Cookie Swap for a Cause
I’ve always wanted to participate in a cookie swap, but my friends always seem a bit overwhelmed and busy during the holiday season, so I never make the move to organize one. This year, I learned about a different sort of cookie swap, so I signed up.
The Boston Food Swap organized a Cookie Swap for a Cause which was held yesterday. Each baker brought at least four dozen cookies. Glad (who also provided the containers) donated $1 per cookie swapped. Over $4000 was raised to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.
Five long tables were set up and filled with thousands of homemade cookies. I was amazed at the variety. There was little, if any, duplication. I swear you could see the sugar in the air! People hung around and mingled. There were some activities and vendors to check out. Mostly everyone was waiting for swap time.
When the swapping started, everyone got two Gladware containers to fill with one or two of each cookie that looked appealing, as long as they lasted. I brought home samples of a few dozen different cookies. Howard will probably end up bringing them to work as there are too many for just us to eat, but they all look delicious! It was fun!
Now I want to try out one of the Boston Food Swap’s monthly events.
I brought Cranberry Noëls, an icebox cookie with flecks of red and green. Red from dried cranberries and green from pistachios. I love making icebox cookies for so many reasons. The main ones: the dough is easy to make, and you can store extra logs in the freezer for homemade slice-and-bake cookies anytime.
Cranberry Noëls
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
¾ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped pistachios
¼ tsp finely grated orange zest
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add milk and vanilla, and mix until just combined. In another bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cranberries, pistachios, and orange zest until fruit and nuts are well-distributed. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture (I use a ½ cup measuing cup). Continue mixing until fully incorporated.
Turn dough onto a work surface and divide in half. Shape each half into a log about 2 inches in diameter and 8 inches long. Wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment. Use a sharp knife to cut logs into ¼-inch slices. Place on baking sheets, about 1½ inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, rearranging pans halfway through, about 15-18 minutes totoal.
Remove from oven. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Makes 4 dozen (you can make rolls skinnier and longer for more, smaller, cookies)
These are my cookies. Excuse the blurry photo my iPhone took.
P.S. If you are a local friend of mine and would be up for a traditional cookie swap in 2013, let me know. If there are enough of us, I’ll organize something for next year.
ffwd: chicken, apples, and cream à la Normande
I may have been cooking for a long time, but I always struggle with what to make for dinner. It’s partly because I’m not a big fan of what I call the “three-position dinner”: a meat with starch and a vegetable all coexisting separately on the plate. I prefer dishes where everything is all mixed together, but those dishes typically require more ingredients, hence, more planning and organization, which I’m not so good at.
This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie was a mélange sort of recipe: chicken, apples, and cream à la Normande. It also had lots of mushrooms, even though that wasn’t in the name.
You start with boneless chicken breasts, my least favorite protein because it so often turns out dry (also we’re a dark meat family), but I was being open-minded. I thought, Dorie seldom steers us wrong, after all, and she calls for dark meat in many other recipes, so breasts must be right for this one. I did cut the chicken breasts in half crosswise to make a more realistic serving size for our eating style. The chicken is lightly dredged in flour and browned on both sides.
Then you add chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, and apple chunks until they start to soften. I actually cooked the apple chunks separately. (I’m sure I’ve shared that the other eater at my house can’t abide fruit in savory dishes. I do my best to please. Or is it appease?) Some chicken broth is added, and when the chicken is nearly done, some Applejack and cream. Voilà!
The whole thing took less than half an hour from start to finish. Good weekday food! I served the chicken over Israeli couscous with roasted broccoli on the side – a two-position dinner, but definitely all mixed up.
The chicken breast was moist, and the sauce was rich, but not too. Howard enjoyed it without the apples, and I enjoyed it with. I don’t know whether the apple flavor would have permeated the sauce, but sprinkling the apple chunks over the couscous before dishing out the chicken and sauce worked in my compromise situation.
This dinner was a definite winner, and I would definitely make it again, with a few minor tweaks. First, I would leave out the apples to reduce the hassle of extra pans (see above). I might add more mushrooms to compensate. And, I would cut the chicken into bite-sized chunks or strips, making it even more mélange-y.
You can find the recipe here on the Monterey Herald site. This recipe and hundreds more can be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table (good holiday gift idea!).
To see what the other FFwD bloggers thought of Normandy chicken, check out their links here.
Happy French Friday to all!
A Plateful of Happiness 