Valentine’s Cookies – Lovin’ from the Oven

I thought that Valentine’s Day would be the perfect time to say “thanks” to those special people who, without always knowing it, make some days a little brighter through their caring and kindness.  I’m thinking about the school bus driver who patiently waits for my daycare kindergartener as he makes an urgent trip to the restroom, or the mail lady who walks my packages down the driveway when I didn’t hear her “beep”, or the sweet young lady who pet-sits for me and doesn’t freak out because I forgot to leave the key under the mat!  (and who now knows where we hide the spare key!)

I love making delicate, buttery spritz cookies.  For these cookies, I divided the dough into thirds.  I added some pink gel food coloring to one third, sprinkled and blended red and pink sugar into the second, and I left the last one plain.  The Better Homes and Gardens Spritz Recipe is my recipe of choice.  It is easy to work with and makes about 7 dozen cookies.

I tried a new recipe for chocolate sugar cookies, and I frosted them with Toba Garrett’s glace icing.  The result:

I outlined the cookie with royal icing, and then filled in with the glace icing (a technique that, as you can clearly see, I need to practice ;)

My plan is to fill a cellophane gift bag with some homemade cookies and hand-dipped pretzels, and attach a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card.  I am hoping to make their day a little brighter with this small gesture of genuine gratitude.

Feel the love……….

“A”

New York: Concrete Jungle Where Dreams are Made of [Fabric! And trimmings!]

Jay-Z’s anthem isn’t the only thing getting me pumped about my beloved Metropolis lately. Last week, I had the pleasure of spending the day on a quest for fabric and fiber with one old friend and one new friend who came to NYC from Boston for a few days of research and shopping. Since the Boston-area lost The Fabric Place, Beantown fabric shoppers don’t have too many options, so, Diane and Jess were eager to shop and we covered a lot of ground. We started with some coffee and catching up at Le Pain Quotidien off of Bryant Park, near a great few blocks of Garment District fabric stores (also near the Kinokuniya Bookstore, which has a great selection of Japanese craft books… watch out, Big A, now that I know you can make a Fried Egg Tawashi…).

• Mood Fabric [225 W 37th St]  The ladies found Mood the day before I met up with them and spent a good while in this fabric mecca. Yes, you know it from Project Runway, but this place is bigger than TV, and… dangerous. I avoid it because the temptation to buy when I’m there is just too strong. I mean, tell me where else I can get Marc Jacobs fabric… that doesn’t involve me, a pair of scissors, and an angry woman with a hole in the back of her shirt running after me… so how can I go in there and leave without it?
• Paron Fabrics [206 W 40th St] Our day started here. Paron does orders through their website the old fashioned way. You tell them what you need, they mail you some swatches, you pick what you like, and they send it. Diane does this all the time, and she loves it. Great customer service. They don’t have the selection Mood or some other places have, but their Annex has “deal” potential, and for a smaller shop, the people are really nice. Some of the little shops you see around here are the real-deal, rip-off schemers you’d expect Guiliani to have kicked out years ago. But they’re still here! Listen, if a guy in one of these places ever tells you he’s giving you that price because he can “tell from your face” that he likes you, he’s ripping you off. Offer him half. That won’t happen at Paron. They’re nice.
• NY Elegant Fabrics [222 W 40th St] Even though it’s only two doors down from Paron, I didn’t know this place was there. But Paula Nadelstern (who recently had a fantastic show of quilts at the American Folk Art Museum) has a Garment District fabric shopping guide, and we followed her advice to stop in. I have to say, I was impressed. They actually might have had Marc Jacobs fabric and I just didn’t see it because I was too busy looking at beautiful shirtings and touching all the giant bolts of cashmere. Big selection, well organized. No great deals anywhere, but if you need to easily and quickly find something (anything!) this place is definitely a good bet.
• B & J [525 7th Ave] This place is great if you’re sourcing fabric for big projects, but it’s not the kind of place to just hunt for a few yards. So it was an in-and-out for us.
• Pacific Trimming [218 W 38th St] This is a real all-in-one trim house. If you want something trendy or out of the ordinary, go to M&J, but if you’re looking for anything else, I’d go here. Jess found some nice metal purse frames that she could only find for sale on overseas websites. Prices are good, selection is huge.

After weaving through some zipper shops nearby, we stopped for lunch before heading to the east side of Broadway, with three important stops in mind:

• M&J Trim [1008 6th Ave] I don’t think I need to say much more than “5 different kinds of sequined tiger appliques.” And maybe “ball fringe.” Prices are high, but, hey, sometimes you just have to treat yourself nice.
• Tinsel Trading Co [1 W 37th St]  I’ve known for years that there was something special about this store, but in finding the address to post here, I may have found out exactly what it is. Guess who’s declared this her “favorite store in all the world”? … give up?? It’s Martha!!! I should have known… I should have recognized her presence… I guess I’ve just been too distracted by all the shiny, beautiful things in this place! This is literally a shop where everything for sale sparkles. Read about their history, or just walk in, and you’ll have a whole new appreciation for shiny things. (Oooooooo….)
• The Magazine Place Next Door [W 37th St] I don’t know what this place is called, but it’s next to Tinsel Trading, and they have like every magazine in the world. And not so good coffee. Jess needed to see a copy of Selvedge (my favorite magazine ever!) before deciding to lay out the big bucks for a subscription, as well as a few other hard-to-find publications, so it was a perfect inspiration pit-stop before we left the Garment District.

New York’s a big place, and though you can spend all day in one neighborhood, sometimes it’s good to switch it up. We hopped the train down to the Lower East Side for some of my downtown favorite spots and a nice walk.

• Zarin Fabrics [314 Grand St] If it’s home furnishing fabric you seek, and you can’t shop in the D&D building, one of the best places to start is the Zarin Warehouse, upstairs from the Zarin showroom. Good selection, good prices, good fabrics. Sometimes a good remnants pile.  And it’s the same Zarin as Jill Zarin, from the Real Housewives of NYC. And she’s not one of the ones who punched any of the other housewives, right?

At this point, we had covered everything except yarn, so we grabbed a coffee and took a walk to the nearest yarn shop, which was a few neighborhoods over in SoHo, which has a sister fabric store down the block.

• Purl + Purl Patchwork [137 + 147 Sullivan Street, respectively] Though small, these two spots have a very well-selected inventory and a nice, helpful staff. Jess found some nice organic cotton to knit with. I seriously contemplated my love for Alexander Henry Fabrics and how I could turn graphic art like that of Charley Harper into needlepoint, without spending $150 (…I think I can eye-ball it).

And that took us straight to dinner time, after which I had to say goodbye. But, even for the fabric-hungry this is the city that never sleeps, so I sent the ladies to the Strand for some late evening book shopping. The Strand has a great selection of new and used fashion, craft, textile, art, and (oh, yeah) everything books. The place is huge, and they have books you’ll never see in Barnes & Noble, sometimes at prices better than Amazon. It’s hard to leave without buying anything. In fact, it’s just hard to leave. Luckily, they close. Maybe because they know, like Jay-Z, when they “better slip you a’ Ambien…”

.a

Tawashi? Or not Tawashi.

Just what is tawashi??  The Japanese translation is “a traditional scrubbing brush to wash off the dirt”, and it’s also the latest craze among knitters and crocheters.  Made of acrylic yarn, these little scrubbies are said to be eco-friendly because they are reusable and require use of little or no soap.

The patterns seen here are available free online and all, except the apple slice, came from Ravelry.  I used some stash cotton and acrylic yarns.  They worked up very quickly, and it was a great way to use up leftovers!  Many of the patterns are written in Japanese, but graphs are provided that correspond to English symbols.  Still not easy, but Little A ( who, by the way, does not crochet) insisted that I give the Japanese pattern for a fried egg tawashi a try.  Nope…too hard.

You win, Little A.  Still not too easy, but some help from Tawashi Town at Ravelry made a huge difference.

If you have little or no inclination to knit or crochet Tawashi, they are available for purchase on Etsy.  Or, if you’re my friend or relative, you can have your pick.  Just steer clear of the egg…or she’ll have me make another.

“A”

Banana Bread Bliss

My favorite fruit:  banana.  My favorite candy:  banana Laffy Taffy (true).  My favorite ice cream:  Chunky Monkey.  My favorite quick bread? Whenever I see a golden bunch ripening in the fruit basket,  I’m thinking banana bread.  The yummy aroma that fills the kitchen while it’s baking is heavenly, and I think it tastes great with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And its perfect with a 3 p.m. pick-me-up cup of coffee.  And it’s especially delicious with a small glass of ice cold milk before bedtime.  Really, there is no bad time to eat banana bread.

The Better Homes and Gardens Banana Bread recipe happens to be my favorite.  It has an optional streusel topping that isn’t optional for me at all.  I know I have the tendency to “gild the lily”,  but I can’t imagine this banana bread without the sweet and crunchy, nutty topping.

I do wrap it in plastic wrap while it’s warm and let it set a few hours, but there’s no way I can let it set a day before I slice it.  Life’s too short.

COOKS NOTE:  The recipe calls for 5 medium bananas.  I used 3 medium-to-large bananas, and they mashed to be about 1 1/2 cups.

“A”

Cooking Barefoot

I rarely buy cookbooks that do not contain the words cookies, cakes or dessert in the title but, while holiday shopping in Marshalls, I was lucky to find two Ina Garten cookbooks, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and Back to Basics.  Knowing full well my history of buying cookbooks that remain unopened and collect dust, I vowed it would be different with Ina.  After all, I love her Rugelach recipe!

So, on New Year’s Day, my “Jeffrey” and I decided to celebrate at home by cooking a special dinner together, and I was thrilled to reach for one of my new books.  Back to Basics…Spring Green Risotto….yeah, we can do that, but we absolutely needed to grocery shop because it quickly became apparent that my stock of basic ingredients was no match for Ina’s.  Onions:  yes.  Leeks: no.  Cream cheese:  yes.  Mascarpone cheese:  no.  Celery:  yes.  Fennel:  no…

Shopping done; let’s get started -

Three hours later -

Ina refers to this as a “great last-minute dinner if you have most of the ingredients on hand”.  It took us every bit of three hours to chop, cook and serve.  If we hadn’t munched along on cheese and crackers, we might have starved.  Nothing “last minute” about this risotto.

Taste?  Totally delicious, creamy and bursting with flavor!  And great leftover.

“Jeffrey” wants to try another recipe.  Apparently, he didn’t mind cleaning the aftermath of our kitchen tornado.  I’ve assured him that, although this will not be a Julie/Julia thing, it’s worth the adventure.  He’s thinking “Bay Scallops Gratin”.  It may not be easy to convince him that “Coconut Cupcakes” are the only way to go.

“A”

Knit for Baby – Cotton Cardigan

I went to a baby shower today!  The daughter of a very special friend is expecting her first child in February and, keeping true to the trend, the expectant parents are choosing to be surprised.  Wonderful, really.  Unless, like me, you like to knit baby sweaters in pink or blue…so, white it is.

Debbie Bliss “Pure Cotton” worsted weight yarn is super soft and 100% all natural.  I found a pattern in Precious Layettes to Knit, by Leisure Arts.  I knitted the yoke, but when I got to the sleeve and had to work the pattern, I discovered that I did not like the pattern stitch at all.  I was ready to “frog” the whole thing, when I felt a jolt of inspiration.  Maybe I could keep the yoke, and simply substitute another stitch pattern.  Experienced knitters do this all the time and, although I am experienced, I’m usually too insecure to stray from the printed pattern.  Not this time.  I whipped out my copy of The New Knitting Stitch Library and chose the pattern you see here.

The baby’s paternal Grandma presented a norwegian-style baby sweater that she knitted on size 0 and size 1 needles.  It was truly a work of art, and her hand was so steady that I would have sworn it was knitted on a machine.  Amazing.  For a fleeting moment, I thought I might try this.  Then I envisioned those size 0 needles and thought “nah”.

“A”

Yes, little a baked Christmas cookies too.

I’m not going to lie – baking doesn’t really appeal to me. I love baked goods. Love, love, LOVE to eat them.

Look at those? How could you not love those cookies?

And trust me – they taste just as good as they look. I should know. I ate enough of them in the past few days.

Baking, though, requires a level of accuracy and finesse that I just struggle with. I don’t like to measure things when I cook or use timers. I like it when I can “eyeball” it and “feel” it. You know what happens when you do that with baking? Hockey pucks happen. And no one wants to eat a hockey puck. Even if it’s frosted. So, I don’t bake much.

But every year I look forward to one day of baking – our Annual Christmas Cookie-Baking Marathon.  Since as far back as I can remember, Big A, Aunt Linda, cousin Diane, and I have baked Christmas cookies together for an entire day sometime before Christmas. College and a little place I call “Colorado” have kept us apart on this day before, but this year “the storm that never came” gave us a Cookie-Baking Day first: Cookie-Baking Day in separate kitchens. It was a fun day with just Big A, but not the same without Aunt Linda, Diane, and Red Hots…

But traditions must evolve and adapt, as must our cookie tray.

We have some great “traditional” cookies. Every Cookie-Baking Day starts with Spritz. Even though Spritz guns are a pain, the cookies are always worth making. They come out so cute and buttery and, besides, it’s fun to play with sprinkles. I made the ones in the picture, but, we all make a few batches of different Spritz. Big A made her family/favorite childhood recipe Almond Crescents. Over the years, we’ve learned people like this Capuccino Crinkle and some kind of Almond-paste macaroon (this is Martha’s almond macaroon). And the dropped and iced cookie on the top-right is a variation of another family classic, our Italian Christmas Cookie.

The big challenge every year is to find new recipes that are just as good as the old ones. This year, I found two new recipes that we were really happy with: the Apricot-Orange Shortbread Bars, and I really wanted a Cranberry, Pistachio, and White Chocolate Biscotti, so we found a recipe for a good biscotti and modified it. Both went over well, and I think we’ll see them on cookie trays of the future.

These cookies are awesome. The cookie tray always is. You know that if there’s flour, sugar, butter, and Big A involved, you’re not going to be disappointed. And I really tried my best to measure, and time things, so, we only lost one batch and everything was really delicious. But, it’s never about how good the cookies are. It’s about the day, and if you are thinking about starting a tradition with your family for the holidays, I encourage you to try a day in the kitchen together. It’s a day unlike any other. Especially when you pepper in some Beatles Rock Band…

.a

Annual Christmas Cookie-Baking Marathon

Winter Storm Albert may have forced us to modify our tradition, but it couldn’t stop the production of some impressive holiday cookies!  Traditionally, we gather at my sister-in-law Linda’s house for an annual 12-hour cookie-baking event.  I bring along my KitchenAid, baking pans, recipes, ingredients and enthusiasm and, together, we crank out hundreds of delectable little bites.  Some years we fly solo; many years we are blessed to have our daughters and others join in the chaos.  But never before had we spent this day apart.  The dreaded weather forecast forced us to reevaluate our plans, and we decided to “make lemonade” and bake via teleconference.

Linda was on her own, but I was fortunate to have Little A (who is so creative :o) at my side!  We worked from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m, and what a great time we had (we played Beatles Rock Band between batches!).   We tried some new recipes and were thrilled with the results.

1) Snowflake cutouts.  2) Butter Crisp spritz.  3) Molasses sugar cookies.  4) Italian Christmas Cookies.  5) Nutella Sandwiches.  6)  Almond Macaroons.  7)  Cappucino Crinkles.  8) Almond Drop.  9) Cranberry, White Chocolate, Pistachio Biscotti.  10) Almond Crescent Cookies.  11) Apricot-Orange Shortbread Bars.

Where to get the recipes:  Snowflake cutouts – check out my earlier post.  Butter Crisp Spritz – recipe below.  Molasses sugar cookies – this is from allrecipes.com, click here.  Italian Christmas Cookies – recipe previously posted.  Nutella sandwiches – recipe previously posted.  Almond Macaroons – Martha Stewart’s Cookies.  Cappucino Crinkles – click here.  Almond Drop – recipe below.  Cranberry, White Chocolate, Pistachio biscotti – this was Alyssa’s wildly delicious creation.  She used the “Pecan Mandelbrot” recipe in Martha Stewart’s Cookies, eliminated the pecans, and tossed in about 1 cup white chips, 1 cup Craisins, and 1/2 cup chopped pistachios.  Delish!  Almond Crescent Cookies – recipe below.  Apricot-Orange Shortbread Bars - Epicurious.

BUTTER CRISP SPRITZ

1 cup butter

3 oz. cream cheese

1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and cream cheese; gradually add sugar and continue beating until blended.  Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.  Sift together flour, salt and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture.  Fill cookie press, and press cookies onto ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 12 – 15 minutes, until set.  Remove to wire rack to cool.

ALMOND DROPS

2 sticks butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar until light.  Add oil, eggs and almond.  Mix well.  Add flour and baking powder.  Dough should be soft, but not too sticky.  If necessary, sprinkle additional flour sparingly.  Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake 10 – 12 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.  Cool completely and frost with Confectioner’s frosting.

Confectioners’ Frosting

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer, or by hand.  Beat until smooth.  Dip tops of cookies into frosting.  Leave plain or add colored sprinkles.  Let dry completely on cooling rack.

ALMOND CRESCENT COOKIES

1 lb. butter, softened

4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 cups lightly toasted and chopped almonds

Mix butter, flour and sugar.  Stir in almonds.  Roll by hand and form into crescents.  Bake at 350 degrees until set.  Dip tops of warm cookies into confectionery or fine granulated sugar.  Note:  this recipe is easily halved.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Linda and I swapped cookies today, and she totally outdid herself!  She added Raspberry Thumbprints, Frosted Cranberry Cookies, Raspberry White Chocolate Bars, the Better Homes and Gardens Spritz cookies, and an Andes Mint cookie that was a free recipe with the candies.

As truly grateful as I was to be in my kitchen sharing this year’s cookie extravaganza with Alyssa, I missed my cherished tradition.  If the weather is bad next year, I’ll pack an overnight bag and go…because it’s not easy being Lucy without Ethel.

“A”

You would think I’ve had about enough cookie baking for a season, right?  So why am I thinking that I still need a cookie with coconut, and some lemon bars???

More Christmas Cookies!

My “Christmas Baking Extravaganza” is this Saturday.  You’ll hear all about this wonderful tradition, complete with photos and recipes, in my next post.  In the meantime, I’ve been busy baking these:

NUTELLA SANDWICHES

Nutella Sandwiches:

1 and 2/3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup blanched almonds

1 tbsp. vanilla

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 tbsp. milk

1/4 tsp. salt

Nutella hazelnut spread

In  a food processor, blend sugar and almonds until almonds are very fine.  Cut the butter into medium-sized chunks and add with the motor running.  Process until smoth and creamy.  Add the extracts and milk, and process until blended, scraping sides of bowl.  Remove the cover and add the flour, sprinkling the salt on top.  Pulse in the flour just until the dough starts to clump together.  Scrape dough into bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Working with 1/4 of the dough, knead until slightly softened and roll it on a floured cloth to 1/8″ thickness.  Cut cookies and transfer with metal spatula to cookie sheets, placing cookies 1″ apart.  Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, watching closely, until cookies just begin to turn golden.  Spread a thin layer of Nutella on bottom of solid cooled cookies.  Top with cookie with hole in the middle.  Sprinkle decorations in center hole.

And these!

MOLASSES SUGAR COOKIES

Molasses Sugar Cookies:

This recipe came from one of my favorite websites, allrecipes.com.  This site has endless recipes, and the star-ratings and reviews are incredibly helpful.  I love reading the comments and suggestions of folks who have tried the recipes I’m interested in.  These cookies are easy to make, have a high yield, and are really delicious!

There are still many cookies to bake on Saturday.  Some old recipes, tried-and-true, and some new ones too.  Can’t wait to share!

“A”

“Mustache Pins are THE Stocking Stuffer of the Year”

I had tons of fun at the booth Kait and I shared at Artists & Fleas yesterday! When the lights stayed on, our display and our stuff looked pretty great. When they went out… well, we were in the back corner, so you couldn’t see anything… Kait’s Dad took some pro pics, but here are a few I snapped with the iPhone.

So, we literally used furniture and things from our my apartment to dress up the space. I brought some tins that I keep sewing supplies in to hold merchandise and my picture of a classy chap with a great handlebar mustache (you know, just to keep the table looking classy). From the top left, going clockwise above, you have: Hipster Pins 3 Ways, Crocheted Birds (thanks, Big A!), iPhone cozies, really cute Owl ornaments that Kait made, Kait’s Pot Holder sets, and my Pillow Huggers Pillowcases (shown is a set – both have the girl on one side, the heart on the other, and her arms reaching all the way around on the hem).

I was really pushing the Hipster Pins. There’s the Mustache, the Cheeseburger, and My Cold Black Heart.

And I kept telling people that the Mustache Pin was THE stocking stuffer of the year. I think I declared it so much, that it just might become true (come on, The Secret!). Get your hands on them now, people! Stuff those sequined stocking with something awesome. They went over pretty well amongst both mustached and non-mustached shoppers.

Kait’s aprons also got a lot of attention. People loved her fabrics, and the kids aprons I think might have inspired shoppers to do a little baby-making… They’re just so cute, you want a kid to put in one. And above those, I embroidered some new drawings from Kendra into pieces of wall art.

I’ll be putting what didn’t sell at the market onto Etsy. And hopefully, it won’t land me a spot on Regretsy… PS : Did you see she got a book deal already???

Dear Whoever Goes Around Reading Blogs Giving Out Book Deals,

… Hi!

Sincerely,

Big A and Little A

Anyway, I hope to do Artists and Fleas again soon, and I hope people bring more Mermen to sell.

.a