Snickerdoodles

I was never a Snickerdoodle fan growing up.  It wasn't that I didn't like them, but I always chose something with chocolate in it over them. 

These days, I crave these cookies.  I love them.  They're so soft and delicious and the flavor of the cinnamon and sugar rolled onto the dough is so homey.  I made these recently for my good friend and former coworker, Shannon, who is changing jobs.  These were her "going away" present, as these are one of her favorite cookies as well.

As for little kids not being enamored with Snickerdoodles, my super picky daughter doesn't seem to mind them at all.....

Ingredients:

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 c. plus 2 T. sugar

2 large eggs

2 t. ground cinnamon

How:

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Cream butter and 1 1/2 c. sugar on medium until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time. Reduce speed to low and gradually mix in flour mixture.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 T. sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 1 3/4 inch balls (the photo shows cookies rolled into 1 inch balls). Roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets(crucial as they spread a lot) lined with parchment paper (if you don't have parchment paper, just spray your sheets with non-stick baking spray).

Bake cookies, until slightly firmed at the edges 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies
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Pasta Primavera

Pasta Primavera.  The name just screams Spring.  Literally, primavera means Spring.  I thought that this would be quite fitting to welcome the season and enjoy some fresh produce and make sure that B and I don't sit around eating cake and cupcakes all the time and actually eat something good for us!  I bought a large bunch of asparagus that I was excited about using, seeing as it's a Spring vegetable, and I tried to use some other timely vegetables. Fennel is at the end of its season, and carrots are almost always in season.  The tomatoes and red pepper are in there because they were in the original recipe and because I just like them. 

I had never owned Herbes de Provence before I decided to make this recipe and I'm so glad I purchased them.  I love how they tasted and more than that, I loved how they made my house smell.  It was wonderful.  B came home, walked in the house and was instantly excited about dinner.  Predictably so, the baby lady wanted nothing to do with the entire dish.  I was ok with that though, because it was so good and I was glad that there was more for me to eat.

Baked Brie with Honey and Dried Cherries

I was at a first birthday party for one of baby lady's friends and I saw a beautiful wedge of brie on the table with some crackers.  Instant heaven.  I filled up my plate with some crackers and a piece of brie that was probably too large.  Not too large for me to eat...just that with so many people it probably wasn't fair to take a piece as big as I did.

Well after that I really had a taste for more brie.  And my favorite way to have it...baked of course.  A while back I posted a recipe for baked brie (here) but I didn't have any puff pastry.  I promised myself and anyone who happens to read here that the next time I made it, I would finally use puff pastry.  It was actually a goal that I had set for myself, seeing as I had never done it before.

So that night I finally did it.  I tweaked a recipe that called for some dried cherries and honey and went to town on it once it was finished.  Yes, B and I managed to consume an entire round of baked brie, no problem.  We've done it before and I can assure you that we will be doing it again.

Pork Chops with Fennel-Grapefruit Compote

I've never enjoyed eating grapefruits.  I remember watching my mom eat them, with the special spoon and all, and I tried it, but never understood their appeal.  But, I thought, that it would be tasty when cooked with other things I like.  And it would be an understatement to say that I like fennel and onion.  I may be obsessed with them actually.

After I made it and told B what we were having for dinner that night, he made a face and informed me that he doesn't like when orange juice is cooked into meals.  Oh well, you can't win 'em all!  And anyway, I liked it!

Lemon Bars - Take 2

 

Oh, how I love lemon bars!  I've always loved lemon everything and have recently made it my mission to find the best lemon bar recipe out there.  In the short time I've been blogging, I've already made lemon bars twice, using two different recipes, thus beginning my mission. 

The first recipe was ugly.  Delicious, but ugly.  I thought the end result was a super delicious filling and a slightly floury crust, but definitely worth the time to make and worth the calories to eat.  

This version of the lemon bar has a much better crust.  It's like shortbread, which I adore.  The filling is slightly more tart than I'm used to, but as I love lemon, that's not a bad thing.  In my opinion they are far more pretty than the first one, and probably equal in desirability for when it comes to lemon bars.

So, I'm pleased with this recipe, but my search is not over.  I believe that the absolute best remains to be discovered.