Thank you to Barbara Wild for reminding me of this! go online and take a look – so fun!
Wow, it’s day 2 already. Do you have your little books ready? Is there a recipe or two in there already? Some little drawings, doodles, clippings, or photos? It’s not too late to start!
I was in Manhattan again yesterday. I adore New York in December – even though the traffic is abominable.
Yesterday in Manhattan – it was looking good:
Well, before I go off into the recipe part of the post, I have to relate a little story from yesterday. This is sort of a “the world works in mysterious ways” story. After my errands were done, I wandered, as I usually do if I’m in midtown east, over to Barney’s and sit at the counter for lunch – what I usually do if I happen to be alone.
There was only one seat available when I arrived. A purse hung near the open seat. I asked the woman sitting to the left if this seat was taken. She said no in a friendly way. I was encouraged as sometimes things are a little testy here. The room was filled with mostly lunching ladies. It was bustling! It’s always a scene. Anyway, to make a long story short, the woman to my left and I got to chatting, first about the menu and then just a general chat. I’ve honestly sat there many a time when not a word was uttered to my left or to my right and when my counter neighbors are completely engrossed with a few glasses of wine, in-depth phone conversations or whatever their own pre-occupations might be. I generally find this to be fine unless someone’s on the phone in a loud voice. Anyway, our chat migrated here and there and the woman, who was visiting from Orlando and rendezvousing with her husband and son who’s a student at Brown for the weekend, told me her dog had just died on Saturday and how she was completely devastated. Stop. You know the feeling when someone’s talking and the conversation hits a nerve. Well, turns out her dog was 13 and she was a lab. Her name was Twinkle. She said she couldn’t stop crying and she thought she was losing it. Should she consult a doctor? Her husband was alarmed. She had to get away from the house. All sentiments I’d just recently passed through (you’ll note from my posts from early August). I was able to offer my hand and sentiments in understanding and I told her my story about Kit. We shared photos of our dogs and cats. They looked very similar! She grows roses and we shared stories about this as well. I told her about finding Harley – how I knew it was too soon at 6 weeks but we had gone ahead anyway. I needed a dog back in the house. I told her how I had felt shortly after that Kit had sent Harley to us because she could no longer be there with us (which I honestly do). And, how Harley has turned out to be the happiest, most exuberant dog and how we are enjoying her so much. We had a moment of communion there. We went on to discuss our kids, and some art items, and Christmas. I think an hour and a half passed. We said goodbye, wished each other well went on our way. I’d hoped I’d helped her and given her food for thought in the form of a lifeline. The timing could be hers – her loss was still way too recent and raw. I’ll think of her now and hope that something positive will work out for her as she grieves. Such are the small ironies of random times and places.
my darling Kit
Harley – ready for action!
Today’s recipe is for the Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with Peppermint, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated. Right now I seem to be obsessed with puffy, chewy cookies, now with peppermint – so here we go!
of course, you can make these sans peppermint – just change the extracts to 1 tsp vanilla
photo courtesy Cook’s Illustrated
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with Peppermint – adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
1cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
½cup (1 ½ ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
1teaspoon baking powder
¼teaspoon baking soda
½teaspoon salt
1 ½cups packed (10 ½ ounces) brown sugar
3 large eggs
4teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract plus 1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract
4ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4tablespoons unsalted butter
½cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
½cup (2 ounces) confectioners’ sugar – plus 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
MAKES 22 COOKIES
Notes from Cook’s Illustrated: Both natural and Dutch-processed cocoa will work in this recipe. Our favorite natural cocoa is Hershey’s Natural Cocoa Unsweetened; our favorite Dutch-processed cocoa is Droste Cocoa. Our preferred unsweetened chocolate is Hershey’s Unsweetened Baking Bar.
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in bowl.
2. Whisk brown sugar; eggs; espresso powder, if using; and vanilla together in large bowl. Combine chocolate and butter in bowl and microwave at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Whisk chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined. Fold in flour mixture until no dry streaks remain. Let dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Here are my 2 adaptations: Either mix the 1/2 cup of crushed peppermint pieces into the batter at the end. Or, see below at end of #4.
4. Place granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar in separate shallow dishes. Working with 2 tablespoons dough (or use #30 scoop) at a time, roll into balls. Drop dough balls directly into granulated sugar and roll to coat. Transfer dough balls to confectioners’ sugar and roll to coat evenly. Evenly space dough balls on prepared sheets, 11 per sheet. Variation #2 – gently press a scant 1/2 tsp of the peppermint pieces into the top of the dough balls before baking.
5. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cool completely on sheet before serving.
Have a fun day today, whatever you do! 🙂