My Honorary Santa Claus 2012 – Best Gift All Year; Suggestions for Best Cookbooks for Gifts and 2 Yummy Shortbread Recipes

I am off to Washington, DC today to pick up my son, Ryan.  Can’t wait to see him.  His exams were over last night at 9pm and he sounded exhausted.  I think a little spoiling is in order.

Before the week gets out of hand, I want to reflect on my year a little and to take a minute to acknowledge what was the best gift to me in 2012.  Of course the health and well-being of my family and friends is always the uppermost in my mind, and when a year goes by and everyone is “good”, I am always thankful.   But, the help I received in getting this blog off the ground from my friend, Bill Wraith was truly the best gift I got all year.  Last Spring I was floundering around after thinking and thinking about doing this and sort-of out of the blue Bill volunteered to work with me.  I can’t thank him enough as I have had several months now of  bottled-up self-expression opportunities, with keyboard and camera in hand, and have had so much fun!  Whether I have made any progress in marketing myself or whether anyone else thinks this blog is of value is secondary to me, for I have truly enjoyed writing this – and it makes me feel good.  So, thank you Bill, you are my honorary Santa Claus for 2012!  Without your generosity and patience, I’d still be sitting here staring at my keyboard.

While I am on the gift topic, I am always searching around for cookbooks – in stores, on the internet, in old book shoppes.  If you are still looking for a nice, useful and inspiring gift for Christmas, I can suggest the following:

Little Flower – Recipes from the Cafe by Christine Moore

Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman

Bouchon Bakery by Sebastian Rouxel

La Tartine Gourmande by Beatrice Peltre

Thanksgiving, How to Cook it Well by Sam Sifton

Home Cooking with Jean-Georges by Jean-Georges Vongerichten

The Seasonal Baker by John Barricelli, and

my favorite book of the year even though it it from 2006:

The Sweet Life – Desserts from Chanterelle by Kate Zuckerman

– and for all you garden lovers out there,  Carolyne Roehm’s new book FLOWERS is just amazing.   You can get it on Amazon for a reasonable amount and it’s not too late to ask Santa for one for yourself!

Yesterday, I did even more cookie baking – making another batch of Orange Shortbread, a batch of Candied Ginger Shortbread (aside from my Limoncello Snowdrops, my favorite two cookies so far this year)  and some new biscotti.  Here are the two shortbread recipes.  I highly recommend these – they are not very sophisticated to look at but they are definitely in the easy and YUM category!!!  The orange are in the decadent-little-morsels category and the ginger ones are intense.

ORANGE SHORTBREAD – adapted from Ina Garten and Bake-aholic.com

3/4 lb. unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla – or 1 tsp grand marnier

zest of three oranges, divided

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sanding sugar mixed with zest of the third orange and 1/4 cups ground walnuts for rolling

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter and 1 cup sugar until just combined.  Add vanilla or grand marnier and the zest of 2 oranges.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt and then add to the butter/sugar mixture.  Mix on low speed until dough comes together.  Will be very crumbly – can work this together with your hands.  Remove to a surface which is lightly dusted with flour, divide dough in half and roll into two logs – about 2″ in diameter.  Combine the sugar, zest of the third orange and the ground walnuts.  Roll each log in the mixture and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Slice log into 1/4″ slices.  Bake on parchment-lined baking sheets for 12-15 minutes or until edges just start to brown.  Cool on wire racks.

CANDIED-GINGER SHORTBREAD – Adapted from Epicurious.com

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cups crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Cream butter, brown sugar and ground ginger until light and fluffy.  Add flour and salt.  Beat dough until just combined.  Beat in crystallized ginger.  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a roll about 2″ in diameter.  Chill for 30 minutes or until firm.  Cut into 1/4″ slices and place on parchment-lined cookie sheets.  Bake at 300F for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden and firm.  Remove to cooling racks to cool.

And so, I am off now to get ready for my drive.   Have a happy day!