Isn’t this sunrise gorgeous? I took it at the SF Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. *sniff* The last time I’ll be there for a while, I imagine as I am moving to Los Angeles this week!
Negatives: No more bay area foodie eats.
Positives: Discovery of LA foodie eats.
Ultra Positive? Goodbye dinner at The French Laundry tomorrow night!
I cannot wait.
But I will because it’s inappropriate to stake out a restaurant the night before your reservation.
Update: Read about my dinner at the French Laundry!
The holidays seem to give license to candy just about anything you may have around: fruit, nuts, chocolate… not that I’m complaining, mind you.
Now I didn’t make these – one of my roommates did. But I was there for the whole process which gives me enough authority to report on it here. Yummy and stunning. You have to start the night before, but they’re not exactly difficult to make. They’re a great holiday party snack.
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I’ve had all kinds of cookies that masquerade as gingersnaps, but few that actually make my cut to qualify as a real gingersnap – let alone a really good one. So I have officially joined the ranks of the food bloggers who have made the Chez Panisse Gingersnaps from IMBB #10: Cookie Swap, submitted by Renee from feeding dexygus seconds. They are exactly what I think of when I think of gingersnaps and they are just delicious.
These cookies are spicy and very crispy. The method for making them is a little unusual. Once the dough is mixed up, you press it into a loaf pan and stick it into the freezer. Once the dough is firm, you use a sharp knife to slice off thin pieces of the dough, then pop them into the oven and bake until crispy. The trick is to get the cookies as thin as you reasonably can – no more than 1/8th inch. This way, you get the full effect of the buttery, spicy cookies.
The best thing – second best, after the flavor – about this recipe is that you can easily bake them on demand and slice off a cookie or two whenever you get a craving. The dough will keep for at least a couple of weeks in the freezer, so you can pull it out and bake some fresh any time you want to impress some visiting friends and family, too.
If you’re looking for another way to enjoy gingersnaps, try making some seasonal gingersnap s’mores! They’re best if made in the oven or under the broiler so the gingersnaps stay snappy.
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Holiday baking madness continues!
Actually, this hardly constitutes holiday baking as I made it for myself, as a reward for the rest of the baking I’ve been doing.
The holiday season has put me in a mood for spicy food – not chili pepper spicy, but ginger/cloves spicy. Hence, gingerbread.
I have never made gingerbread before as I am a little intimidated by molasses. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the flavour that it lends to baked goods, but its bitter-sweet smell and tar like appearance always make me a little nervous. I worry that my breads will be overly spiced (if that is even possible). I learned my lesson here, though, and would put in maybe a touch more spice next time. And yes, there will be a next time.
I was hoping to make this in a nice 8×8 cake pan, but mine was MIA so I had to use a loaf pan. I know the picture isn’t that great, but you can still see some of the lovely caramely swirls of molasses that formed while the bread was baking. Because I had some buttermilk left over from my chocolate cake, I substituted the water called for in the original gingerbread recipe with buttermilk. It was super light and just right in terms of moisture, with a fine crumb that wasn’t cakey at all.
I also was extremely lazy and mixed everything by hand in one bowl. I know you’re thinking “By hand? How is that lazy?” but think of all the cleanup that eliminates. I didn’t sift anything, just dumped the dry ingredients into the wet and stirred.
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I was given a lovely gift box of these Kras Bajadera chocolates from Croatia. You can clearly see the almond and hazelnut on the package, but I had no idea what might be in these at first. On the back of the box they are described (in 11 languages, no less) as a “Hazelnut Almond Nougat product”. How insightful, I thought to myself before popping one into my mouth.
I have never tasted a chocolate like this one before and I don’t think that the word “nougat” would even have crossed my mind. It is a very firm candy, with top and bottom layers of very creamy milk chocolate. The interior portion is smooth but not soft and lightly flavored of almond and hazelnut.
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