I'm sorry, but would you like a Christmas cookie?



First of all, I must apologize because this might be my lamest post yet. How lame? About as lame as the "snow" we're getting "all weekend." Yeah. Exactly. While my friends post on Facebook how they're playing in piles of snow with their kids, I'm walking to work and home in light, misty condensation, cursing the weatherman. He's getting nothing from me this year (like he has every year).

My second apology is for not photographing the candies I made. Nougat, Darjeeling Tea Caramels, and Pecan Toffee, one side covered in dark chocolate, the other, milk chocolate. I went to Paper Source and bought card stock, ribbons, sticker seals, the works. I cut squares, made paper cones, and put candies in, closed them with many things that didn't work for the most part, shipped off some goodies, and passed out the rest. Yeah, they were cute, but I've got a lot of fine tuning to do.

My third apology is for the quality of the photo that I did post of my Christmas cookies. The lighting is poor, the angle awful, and well, it doesn't show any interest or passion. Let's just say I was tired. That I had a glass of wine as a reward for the home stretch which was interrupted because S. wanted to meet friends for a bite to eat and I'd washed my hair (but hadn't styled it), found myself sobering up while hurriedly sandwiching cookies-darn that one broke, eat it, they'll never know-come back home to pack them up, tie them down, and get them ready for my friends. All this in between snap here, snap there, gotta get to bed so I can go to work tomorrow. Just a few pics as proof that I did do something. Yeah. I was ready to be done with the whole project, and the photos show it. I really need to invest in some good lighting to say the least. I don't get any direct sunlight in here, and lamps aren't cutting it.

Good news is that people love the cookies so far and I'm happy that I was able to make someone's day. These next few days are about getting them delivered and out of the house, so that I can do a massive rest and relax for my own sanity.

The cookies pictured are Orange Cardamom with a Dark Milk Ganache and Amadeus Cookies, which I decided to make in the 11th hour. I'd made sesame cookies, pictured below.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Me want cookies! Me-me-me-me want cookies NOW! Um . . . Am I on your cookie list? I've been soooo good, you won't believe how good. I will trade you snow for cookies. I will buy you six lamps for cookies. Those cookies! I will eat your cookies for free. Whadda ya say, lady?
9:25 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

L2O Pain au Lait Rolls

Image
Last year for my birthday, I had the pleasure of dining at L2O, a fine dining restaurant that tastefully uses "molecular gastronomy" here in Chicago. I'd done a stage there, unfortunately it did not work out, but I am still quite impressed with Laurent Gras' food philosophy, how well run and organized the kitchen was, as well as the vibe between the cooks. Anyway, months later I had the pleasure of receiving the recipe for their pain au lait rolls via email from Time Out Chicago . These rolls were so good that I chose them more often than the others that were offered in selection from their bread basket. I'd filed the recipe away, and recently had the pleasure of making some for a dinner party. Initially the recipe was converted from weight in ounces to volume, so when I made it, not only did I double-check the accuracy (I found discrepancies) I converted it to a more accurate gram measure. So, pulling out my measuring cups, I converted it correctly to grams
Read more

Key Lime Pie

Image
I will admit that I don't like a lot of citrus desserts.  I like my lemons sour-I eat them with salt-and I'm not too keen on key lime pies, though my mother loves them.  Making lemon curd is torture to me.  To stand over the pot, stirring the mix of yolks, lemon juice and sugar while smelling the proteins in the yolks coagulate is not a thing of pleasure.  I honestly think it stinks myself, but to each his/her own.  This doesn't mean I don't make the things I don't like very well.  In the world of pastry, you have to cook for your guests and customers, even if that means making something you don't eat. When changing jobs, going into a new kitchen and executing the previous chef's menu, you're torn between keeping their style, and asserting your own (these events are often booked months in advance, and some have tastings where the expectations are established).  So when I read Deconstructed Key Lime Pie on the menu, like a flip book, the ideas flickered
Read more

Taste of Chicago

Image
Bear with me. I took photos when I went yesterday, but since those photos include my friend's daughter, I won't post them here. Instead, I'll feature the biggest reason I returned to the Taste this year: the Original Rainbow Cone. I introduced myself to this addicting delight last year. The only day I had off to go to the Taste was on the last Saturday of the event (I believe) and it was the worst day to go. Everyone and their aunt-uncle-cousin-grandma-greatgrandpa-was there. I had to fight to get to the food, fight my way out to Buckingham Fountain to enjoy the view of the lake and to eat my food without an elbow in my face, then fight my way back into the crowd to start all over again. I don't know how I ended up in the monster of a line for the ORC, but I did know that it had to be worth it, seeing as how I practically had to fight to keep my place in line. When I finally got to the counter, I took my cone back out to free space and began to enjoy the best
Read more