My Favorite Cookies

I love to bake, and these cookies are not only some of my favorite cookies to eat, but they are so easy to make.  I literally made batches of all four in a little over two hours!

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will never understand why (1) people use any other chocolate chip recipe besides the original and the best that is RIGHT THERE on the back of the Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels bag and (2) burn chocolate chip cookies and expect them to taste good.  Throw them away!!! Please!  I'm not even going to retype the recipe here.  This is all you need to see, then go the the store and buy a bag.

Just follow the basic principles of cookie baking and you can't fail:

1. Measure your ingredients accurately, leveling off your dry ingredients (except when brown sugar specifies that it must be packed).  If possible, weigh your dry ingredients instead of measuring.

2.  Make sure your eggs and butter are room temperature

3. First, always cream the butter (or fats) and sugar together.  Add eggs one at a time. Then add the rest of the wet ingredients.

4. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl (sift if possible) and add to the wet mixture in increments, not all at once.

5. Set timer initially for the lower of the suggested baking time, and check before adding more time.  This way you won't burn your cookies!  Also invest in an oven thermometer to make sure you're baking at the desired temperature.

Pretty simple right?  And you get these yummy, gorgeous cookies as a result!

Peanut Butter Kisses

If there are two things that belong together, it's peanut butter and chocolate!

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp sugar
48 unwrapped Hershey Kisses

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugar (white and brown).  Cream in mixer.  Add egg to butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and mix with wet mixture.  Add combined dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  When completely mixed together, shape dough into approximately 48 - 1" balls.  Put 3 tablespoons of sugar into a bowl and roll each dough ball in the sugar.  Place 2" apart on a parchment (or silpat) lined cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes (balls may have a light browning).  Take cookies out of the oven and place a Hershey Kiss on top of the ball, lightly pressing down.  I like to only push the kiss half way, let it melt a little, and then come back and finish pushing it down.  The melted chocolate helps the kiss adhere to the cookie better.  Let cool completely before packing, waiting until the kisses are hard again or they will smoosh and lose their shape.

Snickerdoodles

Who doesn't like butter cookies covered in cinnamon and sugar??

1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar mixed with 3 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time and the vanilla.  Add dry ingredients, a little at a time ensuring they get combined with the wet mixture evenly.  Shape dough into 1" balls.  Roll in the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Place 2" apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.

Spritz Cookies with Sprinkles

My mom made these cookies every Christmas growing up.  They didn't turn out the exact way that I wanted them because I had some cookie press issues, then I overcooked them by probably 1 minute.  Oh well!  The recipe is still good.  I think I was just tired because this was cookie #4 of the night.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla, then dry ingredients.  Force through a cookie press into shapes.  The way my mom traditionally did it was using a single small star template for the press, then making a long squiggle worm, which was cut into cookie sized portions and with the squiggle pushed together tightly to make a solid cookie shape.  I had to use a clover leaf cookie plate because my star one was missing.  When all cookies have been pressed, shake rainbow sprinkles on evenly.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

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Skillet Cooking

I'm not kidding.  If you live near a Sur La Table store that offers cooking classes, you need to listen to this tip.  Search the online calendar for the classes that are sponsored by cookware or bakeware manufacturers and see what kind of free goodies you can get that offset the cost of the class and more!  I recently took a saucepan class sponsored by Scanpan and walked away with a skillet worth $150.00!

Scanpan is an environmentally-friendly product manufactured using completely recycled materials.  The pan we used in the class has a nonstick surface made from ceramic titanium that is resistant to scratches, even from metal utensils, and the rest of the pan is created using five layers of aluminum for even heat distribution.  These features reduce the need for fat to cook your food, allowing for healthier cooking, and still allows for traditional browning to occur, unlike other nonstick pans.  Finally, the pan had a great, ergonomic stainless steel handle that is so sophisticated.

For the class itself, the menu included recipes that showed off the many uses of the Scanpan skillet:  herbed goat cheese frittata, seared lemon pepper scallops, gruyere and potato gratin with thyme, and dark chocolate and cherry clafoutis.  The frittata was not good (too much dill and I'm not a fan of goat cheese), and the clafoutis was average (could have done without the chocolate), so I'm going to highlight the scallops (my first time ever eating them!) and gratin in this post.  Leave a comment if you want me to update with the other two recipes, as well.

Seared Lemon Pepper Scallops (Yields 4 Servings)

12 sea scallops
1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsps olive oil (or vegetable oil if you prefer a higher smoke point)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
Kosher salt

On a plate, sprinkle the scallops with freshly ground black pepper.  Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large Scanpan nonstick skillet over medium heat.  When the oil starts to shimmer, add the scallops and cook until the scallops are opaque in the center, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Be careful not to over-brown.  Remove scallops from the skillet to prevent them from overcooking and place on a plate.

Return the skillet to the heat and lower temperature to medium.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the butter.  When the butter has melted, add the shallot and garlic and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.  Add the lemon zest and lemon juice, and reduce slightly to incorporate all of the juices from the pan.  Add parsley, taste, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

To serve, place scallops on a plate and spoon over lemon sauce.

Gruyere and Potato Gratin with Thyme (Yields 8-10 Servings)

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided, plus more softened for greasing baking dish
2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, washed well and thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground white pepper
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
3 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup grated gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Generously grease a 13x9x2 inch baking dish or casserole dish with butter

Place 2 tablespoons butter in a large Scanpan nonstick saucepan and heat over medium heat.  Add leeks and saute until softened but not browned, about 4-5 minutes.

Add cream and milk to the saucepan and heat until mixture simmers.  Add salt and white pepper, stirring well to combine.  Peel potatoes and use a mandolin to slice the potatoes, evenly, at 1/8" thick.  Add to the hot cream mixture.  Press potato slices, gently, with a silicone spatula to submerge.  Cook undisturbed until potatoes are partially cooked and mixture begins to thicken, about 10-12 minutes.  Stir in 3 tablespoons thyme leaves.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place rack in the center.  Combine cheeses in a small mixing bowl. Using a slotted spoon or spider, carefully transfer the potato slices to the prepared baking dish.  Carefully pour enough cream mixture to barely cover potatoes.  Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and cover with cheese mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until casserole bubbles around the edges, potatoes are tender, and top is golden brown, about 50-60 minutes.  If top begins to brown too deeply before potatoes are cooked, cover gratin with aluminum foil.  If top has not browned when potatoes are cooked, place gratin under a preheated broiler.  Allow gratin to sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Here are photos of the frittata and clafoutis:

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Off Camera Lighting Techniques

I took another fabulous workshop from Douglas Sonders, a local professional photographer that has created some very interesting commercial work - from cars to celebrities and from ads to covers.  After taking his class on off camera lighting, I now realize how much impact just one and up to as little as three lights can have on your shot. Prior to this understanding, I had looked at some of Doug's work and erroneously assumed he had manipulated the shot in post-production with Photoshop. While that may be the case on some of his work, I witnessed how he built a photo composition one light at a time to generate an amazing photograph using a student from the class and things in the environment, both inside the classroom studio and outside in the parking lot. The preview of the photo on his camera was near perfect with little or no post touchup action required.

Before setting up, Doug, first, walked us through the various equipment. In many cases, there really isn't a need to spend a lot on lights, and you may be able to find much of what he used on ebay or craigslist. A basic setup includes the lighting stand, the light itself, transmitters to sync the flashes, and a couple light modifiers. For transmitters, Pocket Wizards, Radio Poppers, and Cactus transmitters seem to be popular. You will need at least a pair, one for the first external flash and one on your camera hot shoe. Additional devices are needed for more lights, obviously. Next, the setup requires the actual lights, themselves. The brand Doug uses are made by White Lighting, but Alien Bee makes more affordable models that produce similar results. Finally, the basic setup is completed with light modifiers, like beauty dishes with honeycomb grids, reflectors, soft boxes, and umbrellas. It's not necessary to buy all of this equipment, though. In fact, websites like borrowlenses.com will rent them to you for various durations. 

My favorite composition of the day was shot outside with a student leaning against a car.  Doug used one 3200 watt light with a beauty dish and wide honeycomb grid on the subject's face, one 3200 watt light with a reflector from behind and to the right of the subject, and one additional light with a reflector aimed on the rear car light that was on the opposite side of the car from the subject. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that photo, but we did set up an environmental shot in a supply room in a similar way, adding a fog machine to accentuate the directional aspect of the lights and lights in the background on modeling mode (a softer light used for posing) to tell the story of the photo.  By the time I got to shoot the subject with my camera and the lighting setup, the fog machine had created too much of a haze to get a clear photo.  My shot isn't terrible, though.  I could have been a bit lower to the ground.

What you can see, though, is the impact of the light that frames out his face, and the rear reflector light that highlights his shoulders and hair to make him, the subject, stand out from a noisy background.  Neat, right?  Now I just need to recruit some people, rent some equipment, and practice!

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Who doesn't love cheese?

I never knew making homemade cheese was so easy! I took a class at the local Sur La Table, and we were able to make 4 cheeses and 1 butter in 2 hours - mozzarella, ricotta, chèvre, yogurt cheese (or greek style yogurt), and fresh butter. The butter surprised me the most because it literally was just heavy cream and some cold water. I think this is actually doable at home! I want to make some lasagna and caprese salad right now.

Here are the recipes and some photos for the ricotta and mozzarella.

Fresh Whole Milk Ricotta (makes 10-12 ounces)

8 cups whole milk (cannot be ultra pasteurized, farm fresh milk is best)
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1/2 - 1 tsp fine sea salt (optional)
A colander or fine sieve with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth, 12-14" square, set over a large bowl.  Buy fine cheesecloth, or use more than 3 layers if using the kind you buy at the grocery store.

1. Place milk in a large, heavy saucepan and set over medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the milk comes to a frothing boil.

2. Turn off the heat and, as the bubbling subsides, slowly stir in the vinegar or lemon juice (we used the vinegar).  Continue gently stirring, in one direction, until the curds (white cheese part) and whey (liquid) begin to separate.  The mixture at this point will resemble thickened buttermilk.  The whey will still look milky and the curds will be very soft.  Remove from stove and let sit, covered and undisturbed, for 5 minutes.

3. Carefully pour the curds and whey through the cheesecloth.  The whey will drain into the bowl.  You can save this for another use or discard.  Leave the curds in the strainer to drain for about 15-30 minutes, depending on the desired consistency.  At this point, gently mix in the salt, if desired.  Use immediately or transfer to a sealed container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

For the class, we drizzled honey on top of the fresh ricotta, and it was just heavenly!  

Easy Homemade Mozzarella (makes about 3/4 - 1 pound)

1/4 tsp liquid rennet (purchase at New England Cheese Making Company)
3/4 cup cool water, divided
1 1/2 tsp citric acid (this should be powdered, like the stuff on the outside of Sour Patch Kids)
1 gallon whole milk (not ultra-pasteurized)
Salt to taste (optional)

1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix liquid rennet into 1/4 cup cool water and set aside.  In another small bowl or measuring cup, mix citric acid into 1/2 cup cool water, stirring well to dissolve the citric acid and set aside.

2. Place milk into heavy pot.  Slowly pour in the citric acid solution, and stir vigorously to mix well with the milk.  Place the pot over high heat and continue to stir while heating the milk to 90 degrees.  When the milk reaches 90 degrees, remove the pot from the burner and slowly add in the rennet solution in one direction for 30 seconds.  Cover the pot and leave it undisturbed for 5 minutes.

3. After 5 minutes, check the curd - which should look like custard, with a clear separation between the curd and the whey around the edges of the pot.  To do this, take the back of your spoon and very gently press down on the curd at the edge of the pot.  If the curd is too soft or the whey is milky, let it sit for a few more minutes.  If your milk did not form a curd, you may have to reevaluate your milk source.

4. With a knife that is long enough to reach the bottom of your pot, cut the curd into 1/2-3/4 inch squares, creating a checkerboard pattern.

5. Place the pot back on the heat and bring the mixture up toe 110 degrees while slowly and gently moving the curds in one direction with your spoon.  When it reaches the desired temperature, remove from heat and continue slowly stirring for 2-5 minutes.  A longer stirring time produces a firmer cheese.

6. Ladle the curds into a colander or strainer.  Push the cheese to release the liquid whey as much as possible. At this point, you may place the curds in a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days before stretching them into mozzarella.

7. When ready to stretch, heat a pot of water to 175 degrees.  Once it has reached the temperature, place part or all of your curds into a clean bowl and ladle hot water on top, covering the cheese.  Let sit for 3-8 seconds.  Using your hands, covered in rubber gloves (or 1-2 latex gloves), fold and knead the curd until it starts to become smooth and elastic, and begins to stretch. You may need to place it back into the water to soften it up if it is not stretching like taffy because the curd must be at least 135 degrees to stretch properly. Try not to work it too much, or your cheese will be firmer and run the risk of becoming rubbery.  Also consider adding salt at this point to taste or wait and use a salted cold water bath later.

8. Shape the mozzarella into one or more balls and place in (salted) ice water bath to cool.

Cheese Making Tips:

• When learning to make cheese at home, start with soft cheeses that require no aging.
• Before you begin any recipe, always sterilize all tools and equipment to keep cheese from making bacteria and becoming contaminated.  You can use the dishwasher to sterilize metal and glass tools, or heat them in boiling water for 10 minutes. Hand wash cheesecloth with dawn and nuke it in the microwave to kill the bacteria.
• Buy the best quality milk products you can afford.  Never use ultra-pasteurized milk because it destroys the protein structure of the milk, making it impossible to use in cheese making.  
• A few degrees of variation in temperature or time can make a huge difference.
• Use a large, heavy-bottomed and high-quality pot for heating milk to keep milk from scorching.

Alright, fine, I'll add the butter recipe...

Homemade Butter (makes about 6 ounces butter or 8 ounces sweet buttermilk)

1 pint heavy cream (check label for additives)

1/2 cup ice cold water mixed with crushed ice cubes

1/4 tsp sea salt or kosher salt as desired

1. Place the cream in a food processor with metal blade.  Process the cream until the butter begins to separate from the buttermilk, and the butterfat granules are about half the size of a pea.  

2. With the machine running, pour in the ice water.  The butter will immediately form a large mass. Quickly turn off the machine. 

3. Pour the entire contents of the bowl into a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a bowl and let drain for several minutes.  (The sweet buttermilk is ready for another use)

4. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth together and squeeze, pushing downward to extract as much additional buttermilk as possible, then unwrap the butter solids from the cheesecloth.

5. Place butter solid in a bowl and rinse the butter in a bath of cool water, carefully kneading and folding the mass onto itself with a spatula, pouring off the water and repeating the process as needed until the water stays clear.

6. Place the butter into a large dry mixing bowl and sprinkle with the 1/4 tsp of salt.  Using a clean spoon or spatula, smear the butter repeatedly against the side of the bowl to incorporate air into it and to thoroughly incorporate the salt, while pouring off any additional liquid the butter may release.

7. Transfer the butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a smooth-sided block or log.  Refrigerate overnight before using.

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Let's crew!

Last night was amazing because I got to go back into a Women's 8 sweep racing shell for the first time since college.  The photo above isn't me...first of all the hairy legs suggest it's men in the boat, and second they are sculling.  Anyway, I've been considering returning to rowing for fun since I saw the U.S. Women's 8 power it to win the gold in the London Olympics, unfortunately not in person but on an airport television screen at Heathrow.

I contacted the boathouse that is within walking and biking distance from my house, and they said they didn't have any room for me on their recreational team.  The story is actually more detailed than that, but basically I knew it wouldn't be a right fit anyway.  So one night earlier this week, I started prowling around the internet and found two other boathouses and and three club rowing teams that practice in the evenings - because I am not getting up at the crack of dawn again like I did in college when we had the long drive down and back to the Chicago River!

Anyway, I got in contact with one of the club teams, and they were so gracious to invite me out for their practice the next day, just to see if I still had the technique and the stamina to do it.  What I discovered is that, yes, I still know what to do both in and out of the boat, but whoa I forgot how many muscles it takes to row!  Even on the practice drills, especially ones where the pace was forced to be slow and controlled, keeping a good rhythm on the seat slide was definitely a workout on the hamstrings.  And let's not talk about my shoulders when I got off the water.  It was a great workout though.  Such a great feeling when all eight of us were relatively in sync - you could just feel the power in the strokes.  The funniest part was that I looked at a photo today to confirm that I was, indeed, assigned the same seat that I used to row in college - #4 Port.  Strange!

While I may have left the boathouse with sore muscles, blisters, and a little skin rubbed off my leg from inside the boat, these are just the typical war wounds of a rower.  I am looking forward to getting more engaged with this club team, but more likely in the spring since the season is winding down.  I would hate to come to practice and start to build up the oh so beautiful calluses on my hands only to have to stop for 5-6 months.

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Reducing the Reading Pile

 A little delay since my last post because I've been tackling these two 800+ page brutes!



If you've ever read The Outlander series, even one of them, and liked it, then you will very much enjoy the first two books of the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.  You'll probably also be entertained by the third installment, but since the second book only came out this summer, then (1) you will for sure have to suffer some delayed gratification and (2) you can't expect me to predict you would probably like a book if I haven't even read it - there's not even a cover by which I can judge it!  Anyway, the reason why I compare these books to The Outlander series is because there's the mismatched pairing of the two main characters, many references to historical events and people that make you want to learn more about them, and (without giving too much away) a little bit of time travel.  In this case, it's the forbidden friendship (and more) between a witch who has denied her powers and become a scholar in the history of science and alchemy, and a vampire who takes an interest in her when she accidentally finds and opens a spellbound book that has been hidden for 150 years and, allegedly, holds the key to explaining the creation and destruction of vampires and daemons.

I would also think that one could compare, though it may be a stretch, these books to the Sookie Stackhouse series on which the popular TV series, True Blood, is based.  I only say that because of the path of discovery the two characters, Sookie and Diana, must take to understand and control their innate abilities.  Of course, if you're a fan, in general, of the recent trends centering story lines around vampire and witches, then you should get these books.  Their size is a bit daunting, but (unlike the Game of Thrones series where I STILL can't get through 1/3 of the first book) the story flows well and keeps you interested, for the most part.  I'm glad that Deborah Harkness is keeping it to just three books, learning from the mistake made by Diana Galbadon in dragging out The Outlander series to the point where she's grasping for plot ideas, resulting in large chunks where the reader (namely me) loses interest.  There's some evidence of that "reaching" in the 2nd book already, where instead of 800 pages, it could have probably been 600 or 700.

And now I wait at least another year for the final installment...

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September Cupcake of the Month - Snocones

I made the decision that I'm tired of pinning amazing cupcake designs on Pinterest, and it's time for me to get off my butt and make them!  So, I'm going to try to make one cupcake design a month.  First up....sno-cones!

I've had this cupcake design on my monthly favorite lists TWICE!  These adorable sno-cone cupcakes come to you from the amazing Bakerella, better known for pioneering the cake pop movement.  With some extra time over the three-day Labor Day weekend, I figured I'd have a go at replicating them.

For the cake, I took a little shortcut and just used a box mix.  Let's face it, often times they come out tasting better and moister.  If you look at the instructions on this link (I'm not going to replicate them here), Bakerella fills three decorating bags with each of the three colored batters, then tapes them together at the tip. By the way, decorating bags are a baker's best friend. Buy them in bulk!! Well, as suggested, as I held my trio of bags near my tray with cupcake liners, I took a deep breath and snipped the ends...let's just say that it was a lot messier than I expected.  Perhaps because the box mix made a thinner batter making them flow faster?  I took the bag trio and just painted vertical stripes back and forth in each of the liners the best that I could.  Unfortunately I couldn't control the flow from one liner to the next, so some of the edges ended up with batter on them.  I was pleasantly surprised that when they came out of the oven, they didn't look so bad.  And on the inside, they pretty much held to their designated areas! Quite honestly, the messiness kind of makes them more authentic, like the syrup making its way through the ice.  Oh, a side note, the liners I purchased are by Wilton and are available in 12-packs at Michael's.

Next, I had the time consuming task of frosting the cooled cupcakes.  First, unlike the suggestion by Bakerella, I put all three colors in decorator bags.  Too late, I realized that I didn't buy the larger sugar crystals for blue and red, but I think it turned out ok.  And of course they tasted delicious!

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5 Things I'm Loving Right Now (September Edition)

I'm already anxiously anticipating the arrival of the crisp fall weather, even if it probably won't actually hit Washington DC for another month and a half!  One of my favorite things about fall is getting to wear cute sweaters, and starting back in August I was already shopping for a few new sweaters to freshen up my fall wardrobe.  Shocking!

Here are my Five Cute Fall Sweater Finds:

1. I officially saw this sweater at J.Crew BEFORE I saw this photo of Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise on one of my favorite blog sites, Possessionista.  It's a cream colored wool blend with a small button detail on the back of the neck and little black bow-ties/knotted accents.  It is part of the Fall Collection.  A similar alternative for people looking for more color this fall is this Lucca Couture dotted teal and camel sweater or dotted fuchsia.

 2.  Hinge Seafoam Burnout Sweater at Nordstrom.  This sweater is summer-into-fall appropriate and has a leopard print pattern burned out of the fabric.  It's very interesting on!  Lucky me, I was able to catch this sweater at a discount during the annual Anniversary sale in July, but it's still available now at full price.

3. Another Nordstrom Anniversary Sale find, now full price, is this adorable fuchsia/heather purple Hinge sweater with chiffon details.  I got to wear this one already while in London a few weeks ago, since they don't seem to get above 80 degrees there.

4. From Milly's Fall Collection, the Felicity sweater is very cute AND will be worn by Lea Michelle, as Rachel, in an upcoming episode of Glee.  (I prefer the styling in the Milly look book over the Glee version)

 5. Piperlime never fails to have some great finds.  I just love the girly details with the puffed sleeves on this sweater from THML Clothing.

Here's a great idea if you're looking to freshen up your wardrobe and don't know where to start, Stacy London - best known for TLC's What Not to Wear - has a website called Style for Hire where you can hire a local stylist to come in and do a closet audit, take you shopping, or meet you while visiting a shopping mecca like NYC for a shopping tour.  I think it's neat and may look into doing a closet audit because I need someone impartial to do an intervention, but I'm not quite ready yet!

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