Cookies.
Nothing hits home in quite the same way as a cookie.
Cookies and milk are a treat I still enjoy. Cookies and punch (a far inferior combination) nevertheless remind me of childhood parties, and school dances, and red KoolAid stains on your shirt that blend very well with smeared chocolate chips. Cookie dough ice cream stands alone.
You may have a favorite meal, or dish that mom makes that simply doesn't measure up to anyone else's version. But nothing beats the cookie straight from the oven, having only cooked through enough to keep the warm, soft edges from melting onto your greedy fingertips.
See? This is a feeling that pie could never evoke.
So why must I make you feel this way right now, while you are sitting at your computer or reading this on your smart phone, and very likely not near a bakery?
I must because it's cookie swap time.
Every year before Christmas, the Mastro ladies gather 'round to swap cookies. You bake five dozen of your signature nosh* and swap them with the several other varieties of treats that all your relatives brought. You leave with a bunch of different types of cookies without having to make anything but one type of cookie in your own kitchen.
Genius and delicious. Now, if only we could figure something like this out for weeknight dinners....
Anyway, I don't want you to miss out on an Advent or Christmas cookie swap just because you have no long-standing family tradition to eat way more butter and sugar than should be humanly allowed. Here's a guide to hosting your very own meaningful cookie swap that I really enjoyed reading.
For my cookie swaps this year, I'll be making my signature kolach, a cream cheese dough filled with fruit preserves. They're like miniature hot pockets, but sweeter. And, you can eat eight of them before you realize you're full.
In fact, maybe I need to go make them now.... Happy baking!
*I have totally just given an "out" to all of you Mastro ladies out there currently reading this blog who do not have the time to make your five dozen cookies. The stores have some good stuff nowadays. Feel no shame.
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
What a Tart!
Over the weekend, I decided to make good use of all the figs I had accumulated and make a Fig and Almond Tart, which in theory should look just like the picture next to the recipe.
I began the process of creating the tarty goodness by washing a whole bunch of black Mission figs.
To ensure they were good, I had about seven before I started cooking. And darn! I didn't get a picture of that. Oh well...
I put the figs into a glass bowl and dug up my grandma's old food processor to begin forming the tart dough.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that's old. You're thinking that color (that beige-y sad color) was discontinued in the 1970's because it looks awful. You're thinking it will never work.
Well, I had hope. I was going to give the old girl a shot. I thought, "I'll prove that things don't need to be new to make delicious treats!"
In this coin toss, you won. Fried motor.
With the food processor out of commission, I resolved to make my tart the old fashioned way: with frozen butter. First I put all the dry ingredients together, including a lot of lemon zest.*
Then I folded in the butter, making sure it stayed chunky for tart tenderness, and mushed it with the dry stuff to look like this.
I assure you that in real life, it was not blurry. I then flattened the dough into a disc and put it in the fridge to keep it cool and full of potential.
While that hung out in the fridge, I mixed all of the wet stuff, including some local honey, with my awesome red spatula.
I think the red spatula is the secret. Or following the directions. Either or.
Then I cleaned my workspace so my mom and sister would not have a conniption after reading this blog post.
See, Mom and Steph, look how clean it is!
After basking in this tidiness for about 45 seconds, I busted the dough out of the fridge, rolled it out flat, spread the wet stuff onto it, put some almonds onto that, sliced the figs and laid them on top of everything.
Aww, pretty.
After spreading some fig jam on top of it all for glossiness, I folded the edges over and stuck it in the oven....
...where I stood right outside the door, waiting, wondering, "Is everything OK in there? It isn't doing anything." I think I was waiting for it to bubble like lasagna or something.
The timer finally went off, and all was well. It was cooked and delicious (and, again, not blurry in real life).
I took it to a few places this weekend so people could give it a try, and it was well received (except by my husband, who made sure to give me a kiss on my forehead before he said that I did a really good job, but that he could now confirm that he does not like figs).
I'm really glad people generally enjoyed the tart. It's encouraging when you make edible and likable food. I was sharing my success with my parents this week, which reminded them that that had a gift for me: 3 bags of dried figs.
Oh boy.
*By the way, I do not have a zester either. Food processor, zester...are there other things you think I need?
I began the process of creating the tarty goodness by washing a whole bunch of black Mission figs.
To ensure they were good, I had about seven before I started cooking. And darn! I didn't get a picture of that. Oh well...
I put the figs into a glass bowl and dug up my grandma's old food processor to begin forming the tart dough.
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that's old. You're thinking that color (that beige-y sad color) was discontinued in the 1970's because it looks awful. You're thinking it will never work.
Well, I had hope. I was going to give the old girl a shot. I thought, "I'll prove that things don't need to be new to make delicious treats!"
In this coin toss, you won. Fried motor.
With the food processor out of commission, I resolved to make my tart the old fashioned way: with frozen butter. First I put all the dry ingredients together, including a lot of lemon zest.*
Then I folded in the butter, making sure it stayed chunky for tart tenderness, and mushed it with the dry stuff to look like this.
I assure you that in real life, it was not blurry. I then flattened the dough into a disc and put it in the fridge to keep it cool and full of potential.
While that hung out in the fridge, I mixed all of the wet stuff, including some local honey, with my awesome red spatula.
I think the red spatula is the secret. Or following the directions. Either or.
Then I cleaned my workspace so my mom and sister would not have a conniption after reading this blog post.
See, Mom and Steph, look how clean it is!
After basking in this tidiness for about 45 seconds, I busted the dough out of the fridge, rolled it out flat, spread the wet stuff onto it, put some almonds onto that, sliced the figs and laid them on top of everything.
Aww, pretty.
After spreading some fig jam on top of it all for glossiness, I folded the edges over and stuck it in the oven....
...where I stood right outside the door, waiting, wondering, "Is everything OK in there? It isn't doing anything." I think I was waiting for it to bubble like lasagna or something.
The timer finally went off, and all was well. It was cooked and delicious (and, again, not blurry in real life).
I took it to a few places this weekend so people could give it a try, and it was well received (except by my husband, who made sure to give me a kiss on my forehead before he said that I did a really good job, but that he could now confirm that he does not like figs).
I'm really glad people generally enjoyed the tart. It's encouraging when you make edible and likable food. I was sharing my success with my parents this week, which reminded them that that had a gift for me: 3 bags of dried figs.
Oh boy.
*By the way, I do not have a zester either. Food processor, zester...are there other things you think I need?
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