Cardamom Orange Cookies

The past few years, I've taken to sending some homemade goodies to friends whom I don't get to see all that often.  This cookie was a surprising mention from a couple of people, so I knew I'd be remiss not to post the recipe for you!  These are perfect with a cup of chai tea :)

Cardamom Orange Cookies
adapted from Gourmet
yeild:  5-6 dozen

These cookies can be done in stages, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days before baking, or even frozen for up to 1 month (just thaw in the refrigerator before baking).

3c white whole wheat flour
1t baking powder
3/4t kosher salt
3t ground cardamom
1/2t ground cinnamon
1/4t ground ginger
zest of 1/2-1 orange
2 sticks of unsalted butter, RT
1c evaporated cane juice (or granulated sugar)
2 lg eggs
1t vanilla extract
sprinkles, if desired

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour through zest).

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, preferably in a stand mixer.  Add eggs and vanilla, then beat until well combined.  Reduce speed to low and add in flour mixture until just combined.

Divide dough in half and place on separate sheets of plastic wrap.  Using a spatula and the plastic, form into logs (squares or rectangles, whatever is easiest!).  Place on a baking sheet or large plate and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.

Make sure your oven racks are in the upper and lower thirds of the oven so you can bake two sheets of cookies at a time, then preheat the oven to 350deg.

Add sprinkles to a shallow bowl, a little at a time.  Using a serrated knife, cut ~1/4" slices from one log and roll the edges in the sprinkles.  Place, 1" apart on 2 large, ungreased baking sheets.  Wrap the remaining log and place back in the refrigerator.  Bake cookies 10-12min, switching the position in the oven halfway through, until edges are golden and the cookies are set.  Cool on the baking sheets for ~3min, then transfer to cooling racks.  Repeat with the remaining dough.

Store in an airtight container.

What was your favorite holiday treat this year?

Relationship Mash-Upship

Sophie Marceau pic credit.

Beautifully matched couples are boring. Kens and Barbies together are meant to be seen as a pair, batteries sold separately. Surely they have their tiffs and differences like any other be-coupled life forms, but it's less dramatic when you know there'll always be someone else. The drama of a bust-up barely registers when the danger is only of when they'll find another one just like the last. Answer: It won't take long.

Couples who are clearly different in appearance raise interesting questions. Do they know they look mismatched? What is it they have in common? Which one of them has the most devious motivation? Are they together out of spite? Which of them is desperate?

[You'll note that I attribute less than honourable motives here. That speaks to my mind, not to our theoretical odd pair.]

In my experience, there are a few broad categories where couples look noticeable. There's the big age difference, the big looks- or body-style difference, and the style difference. A style difference would be, say, someone fully tatted-up with a cleanskin. Cheatin' Jesse James and Sandra Bullock is one example. Less obvious mismatches are those involving social ability, wealth and intelligence. Intelligence is a tricky one, because measurement is so subjective.

Looking around, it's clear that we tend to meld with those who more-or-less look like they belong to us. That might simply be because all we want in a partner is the opposite-sex version of our favourite person. Us.






Bottoms Up, Self-Esteemers.

Being In The Moment, Until the End.

Morgane Slemp pic credit.

Is dating an extended job interview or an end unto itself? If it's an interview, what is the job? And if dating's the thing, why is it so fraught?

~/\~

In my experience, whenever people talk about their dating lives, there's a whisper of unfulfillment in the air. They drift off into an unspoken wistfulness, eg:


Oh, we're dating. Nothing serious... or

Yep, been dating a year or so now....

It's never (apart from initially)

OMG! I love it! We're dating!*

~/\~

Mismatched intentions doom many budding romances. It's the question everyone loathes, viz:

Where are we going with this?

If either dater feels the need to ask this question, it's over. If he or she doesn't communicate clearly some kind of goal that's vaguely related to yours, without prompting, asking the question merely emphasizes likely relationship termination.

~/\~

It's possible that I, like many others, am brainwashed into thinking that dating is only ever a road to somewhere else. Dating as its own reward can work, but requires the kind of communication rarely seen when people first meet and want to make matters more formal.

Kate, I want to spend more time with you, to date you. However, at this point I have no interest nor plans beyond that. All good with you?

Or

Doug, just date me. That's all I want.

~/\~

* Granted, beyond a certain age, this might be the case.

Bottoms Up, Existentialists.

Butternut Apple Bruschetta

I'm posting this recipe today to prepare you for your next party, as this recipe is not to be missed.  First at the cookie swap, and then at another holiday party, these bruschetta got rave reviews and are nothing short of fantastic!

Action shot!  Thanks Cara :)

Butternut Apple Bruschetta
inspired by Joanne & Jen
Serves a crowd

I didn't count how many bruschetta I made, but I'm guessing I could've gotten ~3dozen from this recipe.  The butternut squash and apples can be roasted ahead of time, just bring them to room temperature before assembly.

1 lg butternut squash
1 lg, crisp apple (or 2 small, I used honeycrisp)
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt (I used coarse for roasting and fine for seasoning the ricotta)
freshly ground black pepper
1 15oz tub fresh ricotta cheese
cranberry bread (the Savory Cranberry loaf I used the first time was stellar, but cranberry walnut also worked well)
fresh sage
reduced balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 375deg.

Cut the butternut squash and apples into similar sized cubes, I went for ~1/2" dice.  Add cubed squash and apples to a large bowl and toss with 1-2T olive oil, some coarse sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  Spread out on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-30min, tossing halfway.  Set aside to cool.

Melt a small slab of butter in a skillet (probably ~1T) over medium-low heat.  Add fresh sage leaves (a handful?  I just made sure they were in a single layer in the skillet) and cook until beginning to brown, ~2-3min/side.  Once crispy, transfer sage leaves to a plate lined with paper towels and drain until ready to assemble crostini.

Slice bread into thin slices, then into smaller, easy to hold pieces.  The cranberry bread I used was bigger than a traditional baguette, so I cut each slice into 3 pieces.  Lay out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and lightly drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt and then bake, a few minutes on each side until they are beginning to brown and are crispy.

While the bread cools, finish preparing the remaining components.  Add a bit of salt and a good dose of freshly ground black pepper to the ricotta and mix well (do this right in the container, no need to dirty another bowl!).  Crumble the crispy sage into a small bowl.  To prepare the balsamic vinegar to top the crostini, add 1/4c balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat until it has reduced by about half.

To prepare the bruschetta, top each crostini with a heaping tablespoon of ricotta and a spoonful of roasted squash and apples.  Repeat with remaining crostini and add to a serving dish.  Once they're all done, sprinkle the crispy sage over the bruschetta and drizzle on the balsamic vinegar.

What was the best appetizer you had this past holiday season?

Tell Him He's Dreaming

 Zarah Pacheco pic credit.

I do it all the time - I get stuck in my head, thinking about meeting the perfect gal, how it would all be so neat and clean and happy ever after. Living like this courts trouble, especially when we're talking the sex and so on, because the mind doesn't own a watch. Time has no meaning in daydream fantasy land, so that when a real life prospect comes along in actual real life, time actually applies and I crash to earth.

Time's important because there's really no fast-forwarding through the getting-to-know-you period. We're not like automobiles; there's no plugging in a computer to check the status and history of all the machine's systems, as fun as it is to imagine doing that with a person.

Okay, Bud, whattawe got here? Alrighty, looks like her history's pretty clean. Body's straight. Transmission's been replaced, looks like it was a warranty job, so that's good. Fluids all clean and changed regularly. Tyres are getting close to the limit, but will do for now. She needs to go for a long ride, I'd say she only does short trips around town, so she needs a good blow-out. Apart from that, I'd say you've got a solid prospect here. 

Wouldn't it be neat to know precisely what you're in for when you meet someone? Of course, there'd be no discovery, but really, revelation's over-rated. History's chock-full of dead explorers.

But back to this planet. We're all PDG at masking stuff we think needs hiding - but not forever. Some kind of universal consensus hovers around the eighteen month mark as about the period required to uncover your sweetie's suitability. That's about the time Magellan took to get half-way around the world.

Just for the record, he died there.



Bottoms Up, Relationship Mechanics.

Sweet Potatoes & Red Lentils

Happy New Year!!

I can't quite believe it's already 2012, but hopefully you had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to get this year started right ;)  If you didn't catch my 11 Best of '11, there are some goodies in there!

While there are quite a few things I have to tell you about, I chose something a bit healthier to start off with, in case you're still in a cookie coma!  This dip morphed into a delicious soup, so you could certainly go whichever route you're craving.  Is it 50 in december?  Perhaps you'll prefer some crisp veggies and dip.  If it actually feels like winter where you are, I'd opt for a nice bowl of this delicious soup!

Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Dip
adapted from Whole Foods
Yield:  4c

1-2T extra virgin olive oil
1 sm onion, chopped
1 lg garlic clove, chopped
2 sm sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
1" knob of ginger, grated
1t cumin
1/2t curry powder
1/2t smoked paprika
1/2t garam masala
1/4t coriander
1/2t sea salt
few grinds black pepper
1 1/2c red lentils, picked over
3/4c light coconut milk
2 1/2c water
juice of 1 sm lemon

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add onion and saute, stirring occasionally until softened, ~5-7min.   Add sweet potatoes and spices (ginger through pepper) and saute until fragrant. Stir in lentils, water and coconut milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the sweet potatoes (and lentils) are soft, ~20min.  If your liquid cooks off before the sweet potatoes are tender, add a little more  water (but not too much, or that will make for a thin dip).

Remove the pan from the heat and let cool a bit.  Add lemon juice to the mixture and puree using a blender or food processor.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve with a drizzle of olive oil or chopped herbs, if you remember ;)

Sweet Potato & Red Lentil Soup

leftover sweet potato and red lentil dip (recipe above)
remaining coconut milk from the can
water/broth, if desired

Add dip and coconut milk to a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat.  Stir or whisk to combine and add any water to reach your desired consistency.  Serve warm, topped with chopped scallions or herbs, or some greek yogurt.


How did you ring in the new year?

Necking, Making Out and Just the Right Seasoning

Alena Seredova pic credit.

What ever happened to making out? I wonder if people still sit together on a couch or in the car and fool around with their clothes on, or whether we're all so sophisticated thesedays we go straight for the bonking.

Good make-out is more than just kissing, because kissing by itself is like food without seasoning. The salt and pepper of a smooch session are the little things, like some nibbling, a little hair-pulling, deep eye contact and so on. A skilled make-out artist knows the value of piano and forte, of innocence and raunch, and of fast and slow.

As any professional lady will tell you, kissing is more sensual and personal than mere fucking, which confirms my thinking - that we communicate more with a long kissing session than in a straightforward shag. Okay, maybe not, but it's certainly more subtle than all the reproductive stuff. Let's face it, all shagging is variations of thrusting and grinding, but kissing is infinitely more nuanced.

At least half of the make-out experience is smell and feel. The smell of a woman is an enormous turn-on, something that we all know but seem to think pertains only to her juicy parts. I, for instance, love the smell and feel of a woman's neck. The right neck - attached to the right woman - is a thing of beauty. Necks have heavenly curves that no mathematical formula can describe, and if they're touched in the right way, moaning results.

I like it when women moan and I'm pretty sure they do too.




Bottoms Up Make-Out Bandits.