I'm back!!

Wow...the month of January officially sucked.

I have never been so continuously ill for a long time. And when I wasn't ill, I was so depressed about the amount of work that was piling up that I just didn't care about food at all. Amazing huh?

So now that I am finally healthy thanks to antibiotics and Vicodin cough medicine...I care about food again and celebrated with a trip to Schuman's meats. Fifty Dollars and a ton of meat later, I was feeling back to my old self. So Tony and I sat in the car and ate ham salad on white bread for lunch. Hmmmmmm damn fine stuff. All we needed was a pickup and a double wide.

So now on to the unfinished business of blogging...

The best thing about it being the new year? That the cookie baking season has come to an end.

Here is a list of cookies we made for the holidays:

Snickerdoodle pinwheels

Fig Drop cookies

Pecan Diamonds

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint cookies (Gail cheated here! Bad bad Gail!)

Payday cookies (aka peanut bar cookies)

Dream Bar cookies with white chocolate, dark chocolate and dried cherries

Rum Balls

Spritz cookies

Pecan Apricot balls

Decorated Sugar Cookies

Spice Krinkles

Lebkuken

Stroopwaffles (plus caramels with the left over filling)

Orange Ginger cookies

Pecan Sandies

Coconut Cherry Drops

Master Dough Cookies

Poppyseed rollups with orange flavored dough

Cherry Cranberry rollups with almond flavored dough

Chocolate Raspberry cookies

Chocolate Pigs

And boy! Are my arms tired!!

This year, we stayed close to home and baked the majority of the cookies at Gail's house. You have to realize just how small Gail's kitchen is - I won't even call it a galley kitchen. It's more like - an afterthought.

Builder 1: "Oh crap! We forgot to put a kitchen in these units!"

Builder 2: "That's ok, we'll just take out this closet. There will be plenty of room!"

Here are Gail and I in the closet - I mean kitchen - making lunch.

The good news is - working together for 10+ years has made it possible for us to waltz through such small spaces without any elbowed ribs or trod-upon toes.

This year was really a challenge because friends and coworkers were asking for specific cookies...snickerdoodles, peanut butter, chocolate chip...all violations against rule number one. Our general attitude is "we bake what we like and the rest of you are damn lucky to be getting at all!" Being generous, we decided that we would find decorative versions of these everyday favorites - namely snickerdoodles and peanut butter. But next year - no way! They can suffer and be glad for it!

Here am I showing my contempt by burning a tray of cookies...

Just last week, the clache united for a post holiday round up. Gail and Debbie had taken two weeks off during the post-holiday work slump so this was the first chance we had to get together and talk.

The first consensus - we did too many cookies. Surprise.

The second consensus - many coworkers have started taking the cookie ladies for granted. Those individuals think we are their own personal baking slaves. Got news for you folks - we ain't your bitches. Never were - never will be. The cookies ladies are now tired of being EXPECTED to do anything for ungrateful welps who can't even express a small amount of gratitude. Just see what that nets you next holiday season - I bet it ain't cookies...

So after several hours of pissing and moaning, we headed off to Whole Foods because Gail had never been there. Whole Foods is a danger to your pocketbook. Fortunately, the only things I bought were some fine cheese, a couple of Meyer lemons, a couple of blood oranges and a bottle of unhomgenized milk. Hot damn - I love the cream cap on top!

The reason I bought the Meyer lemons? The produce hunk cut one up for us while we were ogling the fruit and let us have a slice. A nice flavor - not too sweet not too tart...though a mixture of OJ and regular lemon would do in a pinch. And for a lot less money.

Oh yeah - also got a couple bottles of Small Beer from Anchor Steam. What is small beer you ask? It is second run of beer from previously used mash. It was very light and refreshing. I will be buying a few more bottles when the mercury starts to climb...

BTW I got yelled at for taking pictures of baked goods. So I just slipped my camera in my pocket in fear that they would insist I delete everything on my card. Here is some of my photography with my new Christmas present - a Canon Powershot. (Thanks Tony!! I love you!!!) Just keep in mind I risked the wrath of Whole Foods legal department to bring these to you!!

Gail and Debbie then got a bug in their ear for bubble tea made at home. So off we went to the New Asian Supermarket right across the street from Whole Foods. I love Asian groceries. Even if I can't identify was 85% of the items are in the produce department. Their produce looks wonderful - I plan on heading over there again soon to pick up some tasty greens for dinner. Even better, they have live fishes swimming in tanks that they will kill and clean for you. I know that this is not a new thing, but it just never occurred to me that I should be taking advantage of it. Duh!

We did find the makings for bubble tea - I still haven't asked if they have figured it out yet...

Plus Gail went crazy buying cute dishes for the grand-baby. Me? I am plotting on spending the income tax return on some lovely Japanese bowls for noodles among other things...

So that it about it. The rest of my sick time, I made a lot of my old standbys - quick and easy. Cream of tomato soup, potato soup, hamburgers - stuff like that. I did however make a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. I kind of made it up as I went along, plus I stole an idea from the new Cook's Country magazine (brought to you by the folks at Cook's Illustrated). Damn fine recipe for a night when you are sick, depressed and cold.

Rosie's Chicken Pot Pie

4 chicken leg quarters

4 cups of homemade chicken broth

1/2 cup cream

4 tablespoons of butter

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup chopped mushrooms

3/4 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup of frozen pearl onions

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup of chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped regular onions

Salt, Pepper,Garlic powder to taste

Handful of Chopped Parsley

Box of Pillsbury's Pie refrigerator crusts (Sacrilege!!!)

1 egg, beaten

Poach the chicken leg quarters in the broth until tender and remove meat from the bone. Husbands who are watching television are excellent tools for accomplishing this while you are busy chopping vegetables.

Once veggies are chopped, add a small amount of oil to a pan and start sauteing the two onions. Once they are soft, add the carrots, mushrooms and celery. Cook until just tender. Toss in peas and parsley. Add chicken meat after vetting it for any random bits of skin. Note that there seems to always be a little less yield when the hubby does the chicken. Put into a round casserole dish.

Take the prepared pie crusts and beaten egg. Paint one crust with the egg and lay the other crust on top. You now have a heavy crust that can be used for potpie. This is the tip I borrowed from Cook's Country.

In a clean saucepan, heat up the butter until melted and hot and stir in the flour. Cook until the flour just starts to turn bone colored -a very very pale tan. Start adding the chicken broth a little at a time, whisking constantly. Once all the broth is added, let the sauce come to a boil. Add the cream and remove from heat. Pour over the meat and veggies, season to taste.

Top with the cheater's pie crust. Poke holes in crust to let the steam out and bake in a 425 degree oven until crust is brown and the filling bubbling hot, about 30-40 minutes. If the edges of your crust brown too fast, get out the foil and make reflector strips to cover them up.

So that's it. Most of the prep work could be done ahead and you could use leftover chicken from the night before. Easy as pot pie!

So I will get back to work now - I have a ton of cleaning to do and I will be much better about posting in the new year! Promise!

The Spice is Right IX: Warm me up baby...

Want to eat a 100 year old cookie?

I do. It goes real good with my 40 year old milk.

Yup - that's what I said - 100 year old cookie.

Didn't know they would last that long, did ya?

Well, I am kinda fibbing. The cookies aren't 100 years old, just the recipe.

See - here is the scoop. Gail - you remember her - she of the awesome pecan sandies, wrangler of babies and coworker extraordinaire. Yeah her - you remember! Gail calls me up and says, "Rosie, have I got a treat for you! My sister found my great grandmother's Lebkuken recipe. I can't wait to make them for you...do you have any cider?"

"Awesome! Of course I have cider - what kinda friend would I be if I didn't?" I said.

So I ran to the store to buy some cider and headed over to Gail's.

I have to say I was intrigued by this whole lebkuken thing. Gail has been talking about these cookies for years. See - every good cook has their secret recipes. Things they only share with a few people, because the damn thing is just too good to let loose in the general public. You know the recipes I am talking about - your grandmother's chocolate cake, your great-aunt's zucchini pickles...those recipes that once lost can never quite be duplicated again. And here Gail was sharing one of her special recipes with me. And you know what - that gave me a wonderful warm feeling inside. Either that or it was the burrito I had for lunch - I am not sure now.

So sitting in my pantry right now is a big tin of these lebkuken. Not much to look at but they are mighty tasty. Supposedly, they taste better the longer they age, so I'll just have to keep roving hands out of the cookie tin for just a while longer so we'll have some left for Christmas.

I asked Gail if it would be alright with her if I posted this on my blog and she said sure - sometimes you have to share good things so they don't get lost. That and she can google the recipe next time instead of asking her sister.

By the way, this is exactly how the recipe was written down and handed over to Gail and her sisters. If you want a hands on training session, Gail is susceptible to bribes... I think she mentioned something about imported chocolate and liquor...but I may be mistaken....

LEBKUKEN COOKIES
1 pint cider
1 pound dark brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds light brown sugar
1 pint white sugar

Boil to form a syrup.

1/2 pkg raisins
1 1/2 lemon (grated fine)
4 eggs - well beaten
1/2 teas nutmeg
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/2 teas ground cloves
1 1/2 teas baking soda (dissolved in lukewarm water)
Nutmeats
1 pint lard (softened)
Flour to stiffen, just enough so your fingers doesn't stick

Mix together and let stand overnight.
Roll out and cut into triangles or with cookie cutters.
Bake in oven at 350 degrees till lightly browned.
Cool on cookie rack. Store in air tight container.

'Tis the season...

Well - it has been one busy week.

Work has me hoppin' as usual this year. And every year - I swear I will no longer work retail the next holiday season. Fat chance.

So, without further ado, let's talk about last weekend.

I met Becke of Columbus Foodie (and her hubby) this past Saturday. Becke had declared me winner of of her 100th post/first birthday contest and said she had a bag of swag for me. So off I went to the North Market, offspring in tow. My daughter's agenda: to eat food, then go the Yankee Trader to buy loot. Becke and I had a great time. We ate Cassoulet from North Market Poultry, wandered around and looked at a craft show the market was hosting, chewed the fat and generally had a fun time.

Oh, and guess what else?!!! Becke, Lisa , Renee and I were written up in the North Market newsletter. I want to thank Jeni (of Jeni's Ice Cream fame) for the kind words. So what was in the bag?

• A gift certificate from Pure Imagination Chocolatier . I used it to buy a nine piece box of chocolates. My fav: the salty caramel truffle.
• Some beautiful streaky bacon, thick cut from Bluecreek Farms . I put this in the freezer. It will make a reappearance at a later date.
• Z extreme hot sauce from Cajohn's. I have not opened this yet. I am saving it for new year's eve when we will have our friend George the chili head over. That boy has no pain receptors left, so it is fun feeding him new hot sauces before we try them.
• Organic raw milk feta - waiting on me to think of something creative to do with it.
• Formage des Clarines - a Stinky French cheese from Curds and Whey . I love stink. It means good things for your taste buds.
• Cranberry Mango Pepper Jelly from Whole Foods
• Crostini from Trader Joe's - These were eaten by Sunday evening. They were dunked into homemade tomato soup and devoured by a hoard of ravenous football fans.
• and lastly, a homemade version of Starbuck's pepperment brownies from Becke's own kitchen. These were taken to Sunday's event and eaten by hungry cookie bakers.

Thank you so much for the goodies Becke!

Sunday, the Cookie Clache started our annual cookie baking marathon. Here is the problem though...none of us are in a very holly jolly mood this year. I think we are getting burned out on whole holiday season before we even get close to the real holidays. Our employer gave us the holiday phone greeting the first day of OCTOBER. Give me a break people! I just flat out refused to answer the phone with it until mid-November. Corporate American can bite my butt.

It took us a huge helping of Becke's brownies, two pots of coffee and a whole boatload of gossip before we felt the motivation needed to start out cookies. Here is a picture of Gail's kitchen after the Hurricane Rosie hit it.




This year's cookie list includes, but is not limited to

• Pecan Pie bars
• Orange - Poppy Seed Pinwheels
• Ginger Spice Crinkles
• Chocolate Shortbread
• Pecan Sandies

ah hell - I can't remember any more off the top of my head, but trust me, I'll cover them all!

The most interesting cookies we are making this year are Lebkuken. The recipe comes from Gail's family and is believed to be over 100 years old. I plan on writing up the recipe for my upcoming round up for The Spice Is Right IX: Warm me up baby - It's cold outside... Consider yourself reminded!

Sigh...

Ok..Can't leave the computer unattended

Can't trust the hubby.

Can't trust the kid.

Damn conspiracies - just because you are paranoid....

Whether the old man likes it or not...there will be shaped cookies. It's expected, hunny. And don't you dare blame your expanding waistline on the fact you feel obligated to try several of each shape.

So...Cookie Mavens...

We had a new addition to the group this year - Lily, Debbie's brand spankin' new granddaughter. She is all of two months old and was passed from person to person like a hot potato.



Here is Gail playing Grammy to our lil sweetie.



Here is the proud Grandma making sure we don't drop the baby on her soft spot.



Once again we went for Chinese buffet. This year we went to the Super K Buffet out on W. Broad. I will adhere to the old saying - If you can't say anything nice...

The reason we were out on the West Side?

To hit the Restaurant Depot for supplies!!

Tony wrangled a membership for me as a present - if that ain't a show of affection I don't what is... "Here sweetie - buy all the chocolate you want wholesale!"

Here is me buying an 11 pound bar of Callebaut bittersweet chocolate - a whole 33 bucks!!!
Hot damn!



We also picked up a bunch of coffee syrups, 25 pounds of flour and 30 pounds of sugar. I am going back in a couple weeks for the butter.

I will keep you informed as to our progress - it's gonna be a busy busy two months...

COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brrrrrrrr....It's getting cold here and everyone knows what that means...

The Cookie Mavens are back in action!! (Cue the theme song!!)

First of all, for anyone who hasn't read last year's cookie adventures, start out with the rules .

Second of all, be careful who you try this with - not eveyone is cut out to be a Cookie Maven. We gals have cast iron constitutions, hardcore baking chops and a hatrd of skinny people. Plus, after working together for eight years, we are a team that has been hardened in the twin fires of planning and execution. And we are insane. That helps too.

We had our first meeting last Sunday - that first meeting always starts with a review of the previous year... Our conclusions?

1. We made too damn many cookies. Again.
2. While people SAY they like gingerbread men - they lie. They like looking at gingerbread men, not eating them.
   
3. People really want chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles - but they can kiss our butts. Added snickerdoodles to the list of forbidden cookies just to piss off a certain assistant manager.
   
4. We need to eat fewer cookies and give more to others. Our waistlines will thank us in January.

Wait a minute - I'll be right back..someone is at the door... (hold music)

Hi - This is Anthony, Rosie's husband. I got our daughter to knock at the door - that will keep Rosie busy for a moment.

NO MORE OF THOSE DAMN SUGAR COOKIES. NO COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING. NO CUTE COOKIES - I DON'T NEED COOKIES THAT LOOK LIKE LAMBS OR STARS OR WHATEVER. I DON'T NEED THAT CRAP. SPEAKING OF CRAP - THAT IS WHAT ROYAL ICING TASTES LIKE!!!! I WANT CHOCOLATE AND NUTS - NO DAMN RAISINS.

Gotta go...