Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1. Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

2. Beat the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment at high speed until it is light and fluffy, about three minutes.

3. Add 3/4 cup sugar and mix on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula halfway through mixing to ensure that the butter and sugar are well mixed.

4. Add the egg and mix until combined. Again, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure that the ingredients are incorporated.

5. Add approximately half the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until the flour is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Repeat with the remaining flour and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the flour is fully incorporated.

6. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap it in plastic wrap. Let chill in the refrigerator for at least and hour or up to 3 days.

7. While dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper or spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

8. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and scoop or roll into balls about 1 tablespoon in size. At this point, the cookie dough can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

9. When ready to bake, mix 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll each ball of dough gently in the bowl to coat with the cinnamon sugar mixture.

10. Place the balls of dough about 1 inch apart on the prepared pans. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans once halfway through, until the edges of the cookies are firm (the cookies will remain fairly light in color). Remove the cookies from the oven, let them cool slightly on the pans, then transfer the to a wire rack to cool to room temperature (or serve warm).

Things I'm Loving

These are the things I've been loving lately. 

Taylor Swift's new album Speak Now. 

I have been waiting for this for two years, and it's finally here. I have loved Taylor from her first single, and the new album is her best yet. I just cannot get over how great the new songs are. I listen to them constantly, and it seems that with all of the songs, she is singing to me. 

Cranberries and Cream Scones

  

3 cups of all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

¾ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 to ½ cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries chopped

Preheat oven to 425 stack two baking sheets together and line top sheet with parchment paper. Arrange oven rack to upper third position.

In a food processor add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder to blend briefly. Add butter and pulse to make a coarse, grainy mixture. Turn out mixture into a large bowl. Make a well in center and stir in eggs, vanilla, and cream to make a soft but firm dough. Fold in cranberries. Knead by hand briefly on a lightly floured work surface, and then pat into a large round. Dough should be about 1 inch thick. Cut into 4 inch circles, then cut these in half. Place on prepared baking sheets. Brush generously with cream and sprinkle on sugar.

Bake until scones are browned around the edges, about 15 to 20 minutes.


Taken from, A Passion for Baking, By Mary Goldman

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

In preparation for the seventh movie, coming out on November 19th, I am re-reading the seventh book. I forgot how good the it is, and how happy the world of Harry Potter makes me. 

My dad just got back from a weekend on Nantucket Island, my favorite place in the world.

He brought back Herb bread, from Something Natural, a sandwich shop on the island.

This bread tastes like Thanksgiving stuffing only better. 

Also, now that my dad is back, he could make his infamous chocolate chip cookies (all it is, is the recipe on the back of the tollhouse chocolate chip bag, with a few secret ingredients). 

Finally, I am loving our new couch! 

On halloween night, I sat on this couch, drank tea and read Harry Potter. Pretty great night if you ask me.

Fair Haven

My friend Claire and I took a day off of school, and drove up to her summer house in Fair Haven, New York. 

I think getting away from the city keeps me sane. I love where I live, but sometimes I feel suffocated and claustrophobic. I just had a three day weekend, but a second one was fine by me. 

We ate some great food. 

           Beef Chili

	4 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
	8 medium onions, chopped (4 cups)
	4 cans (28 oz each) organic diced tomatoes, undrained
	3 cans (19 oz each) red kidney beans, drained, liquid reserved
	1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
	3 tablespoons chili powder
	2 tablespoons sugar
	1 tablespoon salt 1. In 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot, cook beef and onions over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is thoroughly cooked and onions are tender; drain. 2. Stir in tomatoes, bean liquid, tomato sauce, chili powder, sugar and salt, breaking up tomatoes. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 1 1/4 hours. 3. Stir in beans. Simmer uncovered about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency. Cornbread from a box is the best kind of cornbread. More apples, and apple pie! Before After A lot of board and card games were played (not by me, I watched because I have this strange aversion to board games).  There was a mini black-out for a few hours because it was so windy. We didn't have any candles, so we used birthday candles.  Great weekend. Thanks, Summer Hill :)

                                                            

Apple Picking

Over the long weekend, my family and I went apple picking in Germantown/ Redhook, New York. We have done this with family friends for the past couple of years, and each time has been a success. 

Nothing says fall like pumpkins and gourds! 

We had some great apple cider doughnuts!

More apples...

After gathering as many apples as we could, we headed up to another friend's  house to spread joy and cheer through apple crumble and chicken pot pie. Alright! 

I'm sorry to say that I did not make the chicken pot pie, nor do I know how to make it. It was delicious though!

The apple crumble however, is possibly the easiest dessert one can make with apples.

 Fill a dutch oven with as many sliced apples as you can. 

Squeeze some lemon juice over it. 

Mix 2 1/2 cups of oats (optional), 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar,  1 cup of all purpose flour, a dash of cinnamon, and 2 sticks of unsalted butter in a mixing bowl.

  Crumble over the top of apples and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes. I highly recommend serving it with vanilla ice cream. 

Then we all made a fire and roasted marshmallows. It was a great weekend. :)

Finally Fall

Well, I think it's safe to say it's officially fall. It's getting chilly, people are apple picking, and I am eating stew.

On the stove, sear the beef with a little flour and olive oil for a few minutes, and then it goes in the crock pot along with onions, celery, chicken/beef stock, and a few cups of red wine. The potatoes go in after about four hours. This meal is easy, and you can throw in whatever you want. Also, it can cook all day, ours did for about 10 hours. The key is really the wine and a little hot sauce to give it some tang. 

My family and I sat by the fire and curled up on a chilly night with this steaming beef stew, and we talked about all the exciting fall events coming up. A dish like beef stew is so classic, and to me, describes the feeling of fall; exciting, cozy, and most of all, happy. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and I couldn't have asked for a better start of fall dinner. 

Along with some crusty bread, this is the perfect fall meal.  

Surprising Weekday Breakfast

Usually it's cereal or toast. But last week, I woke up to the wonderful smells of homemade belgian waffles.

Having a good day depends on my morning, so having these waffles didn't make me dread going to school, or even walking there in the rain. Also, the fresh strawberries go really well with maple syrup. 

I'm sorry to say this isn't some fabulous recipe that has been in the family for decades; it's on the back of the Aunt Jemima pancake mix box. 

Comfort

For my first post, I thought I would give you a taste of what my weekend was like.

My friend Claire and I really love being comfortable at all times, so naturally we like comforting foods as well. This was the perfect dish to make, as I was feeling a little down. Not for long.

Pancetta :)

Mushrooms in pasta was a great invention. 

This was a really easy recipe, that gave us something to do over the weekend. We were both very satisfied with the turnout. 

http://www.epicurious.com

The pappardelle was thick and soaked up all the delicious tomato cream sauce. Bacon is pretty much the best thing ever, so finding a piece in my bowl was like finding gold. If I were to make this again, I would add more. 

Claire and I served ourselves large portions, and commenced to sit on the fold out couch and watch the first Harry Potter movie under a big quilt. I think our level of comfort exceeded standards.