A cookie for Cookie

There is never a dull moment in the the company of mischevious girlfriends. And when the girlfriends happen to be the gals you share a bedroom with and paint each others nails with the adventures just get better. I consider myself the luckiest gal to be related to two of the most fabulous women in the world - Gigi and Cookie. Gigi, my sweet as a sugarplum sister whom I can go to when I want to hear a harmless lie about how little weight I've gained even though I spent an entire weekend binging through several boxes of girl scout cookies. Cookie, my comrade in the single woman's cause who will jump head first with all abandon at the hint of an adventure and mischief.
When we were young, Gigi would eat my portion of Ma's Friday morning scrambled eggs( which I loathed) and in return I would eat all the vegetables off her plate during lunch. Cookie and I would sneak out of bed to catch the late night re-runs of Ally McBeal and later raid the kitchen for midnight munchies. I confess that there have been times when we've turned on each other and plotted our revenge because someone pulled the "I'm older than you so you better make my bed'' card and forced the younger ones into additional morning chores. And to avenge this misfortune, someone else let it slip that mommy's innocent little girl was no saint and has a giant-sized crush on a boy who is not so little.
In the end though..........we would split a chocolate bar and all would be well in our world again.

Besides purses, shoes and accessories, Gigi, Cookie and I share a love for food. Here's where we are different though: Gigi would rather eat than cook while Cookie shares a thrill for both.

In the middle of a fierce card game with A.F last Saturday night, the munchies hit us so hard that Cookie and I decided that the only way to to tackle this problem would be with butter(ofcourse!) and dark chocolate chips. We settled on a cookie. Not any kind of cookie though: a chocolatey chocolate walnut cookie dressed with...wait for it...you ready? sure? ok here goes.... a layer of buttercream frosting (Hallelujah!). Oh what joy awaits me when cookie and frosting will unite to create unspeakable pleasure as I ascend to the throne of "sugar" heaven. 45 minutes later the frosting was whipped, the cookies were baked and a chorus of angels were singing as we finished the first batch with glee and gluttony. Before we devoured the second batch, Cookie and I decided to capture the moment and our shared love for cookies using A.F's magic lense of course.

 And here it is....a delectable cookie for my sister, Cookie.
(Wish you were here Gigi. We missed you a lot babe.)

 Chocolate Walnut Clusters
(By Marion Cunningham from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book)

For the love of an apple

Happy Thanksgiving, friend! Indeed it was. I enjoyed today's perfectly sunny thanksgiving weather doing absolutely nothing. No wrestling and name-calling the turkey who is unwielding to my authority while I try to stuff her with tasty aromatics, no smoking up the kitchen till my eyes become teary, no blender malfunction causing liquified sage and rosemary to leave mossy patterns on my kitchen ceiling, no dousing the gravy with brandy till it causes a mini-fire inside the roasting pan, no mistakenly leaving dinner rolls to bake in the fridge and then popping them into the oven 3 hours later only to forget them again. Did I mention this was a snippet of my adventures in the kitchen on Thanksgiving day.

And what I am most thankful for on Thanksgiving day is patient friends and family who have starved the whole day in anticipation of sitting down to eat by 4'o'clock, only to find themselves waiting for another 4 hours before this singleton has set the table. Honestly, I never intend to starve them to death but no matter how early I begin preparing the meal they still find themselves devouring a turkey leg at dusk.  

 Since most of my family and friends will be in town for Christmas, I have decided to do my big holiday dinner for when we're all together.  However, I still felt compelled to use my oven to commemorate this day and since apple is my favorite fall fruit the nostalgia and some quick browsing led me to Tartelette's mom's apple cake. And it is every bit as comforting and lovely as she describes it to be. There coudln't have been a better way to finish the day......I feel so prepared to fight the crowds at the mall tomorrow where I hope to meet a suitor to accompany me to all those dinner invitations in December - the perfect knee-length boots. I should turn in now. Goodnight, friend.

Lady Macaron

DARING BAKER'S OCTOBER CHALLENGE (Re-posted)

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.


I was elated when the host of this month's challenge decided to continue with the French theme. Still on a high from the pastry dough assignment, this singleton happily embarked on her journey from the vols au vent to the macaron. Seeing as I spent many happy hours devouring entire websites and articles on the art of making the perfect macaron I think it is only fitting that I should share some of my new-found wisdom with you:


• Firstly, a macaroon is different from a macaron. I know! Who would have thought? While many of you have developed a kinship with it's American namesake(aka the coconut macaroon), I assure you that the traditional French macaron does not contain flecks of coconut or a semblance of any ingredient from the coconut family instead the star player is ground almonds or almond meal. However, there's nothing stopping you from adding coconut to your recipe for a tropical twist.
• While the ingredients are fairly simplistic, the making of the macaron was far from elementary; which is why this next thing I'm about to tell you is perhaps the most important step towards avoiding a macaron meltdown - RATIOS! Yes its all about the ratio of the egg whites to almond meal to powdered sugar to granulated sugar. Measuring your ingredients and their ratios to each other correctly will save you many a regretful moment wondering what went wrong.
• Feet are a big thing when macaron making! If your macarons develop feet while basking in the oven, you are at the top 80th percentile towards achieving macaron perfection. So if you find yourself joyfully jumping on top of your couch, shouting victories to strangers on the street from your corner patio, or calling your sister or significant other at work whilst in the middle of their important meeting to declare that you have achieved the impossible "feat of feet", realize that you are not alone and yes it is truly a defining moment.
• Call me crazy but there is something bewitching about watching the transformation of pale translucent egg whites into resplendent and glorious meringue. For those ten minutes when my eyes were peeled to the inside of the Kitchen Aid bowl I too was transformed from a cynical twenty something to a hopeful doe-eyed two year old, utterly enchanted. Who says you can't create magic in the kitchen...sigh!
• Lastly, it is not an impossible task and although it will take you several tries it is possible to replicate this French cookie to an absolute delight.


So this past Sunday night, as much studying as I had to do for an upcoming test I couldn't wait any longer. The notes for my Fraud Examination test were replaced with meticulous notes for chocolate macarons. In light of the fact that I had engaged in extensive reading and reflection for the task at hand, I was feeling pretty confident, humming away in my kitchen as I prepared to set the stage for the actors : the pale peasant boy - Egg White, the young elusive bachelor - Mr. Almond Meal, radiant confection of sugar - Lady Casablanca, plain old faithful Mrs. Granulated Sugar, and a special guest from the U.K in all his powdered glory - Earl of Cocoa.

Baking is a science and macaron making is kitchen alchemy coming alive. As long as the actors are prepped and each knows their part, logically there should only be one ending to tonight's performance. And yet, as I piped the mixture onto the baking sheets and closed the oven door there was an air of unpredictability. The next 8 minutes were the longest as I puttered around my kitchen cleaning up and waiting for the closing act - I finally opened the oven door and there they were: Lady Macaron and her many feet!

The Evolution of the Pastry Dough

Vols-au-Vent “I’m in pastry heaven”

DARING BAKER'S SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' Challenge was hosted by Steph of Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Pastry, for me, is reminiscent of my childhood. My earliest memory of pastry is of my Father coming home with these flaky, buttery beauties with a milk chocolate filling laying gloriously atop each other in a sea of waxpaper as I greedily peek inside the square white paper box from the Modern Bakery. And to this day I am a glutton for these French delights, never satisfied with just one. I've coveted many an eclair, palmier and danish but whenever I lock eyes with a chocolate croissant I fall head over heels in its familiar throes, like an old lover whom you've never quite forgotten. Twenty seven years running and it's still my favorite pastry...

I'd never ventured the prospect of making one from scratch until the September challenge of the Daring Baker's group was announced. The basic dough is easy to prepare and from it the many possible variations are endless. "Let your imagination run wild". While the challenge and all of the steps involved seemed daunting at first, the actual task if anything was quite cathartic. Imagine being able to pound chunks of cold yellow butter to paper thin consistency and release the frustration of a somewhat trying day only to devour layers of beautiful buttery dough that brings you tears of joy and sheer contentment. In my opinion, this is the perfect antidote to a long and difficult day.

Vols-au-Vent, as I perceive it is, crispy flaky layers of buttery cases with a sweet or savory filling. True to form, I indulged in both. For my savory filling - I prepared a version of spicy chicken mince (kheema- an Indian recipe from my Mother) draped in a mushroom and white wine sauce. It was only fitting to round out my mini darlings with some delightfully red and juicy cherry tomoatoes I had stumbled upon in the market. It was simply sublime! Onto the sweet version : a duet of creamy orange chocolate ganache and sweet, sweet strawberries nestled between layers of heavenly pastry.

I am therefore compelled to quote Marie Antoine-Careme " The fine arts are five in number, namely: painting, sculpture, poetry, music and architecture, the principal branch of the latter being pastry."

La Bella...my Bella

I stumbled upon a store during my trip to Atlantic city and was drawn to these beauties. I felt an urge to capture the moment so I would always have something to remember them by.

People often say - "His wedding vows were so beautiful it made me cry" or "I've been waiting for 9 months to see Angel and I welled up when I saw my baby girl for the first time."

This is my equivalent of those life moments.