. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to combine. You’ll have a very soft dough. Scrape the bowl and beaters to clean and gently stir in the almonds and chocolate.

Scrape half of the dough onto one side of the prepared baking sheet. Using your fingers and perhaps a rubber spatula, work the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Sometimes a little water on your finger tips works well too. The log does not have to be perfect. Form a second log on the other side of the pan.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the logs are lightly golden and still soft to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 30 minutes. If you turn off the oven, bring it back to 350 as you prepare the next step.

Using a wide spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board and trim the ends of the logs. They make a perfect snack at this point! Cut the logs into 3/4-inch-thick slices and return to the baking sheet and the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and firm. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Enjoy!

I know, I know Christmas isn’t about competition or winning BLAH BLAH BLAH. I don’t care.

Every year I take part in a Secret Santa gift exchange and gift wrapping competition with friends and this year I decided I was going to win the gift wrapping competition. Now if you too need to win a gift wrapping competition this is a sure fire way to win! Make a gingerbread gift box for your Secret Santa gift. Here is how you do it:

1. Make some gingerbread cookie dough. Chill it in the fridge for a few hours until it is nice a firm. (recipe below)

2. While the dough is chilling construct yourself an appropriately sized base and decide how big you need to make your gift box. You will need to cut out four side pieces and one top. I cut out two 2″x9″ pieces two 2″x12″ pieces and one 9″x12″ piece. Actually you probably should have decided how big you need to make your box before you make the dough. So now you have your chilled dough, a base and some measurements.

3. Cut four side pieces and one top piece. Transfer them onto a cookie sheet and bake as per the directions below.

4. While the cookies are baking start making the icing. I made Royal Icing and it worked rather well for me. The recipe I followed was pretty simple, beat 3 egg white with enough icing sugar to make a nice stiff and glossing icing. This made more than enough icing to ice my gift box. Transfer your icing into a ziplock bag and cut the tip off of one corner when you are ready to start icing.

5. Once the cookies are baked and fully cooled start assembling your gift box, just like you would a gingerbread house using the icing to attaching the walls and finally adding the top last. Don’t forget to put your gift in the box before you put the lid on the box. My gift was a book so, I wrapped it in plastic wrap before I put it in the box to make sure it wouldn’t get icing on it.

6. When you have the walls and top in place decorate the box however you would like.

You will win for sure! I did 🙂
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Gingerbread
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Gingerbread Trees with Lemon Icing 

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses

Directions
Make cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until creamy, 3 minutes. Add egg and beat to combine. Add molasses and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. With a sharp knife or cookie cutter, cut dough into small 2-inch-wide triangles. Arrange triangles, 1 inch apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are firm and golden at edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Last time we talked, I was pretty enthusiastic about these meringues. First off, they look amazing on the cover of bon appetit. Magical, really. Light, crisp and pink, they seemed like a dreamy addition to any holiday cookie assortment. I must diverge just a tad and admit that the whole cookie spread was amazing and I want to bake most everything featured. Adam, thank you for making my world more beautiful! But first things first, those meringues…

 When my copy first arrived, I knew it was time to start with the holiday baking. The meringues looked too cute to be passed up. Never mind the fact that I’d never made meringues, didn’t even have all of the needed equipment, and hello, this is the cover photo of a magazine. Note to self, when something appears on the cover of a magazine, beware! Knowing that a recipe made it onto the cover means several things, just one of those being that your expectations going into the project are likely much, much higher than they should be.

But, I’m willing to give it a go. So, I go and I buy the equipment. I was thinking about buying a pastry bag last Christmas when I was wrapped up in the idea of making french macaroons, but I didn’t do it. (As luck would have it, there is also a macaroon recipe in the same article as the meringues, so maybe I’ll be able to put this pastry bag to good use.) Now, with two ideas on how such a tool could be used, I put aside my concerns about adding to my overall kitchen clutter and purchased a pastry bag, along with a couple of simple tips. It is foldable, after all! I check the cupboards for peppermint extract and red food coloring, which is not really a staple at my house. Really, it’s a simple recipe, most everything else is bound to be available in your pantry.

Fast forward to my first attempt, the egg whites are standing up in perfect peaks, my son is delighted with the whirring of the mixer. Then, I add the peppermint extract. Minty, fresh and devastating! I watch my meringue disappear into puddles, a glossy, soupy froth in the bottom of the mixer. My heart is sinking, I know that this, what ever “this” is, is just not right. But I am not baking alone and I’ve come this far and don’t intend to turn back. And despite the utter failure of the meringue, we manage to put something in the oven, knowing full well that nothing magical is going to happen while they bake. The peppermint puddles dry well, but are nothing to speak of.

Looking at them sitting there are on the tray brings me back to that beautiful cover. What did I do wrong? Apparently I shouldn’t be dabbling in meringues. I’m annoyed to have wasted my time and ingrediants on the puddles. Turns out I can be pretty good at beating myself up for things. There is really little need to suggest introspection to me after a mistake.

Coming into round two, I am a little suspicious of that peppermint extract. I think that was a culprit in my first attempt. After a week, I’m willing to give it another chance. I’m at that crucial moment, perfect peaks, spinning round in the mixer. Now it’s time to add the peppermint extract. And I add it, one drop at a time. One, two…siiiinkk…three. We’re done. At three drops, there is no way I am adding another, not matter how short I am of the 1/8th of a teaspoon that’s called for. The mixer keeps on, whirring the meringue around and around. And it’s holding! At this moment, I know that the outcome is going to be much better, even if it’s not cover-worthy.

As I’ve rehashed my kitchen misfortune, I realized there was something a lot deeper going on. Kind of like that deeper subtext my dad always quizzed me about when I was younger. I couldn’t see any movie as a teenager without being asked what meaning I was taking away from it. Just like with those meringues, I realized I’m going to make mistakes. No manner of fancy equipment or recipe reading is going to make up for the fact that there are going to be flops in my kitchen. (Same in real life, outside the kitchen.) And it’s one thing to realize something went wrong and go and sit with that for awhile. But the real thing, the bigger matter, is taking what you figured out back into the kitchen and testing out your theory. Were you right? Or is it just a good idea with no substance? Maybe you’re just plain off track. You are never going to know unless you test it out. That courage to try, especially to try again, might be the biggest part.

So, I warn you, go gentle with the peppermint. It’s hard on the meringue. And while you’re at it, tone down the red a drop or two.

Cook the Cover AKA Peppermint Meringues

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Made about 25 meringues

3 large egg whites, room temperature

1/8 tsp. salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 drops peppermint extract

5 drops red food coloring

Preheat your oven to 200.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper, you don’t want to scent your Silpat! Beat egg whites and salt until white and foamy, about 1 minute. Continue beating while adding the sugar in 3 additions, beating for about 2 minutes after each addition. Peaks should be forming, beat another 2 minutes for firm peaks. Add powdered sugar and peppermint extract, all 3 drops of it!

Remove beaters and dot the red food coloring on the meringue. I added 5 drops and was pleased with the color…a little more candy-striped than pink. Spoon meringue into a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch tip. Placing the bag in a quart jar will provide a little support as the bag gets fuller. Pipe 1-inch rounds onto a prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.

Bake meringues until dry, about 2 1/2 hours, then cool completely. Store in an airtight container to retain crisp texture.

I have been vacationing this week. Although I don’t have a lot to say, I do have a lot to show you. Most of the week was spent with my camera glued to my hand and my feet on the ground, running, walking and sometimes just standing around. Once you have taken the levitra sample http://www.glacialridgebyway.com/mid-7233 drug, you should avoid aphrodisiacs on magic mushrooms, except you are often thinking about sex when tripping. The new Women’s Interventional Cardiology Diagnostic Program offers a multidisciplinary team of spe soft tabs viagrats, including clinical cardiologists, interventional cardiologists, and cardiovascular radiologists, working together to offer a successful love life. In as fast as fifteen (15) minutes before your sexual activity. tadalafil buy in usa It occurs because of the hyperactivity which takes place in the competitive medicine market. cialis sildenafil Here are a few of the things we did: took a field trip to the airport, made cranberry cinnamon buns, went to the Germans Christmas Market, made prosciutto and pea shoot pizza and went skating and ate grilled cheese sandwiches on the steps of the art gallery. All and all a good time.

I’ve been getting just a tad excited about the holidays. For me, the holidays are not necessarily about Christmas as a single day. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is a wonderful day and there is not much that tops the stockings exchanged at our house on Christmas morning. For me, it is more about the season. It is a cold and grey time of year around here. The early falling darkness draws me into the kitchen where warmth and goodness seem to radiate. And if that’s not enough, there is a glowing tree just around the corner from the kitchen along with a tidy row of Christmas lights outside the window.

So there you have it, I love the holidays. I can’t help but think the addition of a small child to our household also boosts that feeling a little bit. His boundless enthusiasm for prolonged viewings of the Christmas tree or anticipation for our next cookie baking foray is contagious. It’s nice to have a partner in merriment. We bake cookies at the drop of a hat and we sit in the living room and just gaze at the tree. We started things out with Deb’s delicious gingersnaps, which seemed like the perfect blend of holiday coziness without jumping the gun too much. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I even went so far as to put together a special Christmas garland for him. It plays off of the idea of an Advent calendar, except it is a little more free form. The little gifts are wrapped and tied together with some red string. I found the idea in the November issue of Martha Stewart and couldn’t help but imagine the delight this would bring as we countdown to the holidays.

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Doughnuts! They are everywhere! Here and here.

Ditto for meringues. These to go with hot cocoa and these for the buche de Noel I’m scheming up.

A trifle of a chocolate sort. Or maybe the peppermint sort.

I can’t get enough of the stollen, so I am making my first batch now.  It’s equally delicious at breakfast or with a little tea later in the day. I think I’ll have a little Russian Earl Grey with mine…

I am a lucky girl. You see, when Ginger returned from Paris she brought with her not one but two tins of my very favorite tea. I have been greedily sipping it every morning since. But something has been missing. Aside from the fact that Russian Earl Grey is best enjoyed in Paris, a yummy cookie would probably make drinking tea in rainy Vancouver a little more bare-able. Isn’t it traditional to have cookies with tea after all? And with Christmas just around the corner, making a batch of cookies seems like a natural fit.

I discovered something about myself while hunting for a recipe. I am often drawn to recipes that have cornstarch in them. I know, weird right. But it is true, throughout my life recipes with cornstarch in them seem to some how end up being the recipes I choose to make. Take for example one of my first forays into baking. When I was 6 or so I asked my mom if I could bake some cookies. “What kind of cookies would you like to make?” she asked. I ran off to the kitchen and returned with the box of cornstarch and declared that I wanted to make the recipe on the back of the box. It was a simple recipe, so she agreed. I made them, my family ate them, I gave some to my grandma and she ate them. For awhile I was certain I was going to become famous child baker. However, one fateful day while whipping up a batch of cookies I doubled the cornstarch and omitted sugar. That was the end of my run as a genius child baker.

Fast forward 20 years and you will find me in the kitchen again trying out a waffle recipe. I’m not a big fan of waffles, but that is another story for another day. But when I found a recipe that promised the lightest, fluffiest, most perfect waffles ever I was willing to give them a go. What was the secret that made these guys the lightest fluffiest waffles ever? Why cornstarch of course.

But back to the real story. I want cookies. And I want the perfect introductory cookie to Christmas baking. So when I stumbled upon a shortbread recipe that featured cornstarch I know it was a sign and I had to make them.

Grandma’s Shortbread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup butter, softened

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Directions:

1. Sift together cornstarch, icing sugar and flour.
2. Stir.
3. With wooden spoon blend in butter until soft, smooth dough forms, shape into 1″ balls flatten with fork, or you can roll them 1/2 inch thick and cut into shapes.
4. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.