Oatmeal CookieBlog

Poll Roundup XVII

According to my Erin Go Bragh(kovich) poll, readers' top three St. Patrick's Day cookie ingredients were Bailey's Irish Cream, McCann's Irish oatmeal, and Guinness, followed closely by green food coloring and Jameson whiskey. I guess the results aren't too surprising, but I don't know if I can do a cookie with three kinds of alcohol in it. Then again...maybe I can.

Poor little currants didn't get a single vote. Whenever I think of scones or Irish soda bread, currants are one of the default mix-ins. I'll bring them in somehow, even though they scored a big 0.0%. Maybe I'll enplumpen 'em with some booze.

I'm going to come up with St. Patrick's Day cookies for the drinkers and nondrinkers alike. Here's a hint: I'll be putting the tea back in teetotaler

Thanks to all who voted and commented. Voting still remains open, so feel free to weigh in.

The Perils of Pretzel-Making

I was in the mood to bake last night, but I wanted something savory, not sweet. After some surfing and searching, I decided to try these miniature soft pretzels. Mmmm, pretzels! That's what the doctor ordered. Just looking at the pics on the recipe page made my mouth water.

I started mixing the dough as soon as I got home. And then I waited about an hour for the dough to rise. And waited...and waited.

Apparently, yeast that's been hanging out in your cabinet for about a year doesn't have the mojo it once did. Go figure.

I thought I was lucky because I wouldn't have to run down to the grocery store to pick up anything, but the yeast I had on hand--from back when I used to make pizza dough from scratch last summer--rose about as rapidly as I do on Sunday mornings. Which is to say not very rapidly at all.

So instead of having hot, fresh-from-the-oven soft pretzels, I had a lump of cold, unrisen dough. Oops! Yet another blooper with bread.

Grub Club: Candlelight at Crispo

To celebrate In-Young's return to NYC and the finale of Top Chef (poor Carla!), the Grub Club convened at Crispo for some pre-Bravo TV vittles.

I think I like the little nibbles/tapas at Crispo even better than the main dishes. 1) Hot peppers stuffed with meat and cheese (my personal favorite). 2) Assorted olives. 3) Arancini, or fried risotto balls, and bruschetta with cheese and roasted peppers.

1) Jon's carbonara, with the soft-poached egg and everything. 2) My tortellini en brodo. Growing up, tortellini in chicken broth was one of my favorite foods. (My family and I call tortellini tootalings.) 3) In-Young's spaghetti and meatballs. 3) Pam's octopus salad.

You Went to California and All You Got Me Was...

delicious chocolates and wine? Well, gee, I can't complain about that!

Fellow Grub Clubber In-Young went home to California and brought back some See's chocolates and a bottle of wine from Napa. Thanks, In-Young!

I polished off the chocolates after we watched the finale of Top Chef last night. (Poor Carla!) And I'm sure Jon will have at the wine soon.

Better yet...we'll hold off on the wine and serve it with the eggplant parm dinner I promised.

"Outrageous, Ridiculously Delicious, Amazing"

Regular readers are probably familiar with the Oatmeal CookieBlog's cast of characters. I'm happy to say that Laura and Chris--real-life readers and cookie tasters--are among my favorites. Every Sunday night, Jon brings baggies full of cookies downstairs to our doorman, Jason. One baggie is for Jason, and the other one is for Laura and Chris. It's a very smooth hand-off procedure. This week, however, Jason buzzed us to say that the baggie of Apple Jack Cookies for Laura and Chris apparently "exploded" (i.e., he ate them before he could deliver them), and he wanted to know if we still had any left. With a recipe that yields like 5 dozen scrumptious cookies, we were well equipped to re-up. And, as always, Laura's email had me smiling and blushing:

“Jason just gave these to us. Greg, these are the most amazing cookies I have ever tasted. These are the words that Chris used when he just ate one. 'Outrageous, ridiculously delicious, amazing.' I honestly don't think those do these cookies justice. I don't think any words would do these justice. These are the best cookies in the whole world except for well a bunch of your other cookies, which shall remain nameless right now because I don't want to make some of your other cookies jealous. :~) Your cookies are better than any gourmet cookies I have ever tried and believe me I have tried a whole lot of them. Any new brands I stumble upon or any shops that I'm in that have good looking sweets, especially cookies I do not hesitate to buy them. I'm one of the people who answered the question with no amount is too much to spend for a delicious cookie. Well no amount of money can buy a generous and genius cookie man as a neighbor. That my friend is pure good luck.”

Thank you, Laura and Chris. You guys are the best neighbors EVA!

Grub Club: And the Oscar Goes to...Take Out!

For Sunday's installment of the Grub Club, Pam came over to watch the Oscars. Lucky for Jon and me, she brought some macarons (yes,that is spelled correctly) from Madeleine Patisserie. And lucky for Pam and me, Jon picked up dinner from Spain.

1) Chicken and rice (arroz con pollo), meatballs, and spicy potatoes. 2) A tasty--and tastefully arranged--selection of macarons.

I got my fill early of Hugh Jackman confusing the Oscars for the Tonys, but I'll never get my fill of tasty niblets from Spain. Or of those macarons...so good. My favorites were the strawberry and cinnamon and ginger. With such nifty flavors as lavender nougat, caramel and fleur de sel, strawberry-cranberry, and white Russian, we'll definitely be picking up some of these guys soon.(Hmmm...maybe Madeleine Patisserie could be our neighborhood's version of Doughnut Plant.)

Picturing Apple Jack Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Apple Jack Cookies in process.

Reduce the apple juice. Start with 1 cup and boil it down to 1/4 cup.

Peel and chop the apples. I use Fuji apples, and I chop them with an alligator-style chopper, which gives me a uniform 1/4" cut. You'll need 4 good-sized apples to yield 3 cups of chopped apples.

Cream the creamables. Butter, dark brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon.

Combine the wet ingredients. Eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, and the reduced apple juice.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix.

Combine the dry ingredients. Don't forget to grind the graham crackers before you measure. And don't forget to include the cinnamon chips.

Add the dry ingredients to the combined wet ingredients and creamables. Mix again.

Refrigerate, scoop, and sugar the dough. Turbinado sugar gives these cookies a great crunch.

Bake and enjoy: apples + cinnamon x oatmeal = delicious muffin top-like cookies.

The List...Updated

Here’s the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroons Dark Earl Grey Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate & Salted Caramel Shirley Temple Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter

XXX Cranberry Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides (Peppermint Bark) Eggnog Cookies Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girl Scouts Are...Jealous Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch Scarborough Fair Better...Oatmeal Raisin Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cups Apple Jack Cookies Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Raspberry in the Coconut Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies

Chocolate & Chipotle Cookies Orange in the Coconut Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies Redheads Chocolate Orange...Coconut Cranberry Crunch Cookies Cranberry in the Coconut Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies Boston Cream Pie Cookies Toffee Figgy Pudding Cookies Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies Flat, Crunchy Choc. Chip Orange & Mint Cookies Stuffed Date Nut Cookies Red Bean-Stuffed Green Tea Maraschino Cherry Cookies Wine & Chocolate Cookies Almond Butter & Raspberry Rum Raisinet Cookies Coconut Rum Raisinet Cookies Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies

U.S. Cookie = U.K. Biscuit XIX

A stop-motion animation ad for Fox's biscuits.

Erin Go Bragh(kovich)

I want to get an early start on a St. Patrick's Day-themed cookie, and how better to figure out the recipe than to have a poll? I'm thinking of something sconey...but better. Pick the ingredient you think would best capture the flavor and spirit of the holiday. And don't worry: I'll definitely do a kid-friendly, booze-free recipe too.

(See, Alicia, I included an "all of the above" option this time!)

Online Surveys & Market Research

Linkage!

Ha! The folks over at thisiswhyyourefat posted a pic I submitted of hot dogs topped with mac 'n cheese, otherwise known as "ditch dogs." Check out this Grub Club post for more details.

Grub Club: Salty Snacks at Saint's Alp

For this week's edition of Grub Club, Pam, Jon, and I headed over to Saint's Alp Teahouse. We've been here quite a few times for bubble tea and post-Yokoch snacks, but this is the first time we've had a full dinner. The food was on the salty side, but it was a nice change of pace and venue. My favorites were the toast with condensed milk and my grapefruit/green tea drink with tapioca balls. The beef soup with rice noodles was pretty good too.

1) Dumplings, chicken wings, and tea eggs. 2) Fried Cuttlefish balls (with salt on the side!?). 3) Fried chicken chunks. 4) Toast with condensed milk.

"You Are a Genius"

No, I'm not quoting myself. Those are Olga's words. She's a new reader and real-life cookie taster. And I couldn't agree with her more. Here's what she had to say about my Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies:

“For as long as you’ve been bringing in your brilliant and delicious cookie creations, I’ve only been able to imagine what they must have tasted like based on the crumbs left behind and the description on the post-it by the empty plate where the cookies used to be. But today, I actually made it to the kitchen on time!! And I’m very glad I did. The chocolate red-hot heart cookies are fantastic. Which leads me to conclude, as stated above, that you are a genius. Thank you for brightening my Monday.”

Thanks, Olga! So glad you liked them. :-) I've brought cookies in to my new office only a handful of times so far, but I think I'll have to start splitting batches with Jon and his coworkers again. It's the return of Cookie Mondays and bring-in-ables!

Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies

I know. I'm a few days late with this recipe, but I have a good reason. I was trying to develop a cookie recipe that incorporated popular Valentine's flavors and hit a brick wall. There was nary a cinnamon heart candy to find in Manhattan! Just when I was about to give up, Jon suggested that we try a few more places. And guess what...it was Walgreens to the rescue, ah-ooh!

I didn't find cinnamon hearts, but I did find Red Hots candies. They're the same thing but round. Considering I had been planning on chopping up these little guys all long, what difference would the shape really make? Not much.

I'm really not a sugar cookie fan, but I have to admit that my oatmeal version is pretty darn good. I cut my cookies in the shape of hearts, thanks to a cookie cutter that my blog buddy Alicia sent me. For the full Valentine's effect, I dipped these cookie hearts in chocolate and then topped them with the chopped Red Hots candies.

Yum: heart shapes, chocolate, and spicy cinnamon. I think I nailed it, but I'm already planning some tasty variations for next Valentine's Day. (NB: No jewelry will be involved.)

Makes 2 dozen cookies. (To see this recipe in process, check out Picturing Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies.)

Creamables	1 stick butter 1 cup white sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 2 teaspoons vanilla
Dry Ingredients	1 1/4 cups finely ground oatmeal 1 1/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping	6 ounces milk chocolate, melted 1 1/2 cups Red Hots candies, roughly chopped

1. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
2. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk together until smooth.
3. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
4. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
6. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 20-30 mintutes.
7. Preheat oven to 350º.
8. Roll the cookie dough into a sheet about 1/8" thick. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the individual cookies.
   
9. Place the cookie cutouts about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
10. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.
11. While the cookies are baking, roughly chop the Red Hots candies in a food processor and place the pieces in a shallow bowl or on a plate.
    
12. Melt 6 ounces of milk chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler. Dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the chocolate and then into the roughly chopped Red Hots.
    
13. Return the cookies to the baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes so that the chocolate cools and solidifies.
    

Picturing Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies

Here's the recipe for my Spicy Valentine's Heart Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables. Butter and white sugar. Essentially, this is an oatmeal sugar cookie dough.

Combine the wet ingredients. Vanilla and egg. Simple, simple, simple.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix.

Combine the dry ingredients. Don't forget to grind the oatmeal before you measure it.

Add the dry ingredients to the combined wet ingredients and creamables. Mix again.

Roll out the dough, cut out the cookies, and bake. I used two chopsticks as thickness guides. Aim for about 1/8" thick. I used a small heart cookie cutter. My blog buddy Alicia sent me this a while back. (Thanks, Alicia!)

Grind the cinnamon candy. While the cookies are baking, roughly chop/grind your cinnamon hearts or Red Hots. 

Melt the chocolate and coat the cookies. Once the cookies have cooled, melt milk chocolate (or whatever chocolate you like) over a double boiler. Dip the cookies, facedown, into the chocolate.

Dip the chocolate-coated cookies into the candy topping. While the chocolate is still wet, press the cookies, facedown, into the chopped-up candy pieces. To get the chocolate to set up, place the cookies in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes. Happy Valentine's Day!

The Great Cinnamon Hearts Hunt of 2009 II

Despite my best efforts to find cinnamon hearts candies in Manhattan, I struck out.

But I found a suitable replacement: Red Hots. They're the same thing but without the heart shape. That works for me!

Grub Club: Dinner and a Couple Movies

For this weekend's edition of Grub Club, Pam, Jon, and I took in a double feature of My Man Godfrey and Easy Living as part of the Breadlines & Champagne series of Depression-era movies at the Film Forum. There's nothing like a few screwball comedies about a bad economy to keep you smiling.

Then we headed around the corner for a late lunch/early dinner at Mr. Dennehy's.

1) Sliders. 2) Buffalo chicken wrap. 3) French onion soup. 4) Shepherd's pie. The food was good, but--as always--the company was even better.

The Great Cinnamon Hearts Hunt of 2009

It seems that every year there's something I need--something I desperately want--that I search high and low for and can never find. How frustrating!

In 1999 it was long underwear so that Jon and I could sit outside and eat our PB & J sandwiches on homemade bread in Madison Square Park for lunch in December without freezing to death. We were cheap frugal recent college grads and were pinching every penny until Lincoln screamed, which meant we brown-bagged it every day and did all we could to avoid eating in restaurants. The long underwear was supposed to be an investment, a way to stretch out how long we could go without having to pay for lunch in order to stay out of the cold. Of course, there was no long underwear to be found. That was The Great Long Underwear Hunt of 1999. But the following year was a bumper crop for waffle-knit long johns and long-sleeved thermal shirts. The stuff was everywhere, and by then we had gotten so used to eating outside in the dead of winter that it didn't matter anymore.

And so history repeats itself. This year I've been ducking into every Duane Reade, Rite Aid, and corner deli I pass trying to find cinnamon hearts for my Valentine's Day cookie recipe. And guess what: Rats...foiled again! I'm sure that next year--no, next month!--tiny red cinnamon hearts will fall from the sky instead of rain.

My plan for a Valentine's Day cookie has been put on hold, but I'll come up with something that I hope you'll love just as much as my unrealized original.

Poll Roundup XVI

According to my What's Your Favorite Valentine's Day Candy? poll, chocolate--in the aggregate--rated highest. Of course, there's no surprise there. The seasonal shapes, colors, and candies rated highly as well. (Full disclosure time: I heart cinnamon hearts.)

I'm going to come up with a Valentine's Day cookie that incorporates all the best-loved flavors, shapes, and colors of the season. So stay tuned!

Thanks to all who voted and commented. (Alicia: Next time I'll include a button for "all of the above." I promise!) Voting still remains open, so feel free to weigh in.

"If You Like Cookies, You'll Love Cookie-Crisp"

This takes me back to watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid, with all those commercials for junky, sugar-laden cereals and and snacks. Mmmm...Cookie-Crisp cereal. "It's part of a complete breakfast," you know.

I've already got one breakfast-themed cookie, Heeeere's Johnnycake!, on The List, but maybe I should do a grab 'n go type of breakfast replacement cookie.

You Can Do It Too

Carol, a reader, blogger, and real-life recipe user, wrote in to say that she adapted a couple of my recipes into one of her very own: a chai-spiced chocolate chip cookies. How cool is that?

“Thanks for all your great recipes and hints. The recipe I posted is the most 'my own invention' I think I have ever done, so that is exciting for me! And people liked them, yea! I definitely owe you for the basis of the batter I created, and helping me say 'sure, I can make up my own cookie!'”

Thanks so much, Carol! You're recipe looks great. You've inspired me to keep coming up with new recipes.

Thanks, Everybody!

I wanted to say thanks to you all for the warm blog-iversary wishes. :-)

What's Your Favorite Valentine's Day Candy?

In preparation for Valentine's Day--and a possible Valentine's-themed cookie, I decided to do a little market research. What kind of candy makes your heart sing?

Online Surveys & Market Research

Grub Club: Kiss My Grits!

Pam, my fellow Grub Clubber, and I met up at The Pink Tea Cup in the West Village for a Southern-inspired brunch. It's a good thing it was close to 60° today. We really needed a walk after polishing off our platters loaded with bacon, home fries, and grits. Yes...grits. In New York City! Mmm...I like grits.

Oatmeal Cookie Guy Joins Operation Baking GALS VII

Operation Baking GALS organizes bakers and food bloggers into groups of volunteers who send soldiers in Iraq cookie-stuffed care packages every month.

For round #6, I made my Coconut Rum Raisinet Cookies. Four dozen of them! I thought about sending Valentine's Day cookies but decided on these guys because they were so popular with my real-life cookie tasters.

If you've got the time, think about sending some love to someone you don't know. All you need is some cookie fixins, a sealable plastic container, and a box.

Grub Club: East Meets West Meets East Village

For this week's Grub Club outing, Pam, In-Young, Jon, and I met up at Kenka, a Japanese tapas bar, or izakaya, in the East Village. Great food and prices, crazy art and menu items, and cotton candy. Could it get any better?

1) Tako wasabi: raw, salted octopus with wasabi. 2) Yakatori: grilled chicken and scallion skewers. The octopus was salty, spicy, and chewy--a really good bar snack.

3) Niku udon: beef soup with udon noodles. 4) Taiwan ramen: spicy pork soup with ramen noodles and Chinese chives. 5) Buta no kakuni: stewed pork in broth. The soup and stewed pork were the answer for a freezing NYC night. (I guess the big bottle of sake didn't hurt.)

6) Miso yakionigiri: grilled rice balls with miso paste. 7) Dessert: do-it-yourself cotton candy. I think I got as many candy threads on my face, beard, and hat as I did on the chopstick. (I had to crop and smoosh the pic on the right to fit the grid. I'm not that wide...really, I'm not!)

After Kenka, we went around the corner to Cha-An for some post-dinner tea and nibbles. This place is so cozy and relaxing--the perfect way to end the night. 8) Tea (duh!). 9) Black sesame brulee. I love this stuff. (Black sesame has a peanut buttery flavor. Hmm...maybe I should do a black sesame cookie.)

Good Stuff(ed) IV

Take a look at this old skool commercial for Keebler Mini (Magic) Middles cookies. Hmm...maybe I should do mini versions of my stuffed cookies. Now that's something to try!

Oatmeal Cookie Recipes for Food Allergies and Special Diets

Quite a few of you, dear readers, have written in to ask about egg-free, (pea)nut-free, and gluten-free recipes as well as about vegan and kosher recipes.

I've got some research and testing to do, but and I'll have some recipes for you soon.

In the meantime, though, I do have a few egg-free recipes posted right now: Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies and XXX Cranberry Cookies. (I use simmered fruit in place of the eggs in these recipes' wet ingredients.)

Picturing Avocado, Swiss, and Chicken Panini

The other day I bought an avocado, not really knowing what I was going to do with it. Sure. I could have made guac, but I wasn't in a guac kind of mood. And then it hit me: an at-home version of the Empire Diner's ABS (avocado, bacon, and Swiss) sandwich. I decided to swap out the bacon with some leftover chicken and to use that countertop grill I got for Christmas a couple years ago. Tadah...ACS (avocado, chicken, and Swiss) panini!

1) Spread mustard on the bread. I really, really love Honeycup's "uniquely sharp" mustard--you can eat the stuff straight from the jar with a spoon it's so good. 2) Layer Swiss cheese on one of the pieces of bread. 3) Top the Swiss cheese with some avocado slices and top them with a few grinds of black pepper.

4) Add a layer of meat on top of the avocado. I used leftover rotisserie chicken, but bacon would be amazing on this. If you're going veggie, replace the meat with some tomato slices. 5) Add the top piece of bread to the sandwich and grill until the cheese melts and the bread is nicely browned and crispy. 6) Let the grilled sandwich cool slightly, slice it, and eat. Mmmm. Light and tasty but substantial enough not to be hungry in an hour.

The List...Updated

Here’s the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroons Dark Earl Grey Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate & Salted Caramel Shirley Temple Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate

Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides (Peppermint Bark) Eggnog Cookies Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girl Scouts Are...Jealous Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch Scarborough Fair Better...Oatmeal Raisin Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cups Apple Jack Cookies

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies Raspberry in the Coconut Blueberry Muffin Top Cookies Chocolate & Chipotle Cookies Orange in the Coconut Chocolate & Sea Salt Cookies Lavender & Lemon Lovelies Redheads Chocolate Orange...Coconut Cranberry Crunch Cookies Cranberry in the Coconut Pumpkin & Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies Boston Cream Pie Cookies Toffee Figgy Pudding Cookies Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies Flat, Crunchy Choc. Chip Orange & Mint Cookies Stuffed Date Nut Cookies Red Bean-Stuffed Green Tea Maraschino Cherry Cookies Wine & Chocolate Cookies Almond Butter & Raspberry Rum Raisinet Cookies Coconut Rum Raisinet Cookies

Flippin' for Florida Cookies

I made a batch of my tried-and-true, oldie-but-goodie Florida Cookies on Sunday. I know, I know. I've got quite a few recipes on The List to get to. But Pam and In-Young were visiting on Sunday, and this is one of In-Young's favorite cookies.

Turns out this is also a favorite of Laura and Chris, who--if you don't know by now--are neighbors, readers, and real-life cookie tasters:

“Okay, so if I ever retire and move to Florida will you come with me and make me Florida Cookies? How about if I beg and plead? Hmmmm? PLEEEEEEEEEEASE?????????? I have a lot of pride but am completely shameless when it comes to these cookies. Was not home last night, and then came home at the exact moment when Chris was crossing from the living room into the kitchen with that familiar baggie in his hand with what appeared to be a cookie with some type of icing. 'Oooooh, wow, that looks good. Good?' He smiles, 'very good.' Greg, I love these! They are so orangey, delicious, amazing. So as always, thank you so much. Are you sick of all these gushy compliments?”

Thanks, Laura and Chris! And no, I will never get sick of all your gushy comments.  :-)

I See's Chocolate!

The friendly folks at See's Candies sent me free chocolate...all the way from California! Ahhh, the perks of being a food blogger.

Truth be told, I'm not one of those people who's constantly jonesing for chocolate. But when this assortment arrived, I tore into it and ate half the box. And then I debated whether to hide the remaining half from Jon. (Don't worry...I shared some with him.)

My favorites were the caramel-filled chocolates, chocolate-covered toffees, and almond clusters. So good...and so much better than the other kinds of assorted chocolates you can get at the drugstore.

If you're thinking of getting chocolates for your sweetie this Valentine's Day, think about sending some See's. Or if you've got a favorite cause to support, See's even does chocolate fundraisers. (Who can say no to chocolate?)

U.S. Cookie = U.K. Biscuit XVIII

Here we have a low-budg (seemingly fan-generated) commercial for Hobnobs. Tea and biscuits indeed!

Picturing Florida Cookies

Here's the recipe (1/2) for my Florida Cookies in process.

Cream the creamables. Butter and dark brown sugar. (Like you couldn't see that one coming.)

Combine the wet ingredients. Orange juice, zest, and extract; vanilla; and egg yolk.

Add the wet ingredients to the creamables.

Combine the dry ingredients. (Don't forget to toast the pecans.)

Add the dry ingredients to the combined wet ingredients and creamables.

Scoop and bake.

Melt some white chocolate chips with some orange extract and dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the mixture. (If you don't have or can't find orange extract, use orange juice.)

Sprinkle some orange dusting sugar on top of the still-wet white chocolate-covered cookies. Set aside to cool and solidify. Eating one of these cookies is like biting into a little piece of sunshine!

Grub Club: Hitting the Mark on St. Marks

The Grub Club became the Brunch Bunch! On Sunday, we headed over to Café Orlin on St. Marks Place for some tasty East Village vittles.

1) Pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon yogurt. 2) Millet pancakes with a beet salad and chicken sausages. 3) Tomato and goat cheese omelet and potato salad.

The pumpkin pancakes were tasty and substantial. But the star of the meal was the millet pancakes...so light, buttery, and tasty! Whodathunk millet could taste so good?