Chocolate Pistachio Sables

by Liz // December 17, 2014 // 5 Comments

I hosted an all-boy play date yesterday afternoon. There were 6 boys in total (three 4 1/2 year olds, one 2 year old, and one 18 month old). Here’s the play-by-play: First they ran around shouting that a stampede of buffalo was chasing them, then they made a gingerbread house. Of course, they had to don super hero costumes to fight some old-fashioned crime. After that, they pretended to get married. My oldest son married a girl named Turquoise, who apparently works as a zookeeper (yeah, zookeeper my foot). There were tears. There were hugs. There were tears again. Then they cleaned up! Finally, the festivities ended with my eldest saying a heartfelt good-bye to his best friends. He did this completely in the nude, by the way, and no, that is not how we roll in this family. Not sure if this is related, but as soon as the day was over I ate a fair amount of chocolate pistachio sables. Continue reading →

Sugar Cookies

by Liz // December 14, 2014 // 2 Comments

Sugar Cookies

Nothing says the holidays like decorated Christmas sugar cookies. I saw painted sugar cookies in Bon Appetit Magazine last year. I loved that they used edible luster dust and lemon extract to create the paint. This combination makes for a sparkly, buttery sugar cookie with a hint of lemon flavor. I had to try these for myself, so I bought gold, and silver edible luster dust at Michaels along with some paint brushes. Now, bear with me, because I am no artist. In fact, my hand shook a little when I was applying the paint to the cookies. I was just so nervous! I have to say, though, that I am really pleased with how they turned out. Sure, I had to stand five feet from them to truly appreciate their beauty, but who cares? Nothing looks that great close up anyway. Have you ever looked in a magnifying mirror? It’s a humbling experience. Continue reading →

Peanut Blossom Cookies

by Liz // December 11, 2014 // 4 Comments

This cookie reminds me of my sister, Amanda, because she smells like peanuts and she always wears a Hershey’s Kiss on her head. Just kidding. I am having a hard time filling this page tonight. What I really want to be doing is eating all of these cookies. Okay, so this cookie reminds me of my sister because she is the cookie queen in my family, and these are one of her best. Peanut Blossom Cookies are Americas Test Kitchen’s variation on the classic Peanut Butter Blossoms. In place of shortening, butter is used. Along with creamy peanut butter, ground roasted peanuts are added. Finally, instead of placing a chocolate kiss atop the already baked cookies, it is added in the last 1 to 2 minutes of baking. What this cookie becomes is a melt in your mouth, sweet peanut butter cookie with a sandy-like texture, and a chocolaty finish. It’s basically a more mature peanut butter blossom. Continue reading →

Cognac Sugarplums

by Liz // December 9, 2014 // No Comments

Cognac Sugar Plums, you little devils you. This is a no-bake, molded cookie, and like a fine wine, it gets better with age. It has a deep chocolate flavor, a nutty texture, and a boozy finish. I found that the dough was a little wet at first to form into a ball. I covered the mixture and let it sit out overnight, so that the melted chocolate had time to harden a bit. This morning I scooped out each dough ball with a small ice cream scoop, and then rolled each one in sugar. Now they are packed away in an air tight container, and will not see the light of day until Christmas Eve., or in a few hours… depending on how my day goes. Continue reading →

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