Holiday Cookie Bonanza on Butter Poached

When Laura of the lovely blog Butter Poached put out a call for readers to contribute to a virtual holiday cookie bonanza based on the Washington Post's annual cookie feature, I could not say yes fast enough. I wound up making two from the list - one fantastic and decently attractive, one fantastic but unfortunately reminiscent of boobs. I'll trust you to figure out which was which on your own, but do head over there for confirmation :) There are tons of fantastic reviews of many of the cookies from the list included in their post.

P.S. I know things have a been a bit photo collage crazy over here, but I recently discovered this site, and I am in love. It's crazy easy to use, there are lots of different templates, and (I might be just telling myself this?) I feel like it makes mediocre pictures look better. Anyways, passing along just in case you'd like feel tech-savvy without actually learning how to do anything technical!

Happy Candy Eating Day!

On the agenda for tonight:

• Watching Psycho (I've never seen it all the way through!)
• Making this for dinner (though I'm equally tempted by this)
• Fantasizing  about having this (!!!) for dessert, but I think all the kidlets in our new neighborhood will probably take all the candy first / I'll just eat any left-overs in their "natural" form 

Happy Halloween to all!

Winter Sunday Dinner: French-Style Pot-Roasted Pork Loin

I haven't done a Sunday dinner post in a while. We're still making all kinds of wonderful things - especially on Sundays! - but the light is so poor by the time we eat that I usually don't take pictures. Plus, winter food isn't always so photogenic.

But I'm making an exception because this recipe for pork loin is truly exceptional, and very different from any I've made before. It's from America's Test Kitchen, so you know it's a good one.

Basically, you butterfly the roast and smear a butter-garlic mixture inside before tying it up again. The roast gets seared on three sides (just three!), and then finishes cooking in the oven at an extremely low temperature. I'm not usually one to go all nuts for pork loin, but this recipe is outstanding. So moist and porky, and I was just using a humble Trader Joe's roast!

Winter Sunday Dinner: Cozy French Roast

• French-style pot-roasted pork loin*
• Butter lettuce with roasted baby Brussels sprouts, blue cheese, and golden raisins
• Roasted potatoes
• Darkest chocolate ice cream, with crushed candy canes mixed in

*We did make a few substitutions. I forgot to buy an apple, so we used a mixture of green and purple grapes instead, probably about one cup. It was lovely - I think roasted grapes are an underused cooking gem - but I'm excited to try it the original way next time. Also, I threw a mess of parsley on top, because I always like green stuff on my plate. 

Sweet June

(Photo courtesy of my sister)

This month has been glorious, filled with beach days, grilled burgers, oodles of homemade ice cream, dinners out with friends, delicious cheese, cheering for the Red Sox*, swaying to the Beach Boys, fried seafood, a favorite new book, an improved golf swing, welcoming cold press coffee back into our lives, and a very happy first two weeks of summer vacation. 

We are ending this delightful string of fun with a bang - Garrison Keillor and Arlo Guthrie at Tanglewood tomorrow night. Yay!

I hope you have an absolutely wonderful June finale weekend!

*I know some (Peter!) think this blasphemous, but I consider myself to be a duel citizen of Red Sox Nation and Yankee fan-dom. We can still be friends, right?

Roasted Sour Cherry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate

On Saturday afternoon, giant thunder clouds rolled over us at Crane Beach. We high-tailed it out of there as quickly as we could and popped into Russell Orchards just as the first rain drops started to fall. This is a fantastic store with wine, baked goods and a whole room full of fruits and vegetables. I bought a fluffy bunch of purple kale and some cinnamon bread, and was ready to call it a day when I spotted a pint of sour cherries. 

I know this is strange, but I don't really like cherries. Or much fruit at all. Vegetables and I are best buds, but fruit? Eh. One genius idea popped into my head that made those sour cherries sound down right irresistible, though.

Ice cream. 

Ever since I discovered Jeni's ice cream base, I have been churning out the pints. (Get it?!) My favorite thing about her recipe, aside from the fact that it makes amazing ice cream, is that it doesn't require half a dozen egg yolks. I loathe that about most ice cream bases. So many yolks, so many wasted whites. I know I could freeze them in a baggy or something, but come on.

I give you my not-entirely-invented-but-I-did-successfully-wing-it creation!

Roasted Sour Cherry Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate

You will need: 
One batch of Jeni's Ice Cream Base
35-40 washed and de-stemmed sour cherries
2 tablespoons Amaretto or Bourbon
2 tablespoons sugar
4 ounces dark chocolate, cut into shavings with a sharp knife

Preheat the oven to 450F. Toss the cherries, sugar and alcohol together in any oven-safe dish - I used a pie plate. Roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring every five minutes to make sure the sugar isn't burning. Remove from the oven and let cool, then remove the pits. This is easy once the cherries are all roasted and soft. Roughly chop the cherries and store them along with all the juices from the pie plate in a glass container. Refrigerate until cool (this can be done one day ahead). You might be tempted to skip this roasting part and just put your fab sour cherries into ice cream, but they will get all hard and difficult to eat once they're frozen in the ice cream.

Make your ice cream base and chill that, too. When the cherries and the base are nice and cold (about four hours later), combine them and freeze them in your ice cream maker. My ice cream maker takes about 30 minutes to fully churn - is yours the same? When it's nearly done, add in your chopped shards of dark chocolate and let it spin for a few more minutes. Add chips if you must, but I think shards are superior. They don't get rock hard once frozen.

Place your churned ice cream in a glass container and freeze for at least four hours. Sneak spoonfuls while you wait and start telling everyone you know that you just made the best thing ever.

Our Week in Paris

We are back from Paris! I put this travelogue into a single post for a selfish reason - I want one easy reference spot for the future. It's quite long, but I hope you'll enjoy it! A few more little Paris posts will likely sneak in at some point, too. XO

Sunday: We took the RER B line into Paris from the airport, and went straight to our apartment. Up six flights of stairs (102 steps!), we got to see our place. It was a cute little studio with a queen sized bed, a teeny cafe table with two chairs, a kitchenette and a bathroom.* We unpacked quickly, showered up, and headed out to stave off jet lag as much as possible.

We walked down to the Marais (about 10 minutes from our apartment in Republique). This is one of my favorite neighborhoods, and I was excited for Peter to see it. In search of the famous L'As du Falafal, I accidentally led us to a different falafal place down the street. Still delicious!

The Marais is the perfect place to go on a Sunday. It's hopping! From there, we headed over to Notre Dame to take a peak. I loved seeing Peter see it for the first time. He told me it was being built at the same time as the Mayan temples (one benefit to be married to a history teacher - lots of random facts!). We crossed the Seine and wandered around Shakespeare and Co., walked by the Lourve and into the Tuilerie gardens, and passed the Pompidou on the way home. It was Peter's birthday, and I asked him how it was going so far. "Best one yet!" he said.

For dinner, we had a reservation at Le Trumilou. They accept reservations online, so it's a good one for the first night. Many restaurants require reservations, and we were very shy about using the phone, so it was nice to be able to go into the rest in person throughout the week once we arrived. Highlights of the meal included Peter's charcuterie plate (with head cheese!), my crispy duck confit, and our first Paris cheese plate for dessert.

Monday: Before we left, I reserved a spot on the 11:00 a.m. tour with Fat Tire. I had done this as a college student with a bunch of girlfriends, and a few of you recommended it as well. I'm not much of a biker in my normal life, but Paris is a fantastic city to see from this vantage point. The guides are funny and nerdy, giving you cute little stories about tidbit of history along the way. For lunch, we stopped at a cafe in the Tuilerie gardens (cheese and baguettes!). It was a lovely afternoon, so we went to the Luxembourg Gardens after our tour wrapped up (around 3:15 p.m.). We also made a reservation at Le Timbre for our last night - more on that later.

We went to A la Biche au Bois on David Lebovitz's recommendation. One of our absolute favorites! We didn't have reservations, so we headed in early (for Paris) around 8:00 p.m. Highlights included the salade perigourdine, steak and frites, and a giant cheese tray that you get to pick selections from!

Tuesday: We bought four-day museum passes at the airport when we arrived (you can also get them at many museums) and started using it on Tuesday. If you plan on going to a lot of museums and monuments, this is definitely the way to go! I planned the days out by putting things together that were close in proximity.

We started at the Rodin to see The Thinker and the pretty little house inside. It was pouring rain, so we ducked into Cafe de Musee down the street for a bit of lunch before going to Napoleon's Tomb. The rain let up a bit, and we hustled over the Musee d'Orsay. A lovely left bank day.

We weren't so hungry after our lunch at Cafe de Musee (Peter had a hot dog with cheese in a baguette!), so we headed to Chez Prune, a wine bar a few blocks away from our apartment on the Canal St. Martin. Think inexpensive, delicious glasses of wine, four giant appetizers to chose from for sharing, and lots of darling local Parisians. Can you tell we loved it? Because we loved it. Go here.

Wednesday: We visited the Crypte archeologique - a new-to-me museum that's underneath the square at Notre Dame. It was so neat! Filled with vestiges of old houses and streets that were once there. After, we went into Notre Dame and over to the Conciergerie. We would have done Sainte Chapelle then, but it was closed for a long lunch (ahh, Paris.). We decided to follow their lead and headed over to Angelina for their famous hot chocolate and some macarons. This gave us the strength to tackle the Louvre :)

For dinner, we had a reservation at Robert et Louise, based on Ruth Reichl's Gourmet article. The food was good - very good, even - but as tourists, they relegated us to a basement room that lacked charm. Not exactly a disappointment, but definitely not our favorite. It might have been a better lunch time pick?

Thursday: It was a bit rainy early in the week, and this day looked sunny and promising, so we headed out to Versailles (with a quick stop at Sainte Chapelle first - it was near the RER C line we had to take out there anyway). The palace is amazing, but I loved the surrounding gardens most. Everything was in bloom, and so green this time of year.

We were exhausted that night (especially me, for some reason), but we rallied and headed over to Frenchie Wine Bar. It's itty-bitty, so get there early for a spot. It was full when we arrived at 7:20 p.m., but two seats at the bar opened quickly. The wine list is amazing, and the food is clean and fresh and creative. The chef previously worked at Gramercy Tavern in NYC, and the style of food is similar.

Friday: We walked to the Marais to go into the Centre Pompidou - one of my all time favorite museums. Afterward, Peter settled in for coffee at a cafe and I shopped around. Some favorite shops included Les Touristes, Reperages Maison and Compagnie de Provence. We had gelato from Amarino for lunch (eating ice cream for a meal thrills me to no end!).

In the afternoon, we went to Musee Carnavalet - a free museum with old signs from all around Paris, a lovely courtyard garden, and beautiful palace rooms upstairs. Down the street is Place des Vosges, a beautiful square park surrounded by pretty pink town houses.

Dinner that night was at Le Timbre. We've been lucky to have some very special meals out, but this was one of our best ever. The space is charming, the service is lovely, and the food is perfection. Every element of the meal was a highlight, but extra special dishes included Peter's foie gras, my duck breast served over asparagus, shallots and mushrooms, a creamy blue cheese, and rich chocolate creme for dessert.

We ended with a nighttime visit to the Eiffel Tour. It was a fantastic visit, from start to finish. I can't wait to return already!

*If anyone has specific questions about the apartment we rented and our experience there, please feel free to email me!

All Kinds of Awesome

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We had so much fun, I didn't really want it to end. There were visits with aunts and uncles and cousins and parents and siblings. And oodles of cupcakes, jelly beans and board games. Perfection!

That game - 5 Second Rule - is my new fave. Perfect for groups with a range of ages and interests. I need to pick that one up!

My cousin, who hosted us yesterday, is a fabulous entertainer. She set up a lemonade bar with fruit, ice frozen with herbs and berries inside, and three kinds of vodka to chose from. (She's a big Pinterest junkie, and saw the idea there!). With dessert, she put out lemon sorbet, lime sherbet and tequila - a take on a frozen margarita once everything gets mixed up. Genius! There was even a platter of peeps with a sign in the middle saying, "Having Easter with All My Peeps!" Ha!

ALSO she has the best fortune telling book on her coffee table that has sections for palm reading, Chinese zodiac, tarot readings - all kinds of awesome stuff. Such a great thing to have around!

I want my house to be filled with all kinds of fun, funny stuff, you know? I probably need to spend even more time on Pinterest looking for inspiration :)

Happy Easter!

(Via The Kitchn)

If I were hosting Easter, the menu would include: 

• Lillet Rose Spring Cocktails
• Absurdly Addictive Asparagus
• Easter Ham with Golden Breadcrumbs and Madeira Sauce
• Celery and Fennel Gratin
• Lemon Rosemary Cheesecake

Instead, we get to be guests all weekend long! I've got boxes of fabulous Italian cookies to share, and all the fixings for a yummy antipasto plate (asparagus wrapped with Prosciutto, marinated artichokes, olives, manchego cheese, ooh la la!). 

Wishing you a lovely spring weekend, filled with endless handfuls of Hebert's jelly beans!

A Tale of Two Dinners: The Best of Times

We had my sisters- and (brand new!) brother-in-law over to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. There was deep sadness about the Patriot's loss - and we aren't even really fans! I think the local angle got to everybody.

But the food and snacks were on point. Peter made chili, and he claims it was his best batch ever. His secret ingredients? A splash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of curry powder!

Inspired by Joanna Goddard's post, I put together a baked potato bar with all kinds of toppings. Above you see bacon, butter, grated cheddar cheese and chopped chives. I also sauteed mushrooms and steamed broccoli, and of course, people could put chili on top, too.

For dessert, oh my. Compost cookies! I've wanted to make these for a looooong time, but I guess I was waiting for some sort of over the top eating and snacking event to justify potato chip + candy cookies. I should not have waited! These are so good. For candy, I used chopped Heath bar, chocolate chips and peanut M&Ms. I made the dough on Saturday, and baked up a sheet of cookies after half time so they would be warm and gooey.

All week, I've been making a couple of cookies each night for dessert. I was always v. skeptical about people who keep cookie dough in their fridge or freezer to do this. Such restraint! But I've drank the cookie-dough-in-the-fridge Kool Aid. Having a single warm cookie on a Wednesday night while watching Inspector Lewis is one of life's great pleasures.

This whole meal was a winner because I followed the rules: make things ahead, and repeat old recipes. Peter, you have my permission to remind me of this when I start pushing for us to try turducken for the first time next Thanksgiving.

And I think on another level, it was fun and successful because it was so easy. For a normal dinner with friends, I wouldn't serve potatoes and cookies and call it a day. That's so silly, though! Those things are delicious and (almost) everyone likes them. I need to treat more gatherings like they are the Super Bowl, even if we eat at the dining room table and don't get to gush over E*Trade baby commercials.

The Year of Enjoy

Last year, much of our time was spent preparing for our move, packing up and settling into our new apartment, and then adjusting to our surroundings (including new jobs for both Peter and me).

In 2012, I want to just enjoy everything! Here's my loose plan:

Cooking enjoyment: 

• Slow roast a duck.
• Make pate.
• Smoke our own salmon/trout.
• Get back on the baking train.
  

Friendship enjoyment: 

• Continue to build up friendships in our new city, hosting or meeting people out and about at least a few times a month.
• Join a book club. I desperately miss my NYC book club, and I hope to find one here (or start a new group!). Boston ladies, any takers?! I will come bearing treats and a large supply of wine!
  

Travel enjoyment:

• Florida in February.
• Paris in April.
• Martha's Vineyard in August. 
• At least two local-ish weekend trips.
  

And finally, very adult-like, financial enjoyment: 

• We've been saving up for a house for over a year, and still have a long way to go. Luckily, I take an absurd amount of pleasure from transferring money into the savings account. I want to keep our momentum going and watch our down payment swell up!
  

Anyone else trying to embrace a year of pleasure? I'd love some company :)

Guide to Martha's Vineyard

(Photos courtesy of my lovely sister)

This is a snobby thing to say, but I'll tell you anyway. When we drive to Woods Hole every summer to board the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, many of the cars speed off to various exits on the Cape, and I can't help but feel a little sad for those people. I want to shout, you're not there yet, keep going! Wait till you see Martha's Vineyard.

I've been vacationing there with my family for 13 years, and we've discovered many favorite places along the way.

Things to do:

• Beach day at Gay Head (Aquinnah): This beach is a bit of hike (both from the main towns on the island and from the parking lot!), but it's worth it. The clay cliffs are striking. And it's one of the few US beaches were you can go nude! (Do I need to mention that we don't participate?) South Beach is fun, but Gay Head is the best.
• Grange Hall: There's a fantastic farmer's market on Saturday and Wednesday mornings, and an artisan fair every Sunday.
• Sunset at Menemsha: Grab dinner at The Bite, open a bottle of wine, and watch the sun dip into the ocean. 
• Vineyard Sound: Look, I know acapella is sort of dorky, but these guys are super fun. As a young teenager, I had high hopes of marrying a member (didn't really matter which one), so maybe it's just a sentimental soft spot for me.
• Walk through the cottages in Oak Bluffs: So cute, just a little creepy.

Things to eat:

• Breakfast at Art Cliff: Almond crusted french toast and the Bull's Eye are two favorites. They also have a food truck at night serving dinner (so hip!).
• Detente: My favorite restaurant on the island. The menu is local and creative and everything is beautifully presented.
• Ice cream: We have an on-going debate about the merits of Ben and Bill's vs. Mad Martha's. I contend that Mad Martha's is creamier, hence more delicious. Everyone else is swayed by the huge list of flavors at Ben and Bill's.  You'll have to try both - repeatedly! - to see where you stand.
• Net Result: Order the plate with steamed mussels, clams and lobster, a side of fries, and walk across the parking lot to the quiet picnic tables by the cove. This is always one of my favorite meals of the year.
• Lambert's Cove: The food at Detente is fab, but the setting at Lambert's Cove is magical. Sit by the pool for a drink before dinner (it's BYOB, so take wine along!). Bunnies and birds and even a doe might appear in the garden! The dining room is lovely, and the food is quite good, too.

This certainly isn't a complete list of everything the island has to offer, but it would be a good jumping off point :) Does anyone have anything to add to the list?! Are you taking any little trips this fall? It's such a great time for a weekend getaway!

Super crazy excited

(Empire State of Mind, via Etsy)

On the agenda this weekend:

• Falafel + fries
• Swedish gummies
• Flower-shaped gelato
• Empire State building

I am super-crazy excited about one of those items in particular -- can you guess which?!

Wishing you a lovely first weekend of summer!

Special menu for your sweetheart

(Last years Valentine's Day feast!)

For our first Valentine's Day together, Peter and I made what felt like an insanely decadent meal, involving a warm bacon vinaigrette on frisee salad, asparagus goat cheese pasta and chocolate espresso cheesecake. This meal was a huge undertaking, especially because we relied on Trader Joe's frozen pasta creations for most dinners (and I often ate rice with lots of butter and salt for meals when we were apart!).

Now, we mainly use the holiday to buy things that are a bit too expensive for an ordinary dinner, like duck breast or lobster. I'm so excited for our menu this year, which is heavily inspired by my new love, Dorie*.

• Radicchio and haricot vert salad
• Veal chops with rosemary butter
• Garlic mashed potatoes
• Chocolate mousse

What are you all up to for the holiday? A fun restaurant date? A meal at home? Chinese take-out?!  

P.S. Cookie Bar this week! I'm hoping to sneak away sometime tomorrow to pick up a treat! 

Worried over nothing

We have lived in our apartment for a little over two years now, and we have seen our landlords (who happen to live above us) shift from couplehood to parenthood first with one little girl, quickly followed by a second little girl.

It's been a big two years for them.

I provided a little sustenance during trying early days, but we've been hesitant to invite them over. I love babies, but I'd never actually had one in my home. I wasn't worried about destroying anything precious here (because seriously, we don't have anything that precious). I just had so many questions. How should we set up chairs? Do we feed the children, or will they eat before? Is Murphy's Oil Soap safe to use on floors that crawling babies wiggle across?!

Silly questions, but still questions.

We finally bit the bullet and cooked dinner for them last night. And of course, I was worried over nothing. The little girls are charming and sweet, and I adore their parents (though I knew that already). The oldest sang multiple rounds of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and we chatted about wine and Park Slope and the best new restaurant in town (seriously, you should go there!).

Sitting at the table after dinner while the baby dozed, I was amazed by how alive the house felt with children in it. There was constant motion, and even when they were still, playing or chattering to themselves, there was a warmth present that is very different than when a home is filled with only adults.

It was lovely. Absolutely lovely.

* * * * *

Everything really came together for this party, food-wise. Most hostesses can attest to the rarity in that. Usually there's one clunker in the bunch, you know? I highly recommend all of these:

• Spiced pumpkin, lentil and goat cheese salad
• Mustard herb-crusted pork tenderloin
• Artichoke potato gratin
• And for dessert...

French Almond Cake

Adapted from the Newlyweds Cookbook

You will need:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 extra large eggs, beaten

1 cup ground almonds

1/3 cup flour

1 tablespoon milk

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Put the butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl, add the ground almonds, flour and milk. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Spoon into a greased 8" cake pan.

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until the cake just springs back when lightly pressed. Run a knife along the edges and turn onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to five days.

Late summer Italian

Each year, I like to make a special end of summer vacation/back to school dinner. I sent Peter a few menu options earlier this week, and this what he chose:

Late summer Italian

Antipasto plate
Zucchini carpaccio
Butter bean risotto with chard and fancy sausages
Bittersweet chocolate and pear cake

I think a lot about creating rituals in our lives, and this is a special one to me. I tend to get sad at the end of summer -- no more fabulous Lilly dresses or nights at Tanglewood or fireworks. But in a strange, little way, this dinner helps me remember that entering into autumn can be lovely, too.

Cakes!

(Photo from Food and Wine)

Peter's birthday is one week from today. Every year around this time, I put together a list of yummy looking cakes, and he gets to pick one for me to make.  I just sent him this years list, and they all looked so good, I thought I'd share with you all, too.

1. Almond Macaroon Torte 
2. Caramel Walnut Upside Down Banana Cake 
3. Chocolate Espresso Cake
4. Chocolate Cake with Caramel-Coffee Mousse 
5. Gingerbread Cake with Quark Cheesecake
6. Toffee Almond Crunch Cake
7. Tres Lechese Cake with Dulce de Leche

Obviously, Peter is a big fan of almonds, caramel, and coffee!  I'll let you know which one he chooses.

P.S. In 2008, I made this one, and in 2009, this one.  I love cake, so much.

Won't be so neat

Chocolate peanut
butter cake: hard to go wrong.
Mine won't be so neat.

Easy peasy

I love easy recipes, especially ones without a lot of ingredients.  It works well for my hoarding mentality when it comes to food.  I found these flour-free peanut butter cookies over at glutenfreegirl.  The list of ingredients alone sold me on it.  I added some chocolate chips to her recipe.  Fantastic, and so fast to put together.

Chocolate chip peanut butter cookies

You will need:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  

Cream the peanut butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl (it tends to fly around a bit).  Beat in the baking powder.  Add the egg.  Mix until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips with a spoon.

Roll the dough into small balls, about 1 inch round.  Roll onto a plate with some extra white sugar.  Put on your baking sheet and press the cookies down a little bit with the back of a fork.  

Bake 10-12 minutes in the oven.  They will still be a little bit soft when done.  Let cookies cool on the baking sheet five minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.    

Makes about 30 cookies.

Steel cut

I accidently bought steel cut oats instead of regular oats at the grocery store.  Not wanting to throw away a giant tub of them, I searched for recipes using them.  I found this on the Anson Mills website, and modified it a bit to include fresh cranberries and chocolate chips instead of coconut.  They're substantial little cookies, but I mean that in a good way.  Tart and sweet.  

Cranberry chocolate chip cookies

You will need: 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup steel cut oats

1 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper of Silpat.  Turn the flour, oats, cranberries, baking powder and soda, salt and cinnamon into a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Beat the butter with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in both sugars until the mixture is light and aerated. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and vanilla, and then the milk. Stir in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. 

Using an ice cream scooper, spoon cookies onto cookie sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes, and allow to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. 

Perfectly easy

When I get an idea to make something -- say, homemade pasta, or butternut squash soup, or brownies -- I often find myself searching Google for "easiest homemade pasta" or "perfect chocolate brownies."  

Not many recipes come along with my superlatives.  Why is that?  

This weekend I searched for the easiest/most perfect vanilla birthday cake.  No dice.  But I turned to Joy of Cooking, where many of the recipes seem to come built in with these preceding descriptors.  So easy, so perfect. 

Perfectly easy four-egg yellow cake

Adapted from Joy of Cooking

You will need: 

2 2/3 cups sifted cake flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract 

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar plus 3 tablespoons

4 large eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9 inch cake pans or line with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  In a large bowl, combine milk, vanilla, and almond extract. Add the butter and beat at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add in the 1 1/2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in four egg yolks one at a time. On a low speed, add the flour mixture into the milk mixture in three batches. 

Using clean, dry beaters, mix egg whites until soft peaks form. Add in the 3 tablespoons of sugar and beat a little more. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir in about a quarter of the egg whites into the cake batter. Once incorporated, gently fold in the rest of the egg whites. Divide the batter and spread evenly in the cake pans. Bake 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. Remove from pans to cool.  

For frosting, I made the simple butter cream recipe on the back of boxes of confectionary sugar (1 box sugar, 1 stick of butter, and 4 tablespoons of milk, beat until creamy).  I added in about a tablespoon of strawberry jello mix to make it pink and give it a slight strawberry flavor.