Suburban Homestead

Love Bug Cookies

Guess what the toddler and I did Sunday morning?

A little bit of this...

...and a whole lot of this:

A new friend and neighbor just had her third child! So I decide to make a double batch of sugar cookies for Valentine's, and personalize a plate full for her and her family. I've got to say, the labor intensive production of artfully decorating cookies gets easier each time, and that much more therapeutic. Once you go to all the trouble and fuss to make it happen, it's so calming to just sit down and pump out a ton of pretty little treats. I need to do this with a group of committed friends on occassion. This kind of craft needs to be the modern day sewing circIe. I was certainly grateful to only have one child in my care that morning. Together, we made for one happy little pair.

Congrats, Hilary!!!

Valentine's Cookies

Last night I hosted another one of Kate's cookie classes for all my girls who could not make the first class in December.  The theme was Valentine's, and the students were a great mixture of neighbors and friends.

Here are some pictures I took of Kate's art - cookies decorated the night before so that *students* could have a little inspiration. If it's not obvious from these shots, let me tell you: they were flawless! (I say *were* only because Kate and I ate them all while cleaning up the kitchen.)

Here Kate shows us the proper *technique*. Oh the jokes that followed... ;)

I'll leave you with this shot below - one Kate forwarded me from her phone, of some recent work she'd done. (OK fine, I grabbed her phone and forwarded it to myself.) Who knew I needed a pear-shaped cookie cutter? And a lemon one to go with it? Well now I know.  Thanks again, Kate! xoxo

If you live in the Bay Area, and would like to throw a cookie decorating party with Kate as your instructor, it's such a great way to get a group together, morning, afternoon or night. She charges $45/head and pretty much does it all! You leave with some great, new knowledge and a box of your cookie art. For more info, you can contact her at kateplaskon(at)gmail.com or at 415.225.7516

Cinnamon Ice Cream

Two lifetimes ago, I worked in a restaurant. Many restaurants, actually. And out of the hundreds of evenings I spent walking the floors, slinging giant white plates of hot French/Italian/American food at people, there was one night (just ONE!) when a special Tarte Tatine was offered with, not the predictable vanilla ice cream, but cinnamon ice cream!!!

It left quite the impression on me. The flavor was not subtle at all - it was big - VERY BIG! In fact, it reminded me of a creamy, frozen version of my mother's go-to breath freshener in the '70's - Big Red gum.

Being too young at the time to know an ice cream maker from crock-pot, I bought a half gallon of Dreyer's ice cream, let it soften until I could blend in heaping scoops of spice, and re-froze it. In the morning, I ran to the freezer, (maybe I'd have ice cream with my coffee,) but was shocked to find my half-gallon of ice cream had shrunk during the night to little more than a pints worth. That morning, I was awoken to an undeniable reality of cheaply made, mass produced food: additives. In this case, the additive was a lot of air!

That was a long time ago now, and since then I've tried several brands/versions of cinnamon ice cream, but found them all to only *hint* at the spice. For me to be able to relive that first taste of cinnamon ice cream, that creamy cold scoop of *Big Red*, I needed to take matters into my own hands. Thankfully, it's simple. Here's how I do it:

 

Cinnamon Ice Cream

1 cup of very cold whole milk

2 cups of very cold whipping cream

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients and turn in your home ice cream maker per manufacturers instructions. (My ice cream maker is by Cuisinart and I mix it for about 20 minutes before storing it in the freezer for several hours before serving.)

It's a Thankless Job

"I don't like those kinds of cookies!"

"What?! Hazelnuts?!? I hate hazelnuts!"

"Ya...I've never...really been a fan of Nutella or chocolate with hazelnuts. I really don't care for it."

Too bad. It's what's for dessert.

Two cookies and a glass of milk later, they were all eating their words.

Hazelnuts and chocolate really do make a mean cookie!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies from Ina Garten's How Easy Was That?

This day last year: "Lady Marmalade"

Christmas Brunch

This Christmas morning, we ate the same tart I made last year, only I used my recently-made pomegranate jelly instead of quince. And instead of topping the tart with circular cuts of pie dough, I used *North Pole Animals*.

Of course, there was also eggs, bacon, sausage and coffee. But you can't really form any of those into cute, cold-weather loving animal shapes, now can you. Enjoy your food!

Neighborhood Cookie Decorating Party

Anyone who scrolls the front page of my blog these days might be hard pressed to believe we eat anything but cookies.

It's true, there have been a lot of cookies in our life lately. And if you can believe it, there are more to come.

Pretty Little Boxes

I wanted to share some great *fun food* finds that are out for Christmas and that have found their way into our kitchen.

Peppermint Stick Clif bars for my peppermint obsessed kid. A box of 7 was only $5 at Target - a far cry from the regular $2.50/bar at the grocery store.

Trader Joe's Gingerbread House - $7.99. It's just cute.

As is the Trader Joe's Gingerbread Man for $3.99. Every kid gets their own!

And tucked away in the back of the broom closet is a little something for mom and dad - chocolate covered Oreo cookies in various flavors - like peppermint (for mom) and peanut butter (for dad). This things are so amazing, I just can't be asked to share.

 

Incredible Cookies

I got the most incredible gift yesterday when my dear friend, Kate, made good on a promise to teach me how to frost cookies like a champ.

No, I did not frost that chicken. Kate did!

I was responsible for baking all the cookies, and Kate made the frosting. She came with all sorts of impressive tools and shared all kinds of useful tips and techniques.

Like how to check the consistency of your 'piping' without filling an entire bag.

The set-up was brutal. It must have taken about 2 hours to get all the 'piping' and 'flood' made, then colored. At first go with the pastry bag, I didn't think I could pull it off. My cookies looked like %*#@ and it all seemed to much to bother trying again.

But things picked up rather quickly as Kate watched over me and helped me get it right. I love this picture of her decorating a turkey while my daughter looks on, smiling. (But trust me, you don't want kids around while you tackle decorating at this level!)

Here are some that I did make! My absolute favorite is the turkey leg. I'm already looking forward to making Christmas cookies... I'm thinking chickens in santa caps. ;)

Thank you, KATE!!! xoxo

Stella & Dot Party

Maybe I'm being a bit oversensitive but it's beginning to feel a tad bit *wrong* to describe a friend as "one of my oldest friends".  I say that these days and I just cringe - "Did I just paint the picture of a woman with unruly chin hair and a weak pelvic floor?"  There must be a better way...

*One of my girlfriends from college* - how's that? - hosted a Stella & Dot party at her house last Friday morning. Morning!  I love that she did it in the MORNING, after drop-off, not at 7:30 pm on a week night when "the kids are down" and I'm wishing I was too.

But what I want to share here is not so much about Stella & Dot as it is about my "girlfriend from college" and her incredible talents in the baking department!  (She had some other talents in college but they wouldn't be appropriate to discuss here.)

Ummm...did the host of the last Stella & Dot party you attended make anything like these to help ease you into your shopping experience? I'm guessing no.

Oh, sure, there were cute baubles too...

but really - look at these!

Which caused me to ask her for some images of some of her other incredible creations. Realize - she doesn't do this for a living, she just does this for sh*** and giggles!

Cookies for an oscar party!

A *Fear the Beard* cake. The hat looked real to me but it's actually 100% fondant!

Skate Rat cupcakes for her eldest son's birthday.

And my favorite, the Scooter cake for her youngest son's 4th birthday. He's depicted on top wearing his favorite t-shirt.

Look at the details - the Razor logo...the Crocs!!!

Her most recent creation - the Frankenstein cake. Incredible!!

The best part is, she saw this post of mine and noticed I suffer from something she calls 'coupler-itis'. She has asked to give me a cookie frosting tutorial ASAP and in time for the holidays. We're all set for the Monday before Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for frosted turkey leg cookies!

Happy Halloween!

What an exhausting day and it isn't even lunch time yet!  I just got back from the big kid's class party and costume parade.  My contribution -- skeleton gingerbread men, animals and dinosaurs!

I've been wanting to try these for years, ever since I first saw them over at ohdeedoh.com

Here are the kids on Saturday, before heading out to the mall.  I shared this photo of Mr. Noodles in his chicken costume with our sitter... who then showed it to her friend... who just happens to have the adult version of the EXACT SAME CHICKEN COSTUME!!!  She sent it over to our house in case I would want to wear it. Um -- let me think abo---  YETH PWEZZZ!!!  (more photos to come :)

Spiderweb Cookies!

I have been making Martha Stewart's Halloween Pumpkin Spice Cookies for years now. YEARS!  I'm not sure why she mentions pumpkin in the name, there isn't any in them. Possibly because she recommends you decorate them as such. I tried that once, and failed miserably. It appeared to be a near impossible task, one only achievable if you have no kids, no friends, no job and endless hours on your hands to fine-tune the consistency and colors of Royal Icing to *just right*.

Nuf said.

I usually just make the icing, divide it up and color it with various Fall colors.  Like this batch which I made last Thanksgiving.  But this morning, I decided to try my hands at spiderwebs.

How cute are these?!?

This recipe makes a ton of cookies.  So this time, after rolling the dough into four logs, I refrigerated two of them, and froze the other two for Thanksgiving time.  Then I made a half batch of Royal Icing.  We still have too many cookies, about 24.  But we are going to dinner at a friends house tonight and will bring some over to share.

This day last year: "The Accidental Genius"

Fig Almond Tart

This, my friends, is one for the history books...

...at least, the ones on figs, that is.

See, I am very, very picky about my fig recipes.  I want to love them all, but I rarely find one that I can.  Last years caramelized fig ice cream did not *live up*, and 2009's fig pie turned out to be nothing more than two pounds of dead weight at the bottom of my garbage can. (That was before chickens, of course.)

Set me up with figs topped with goat cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, and I'm good, top to bottom. Start adding them to my baked goods, and that's when I'm going to have to ask that we sit down and talk things out.

And yet I experiment, every year.

So I did not have high hopes for Bon Appetit's Fig-Almond Tart, a recipe printed at the request of a reader, wanting the secret to their favorite dessert from Marinus Restaurant in Carmel, CA.

But man-o-man, was I happily surprised!  You really can't go wrong with figs when you dress them up with 3x's their weight in butter, eggs and almonds. And the crust - THE CRUST!! Tasted just like my great grandmothers shortbread...

We ate ours for dessert, but this would be great for breakfast as well. Its flavors are ideal for Fall, Thanksgiving and the Holidays.  I'm going to have to experiment with making this tart using figs frozen from this months backyard harvest.

Here is the recipe as found in Bon Appetit Magazine's July 2011 issue, with my notes:

 

Fig-Almond Tart

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 large egg yolk (I accidentally used one small egg - yolk and white - and it was fine)
• 1 tbsp. heavy cream (I just used 1/2+1/2, and it was fine)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose for plus more
• 6 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, diced plus more

Filling

• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup plus 2/3 cup sugar, divided
• 3 large eggs (our girls lay *medium* eggs, and they are fine)
• 1 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup (scant) slivered almonds (I only had whole almond so I pounded them first)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 12 oz. fresh mission figs (about 12 medium), stemmed, quartered

Special Equipment: Use a 10″ – diameter tart pan with a removable bottom is ideal. If you don't have this, get creative. :)

Directions:

Crust

Whisk egg yolk and cream in a small bowl.  Mix 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Add 1 cup butter: mix on low speed until coarse meal forms. Add egg mixture.  Blend just until moist clumps form.  Gather into a ball, flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for 1 hour.

Butter tart pan.  Roll out dough to 13″ round on a lightly floured surface.  (I found I need A LOT of flour on the counter and on top of my dough to get this done. The dough is very *wet* but the upside is this crust will taste like shortbread!)  Transfer to pan.  Press onto bottom and up sides.  Trim excess dough.  Chill 30 minutes.

Filling

Bring half-and-half to a simmer in a small saucepan.  Whisk 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, and flour in a small bowl.  Gradually whisk in half-and-half.  Return to sacuepan.  Whisk constantly over medium heat until mixture thicken and boils, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl.  Stir in vanilla.  Set over a bowl of ice water; stir pastry cream until cold.  Remove from ice bath; set aside.

Finely grind almonds with1/3 cup sugar in a food processor (do not grind to a paste).  Using an electric mixer,  beat butter and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl until smooth.  Add 2 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well between additions.  Gradually beat in almond mixture, then 1/2 cup reserved pastry cream (reserve remaining cream for another use).  Cover; chill until firm, about 4 hours. 

Preheat oven to 375*. Spread filling over crust.  Arrange figs, cut side up, in concentric circles over filling.  Place tart on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until filling in center is golden and set. Bon Appetit says this is about 1 hour 15 minutes, BUT mine was fully baked in just 40 minutes so be careful with cook time. 

Let tart cool completely in a pan on a wire rack.  Serve at room temperature plain or dressed up with a dollop of whipped cream or, better yet, some lemon curd.

Things That Make Me Happy

It was a very good weekend. There were many things that put a smile on my face...

No. 1 - My 20th high school reunion!  Seems a crying shame that you go through school with 300 people, during some of the most formative years of your life, and that you then only get several hours to catch-up with them every ten years. Can't wait for the next one!

No. 2 - Martha Stewart's DIRT CAKE!  It's meant to be served up in a terra cotta pot, but I took a tip from a girlfriend and did it in dump truck for the 2 year old's birthday. Happy Birthday, Baby!  You bring me smiles everyday!

No. 3 - Free, organic fruit from someone who had no need for it. :)

No. 4 -The Missoni for Target collection - the colors, the quality and the way my little, spicy meatball wears it so well.

No. 5 - Our homegrown albino watermelon and the way it finally tastes good after a week of hot, hot weather.

No. 6 - This puzzle showing the incredible artwork of Charlie Harper.  Perfect for a drizzly, Sunday morning with kids.

Jodi Loves Donuts

Funny little story for you if you don't already know -- I live in the house I grew up in. What's more, the house was out of my family for twenty years. My parents sold it when I was ten, I dreamed about it for the next twenty years, and then my husband and I bought it back almost eight years ago. But that's a whole long blog post I don't want to get into now that it's approaching midnight.

What I do want to tell you about is Jodi.  She was the cute little girl who lived across the street from me and I loved her something fierce. Maybe because she was the only other girl on the street in a neighborhood of boys, maybe because she had the most amazing hair, but most likely it was because she had all the best toys. I kid you not. Her playroom was off the hook.

So imagine how crushed I was when we were playing together one day and her mom ran into the room to share her big news, "Jodi!! We're moving! We bought a new house!!" Jodi and I stood stoic. She could have cared less, and I was devastated.

I never saw her again.

Until I got a Facebook account.  And there she was - all curls and smiles, just like I'd remembered.

And we've been best (childhood) friends (reunited) on Facebook ever since.  I look forward to her witty posts, she's always quick to rip me a new one.

At some point, she mentioned a love for the donut. It stuck with me because I too love the donut. Although I rarely indulge, I knew I had to turn her on to the worlds best donuts -- they are from Donut Alley in Larkspur.  (You can just go ahead a book your plane ticket today. Knock out San Francisco, Wine Country and Donut Alley all in one week.)

So she came over to our old stomping ground and saw my childhood home for the first time in almost thirty years. She had no memory of the house itself, so the whole reveal was a bit underwhelming. I had hoped to get her a tour of her childhood home across the street but had no luck setting that up in time. Maybe next time...

Is there anything cuter than a small child eating a sweet? Me thinks not.

Wordless Wednesday

Rosemary Ice Cream with Olive Oil

I grew up in a family of ice cream lovers. I have little to no memories of eating cookies or cake outside of birthday celebrations, but there was always ice cream in the freezer. The times seemed to dictate our simple tastes - there was chocolate, or vanilla.

And while I'm still right at home with either of those classics (Haagen Daz only, please!), I can not say I'm not secretly addicted to the extravagant blends of Ben and Jerry's, or the glossy recipe pages of artisan ice cream books.

I've managed to pick-up a couple this year. :)

I purchased Ciao Bella's book while in Crate and Barrel only because I love their gelato. But Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home is a coffee table worthy piece, filled with the most intoxicating photography (aka: *dessert porn*).  Just flipping through the pages I found myself with curious yearnings for Sweet Potato Ice Cream (?), Beet Ice Cream with Mascarpone and Poppy Seeds (!?), even Gorgonzola Dolce Ice Cream with Candied Walnuts (!?!) 

Who am I?  What has become of me?

A couple weeks ago I found myself dessert-less and in need of knowing what Rosemary and Olive Oil Gelato tasted like.  Ciao Bella had the recipe but lucky for all you, I botched it, rendering it a *modified* recipe that I can now share online.

It was incredibly good!  Not something that I would necessarily choose over a bowl of Haagen Daz, but so unique and interesting that it stands to be the ideal dessert to serve to guests on a Summer night, right after some sort of fabulous Italian dinner. Benissimo!

 

Rosemary and Olive Oil Ice Cream

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh rosemary

1 cup of whole milk, well chilled

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a medium bowl or container, combine the rosemary and milk. Cover and refrigerate fore 48 hours, stirring the mixture after 24 hours and gain just before straining.

Strain the rosemary-infused milk into a large heavy-bottom saucepan, pressing on the solids to extract all the flavored milk mixture. Discard rosemary and add cream, sugar, olive oil and vanilla.

Pour mixture into the container of an ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Freeze for 1-2 hours before serving.

Cherry This, Cherry That

It's been a week since that incredible morning in the cherry orchard with the kids, and almost as long since I last posted.  I've basically been sitting around waiting for the cherry juice stains to release from my cracked finger tips. (winky eye)

Here's what I did with all that fruit.

Last Tuesday night, I sat up and pitted about half the fruit with the doors wide open and the silence of sleeping kids blaring.  It was my kind of meditation. I tried to capture the spirit of the kitchen here:

Then I made a pie, a batch of jam and two batches of cherry chocolate ice cream with our 11lbs.

The ice cream was my absolute favorite!

 

Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

I modified this recipe, upping the cherries and chocolate to make it even better!

Ingredients

• 2 cups pitted ripe sweet cherries (from about 3/4 lb cherries)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cups cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 5 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

Method

1 Put cherries, milk, one cup of the cream, sugar, and salt into a medium saucepan. Heat on medium heat until the mixture is steamy, then lower the heat to warm and just let sit for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool slightly, then pour mixture into a blender, and carefully purée. (Careful because you are dealing with a hot liquid. Make sure you hold the cap down on the top of the blender while puréeing.)

2 Put mixture into a large bowl. Stir in the remaining 3/4 cup of cream. Chill for several hours in the refrigerator until completely cold. (Can also place bowl over an ice bath, to speed up the cooling process.)

3 Before putting the mixture into your ice cream maker, stir in the lemon juice.  Churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

4 Once the ice cream has completed churning, the ice cream should be pretty soft. Gently fold in the finely chopped chocolate. Put in an airtight container and place in the freezer for at least an hour, preferably several hours.

Makes about one quart.

End of Year Outdoor Movie Night

In my final year of college, I went abroad to complete my studies in product design.  I could go on for days about my love for the motherland, but one small take-away from the experience - a simple five letter word - is coming to mind a lot these days as school winds down, summer approaches, and I reflect back on my eldest child’s first year of school.

That word is magic.

The British use it carefully, and only to explain experiences too lovely for common praises.  If it was more than great, if it was beyond wonderful, it was magic.  Often delivered with a lack of eye contact, the word always seemed to come from a place of sweet reverie or just pure, in-the-moment bliss.

Magic.

It’s the perfect word to explain my experience watching the six year old grow through his first year of school.  It's the good fortune I feel for being able to be a mommy to this wonderful little man and the proud feelings I have for his accomplishments to date.  It sums up the bitter-sweet feelings I have knowing this is likely to be his last year *believing* in things like Santa, the Tooth Fairy and the Gingerbread Man. 

It's just magic.

And so to wrap up this incredible year, I thought to have a party for my guy's kindergarten class. The idea was a bit forced, and definitely excessive - even I'll admit that.  Not because I wanted it that way, but because the whole evening revolved around using up a couple certificates for items we'd purchased over the years at charity auctions - an outdoor movie experience, as well as a custom made cake.  But the time had come to finally put the services to use, and celebrating the end of an incredible year seemed like just as good an idea as any.

This exquisite cake was the work of Emma Cakes. The lovely owners donate many of their cakes to local events each year. It was three layers of fresh raspberry mousse, in between layers of lemon cake. Incredible!

Organic hot dogs served up in some adorable baskets which I found at Cost Plus.

I grabbed this popcorn maker on clearance and plan to put it to work this summer.

We set up our pop-up canopy in front and I decorated it with some leftover sample bedding I had in the garage. I loved the way it turned out and, honestly, it's still up in the front yard.

We tried to make the area as dark as possible for the kids but it was still too bright for them to be able to see the movie.  We ended up bringing them all inside to watch it in the living room.

After the movie, popcorn and cake, all the kids played in the yard until the parents came to pick them up.

It was absolute magic.

Sunday Dinner With Friends

We had some of our favorite people over for Sunday dinner. You wouldn't know it by looking at these pictures, but there were, in fact, some adults in attendance. 

Growing up, my mother prepared spaghetti with meat sauce. 

Every.  Sunday.

I say that half jokingly because back then I loved the tradition.  But my desire to rekindle it fizzled after only three weeks when my fondness for eating a favorite dish once a week crashed and burned.  Regardless, Ina Garten's Real Meatballs and Spaghetti is a recipe worth building a tradition around (even if it's just once a month).

I only deviate from Ina's recipe in that I do not use veal and instead prepare the meatballs with half pork and half beef.  These *balls* are great, so no loss there.

I love garlic bread - but only if it's homemade and made by me... in my house.  :)  Restaurants rarely do a good enough job, in my experience.  I shared a modified version of Ina's Garlic Bread (sorta) a while back.  Here is another garlic bread recipe that I use when I need something quick and easy.

Ready? (I hope my college roommate, Stephanie, is reading this because she taught me how to do this. And it's damn good.)

1. Take a stick of room temperature butter and mix it with minced garlic.  I'm thinking maybe three cloves.

2. Open your refrigerator and see if you can find some parsley. Chop some up - how much, I can't tell you. Just do it.

3. Throw in some dried herbs: rosemary, marjoram, whatever smells Italian to you on that day.  It's TOTALLY ok if your butter turns green from all the herbs.

4. Spread it on both sides of your favorite loaf - mine is ciabatta - sprinkle parmesan on top and broil until gold brown.

5. You won't regret any of this.

I served everything up family style which worked really well.  A double batch of the pasta recipe fed four adults and six kids, with leftovers.

I just love the way kids eat their noodles -slurp 'em, suck 'em or drop them into your mouth inch by inch.

For dessert I baked Rich Marble Pound Cake with Chocolate Glaze from Tish Boyle's The Cake Book.  Every recipe in this book has been a winner to date. (My all time favorite being her Banana Cake with Carmel Espresso Frosting which can be found right here.)

Nest Egg Cookies

I am in love with these treats. I just made thirty of them in less than fifteen minutes which means they are likely to become an Easter classic around here. 

Chow mein noodles, butterscotch morsels + Cadbury Mini Eggs.

You're done!

Bird's Nest Cookies
Makes 24 - 30 cookies

12 oz. package chow mein noodles 
12 oz. package butterscotch morsels (At least. A couple extra ounces will give you a better hold)
90 egg-shaped candies

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Using a double-boiler, and stirring continually over med-low heat, melt the mosels. Be careful not to burn.

Once morsels are completely melted, remove pan from head and add in the chow mein noodles, mixing until combined.

Use a 1/4 measuring cup to portion out the cookies onto the baking sheet. If the mixture starts to solidify in the mixing bowl, you can reheat/soften it in the microwave (using a glass bowl) for 15 to 30 seconds. Place three egg-shaped candies in the center of each cookie. Allow to set for at least 5 minutes before serving or transferring.

Goodnight!

Stinson Beach Wrap-up

We are actually home now. 

I didn't get to post much while on our *staycation*.  Something about vacations just isn't so vacation-y anymore now that there are three kids.  We might have to rethink our relaxing strategy the next go around.

Anywho...I wanted to share several last tid bits.  (I'll post some pics tomorrow of the neighborhood we stayed in which I found really interesting from an architecture and landscape perspective.)  We stayed in this house and loved it. My favorite part of it was the kitchen with its cabinets all made of Japanese tansu chests, as well as the oven situated up high above the sink.  Not sure if that's a good idea, but it certainly eliminated the risk of my son burning his face off.

The kitchen was even more interesting at night with it's unique lighting.

Is it just us, or does everyone eat a lot of dessert while on vacation?  We had friends out one day and I baked cookies from a log. (Ya, you read me right.)  When I handed one to our friends four-year old he asked, "What's this?" and when I told him it was a cookie (after shooting his daddy a dirty look) he asked, "Do I give it to the dog?"  So to anyone who thinks I'm some sort of extreme foodie, I have this to say:  Sometimes I bake cookies from logs AND there will always be a child who's mom does not. 

But I'm not her.  I'm just not that hardcore. Not yet, at least.

So....more about dessert.  I also made this mud pie for the first time of MANY. 

And what would a trip to Stinson be without a stop at the Parkside Snack Bar for a soft-serve?  This cone was actually a payoff for 7 mornings of "not coming into Mommy and Daddy's room before the sun comes up." (I seriously would have purchased her a Barbie Dream House in pay-off, but she only asked for a soft serve. You just can't argue with those economics.)

Daddy and I got the chance to hike from the beach to half way up the mountain via the Steep Ravine trail.

We came back down the mountain via the Matt Davis trail.  It was gorgeous, as always.

A boy. His sponge. Beautiful!

St. Patrick's Day Surprise Cake

I had so much fun making this cake (...from a box).

Thanks, Betty!

Wanna guess what's inside?

Isn't it fun in a chemicals-in-your-kids-food sorta way?!?  I think so!

I took most of my instruction for the Rainbow Cake from here.

This image gives me the idea for a Reggae Cake. Bob's birthday, maybe? (Which reminds me, did you ever see that hilarious SNL skit "Ras Trent"?!?  One of my all time favorites - view it HERE.)

I added my own little St. Patty's Day surprise to the rainbow cake by hiding little chocolate coins in the cake once it had fully cooled. (Available at Cost Plus year-round).

The box frosting lost a lot of volume when I stirred all the food coloring in (and all the air, out).  But I still managed to frost the entire cake. I then made my own small batch of royal icing for the orange and green decorations on the top and side.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  May you find your pot-o-gold!

Martha Stewart Competition - Entry #2

It's time for my big reveal.  Are you ready?

Introducing...

Quince Jelly Tart with Cinnamon Cream Cheese!

I'm super happy with the way it turned out (and even have some dried jelly on my cheek to prove it!)

Because this contest was a partnership between Martha Stewart and Food52.com, I decided NOT to reinvent the wheel - especially with something as basic as dough - and to just use a tried and true Martha Stewart recipe - her Foolpoof Pie Crust.  (I so hope this doesn't get me disqualified.)

I love that I got to use some of my quince jelly, which I canned in December.  That whole experience with quince, learning about it and cooking with it, caused me to go out and plant my very own quince tree.

Cinnamon cream cheese!  What's more to say? 

What can I say - I'm a designer!  And I care about layout.

Served up on my wedding china.  This is probably the only time I'll use it this year.  That's OK.  I love it just the same.

Mmm, mmm...breakfast doesn't get any better than this! ;)

QUINCE JELLY TART WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE

Ingredients:

- 1 Martha Stewart Foolproof Pie Crust

- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1-3/4 cup of quince jelly, stirred-up for easier spreading

- 1 tablespoon of sugar for sprinkling

- Also needed are a 10" tart tin with removable bottom and a 2" circle cookie cutter

Directions:

1. Prepare one Martha Stewart Foolproof Pie Crust per instructions. When sufficiently chilled (about four hours), remove the two halves from refrigerator and roll one half out to fit into the tart dish. Trim excess dough from top edge of tin and use to fill in any thin areas around the walls of the crust. With a fork, poke holes in the dough all around the bottom of the tart.

2. In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon until light and fluffy (1-2 minutes), scraping down sides one time. Add egg and vanilla and mix until just combined.

3. With a spatula, evenly spread cream cheese mixture in the tart shell.

4. With a clean spatula, gently pour quince jelly evenly around the top of the cream cheese, taking care not to mix the two.

5. Roll out second half of dough to about 1/8" thickness and with a circle cookie cutter, cut out approximately 18 circles. Starting at one edge of the tart, and carefully working your way around in a circle, place the circles of dough with one edge touching the outer crust and one edge barely overlapping the last circle. Continue with a second row of circles and finish with one circle in the center.

6. Sprinkle sugar over the top of the dough circles.

7. Bake on the center rack at 350 degrees F for 30 - 35 minutes or until the top of the tart is golden brown.  Let cool completely and serve at room temperature.

Fabulous Friday

Lemons are in full swing, and this year, like every year before it, we have a bumper crop.  Why? I have no idea.  I can't get my tangerine tree or kumkuat trees to fruit for the life of me, but that little meyer lemon tree just won't quit.  And what's more, my MIL gifted me with a 10lb. bag of lemons that someone gave her and she knew she couldn't use.  So this week it's been all about lemons. If not just in my water, then in my pasta, on my chicken and tonight, in my cake(s).

These are little mini lemon pound cakes made with an adorable 'backyard bug pan', a birthday gift from a friend.

I used Martha Stewart's Glazed Lemon Pound Cake recipe but make bumped up the zest and juice quantities to 3 lemons (hers uses 2) because I like a lot of lemon flavor. I didn't use her glaze recipe, but another one I had that incorporated zest.  But now that I look back, I think MS's recipe is best. So I'll leave you with that.

Happy Weekend!

A Bland Friday Night

Some nights you just hit it out of the park with some awesome recipe that gets you high-fives all around the dinner table. 

And then, there are those other nights, when you dare to venture off into your own little creative cooking world and you end up with something like - oh, I don't know... totally bland stuffed peppers, anyone??

Welcome to my Friday night.

Guess I better hit the books again.  This was a mixture of ground beef, brown rice, shredded zucchinii, peas, onion, garlic, parmesan, feta, parsley, salt and pepper, baked in a bath of crushed tomatoes.

No pinches on the tush from Daddy tonight.

The blessing was that kids ate them up. I don't know if it's just because they were super hungry or if they just like dishes in need or more onion and salt.  But they ate it.  So I'm happy.  Check out my action shots:

And because I'm super wiped out and lazy today and because it's Fabulous Friday, everyone got treated to a thawed-out Valentine's cupcake from Susie Cakes.

Wordless Wednesday

I've Lost My Mind. And I Like It.

A friend of mine did a very, very naughty thing last night.

She told me about an incredible website called Pinterest.  And now I'm in big, big trouble.

It's tagline reads - "A place to catalog the things you love". Tsk, tsk, Pinterest.  If it were only that simple.

First of all, I'm currently on their waitlist for - I don't even know what - so I can leave comments I guess.  But that didn't keep me from spending the better half of my Saturday clicking on one alluring image after the other, leading me on an INTOXICATING journey around the web, viewing collections of mind blowing recipes, jaw-dropping remodels and brilliant product design.

The one thought that kept playing through my head was - "Holy crap - there is an incredible amount of talent and creativity in this world!" Collectively, the imagery blows Martha Stewart Living OUT - OF - THE - FRICKING - UNIVERSE.

Here is just a sampling - a tiny, itsy-bitsy collection of some cupcake photos I found in just the past fifteen minutes!

I don't have a fraction of the talent or patience to make a dessert with this much detail but I could look at them all day.

I have a *deep seeded* desire to tackle these. ;)

I might actually try to make this palette. Or not.

My son would love some Lego dessert. I think I'm only capable of the one on the bottom and I'm TOTALLY going to give it a try!

Sweet dreams, my friends!

Lemony L-O-V-E!

We have been having some incredible weather here this week.  With clear blue skies and temperatures in high 70's, it only felt right to open all the doors and windows and just give in to the urges of gardening and making lemon flavored desserts.

Our little Meyer Lemon tree is bursting again this year with sunshiny goodness.  Yesterday I lightened the load on some of the staked branches and made a double batch of sorbet as well as some marmalade.

This simple recipe was perfect!  Just a tiny scoop after dinner is all you need to cleanse the pallete.  I will make this again and again.

MEYER LEMON SORBET

Ingredients

• Lemon zest from one lemon
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup carbonated mineral water
• 6 strips of lemon zest, for garnish

Directions

1. In a saucepan, stir together the diced lemon peel, 1 cup of water and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool.
2. In a pitcher or bowl, stir together the lemon syrup with peel, lemon juice and mineral water. Pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Garnish each serving with a twist of lemon peel.

Hey Ina -- You Forgot the Chocolate!!

Ina Garten's Coconut Macaroons are IN-frickin'-CREDIBLE.  One bite and you're a goner.  You're shouting things like, "Oh. My. GAWD!!", "WTF?!?" and quickly drawing comparisons to such things as hedonism and crack cocaine.

Or at least you are if you're a down-and-out rapper.

I, on the other hand, just eat them with unabashed enthusiasm until I'm nursing a sugar headache that won't quit.  Then I'm packaging up the remainder and doing mid-day macaroon deliveries to my most prized neighbors.

This adaptation of Ina's recipe came about one day when I was baking multiple things in the kitchen.  As if the coconut wasn't enough - I had to ask myself, "What would happen if I doused these in some high-quality chocolate?"

The result is history.

CHOCOLATE COVERED COCONUT MACAROONS

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 ounces of semi-sweet morsels

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Directions:

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using 2 teaspoons. (Ina also recommends using an ice cream scoop but I feel this makes the cookies too big/dense/rich.)  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove and let cool while preparing the chocolate.

In a double boiler, melt about 8oz. of semi-sweet chocolate.  Once melted, use a teaspoon to scoop and pour chocolate onto each macaroon. Allow to cool completely (or not, if you can't wait).

Mexican Horchata (Nailed It!)

There is a great little hole-in-the-wall in the city that we love eating at when passing through -  Nick's Crispy Tacos.  I credit Nick with a couple things, like introducing me to the most incredible steak tacos, served up *crispy* (aka: *Nick's way*) in a double-walled tortilla.  Think two corn tortillas held together with refried beans and wrapped around grass-fed beef, topped with a ladle of fresh guac. Oh. Ya.

But what I'm most grateful for is the man's fresh made horchata. 

I had never tried this traditional Mexican rice drink before going to Nick's, but once I did, I was goner.  I quickly learned that there were little tricks to getting a really good glass - like hit Nick's between 11 and 1PM, while the barrel is still fresh and not watered down from all the ice.  And always order a large!

For years I've been meaning to try making this at home, since Nick - as sweet as he is - never wanted to give out his recipe. I assumed it would be a project of trial and error, many batches over many weeks, trying to duplicate Nick's sweet, creamy flavor.  I never would have guessed that the first recipe I tried would be so spot-on.

Soaking the long grain rice overnight is as complicated as it gets. When you know it's going to taste this good, no one wants to wait.  But after that, you just throw everything in the blender and then run it through a fine-mesh sieve and pour over ice.

MEXICAN HORCHATA

1 cup long grain white rice

4 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

ice

1.)  Put rice in a small bowl, cover completely with hot water and soak overnight. 

2.)  After the rice has soaked for at least eight hours, drain the water from it.

3.)  So as not to overload a standard sized blender, you must make this in two batches.  Take half the rice and blend it with 2 cups of milk, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.

4.)  Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve.

5.)  Repeat with second half of ingredients.

6.)  Serve over ice. Garnish with cinnamon!

We are headed to our neighbors house tonight for some Sol Food delivered.  It might not be Mexican food but it's going to go great with a pitcher of horchata!