Yesterday’s curious color combination-discovery
Little story of the day: So, yesterday I had a faux-pas with my wreath for the front door. On Friday evening, I dutifully sprayed it with Wilt-Pruf and hung it by the garage to dry overnight. Yesterday morning when I went out to hang it, I got a little surprise! Our front door is a direct southern exposure and a fresh wreath can get literally fried out there. I even have trouble maintaining the paint on our door because of the dramatic temperature changes that can occur in a day. I discovered that the Wilt-Pruf turned my favorite Juniper Berries Green! Ugh! Anyway, I couldn’t find my favorite front door bow that I’d specifically stored for future use so I went about making a new one. While I made myself breakfast I tossed my bow-in-progress into last night’s salad bowl. The sun was streaming in the kitchen window and and the image above caught my eye. “Now that’s odd” I said to myself, “who’d combine those colors together?” But, I thought it worked and actually looked quite cheery.
After yesterday’s debacle, I read, as I always do, the House and Home Section of the FT Weekend (my fav). The British just get it, don’t they? I’m starting the wreath project over.
Vanilla Kipferln – photo adaptation courtesy Austrian Desserts and Pastries
Today, I’m off to Austria, home of some of the world’s most memorable pastries and pastry chefs. I’ve always been fascinated with this country and their baking prowess. Two years ago I missed a great trip to Vienna and Salzburg when I stayed back at home to care for our beloved cat, Callie who was very ill in the hospital for over 2 weeks at Christmas. My husband and kids had a great trip however. I hope to get back there one day soon. Callie, by the way as many of you have seen, is doing just fine now thanks to the help from a Veterinary Dermatologist who correctly diagnosed her autoimmune disorder.
Ryan and Christin in front of the Hofburg Palace, home of the Spanish Riding School – December 2014
You may have noted that I have a condition known as “Cookie Brain”. Based on what I’ve been writing about here, I guess it’s quite evident. When I think of Christmas I think of Cookies. This isn’t that unusual, is it? I will migrate to other items here as we progress on the 25 day project, but in the early morning hours when I tend to write, I’m in nostalgia mode and, at this time of year that means cookies. (It’s an official diagnosis in the book of standard Psychological Disorders)
Here is a cookie recipe as well known as any at this time of year. We, well I, tend to focus on Italy and France most of the time when I am diving deep into recipe territory. But, that’s completely unfair for, there are some very famous and amazing cookies and treats from many other European countries. This is one area of study I’d like to delve deeper into as I continue my education. Anyway, consider the Danish butter cookie for example. I’ll try to get back to this later.
There are many variations of this cookie out and about. Basically, you can alter this recipe in many ways by changing the type of nuts you use and the spices. Feel free to add some orange or lemon zest. You can also work in a bit of alcohol, if that appeals to you.
Here is a recipe I posted here on my blog last year: https://kitchen-inspirational.com/2015/12/08/the-best-gifts-in-life-are-free-tasty-treats-from-cell-phones-to-cardamom-hazelnut-crescents/ Note: I like the sift and then roll approach noted below for the sugaring process.
But at this time of year, I am busy scouring through my Austrian baking books and wish to offer the classic recipe:
Vanilla Kipferln – recipe courtesy Austrian Desserts and Pastries by Dieter Fercher and Andrea Karrer
3 cups (300g) all purpose flour (fine)
heaping 2/3 cup (100 g) powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 1/8 cups (180g) unsalted butter
2 1/8 cups (180g) walnuts, ground
pinch of salt
1 pinch cinnamon
flour for preparing
vanilla sugar mixed with powdered sugar for tossing
Sift flour, stir together egg yolks with vanilla sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut butter into small cubes and coarsely knead together with the flour. (Pieces of butter can still remain whole.) Add powdered sugar, walnuts, egg yolk mixture and knead into a smooth dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into four equal portions. Shape each dough portion to form finger-thick rolls and cut into small slices. Shape slices into Kipferln (crescents). Place Kipferln onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 12 minutes. Let Kipferln cool briefly and toss in powdered sugar mixed with vanilla sugar.
Note: Sift vanilla-powdered sugar onto the baked vanilla kipferln immediately, let cool, then sprinkle them again. This saves the step of rolling them in the vanilla-powdered sugar and the kipferln don’t break as easily.
Tip: Homemade Vanilla Sugar: 3 vanilla pods, just under 4 cups (500g) powdered sugar (sifted). Cut vanilla pods lengthwise, place them in the powdered sugar in an airtight container and let stand for several days.
a tree and it’s seed pods aka pine cones, in a brilliant blue sky yesterday