And the winner is (I hope) Designer Kookies from a Designing Woman

As a lark, I entered my famous - at least at Virginia Wayside - Kookies in the RTD Holiday Cookie Contest and guess what?  It's a finalist.  So, go on-line to register your vote at: http://richmond.upickem.net/engine/YourSubmission.aspx?contestid=112968

Okay, it's a bear submitting the form, but hang in there and help me win!

Here's a repeat of my original blog (November 19, 2012)

The principles of good design can be applied to any aspect of life - even cooking.  The perfect combination of ingredients - whether furniture & fabrics or flour & flavorings - can create a little magic in your life.

Last December, I discovered the Barefoot Contessa's Blue Cheese and Walnut Crackers and filled my kitchen & goody boxes with wondrous smells & flavors.  I also discovered a recipe for Lavender Cookies which was a disaster until I tweeked it.

Just as I like to mix styles of furniture, I found that by mixing these two recipes, I could create an "eclectic" Kookie recipe that even the Contessa would like.

The basic recipe is very simple:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1 cup Unsalted Butter (I prefer Land of Lakes.) melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 egg

Now, here's where you can creative!  For my Bleu Cheese & Walnut Kookies:

add 4 tablespoons  Bleu Cheese to the batter (more or less - to taste - I use less)

Spoon 1 soup spoon full of batter into a buttered muffin tin (I discovered that a piece of parchment in the bottom of the tin makes it easier to remove the Kookies.  Thanks Jacque and Julie for that tip.) Smooth the batter out in the muffin tin.

Chop walnuts (I prefer a rough cut) & top the batter with the walnuts

Cook for 15-18 minutes until the edges of the Kookies are golden brown.
Let the Kookies cool for about 10 minutes and then take them out of the muffin tin and place them on a cooling rack or, better yet, right into your mouth - don't forget to remove the parchment or you will have a little extra 'fiber' in your diet.  The Kookies will have a crunchy outer edge and a chewy inside and the buttery taste will melt in your mouth.  Enjoy!

The same basic recipe works well with other flavors.  I made Lavender Kookies, Lemon Kookies, Sesame Kookies and can hardly wait to design a new flavor.  And just like designing a home, you can also create the Kookie that's perfect for you!

In the mood . .

This year I am in the "holiday" mood early.  Although I will not decorate until after Thanksgiving, I pulled out my Christmas decorations and sorted through them.  I weeded out the ones that mean a lot to me - my pig ornaments (I was born in the year of the pig by the Chinese calendar), my Chinese ornaments, the ones collected through the years, the ones I will pass on to my daughter and the ones to give away to someone else.

What a change from my mood last year.  The good news is that I found my Christmas spirit last year after all.  It happened when I walked into a store and the music spoke to me in a magical way.  I stopped, I listened and, suddenly, something happened.  Then, the magic began.  I stepped out of the store and the twenty-five foot Christmas tree put on a performance that again stopped me in my tracks.  I found a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  My six-year old grandson and I recorded the Charlie Brown Christmas Story and the holidays ended better than they started.

I am looking forward to what this holiday brings and I wish the best to all.  Here's my gift to you:

Bleu Cheese & Walnut Kookie recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare muffin tins.  I use a circle of parchment paper cut to the diameter of the bottom to make it easier to remove the Kookies.

1 cup unsalted butter, melted (coat the muffin tins before you add the next ingredients)

1 cup sugar

1 cup self-rising flour

1 large egg

4 tablespoons Bleu Cheese  (more or less - to taste)

Spoon 1 teaspoon full of batter into the muffin tin.

Chop walnuts and top the batter with the walnuts.

Cook for 15-18 minutes until the edges of the Kookies are golden brown. 

Let the Kookies cool and, then, take them out of the muffin tin and place them on a cooling rack.

The process of cooking in the muffin tin gives the Kookie a crunchy outer edge and a chewy inside.

Enjoy!

Move over Barefoot Contessa!

The principles of good design can be applied to any aspect of life - even cooking.  The perfect combination of ingredients - whether furniture & fabrics or flour & flavorings - can create a little magic in your life.

Last December, I discovered the Barefoot Contessa's Blue Cheese and Walnut Crackers and filled my kitchen & goody boxes with wondrous smells & flavors.  I also discovered a recipe for Lavender Cookies which was a disaster until I tweeked it.  Just as I like to mix styles of furniture, I found that by mixing these two recipes, I could create a Kookie recipe that even the Contessa would like.

The basic recipe is very simple:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
 
1 cup Unsalted Butter (I prefer Land of Lakes.) melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 egg

Now, here's where you can creative!  For my Bleu Cheese & Walnut Kookies:

add 4 tablespoons  Bleu Cheese to the batter (more or less - to taste)

Spoon 1 soup spoon full of batter into a buttered muffin tin (I prefer my medium grey muffin tin rather than the dark one.) Smooth the batter out in the muffin tin.

Chop walnuts (I prefer a rough cut) & top the batter with the walnuts

Cook for 15-18 minutes until the edges of the Kookies are golden brown.
Let the Kookies cool for about 10 minutes and then take them out of the muffin tin and place them on a cooling rack or, better yet, right into your mouth.  The Kookies will have a crunchy outer edge and a chewy inside and the buttery taste will melt in your mouth.  Enjoy!

The same basic recipe works well with other flavors.  I made Lavender Kookies, Lemon Kookies, Sesame Kookies and can hardly wait to design a new flavor.  And just like designing a home, you can also create the Kookie that's perfect for you!

Peace & Cookies

"Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence."*  

             The louder, the busier and the more frenetic life is, the more I long for silence, or at least stillness.  Moments of stillness - like sleep - rejuvenate me.  Clears the cobwebs in my mind.  For some reason, December started out with lots of cobwebs.  It started with Christmas music and commercials everywhere - sucking the joy out of the season, that is, until I walked into The Alchemist at Stoney Point.  Actually, it was meant to be a short cut on my way to find the See's Candy Store but I lingered and listened to the music.  It was Cadence Spalding - an angelic voice if there ever was one.  She turned Christmas Carols into an etheric experience.   I stopped.  I listened and, suddenly, I was at peace.  I reveled in the moment and, then, I continued on my quest. 

                To my disappointment, the candy shop was not at its usual location.  I turned and began to retrace my steps when a symphony of music and lights burst forth from the Christmas tree in the center of the plaza.  I stood in awe like a child awash in pure joy.  Afterward, I returned to The Alchemist, where I bought Spalding's "Holiday High" CD.  I knew it was time to do a meditation with music. 

                From that night on, the season was magical.  At Bizarre Bazaar, I discovered Lavender Fields, a local farm that produces local raw honey and lavender - two of my favorite things - and their recipe for lavender cookies.  I made batch after batch.  I also discovered a recipe for Blue Cheese & Walnut cookies that intrigued me so much I had to try it even though I do not care for Blue Cheese.  Here are both of these recipes as a belated Christmas gift from me to you with this thought:

                "You are a child of the Universe, no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here and whether of no it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding exactly as it should."*

Lavender Cookies

Blend the following together:  1 cup unsalted butter, softened + 1 cup sugar + 1 egg

Add in:  1 cup self-rising flour + 1 tablespoon culinary lavender buds

Drop dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Cool cookies on a wire rack.  Makes 48 cookies.

Bleu Cheese and Walnut Cookies

Blend the following together:  1/4 pound unsalted butter + 5 oz. Bleu Cheese, crumbed

Add in:  1 1/2 cups all purpose flour + 2 teaspoons kosher salt + 1 teaspoon black pepper

Also, add:  1 tablespoon of water and combine all ingredients

Drop the dough onto a floured board; press it into a ball and roll into a 12" log

Brush the log with egg wash (1 egg with 1 tablespoon water)

Spread 1/2 cup chopped walnuts in a rectangle on the cutting board

Roll the log in the walnuts, pressing gently, until the log in evenly covered with nuts.

Cut the long in 3/8ths inch pieces and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 22 minutes - rotate the pan once during baking.

Cook and serve at room temperature.  Makes 36 cookies.

*Excerpts from Desiderata