Ham Sandwich Indicted!

On a quest to find an easy, fast dessert to bring to a friend's house for dinner last week, the internet gods heard my plea and sent a newsletter from King Arthur Flour into my inbox.  Contained therein was the exact recipe I wanted: rich, chocolaty cookies with whopping total of six ingredients.  Consisting solely of egg whites, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt, they were like macrons that decided to take a few weeks off from fancy-land to kick back in a hammock, drink painkillers, and not bother with makeup. They've got a crispy exterior that gives way to a melty-soft middle--similar to real macrons, but without the airiness, since the egg whites are not whipped first. The original recipe is here ; below I've listed my modifications.  I made them smaller than suggested, as they are pretty rich, and a few of them go along way to taming any chocolate/sweet tooth you may have.   I think sandwiching two of them together with s...

It's the holiday season, kids...the time of year to dig out old traditions, dust off old recipes, and wax poetic about the past.  Unexpectedly smacked by a wave of nostalgia, this past weekend I channeled the ghost of my paternal grandmother, Bertha, and busted out a classic German cookie recipe.  We called them "German S Cookies" and after searching the Internet for recipes, apparently so does everyone else...I guess it goes to the practicality of the German mindset. They're not much more than a basic shortbread, with the addition of egg yolks and lemon zest, but it's their simplicity that makes them so enjoyable. They're just slightly sweetened, the sort of cookie you can graze on absentmindedly while enjoying some eggnog at a holiday party. As far as I can tell, the "s" shape might relate to similar cookies called  Spritzgebäck   that are made with a cookie press and shaped into random letters/shapes. One recipe ( this one), refers to them ...

The last two weeks of my Wayward Seed CSA have provided with probably about 5 pounds of cherries. And since a girl can only eat so many fresh cherries before things start getting out of control, it was time to put those cherries to other uses. Not pictured is the pie I made for a cookout on Saturday. What I am showing above are the brandied cherries I made for future cocktails (super delicious Manhattan, anyone?). Before I go any further, I just want to say that if you like cherries, invest a couple of buck in a cherry pitter. I got mine a number of years ago from Pampered Chef, and seriously, folks, it's absolutely worth the money. Not only is it more efficient than using a paperclip or chopstick, but you can also use if for pitting olives, if you're like me and put those full-of-salty-goodness-Kalamatas in everything you make. Below is the recipe I used for the brandied cherries, below that, a ridiculously sick (in a good way) chocolate cherry cookie recipe. Brandied Che...

This is what mon jardin looks like right now. Well, actually, this is what it looked like two weeks ago, when we actually had some snow on the ground. I can't decide if it looks kind of sad and desolate, or cozy and tucked in--waiting until planting season in just a few, short months. I'll go with the latter, as the former thought makes me want to pack up and move to the Islands. For my loyal readers out there, you'll notice that Ham Sandwich has been pretty quiet lately. The insanity of the holidays, coupled with a general lack of inspiration, has kept me from posting anything of interest. Not to say that it hasn't been a great season of wacky food misadventures, because it has... For my coworkers, I made a bouche de Noel as a Christmas present: If you're thinking "wow, that's so impressive...I could never do that," thanks, but trust me, you can. If you can read and follow the recipe on the inside of the Libby's pumpkin puree label for making ...