Valentine Shortbread Cookies: Three Ways

I wrote this post for RichmondMom. You can read the full post here. 

Whether you’re scouting for a sweet treat to gift your valentine or a fun baking activity to celebrate with your littles, these shortbread cookies are just the thing.

Made with only a handful of pantry staples that you probably already have on hand, I love the versatility of this rich buttery dough and the ease with which you can transform it into an offering of affection in practically no time.

Mix up a batch (or two!) of basic shortbread and then consider what will tickle your fancy: rolled cookies, linzer cookies, or mini thumbprints.

A few perfectly imperfect sugar treats from the heart are sure to capture the attention of your darling valentines.

Basic Shortbread Dough: 

• 3 sticks butter, softened 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 3 1/2 cups flour 
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt 

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until it is well combined. Add the flour and salt, and mix on low speed until it begins to come together. Then dump it onto a floured surface and gather up all the crumbs into a ball.

*A quick tip on knowing when the cookies are done: Look for the dough to puff up, but not brown. I prefer a buttery and crumbly texture, so I pull them out when the cookie begins to golden up where it meets the pan. If you like a crunchier cookie leave them in for a minute or two longer than specified. If you cut out cookie shapes of different sizes, baking time will vary so keep an eye on the little guys and pull them out when they look ready—be careful when transferring cookies straight from the rack, the shapes are easy to distort when they are hot.

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The Ultimate Foodie Mama Gift Guide 2013

I wrote this post for RichmondMom. You can read the full article here. 

If you’re wondering what to gift to the passionate, hardworking, and hedonistic foodie mama in your life, or just need a few ideas for yourself, look no further! I've got some goodies to inspire your gifting this Holiday Season.

Details, prices, and places to shop after the jump!

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The Homemade Pantry, and other adventures

It's glorious summertime and I have been living in the sunshine with the boys and soaking up all the good stuff offered by our little city on the river.  Our life here continues to be exciting and full, and my list of to-dos appears to be growing wildly by the day.

Despite the crazy, I've been finding little bits of time to cook throughout the day, especially in the early mornings when the boys are feeling mellow and happy to play together outside or in. It seems that a half hour or less is all it takes to create something we can share together later for lunch or dinner.

I started a cook-through* project last month, which means that I have been cooking and baking my way through the Homemade Pantry: 101 foods you can stop buying and start making. It's authored by Alana Chernila who writes at Eating From the Ground Up.

On my quest to create some adventure in the kitchen while also bringing wholesome foods to the bellies of my family, I was pleased to find a volume of accessible, easy to execute (I will go so far as to say fail-proof) recipes that offer the opportunity to build and hone culinary skill no matter whether you consider yourself a novice or a pro. I've learned an incredible amount so far and it has been exciting to branch out and finally know how to create things like creme fraiche, and ricotta cheese.

The recipes are so very relevant to family life, and written with attention paid to the way that food is prepared, served, and stored in real households with picky eaters and tired mamas. Each recipe includes a lovely in-context story piece and helpful hints that offer advice on fridge and freezer storage. The ingredient lists are simple and healthful, and the photos pretty and bright.

If we follow each other on Instagram then you probably are quite aware of what has been going down in my kitchen recently (if not, I'd love to connect--you can find me @marblesrolling), for everyone else let me share a little taste:

Instant Oatmeal

Jello

Maple popcorn

Ricotta cheese

Mayonnaise

Pickles

Chicken Nuggets

Apple turnovers

Cornbread (smiley face)

Granola Bars

Potato leak soup

Lemonade

Ginger Applesauce

Buttermilk ranch dressing

Raspberry jam

Honey almond oat granola bars

Flour tortillas

Strawberry ice cream

Hummus

Cranberry orange cereal bars

Pizza!

Strawberry fruit leather

Mac & Cheese casserole

Hamburger buns

Yellow mustard

Brown Sugar

Pancake ready mix

Bulk recipes for instant oatmeal, and pancake ready mix have become staples out of pure convenience. Instead of buying snacks and packaged products (loved by all three of the boys who live in this house) it has served us so much better to treat ourselves to batches of granola bars, popcorn, fruit leathers, and other goodies that can be packed in lunches and easily transported to summer camp or to the office.

On the point of cost I have wondered if making even the most basic foods from scratch really saves money each week, and for us I don't think so, but I certainly enjoy my time in the kitchen more and we also enjoy a much greater variety of foods that are without processing, chemical additives, and preservatives to boot.

Which book would you pick for a cook-through?

*You may remember the other cook-through project that I began years ago and quickly abandoned. 

Berry CSA: weeks 10 &11

In week 10 we received blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and plums. The plums reminded me of the variety that we could find in California growing on trees in our neighborhood, small and soft and so sweet.  

In week 11 we got blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and doughnut peaches, which turned out to be one of my favorite fruits this year. Our CSA hit 100 days of strawberries this season which is impressive, and so we also got an extra carton of strawberries. You may guess as to how I felt about that!

For the most part we ate our fruit as it came to us, but I did bake a Three Berry Buttermilk Bundt Cake for 4th of July (phenomenal!), and a recipe for Blueberry Chocolate Banana Bread. Both have been added to my bank of go-to recipes for their simplicity and because they were really, really, good. Not to mention how gorgeous the final loafs were, your Summer houseguests will be impressed!

For the bundt cake I substituted oranges in place of the lemons. For the banana bread I omitted the bourbon (only because we didn't have any!) and substituted blueberries for the walnuts. 

Berry CSA: weeks 7, 8, & 9

I'm really behind in posting about our berry CSA.  I love, love, love community supported agriculture, but at some point in every season, I think to myself, "Oh no. Not more . . . ."  The week before last it was strawberries.  During the fifth week of our veggie CSA it was snow peas and cucumbers.

The fruit is always gorgeous, fragrant, and so pretty to look at. It really should be consumed within the first few days after we pick it up at the market or it starts to look drab and necessitates being baked into something.  I have no excuse for letting some of their perfect berries go to waste.  I know. I feel terrible.  I just couldn't think of anything more to do with those strawberries, and I'm the big fruit eater around here and I was sick for a couple of these weeks with zero appetite.

Here's what we've been eating and (in some cases) tossing:

Week 7: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
Week 8: blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries
Week 9: blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, apricots

Our recipes over the last few weeks have been uber simple: berry salads with honey glazes, or yogurt toppings; berries over ice cream; berries in oatmeal; berries with whipped cream.

I bake a fancy cheesecake in the winter months that has a delicate sour cream layer on top and I always make sure to whip up a little extra topping so that I have plenty to "taste test" without impacting the final product.  All of that to say that I made a batch of the sour cream topping and used it as a dip for the berries, and it was really good.

I'm not terribly precise when I do this, but I mix in a small bowl approximately 3/4 cup sour cream, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and 1 tablespoon of sugar (you can use brown or white).  You can add more or less sugar and vanilla depending on your taste.  It pairs well with strawberries and blueberries in particular.

Speaking of blueberries, we've been eating a lot of blueberry pancakes. A lot. We enjoy a good breakfast-for-dinner at least once a week.

The very best pancake recipe that I have ever made, and that we've been making for several years comes from the Joy of Cooking...it's true!  Actually, I first saw the recipe when I watched the McNeely's on the Food Network one evening back in 2010.  We've been making them ever since, but recently I was looking through my joy of cooking cookbook and the recipe is EXACTLY the same, except the McNeely's add pecans.

They are so perfect.  Fluffy, tender, and a little on the sweet side.

The recipe for the "Best Buttermilk Pancakes Ever" (or depending on who you ask, "basic buttermilk pancakes", or "buttermilk pecan pancakes"):

DRY ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

WET ingredients:
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Whisk wet ingredients together in a large bowl.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently whisk them together, mixing just until they are combined.

Place blueberries on each pancake after the batter has been poured.

Painting with Pudding

If you want to avoid boxed pudding mixes, we've enjoyed this homemade chocolate pudding as a snack and for dessert--it's definitely not just for painting with!

Speedy Chocolate Pudding (adapted from The Family Dinner cookbook)

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 cups regular milk

4 ounces milk or semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir the sugar, cocoa powder, and cornstarch together in a medium-size saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk. Heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to boil and thicken, about 10 minutes.

Add the chocolate. Turn off the stove. Gently whisk until the chocolate is completely melted.

Stir in the vanilla and salt. Pour into small custard cups if you're going to eat it, or onto a plate if the kids will be painting with it.  

Can be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled.

*My camera is at the Nikon repair center, because Merritt pulled it off a counter by its strap and the LCD screen is broken.  These photos were taken by the kids' nanny.  

Chocolate Cake

This recipe is one of my favorites. It was Roscoe's second birthday cake and so it will always be special, but it is really, really good. Even if you don't think you love chocolate cake.

Rich, and moist, perfectly sweet (not too much!), with a mildly intense chocolate flavor that pairs oh-so-well with the buttery frosting. As you can see, we devoured it.

I promise it was pretty before we dug in.

THE CAKE

3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup sour cream
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the over to 350. Lightly coat two 9-inch round cake pans with butter and dust with flour. Set aside.

Sift the cocoa powder into a small bowl and stir in the boiling water to dissolve and make the cocoa "bloom." Whisk together until completely smooth. Let cool completely, and then whisk the sour cream into the cocoa mixture.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together with an electric hand mixer set on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the cooled cocoa mixture and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt over the batter and fold in gently, using a rubber spatula, until the flour is completely combined into the batter.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. 25-30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

THE FROSTING

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Large pinch of salt
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted

In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the semisweet and milk chocolate chips with the butter. Heat on high for 1 minute. Stir the mixture together. If the butter is not completely melted and the chocolate chips do not easily stir smooth, heat again at 15-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Using a hand mixer set at low speed, beat in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar until the frosting is smooth and spreadable. Oh my gosh, this frosting is good.

Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. Treats for Kids.

So, about that bacon

I shared the first step of the bacon curing process here. When seven days had passed, I pulled the bacon from the weck jar that it had been curing in, rinsed it off so that no rosemary or salt were left clinging to the fat, and placed it on a baking sheet in a preheated oven set to 200 degrees. 

I used a digital thermometer to keep track of the internal temperature and when it reached 150 I removed it from the oven.

It would have been easier to cut if I had followed the instructions to let it cool first, but I just couldn't wait.  I used my bread knife to cut thick, even slices.  They were a little too thick, actually, but I will remember that for next time.

Then I fried up my pretty bacon slices in a skillet, on a lower heat to account for the great thickness.

It took a while, but eventually they were done!

I put the leftovers in the fridge for storage.

And we ate our home-cured bacon!

The subtle garlic flavor was pleasant, although some slices were a little salty for our taste.  I wasn't very strict with measurement when I combined the salt for the rub, but I also used a higher proportion of rub to meat than was called for: the recipe made enough rub for a 5 lb slab and mine was only 1.7 lbs.  The recipe that I followed suggests blanching the bacon before cooking if the saltiness is too overwhelming, which I might try next time.

PS. I didn't use sodium nitrate in my recipe, and you don't have to either!

Berry CSA: weeks 5 and 6

We are already a third of the way through our 20 week berry CSA. In week five we received six pounds of strawberries, a half pound of snap peas, a pound of asparagus and a pound of rhubarb. In week six we received four pounds of strawberries, four pints of blueberries, and one pint of raspberries.  Members receive a 20% discount on any additional produce purchased, so it adds value to buy up a few extra units of strawberries, raspberries, and/or blueberries, which we always do.  If there is anything left at the end of the week it becomes jam for toast or yogurt.

We're loving all this fruit, but I'll admit to being a little a lot lazy with our veggies. The asparagus was made to wait too long, and even though I had big (beer battered) plans for them, by the time I got to the bunch it was too late. Both weeks, the snap peas didn't make it much further than to be washed and left at eye level in the fridge so the kids could reach in and munch them for snacks, which only happened a handful of times.  I ate a few with some cheddar cheese but, well, we really should have given them away before they went bad.

A few things from the kitchen:

Raspberry Jam

Strawberry Buttermilk Sherbet

An instant family favorite. Although my preference would have been to use full fat buttermilk I grabbed low-fat by mistake, but it still turned out great--tangy and refreshing, with true-to-life strawberry flavor.

Blueberry Muffins

Ina's uncomplicated recipe makes a classic blueberry muffin. The batter alone is worth the effort, if you like to eat it straight from the bowl like we do.

Strawberry Rhubarb Bars

I didn't love this recipe. Maybe I was just in the mood for something sweeter, but a shortbread cookie crust would have been a better pairing. 

Mini Berry Trifles

We had some heavy cream just hanging out, so I decided to whip it up and layer it with berries for a festive to-go dessert for Andy's lunch on Monday. I ate mine (the bigger of the two) for breakfast, with an egg.

Strawberry applesauce

Strawberries and apples were made for each other and applesauce is too easy to make. I peeled and roughly sliced into quarters about 20 apples and then dumped into the pot a pound and a half of hulled strawberries, brought it to a boil and let it simmer for 30 or 40 minutes. I sweetened it with a tablespoon or two of maple syrup. The kids loved it, I ate it for dessert.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I made this strawberry dressing too.

Do you have a strawberry recipe that you think I would like?