His + Hers Cocktails

Mr. E is not a fan of the cocktail.  Unless the cocktail looks like this:

Maker's Mark, ice and a glass.

Maker's Mark is his favorite, so we always have it in the house.  Untouched by me.  If I were to drink whisky on the rocks, I believe you'd find me hours later, lying on the bathroom floor to feel the cool, cool tiles on my face. <*insert college flashback here*>

So, when we were at PF Chang's recently inhaling massive amounts of potstickers nibbling upon appetizers, I was happy to see a cocktail on their menu that maybe I could recreate at home...and share in a little of Mr. E's Maker's Mark.  It's romantic to share. ♥

I call it....a Honey of a Whisky Sour.

It's made with honey simple syrup, which sounds really fancy, but it just honey heated up with water.

You'll also need this stuff:

Maraschino cherries are a MUST in my cocktail book.  And, you'll want need some OJ and a lemon.

Honey of a Whisky Sour
{inspired by PF Chang's Twisted Whisky Sour, makes 1}

for the honey simple syrup:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup water

for the cocktail:
1/8 cup Maker's Mark Whisky
1 TBSP Cointreau
3 TBSP honey simple syrup
3 TBSP orange juice
1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 dashes bitters
maraschino cherries

For the simple syrup, combine the honey and water in a small saucepan.  Bring to just a simmer, then remove from heat and let cool.  Store in the fridge.

For the cocktail, whisk all of the ingredients, except the cherries, in a bowl (or use a cocktail shaker filled with ice).  Pour over ice.  Add cherries, they're mandatory.

Perfect for New Year's Eve, Birthday Eve, or Saturday Eve! 

From Mr. E & me to you....CHEERS!  May 2013 be your best year yet.

Salame al Cioccolato (that's chocolate salami to you & me)

DO NOT PANIC.  THERE IS NO MEAT IN THIS SALAMI. 

{Whew.  OK...I didn't want you to freak out there.}

Do you ever buy a cookbook and it's so beautiful and so full of gorgeous sounding recipes that you read it again and again, but wait a year before you make anything from it?  Just me?  Well, that's what happened when I received Dolci: Italy's Sweets by Francine Segan last year.  I fell in love with it, but never actually tried a recipe.  Until yesterday.

Chocolate Salami...seriously, how cute is that?!?  How fun would this be at a party?

Let me tell you what's in chocolate salami: cookies, chocolate, butter, nuts, espresso.  Done.

I mean, chopped up cookies mixed with chocolate and butter?!?!?!?  
We've been waiting for this recipe our entire lives, right?

Oh!  Big disclaimer here: please disregard the crunchy crostini in my picture.  I thought I would be all fancy and toast up a baguette.  Wrong.  You want to spread this on soft bread.  It can be a baguette....just don't toast it.

I used these Scottie shortbread cookies.  Yes, I felt terrible chopping them up.

Chocolate Salami
{adapted from Dolci}

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces butter cookies, chopped (I used Walker's Butter Shortbread)
4 heaping TBSP coarsely chopped pistachios (I used roasted & salted)
1 TBSP brewed espresso
Powdered sugar

In a microwave, melt the chocolate at 50% power in 30-second intervals (or in a bowl over simmering water), stirring after each, until melted.  Set aside to cool.

Beat the butter until smooth and creamy.

Stir in the chocolate, cookies, nuts and espresso until well combined.  Spoon the mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a salami shape...about 6 inches long and 2 inches wide.  Refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.

Remove from the plastic wrap and roll in powdered sugar.  Re-wrap in parchment and tie with twine for presentation.  Cut into thin slices with a serrated knife and use a butter knife or spreader to smoosh into untoasted baguette slices, or other soft bread.

Chocolate Salami...it's a thing, y'all.

A little dusting of magic...

Maybe it leaves a tell-tale sign on your favorite black pants, or leaves your fingers sticky and in need of licking, or falls all over your freshly-mopped floor, but there IS something magical about a dusting of powdered sugar.

Or, could be I think it's magical because it's the closest I'll get to actual snow this winter.

You might think you're cookie'd out from Christmas.  Trust me, you're not.  You'll need these New Year's Eve...or New Year's Day...or well, any old day.

Toasted pecans, cardamom, cinnamon, and yes, that dusting of powdered sugar makes these babies irresistible. 

Pecan Cardamom Crescents
{adapted from Bon Appetit, makes about 30-36}

for the cookies:
1 cup chopped pecans
2 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 TBSP vanilla

for the coating:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Pour the pecans onto one cookie sheet and bake for about 4-5 minutes until fragrant.  Remove from the sheet and let cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, spices, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar and the toasted pecans in a food processor until a coarse meal forms.

Beat the butter and vanilla until creamy.  Beat in the pecan mixture.  Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until it becomes cohesive.

Measure a heaping tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball with your hands, then roll into a log shape, about 2 inches long.  Bend in the ends, pinching gently.  Place on the prepared sheets.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the bottoms turn golden.

Meanwhile, sift together the coating ingredients into a pie plate or shallow bowl.

Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven, roll in the sifted coating.

Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

 {Some of the sugar will soak into the warm cookies.  Don't worry; they're going for another roll.}

Once the cookies are completely cooled, re-roll in the coating sugar.

Powdered sugar dusted cookies?  Magical.

Simple Decorated Gingerbread Cookies

I love simple, don't you?  I'll be honest here.  Sometimes outlining and flooding and bagging and be-ribboning and boxing and delivering takes more hours than I have time.

Sometimes, simple wins.  Whether you have a schedule of Christmas plays and parties, all of your Christmas shopping still to do, or given recent events, you'd just rather spend that time loving on your family...cute Christmas cut-outs are still attainable, and easy.

First, you'll need gingerbread cookies.  A thick, spicy, chewy gingerbread cookie is just perfect for a simple outline design.

This is the recipe I created for the book.  I love it.  I think you will, too.  I've copied the page right from the book for you here:

Now for the easy decorating...whip up a batch of royal icing and you're ready to go.  I tinted just a bit of it with AmeriColor gold for the star on the tree, but you could certainly do all-white here.  Or use a star sprinkle, or a tree cutter without a star on top...even easier.

Use a #2 tip to outline and fill in a star on the top.

Use a #2 tip to outline the tree.

For the holly, I used a #2 tip for the leaf and a #5 tip for the berries.

Easy peasy.

The next day, or after they have dried completely, feel free to add a little sparkle and shine.

On the trees, I added a little gold luster dust to the stars.  Just mix the luster with a bit of vodka and brush it on.  Don't worry, the vodka evaporates.

For the holly, mix a 1/4 teaspoon meringue powder with 1/4 teaspoon water and brush the mixture wherever you'd like sparkling sugar to stick.  Sprinkle on the sanding sugar and brush off the excess. Or, leave them plain.

This pretty sparkling sugar is from King Arthur Flour. 

If you haven't made gingerbread cookies yet this season, it's time.  

Seriously.  Go do it.  Simple or fancy...you won't be sorry.

Hipsters...

Merriam-Webster defines the word "hipster" as : a person who is unusually aware of and interested in new and unconventional patterns (as in jazz or fashion).  

These cookies are called Hipsters, not because they are cool or hip or unconventional.  They're called Hipsters because as I ate them, I could feel my hips expanding.  

Inspired by a make-your-own candy bar I had the most fun creating at Hershey's Chocolate World last month, these cookies are filled with just about everything imaginable.  Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, butterscotch, toffee bits...topped off with a Butter Snap Pretzel, it's all in there.

You *have* had one of these Butter Pretzels before, right?  If you can't find them, feel free to use regular salted pretzels.  

Hipsters

2 & 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 TBSP light corn syrup
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips
1 cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
3/4 cup Heath toffee bits
Butter Snap (or any salted) pretzels

Preheat oven to 375.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugars, and corn syrup together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

In 3 additions, add the flour, beating on low until combined.

Stir in the chips and toffee bits.

{You know you want a spoonful, or seven, of that dough. Go ahead.}

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, dollop the dough onto the sheets.  Bake for approximately 12 minutes; the edges will be done, but the centers may look slightly underbaked.  
 
Remove from the oven and place a pretzel in the center of each cookie, or use chopped pretzels.  Let cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Yield?  Well, if I hadn't eaten copious amounts of the dough straight out of the bowl, I'd have a better answer for you, but I'd say...a couple dozen. 

You can find more cookie recipes for the holidays (and ANY day) at the Hershey's Cookie Headquarters where I was lucky enough to visit last month.  Thank you to Hershey's for sponsoring this post!

(All recipes, options of Hershey's products, and hip circumference are my own.)

A Time for Quiet

If you're like me, thinking about cookies in light of what happened in Newtown yesterday seems frivolous.

I can't help but think of the times over the years when I've sent kiddo to school when he said he didn't feel well.  As a mom, I was always so torn on those mornings...no fever, no cough...I know there were times when I sent him.  I pray that didn't happen to any of those moms yesterday.

I can't help but think of "those mornings."  You know, those mornings were everyone is rushed, your kiddo forgot to tell you about show-and-tell item he needed to bring to school, he decided he doesn't like pancakes (although he loved them yesterday), and oh yeah, he's out of clean socks.  Those not-so-good mornings with raised voices, nagging, and lectures.  I pray that didn't happen to any of those families yesterday.

When my mom died, I had this feeling of living in a parallel universe.  Why were people out shopping?  Why were these silly shows on TV?  MY MOM JUST DIED, I was screaming inside.  I wanted everything to stop...just for a minute. 

So, today I say we do that.  Stop.  Pray.  Pray for those new little angels.  Pray for the families.  Pray for the brothers and sisters, the survivors, the town of Newton, and especially those moms and dads.

Newtown, our hearts break for you. We hold you close in our thoughts and prayers. ♥

3 Days of Giveaways! Cake Pops Holidays!

I'm going to admit something to you now...I have a little crush on Bakerella.  Bakerella was one of the first food blogs I ever read.  And, I'm blown away every.single.time I pop by.

She has a real name, you know...it's Angie. 

She also has a new book out: Cake Pops Holidays

{More on that in a minute.}

There's a new Ultimate Cake Pops Set!  YES!  It's made for kids, and sold at Toys R Us, but I'm going to tell you...I had as much fun with it as any kid could.

The kit comes with all of the non-edible supplies you need to make cake pops.

Bowls, cake grater, tray...

...molds, sticks, and a holder.

It even comes with a "placemat" of instructions.  I thought that was brilliant.

My kiddo & I set out to make Christmas tree cake pops using the cone shape mold in the kit.

We followed the instructions exactly...

...keep an eye on your kiddo for the finger-licking.  There may be LOTS of hand washing involved.

Yeah buddy, real funny.

The grater was lots of fun, though...despite kiddo getting up to wash his hands 25 times.

Once the cake balls were shaped and dipped, we had CAKE POPS!!!

Plain ones...

And decorated.

It was one of the proudest moment of my life...I'm not even kidding.  The kit made creating them SO easy!  I highly recommend it for any budding baker on your list...or for yourself.  I won't tell.

So, let's talk about Angie's new book now: Cake Pops Holidays.  IT'S ADORABLE!!!  I actually gasped with each turn of the page.

OMGosh!  Those cardinals?!?!?

And these elves?  I can't stop thinking about them.  They're SO darling!

Even if you think you'll never make a cake pop, this book is full of inspiration. Maybe you'll use Angie's cake pops as inspiration for decorated cookies, cakes, cupcakes...and maybe even greeting cards?

When Bakerella had a book signing in Houston last week, I had a book signed for YOU!  Yep, you!

 

(Well, one of you.)

And Angie also brought these cute as a button buttons...for you!

Signed book + cute buttons!   Yay!

To enter: leave a comment right here on the blog (if you're reading this in an email, click on the blog post title to open this post in your browser) telling me if you've ever made a cake pop.

For an extra entry: pop on over to Bakerella, come back here and leave a separate comment stating one cake pop creation or one recipe you'd like to try.

{Notes: US only, please be sure to leave a way to contact you if you win, entries accepted through 11:59pm CST, December 15th.}

Happy Holidays!