What's Baking: Sugar Cookies with Eggnog Icing

Why serve eggnog with your cookies when you can serve eggnog on your cookies?

A friend of mine recently hosted a cookie exchange and I opted to try something new. Rather than a standard simple vanilla icing, I replaced the milk with eggnog, and voila! Instant holiday flavor.

This sugar cookie recipe, flavored with a hint of almond, hits it out of the ballpark. This recipe is easily doubled, if you plan to bake up cookies for a crowd. I find that a single batch (made with the recipe below) provides plenty of cookies for sharing and still enough to keep around the house. There's nothing more depressing than baking a bunch of cookies to share, and not leaving enough for yourself!

Cutout sugar cookies are definitely a holiday classic – what's your favorite type of cookie to bake this season?

Sugar Cookies with Eggnog Icing (printer-friendly version)
makes about 3 dozen, depending on size of cookie cutters

For the cookies:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon almond extract

For the icing: 
2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons eggnog

sprinkles for decorating, optional

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attached, cream together the softened butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between additions. Stir in the almond extract. Using low speed, stir in the flour mixture in batches. Stir until just combined.
3. Divide the dough in half. Place one half of the dough on a square of plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Cover with the plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining dough. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
5. Remove one disc of dough from the fridge. Roll the dough out on a lightly-floured surface until 1/8" to 1/4" thick. Cut with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased baking sheet (I like to line mine with a silpat). Bake for 6-8 minutes, or just lightly browned around the edges. Remove immediately from the baking sheet and set on a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
6. While the cookies cool, make the icing: in a medium bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and eggnog. Use more nog for a thinner icing or more for a thicker icing.
7. Pipe, dip, or spread the icing onto your cookies however you like. Decorate with sprinkles. Icing will set to a soft, but not completely dry, consistency.

What I'm Drinking: Cranberry Old-Fashioned Cocktail

An old-fashioned cocktail is my favorite Wisconsin supper club drink. I prefer mine served sweet with cherries but I switch back and forth between brandy (the traditional option in Wisconsin) and bourbon as my liquor of choice. One of our favorite places to get an old fashioned in town is at the Beachcomber, which offers maple syrup as one of their sweetener options. Pure maple syrup in my drink? Don't mind if I do. 

This cranberry old fashioned puts a slight holiday twist on the original by muddling cranberries with an orange slice rather than the traditional cherries. Inspired by the Beachcomber, the typical sugar cube is replaced by maple syrup to give the cocktail some smokiness and complexity.

Cranberry Old-Fashioned Cocktail
makes one cocktail

1 orange round, peel and pith removed
6 whole cranberries
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
2 ounces bourbon (or brandy)
couple dashes bitters
club soda

1. Add the orange round and whole cranberries to the bottom of a rocks glass and top with maple syrup. Muddle the orange, cranberries, and maple syrup. Add the bourbon and a couple dashes of bitters and stir to combine.
2. Add ice, top with club soda, and serve.

What's For Breakfast: Gingerbread Pancakes

The holidays are quickly approaching ... and my to-do list is not getting any shorter. In fact, if anything, it's getting longer! But there's always time to whip together some holiday fun in the kitchen, because, well, a girl's gotta eat, right?

Yesterday I made a batch of these delicious–and dare I say super-cute–gingerbread men pancakes. My most successful gingerbread men were made by cooking the pancake batter inside a gingerbread man cookie cutter. Albeit, it was a tad dangerous given how hot the metal gets! But the end result was so worth it. (And, uh, you could always use a tool that's meant for the job, like this gingerbread man egg/pancake mold.) The little men puff up in the cookie cutter, so you end up with a really fluffy gingerbread man pancake. You can easily replicate these in your own kitchen with a cookie cutter and a thin spatula (for careful flipping), or you can of course make these as regular round pancakes.

Served alongside some pure maybe syrup, and maybe a little powdered sugar if you want to cover any wonkiness (although I think that any variations just give the little guys some extra character!), and you've got a great breakfast for any winter holiday celebration.

Gingerbread Pancakes (printer-friendly version)
makes 4 servings

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsulphured blackstrap molasses
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for the skillet

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and molasses.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, and whisk until just combined. Then stir in the melted butter. Do not over stir!
4. Melt the butter in an electric skillet heated to 350 degrees. Add about 1/3 cup of batter in rounds to the skillet. Flip the pancakes when bubbles form and the batter looks matte in appearance. Cook for an additional minute or two. If you would like to make gingerbread men pancakes, spray a gingerbread man cookie cutter with cooking spray. Set the cookie cutter in the skillet and then spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into it and spread the batter into the head and appendages. Cook until matte and bubbly, then carefully (the cookie cutter will be hot!) flip it over. Cook for another minute or two, then remove from the skillet and let cool for a few minutes before carefully removing the gingerbread man from the cutter. Alternately, you could make a large pancake and cut out the gingerbread man shape from the pancake. Serve the pancakes immediately or keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.

What's Baking: Chocolate-Dipped Walnut Butter Cookies

So, in case you were wondering ... dropping the lid to your 6 3/4-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven on your toe is not a good idea. I learned this firsthand last Thursday night when I broke the tip of my toe after dropping the lid onto it from a height of about three feet. And how did this happen, you might ask? Well, perhaps I was pulling the (quite heavy) dish out of the corner of the pantry with just one hand, while my other hand was preoccupied with holding one of these cookies.

Long story short, let's just say it's a good thing it isn't flip-flop season. And, um, does anyone know if they make Lee press-on toenails? (Are Lee press-on nails even still a thing?) Also, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to talk about toenails (or the lack thereof) on a food blog. But sometimes I'm a maverick like that. Who doesn't love a little real talk now and again? I will, however, do you the favor of not showing you a photo of the aftermath. Because, let's face it, no one wants to see that. Not even me.

In the end, should I have put down that cookie and grabbed the dish with both hands? Umm, probably. But it was a really good cookie.

These cookies remind me of the boxes of cookies my New Yorker grandparents would bring from an Italian bakery in their Jackson Heights neighborhood when they would come to visit. You know, the kind that are packaged in a big white square box tied with red-and-white baker's twine?

I always went for the ones with chocolate or nuts or sprinkles first – okay, that's basically all of them. These rich butter cookies have a tender crunch and delicious nutty flavor. And a dip in chocolate and additional sprinkle of chopped walnuts takes these cookies (and your tastebuds) over the moon.

Chocolate-Dipped Walnut Butter Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes about 3 dozen

For the cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (1 stick melted, 1 stick softened)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped walnuts

For the decoration:
8 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat and set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mix in the flour mixture at low speed, then stir in walnuts.
3. Form 2 teaspoons of dough into an egglike shape, forming a ridge down the middle with your thumbs. Arrange the dough1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in batches in the middle of the oven until undersides are light brown, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool.
4. To decorate the cookies: Dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate and then sprinkle with chopped nuts. Place on a piece of wax paper to set, about 15 minutes.

(lightly adapted from this Gourmet magazine recipe)

What's For Christmas Breakfast: Waffles with Grandma's Vanilla Sauce

Welcome WXPR listeners — thanks for stopping by! You will find the recipes from today's segment at the bottom of this post.

This time of year, there is a lot of cooking going on in my home. Whether I’m cooking for holiday get-togethers with colleagues, family or friends, baking for cookie exchanges, or preparing holiday feasts, my oven and stovetop definitely get a workout this time of year. 

Some of my favorite food memories are associated with the Christmas holiday. As a child, my family’s kitchen counters would be covered with tins full of freshly-baked Christmas cookies, including English toffee bars topped with chocolate and chopped nuts, sugar cookies covered in way-too-many sprinkles, spritz cookies made with a temperamental cookie gun, and everyone’s favorite peanut butter blossoms. Some of the cookies were destined for our stomachs.  The rest were packaged up to be brought down with us on our annual winter break road trip from snowy Ohio to sunny Florida, where my mom’s snowbird parents spent the winter to escape the cold conditions of New York. 

While I continue to carry on the family tradition of baking dozens of cookies every Christmas, if I had to pinpoint my favorite food memory associated with the holiday, it would center on a humble kitchen appliance and a treasured family recipe.

What might this appliance be? A waffle iron that my grandparents were given as a wedding present in 1943. My father inherited the waffle iron when he headed to college in the early 1960s.  Made by the Dominion Electrical Manufacturing Company in Mansfield, Ohio, the round waffle iron is a thing of Art Deco beauty. The silver chrome is just as shiny today as it was back in the 1940s when it was made. 

Every year at Christmas, my family and I would hold our breaths as the waffle iron was plugged in, fearing that this would be the year that the waffle iron would stop working. But … here we are more than 70 years after it was made, and the waffle iron still works just as well as the day it left the factory. 

For as long as I can remember, waffles have been on the breakfast menu on Christmas morning. It is a tradition continued by my dad from the Christmas mornings of his youth.

We are spoiled up here in the Northwoods with an abundance of sugar maple trees, and you can’t go wrong with the classic combination of hot-off-the-iron waffles and pure maple syrup.  However, in our family, Christmas morning breakfast wouldn’t be complete without the addition of my Grandma’s vanilla sauce.

Waffles with vanilla sauce, served alongside strips of crispy bacon and a citrus salad made from the oranges Santa left in each of our stockings – made for a filling and satisfying meal with my family after an early morning spent unwrapping presents around the Christmas tree. These days, while I might not always make it home to Ohio for the holidays, I always know that with the combination of a few simple ingredients, I can get a taste of our family Christmas wherever I may be.

Waffles (printer-friendly version)
makes 4+ servings

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk (skim, low-fat, or whole)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and allowed to cool slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Stir together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, beat together the two eggs. Stir in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla.
3. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients; stir to combine. (Do not over-stir; the batter will be lumpy.)
4. Pour 1/2 cup of batter into the center of a lightly oiled waffle iron. Close the lid and allow to cook according to the manufacturer's instructions.
5. When done, use a fork to lift the waffle from the iron. Serve immediately, or place on a plate in a 200-degree oven to keep warm.

Grandma Berg's Famous Vanilla Waffle Sauce (printer-friendly version)
makes 4+ servings

2 cups milk (skim, low-fat, or whole)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (use 1 teaspoon for an even stronger vanilla flavor)

1. In a medium sauce pan, stir together the milk, sugar, and flour over medium heat. Stir frequently. (This is very important; you do not want the milk to scorch.)
2. Continue stirring as the mixture heats; bringing it to a boil. Cook for a few minutes more; the mixture will thicken to a pudding-like consistency.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Keep the sauce warm and serve over waffles immediately.

What's Baking: Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Back in the day, cut-out sugar cookies were one of my favorite cookies to make. Aside from choosing which cookie cutter to use next, my favorite part of the cut-out cookie process was decorating the cookies before they went into the oven. In my mind, the more sprinkles, the more festive the cookies. Needless to say, I may have gone a little overboard with the decorations.

However, once they were out of the oven, although the cookies always looked delicious, they weren't really all that tasty. Enter in this cut-out sugar cookie recipe from The Kitchn. It's touted as the end-all, be-all cut-out sugar cookie recipe, and by gosh, I think they might be right! This is no bland sugar cookie my friends. Its flavor is a delicious melding of vanilla, almond, and lemon. Oof! So good! So deserving of all these exclamation points!

This past weekend I made a full batch that I shared with friends during a night of square dancing (as one does in the Northwoods), and today I made a second batch to send out to a few folks on my Santa list. This recipe is easily halved (use one whole egg; halve all the rest of the ingredients) and the cookies taste delicious decorated solely with sprinkles or with a little icing (and, um, a ton of sprinkles) on top. 

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes 2-3 dozen cookies, depending on cookie cutter size

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then beat in the vanilla extract, almond extract, and lemon zest. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in several small batches while stirring at low speed. Continue stirring until all of the flour is nearly incorporated. Then stir by hand to completely incorporate the flour.
3. Divide the dough into two equal portions. Pat one of the portions into a circle, then roll flat (1/4" or 1/8" thick) between two sheets of parchment paper. Repeat with the second portion of dough.
4. Refrigerate the rolled-out dough for at least one hour. The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to five days.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into different shapes. Place the cut-out dough onto a baking sheet covered in parchment paper or a silpat.
6. Bake for 8-15 minutes (depending on cookie thickness). Remove the cookies from the oven once the edges are set and just beginning to turn gold in color. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Ice the cookies (see recipe below) once the cookies are completely cool.

(from this recipe from The Kitchn)

Sugar Cookie Icing

For the border icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 – 2 1/2 tablespoons milk (I used 2 percent)

For the flood icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 – 3 tablespoons milk (I used 2 percent)

1. To make the border icing, stir together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in a small bowl. The mixture should be fairly thick. Carefully pour and/or spoon the icing into a squeeze bottle. Set aside.
2. To make the flood icing, stir together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in a second bowl. The mixture should be fairly thin. Carefully pour the icing into a second squeeze bottle. Set aside.
3. Use the border icing to trace the outline of each cookie. Allow the border icing to set slightly. Then fill in the interior with the flood icing, using the nose of the bottle to move the icing into the corners and edges.
4. The cookies should be allowed to dry for several hours before packing in an airtight container.

(from this recipe from The Kitchn)

What I'm Bringing to the Party: Peanut Butter Caramel Corn Mix

It's November, which means that the holiday season is nearly upon us. And with the holiday season comes holiday parties and the need for plenty of party food.

This past weekend, D and I attended a Halloween costume party hosted by our friends. Sticking with the Wes Anderson theme we started last year by dressing as Suzy Bishop and Sam Shakusky from Moonrise Kingdom, this year we went as Margot and Richie Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums. Along with Margot's mopey attitude, I also brought along this decadent peanut butter caramel corn mix to the party.

This caramel corn mix is an ideal treat to bring to a party because it is dangerously addictive. Meaning, it's better to have it (and leave it!) at someone else's house than to keep it in your own. Or, at least, that's definitely true for me, anyway. The caramel, which gets extra oomph with the addition of some peanut butter during the cooking process, is drizzled over a mix of popcorn, pretzels, Reese's Pieces, and pretzels. After being baked in the oven at a low temperature for 20 minutes, dark chocolate is drizzled over top the caramel corn mix along with festive sprinkles. You can easily adjust the ingredients to match your holiday -- orange and brown go just as well with the autumnal harvest holiday of Thanksgiving as they did with Halloween; green and red M&Ms along with festive snowflake sprinkles would work nicely for Christmas. And of course, rainbow sprinkles, and a confetti of M&Ms would work well for a party on any day of the week.

Peanut Butter Caramel Corn Mix (printer-friendly version)
makes 12+ servings

For the popcorn mix:
12 cups air-popped popcorn
1 cup lightly salted roasted peanuts
1 cup Reese's Pieces
3 cups mini twist pretzels

For the peanut butter caramel:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup golden syrup (or dark corn syrup)
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup dark chocolate melts, melted
1-2 teaspoons festive sprinkles [optional]

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Pop up 12 cups of popcorn -- I used 4 tablespoons popcorn kernels in my air popcorn popper. Spread the popcorn evenly onto the two prepped baking sheets. Divide the peanuts, Reese's Pieces, and mini twist pretzels evenly across the two baking sheets.
3. In a medium sauce pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, golden syrup, and creamy peanut butter. Add in the salt and stir to combine.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Once the mixture begins to boil, let it continue boiling for five minutes without stirring.
5. Remove the sugar mixture from the heat and stir in the baking soda and vanilla extract. (The mixture will foam up.)
6. Pour the caramel evenly over the baking sheets with the popcorn mix. Stir to combine, evenly coating the mix in the caramel.
7. Place both of the baking sheets in the oven on two separate racks. Bake for 20 minutes in the oven, stirring after 10 minutes, and switching the position of each baking sheet in the oven.
8. Remove from the oven. Drizzle each sheet of caramel corn with the melted dark chocolate, then top with the sprinkles. Allow to cool completely. Store the peanut butter caramel corn mix in an airtight container at room temperature.

(inspired by this Back to Her Roots post)

What's Baking: Rosemary-Lemon Butter Cookies

Back in mid-October, I saw a tweet about The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, and I was immediately intrigued. It took me about two seconds to decide to participate. (Really, they had me at "cookies.") This event, which is in its second year, brings together food bloggers from around the world with one mission -- to swap delicious cookies. This year, the swap also partnered with Cookies for Kids' Cancer to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

Each participant was matched with the names and addresses of three other food bloggers. Our instructions were to send each of our matches a dozen cookies; in return we'd receive a dozen cookies from three different bloggers too. I received delicious espresso chocolate chip shortbread cookies from Sarah of Cooker Girl, honey-basil shortbread and chocolate mocha cookies from Justine at A Half-Baked Life, and peppermint crunch chocolate cookies from Denise at Addicted to Recipes. They were all delicious and I have to admit, none of them lasted very long in our house. I may or may not have had to fight D for the last espresso chocolate chip shortbread cookie.

My three batches of cookies went to Michelle of From Calculus to Cupcakes, Rosalynda of This Mama Can Cook!, and Janet from Simply So Good. I had a tough time deciding what cookies to bake for the swap. The only "rule" was that we were to bake a cookie that we hadn't featured on our blog before. After searching through a pile of recipes, I decided to give a Martha Stewart recipe for rosemary butter cookies a whirl. But of course, I had to add my own little spin to them -- I figured a little bit of lemon flavor would complement the savory taste of rosemary. Also, instead of following Martha's instructions for rolling the dough into a log and cutting circular slices, I chose to roll out the cookies and cut them into small flower shapes. Wild and crazy, I know.

I really liked how these cookies turned out -- they are the perfect complement to a warm cup of tea. I hope that you will give these a try -- they are definitely worth the effort.

Rosemary-Lemon Butter Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes about 45 cookies (output depends on size of cookie cutter used)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (feel free to add a bit more if you'd like a stronger lemon flavor)
2 1/2 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
coarse sanding sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Stir together the flour, rosemary, salt, and lemon zest in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment to cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
4. Stir in the egg, vanilla, and lemon juice at medium speed.
5. Turn the speed to low and add the flour mixture. Continue stirring until the dough just comes together.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured workspace. Pat into a 6" round. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 10 minutes. (Alternately, you can stop at this point, and chill the dough in the fridge for up to three days until ready to bake. Let the dough stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes to slightly soften before rolling it out.)
7. Place the chilled dough on a lightly-floured workspace. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a large circle of about 1/4" thickness. Use a cookie cutter to cut the cookies into your desired shape.
8. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with coarse sanding sugar.
9. Bake in the oven for 20-22 minutes. or until the cookies are lightly golden on the edges.
10. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

(adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe)

Made From Scratch: Bourbon-Vanilla Caramel Sauce

I made a batch of caramel sauce last summer, and this time I thought I'd take it up a notch by adding in some bourbon and a pinch of salt. This caramel sauce would make an excellent present -- all you need to do is tie a ribbon around the jar and you've got a homemade gift ready to be given. (Or, bring a gallon of vanilla ice cream along with the caramel sauce to a holiday party, and you've got an instant-sundae bar!)

Bourbon-Vanilla Caramel Sauce (printer-friendly version)
makes about 2 cups (enough to fill three 8-oz jars)

2 cups raw sugar
1/2 cup filtered water
1 cup organic heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise, beans scraped out and reserved
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons bourbon
pinch sea salt

1. Add the sugar and water to a 2-quart sauce pot. Cook until the mixture is dark amber in color, gently swirling the pot (do not stir) over the burner. This process should take about 20 minutes.
2. Reduce the heat to low. While stirring vigorously, slowly add in the heavy cream. Then add in the vanilla beans, vanilla bean pod, lemon juice, butter, and bourbon. Stir to combine. Add in a pinch of sea salt.
3. Pour the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into (cleaned and dried) jars. The caramel sauce will keep, refrigerated, for up to one week. Reheat before using.

(adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe)

What I'm Wishing You: A Happy Thanksgiving

{last year's turkey}

Happy Thanksgiving! Best wishes for a family-, friend-, and food-filled holiday. I have wild rice cooking in the rice cooker, pie dough chilling in the refrigerator, potatoes ready to be peeled, and my husband and dog by my side. Life is good. 

What I'm Searching For: Holiday Hors d'oeuvre Recipes

Loaded sweet-potato skins / Butternut squash turnovers / Smoked salmon puffs 

Everything twists / Porcini mushroom tartlets / Maple pecans

Mini brie & apple quiches / Blue cheese fig bites / Nuts with rosemary and orange

Flaxseed and onion crackers / Spring rolls with carrot-ginger dipping sauce / Goat cheese, cranberry, and walnut canapés

I was initially just looking for a few things to nibble on Thanksgiving afternoon ... but then I couldn't help myself! There are a lot of delicious-looking appetizers out there. Here are 12, many of which I think might grace our table sometime during the holiday season. Or maybe we should just host a holiday party so I can try out all of these recipes? What appetizers do you plan to serve this holiday season?

Where I'm At: Sitka, Alaska

I'm spending my Labor Day holiday in Sitka, Alaska at the invitation of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI). While here, I'm learning various seafood cooking techniques, heading out onto the open water for fishing (yesterday I caught three rockfish on the line and three crabs in my crab pot!), and exploring what this region of Alaska has to offer. This afternoon we're learning about Alaska's sustainable fisheries and management practices and this evening we will be tasting a variety of Alaskan crab species. I can't wait to share everything that I learn with you! 

What We're Doing: Getting In the Holiday Spirit

{via}

Tonight, D and I are headed to the Kimmel Center for the Philadelphia Orchestra's Glorious Sounds of Christmas concert. I've wanted to go to a concert at the Kimmel Center for a while now, and a Rue La La deal for tickets to the orchestra's holiday concert sealed the deal. In addition to the Philadelphia Orchestra, this concert features guest artists from the Curtis School of Music and the Opera Company of Philadelphia as well as the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia Chorus.

I have fond memories of attending Carolfest at Cincinnati's Music Hall as a child. I remember watching the May Festival Youth Chorus, which was made up of high school students, and thinking how cool it would be to sing on that stage. Fast forward to my high school years, and it was me on stage singing with the youth and adult choruses, accompanied by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Though the highlight of the year was participating in the annual May Festival concerts (singing Carmina Burana was the highlight of my three years in the youth chorus), I really enjoyed singing in the holiday concert as well. I'm hoping that tonight's concert will be like the ones I enjoyed so much during my youth. 

What's Baking: Chocolate-Drizzled Shortbread Cookies

As much as I love making some of my favorite cookie recipes, it's always fun to try something new. On Monday night, I decided to give shortbread cookies a try, and my, oh, my, what a great idea! After baking the cookies and letting them cool, I added a little drizzle of chocolate over top of each one, giving the cookies a subtle chocolate flavor that melded well with the buttery shortbread.

Chocolate-Drizzled Shortbread Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes about 56 cookies

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar, plus additional for sprinkling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup good-quality chocolate discs (for melting)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt.
4. Add the flour mixture in batches to the ingredients in the mixer, stirring in between each addition. Once a dough has formed, turn it out onto a floured surface. (I love to work on a floured extra-large cutting board to prevent the entire countertop from getting messy.)
5. Shape the dough into a flat disk, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. (Avoid over-chilling the dough, as it will become harder to work with.)
6. Roll the chilled dough 1/4-inch thick. Use a 2-inch square cookie or biscuit cutter to cut the dough. Place the square cookies on an ungreased baking sheet. (Depending on the size of your cookie sheet, you can get at least 20 cookies per batch. Since they spread very little, you can place the cookies fairly close together on the baking sheet.) Sprinkle each cookie with granulated sugar.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown.
8. Remove from the oven and place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.
9. As the cookies cool, place the chocolate in a microwave-safe dish and microwave in 30-second increments, until the chocolate begins to melt. Stir between melting periods with a wooden spoon. Once the chocolate has melted, stir quickly to make the chocolate glossy in appearance.
10. Once the cookies are at room temperature, place them on a baking sheet or flat platter covered with wax paper. Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. (You can also dip the cookies in the chocolate, or make whatever pattern you prefer.) Place the baking sheet or platter with the cookies in the fridge until the chocolate has set.
11. Store the cookies in a tightly-lidded container, placing sheets of wax paper between each layer of cookies to prevent them from sticking together. Cookies can be stored for up to a week in the refrigerator, but I'm sure they won't last that long!

 (adapted from this Barefoot Contessa recipe)

Holiday Cocktail Hour: Pomegranate Citrus Martini

Pomegranate Citrus Martini

makes one cocktail

ice cubes

1 oz Grey Goose vodka

1 oz Pom 100% pomegranate juice

2 oz Simply Lemonade

sparkling water

1. Chill a martini glass in the freezer.

2. Add ice cubes to a cocktail shaker. Add in the vodka, pomegranate juice, and lemonade. Shake together.

3. Pour into the chilled glass. Add in a "glug" of sparkling water.

4. Serve.

(from the archives)

Holiday Cocktail Hour: Passionfruit Mango Martini

Passionfruit Mango Martini

makes one cocktail

2 oz Stoli raspberry vodka

1 oz mango nectar

2 oz passionfruit juice

fresh raspberry to garnish

1. Chill a martini glass.

2. Pour together the vodka, mango nectar, and passionfruit juice in a cocktail shaker with a few pieces of ice.

3. Shake to mix.

4. Pour into the chilled martini glass.

5. Garnish the rim with a raspberry.

(from the archives)

Holiday Cocktail Hour: Chocolate Martini

Chocolate Martini

makes one cocktail

2 oz Grey Goose vodka

1 oz creme de cacao

1 oz Bailey's Irish Cream

Ghiardelli Luxe Milk Hazelnut chocolate bar

1. Place a martini glass in the freezer to chill.

2. Add ice cubes to a cocktail shaker.

3. Pour in the vodka, creme de cacao, and Bailey's Irish Cream.

4. Shake, shake, shake!

5. Pour into the chilled martini glass.

6. Finely grate the hazelnut chocolate bar over top (about 1/2 teaspoon) as a garnish.

(from the archives)

Holiday Cocktail Hour: Candy Cane Martini

Candy Cane Martini (printer-friendly version)

makes one cocktail

1 oz vodka

2 oz creme de cacao

1 oz Bailey's Irish Cream

teeny tiny bit of peppermint extract, or 1/2 oz peppermint schnapps

ice cubes

crushed candy cane

1. Put a martini glass in the freezer to chill.

2. Add ice cubes to a cocktail shaker. Add in the vodka, creme de cacao, Bailey's, and teeny tiny amount of peppermint extract.

3. Shake, shake, shake!

4. Crush a candy cane with a rolling pin or heavy pot. Remove the martini glass from the freezer and rub the edge with water. Use the candy cane bits to rim the martini glass.

5. Pour and serve.

Holiday Warm-Up: Hot Toddy

Hot Toddy

makes one mugful

1 oz Macallan Whisky (don't tell D I used the good stuff!)

1 tablespoon honey

juice from 1/2 lemon (reserve one lemon slice for garnish)

1 cup hot water

1 tea bag

1. Add a shot of whiskey, honey, and lemon juice to a mug.

2. Bring a small saucepot of water to a gentle boil.

3. Pour the hot water into the mug. Add the teabag and steep per directions.

Holiday Cocktail Hour: Rudolph's Nose

Rudolph's Nose

makes one cocktail

1 oz raspberry vodka

1 oz amaretto

1/2 oz triple sec

1 oz 100% cranberry juice

ice cubes

1. Place a martini glass in the freezer to chill.

2. Put the ice cubes in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.

3. Add in the vodka, amaretto, triple sec, and cranberry juice.

4. Shake, shake, shake!

5. Pour into the chilled glass.

6. Serve!