Swappin’ Cookies

I think this is the last of my holiday items to catch you up on. Do you have today off? Great! Make some of these cookies! If you’re working today then just stay tuned this week for a guest blog recipe post and a calzone!

I love all the cookies that come along with the holidays. Growing up I don’t think I realized how lucky I was that Mum made so many cookies, from scratch. I thought everyone was so lucky.

Normally when cookie swaps are mentioned everyone groans and isn’t into consuming more calories this time of year so I think I haven’t been to one since 2008? Wow.
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Ms. L invited me to one at Flour that is also a fundraiser for Cradles to Crayons. I’m so glad I took on the challenge but brining cookies to Flour Bakery? Talk about pressure! Let’s also talk about the recipe I chose considering I don’t bake very often: Apple Oatmeal Toffee Drop Cookies. Go ahead, you can laugh.

I made a sugar cookie base thinking I’d make some more cookies soon afterwards…what was I thinking? During packing, buying the house, and preparing to move all during the holidays, I had no time.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used granulated brown sugar)
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup quick oats
1 green apple, chopped
1/2 cup toffee bits

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
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Cut in butter and sugars together.  Add egg and vanilla, and mix until well incorporated.
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Add oatmeal and apple and stir by hand until combined.
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Form dough into ping-pong sized balls. Form an indent on the top and fill with toffee bits (see the top row). Cover the toffee with the dough from the sides of the well (see the bottom row).
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Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges start to turn golden brown. Then transfer to a cooling rack.

I made a double batch since we were asked to bring 2-4 dozen. These suckers had lots of butter, brown sugar, and oatmeal. I mixed in granny smith apples but filled them with toffee bits. I think the apple did a lot to keep them soft and the toffee melts so much faster and might leave these with burn toffee oozes if it isn’t stuck in the middle.

Baking a double batch and filling each cookie was a test of my patience. I tried to just go slow and make them all perfect. They came out awesome but baking cookies is hard work! I had 2 trays going and my apt oven was terribly uneven. Two timers, fifty million cookies, and creative cooling racks I was done and ready for the swap. (Mine are in the middle in the back).
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There were some awesome cookies at the swap. I had to admit there were a few I thought were below par. I’d never bring chocolate chip cookies to a swap unless they were perfectly cooked and the best ever…these weren’t.
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I was hoping Joanne Chang would talk more about baking, about Flour, about holiday cookies, etc. She talked about why they hosted this event again but I would have liked to hear about her cookbook or her favorite goodies. She had made Butter Breton Cakes that she was testing for her next cookbook.  They were reallllly good.
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Mac & Cheeses at a Great ‘Places’

Just before Christmas I was lucky enough to get a seat at a Mac & Cheese Tasting at Church near Fenway. Google Places hosted this exciting opportunity as a reward for folks who wrote reviews for Google Places. I tell ya, Google can take over the world and I’d be a-OK with it.
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I saw the offer as a tweet and I posted a few reviews. I went with places that didn’t already have hundreds of reviews. I love to give my opinion but I don’t like to rehash the same thing everyone else has said.
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The dinner was super fun and I was joined by two lovely ladies who love mac & cheese almost as much as I do. It was doubly exciting since one of Church’s culinary directors is Laura Henry-Zoubir of Regal Beagle and I’ve seen her on Chopped.

We tasted 5 mac & cheeses, family style, and got to select 2 craft beers. Google gave us cute goodies including a google places beer glass, drink stirrer, coozie, bottle opener, and lip chap (as some folks would call it 😉 .

I have to admit, when I saw the first skillet I thought it might not be enough for all 20-ish people there! Boy was I mistaken…we had seconds and it just kept coming.
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The first one was mozzarella, Romano, basil and a balsamic tomato relish mac and cheese. It was so good. I loved the roasted tomatoes and that they were mostly whole chunks. I didn’t really taste much balsamic but the basil was flavorful.
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The next was goat cheese, winter squash, Spicy IPA Pepitas, and sage. It was amazing. This was totally my favorite and I’m not always on board with goat cheese. I wish this was a scratch & sniff.
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Then they broke out the truffle oil. Cue a communal swoon. We could smell it coming. This one had truffle oil, mushrooms, and Pale Ale Vermont cheddar cheese.
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Now they brought out the spice. The next was Monterey Jack, poblanos, and chorizo. Ohh boy. This was definitely spicy but I liked it. I think there was a good deal leftover, maybe because we had already had 3 mac and cheeses already.
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The last one had braised beef. I couldn’t eat this one, but I hear it was good. I had already eaten plenty.
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We had a good time and it was a nice crowd. I still can’t believe how much that one (albeit massive) skillet served! Maybe it was wise to not have all 5 flavors on one plate.

Multiple Christmas Dinners

Christmas probably seems like a long time ago for you, but for Mr. J and I, it was a whirlwind and feels like it just happened. We really tried not to wish Christmas away while awaiting our closing date and moving day. Christmas is a multi-day, multi-state, multi-family celebration for Mr. J and me. We coordinate our travel plans to spend time with his family in Maine and with my family in Greater Boston. It’s so fun, quite tiring, and there’s many meals. Here’s my recap of how those days were enjoyed through the meals.

At my family’s holiday, we are all about the traditional foods year after year. Apparently we cannot (or will not) break a few of these food traditions. On Christmas eve the R family has soup (clam chowder)
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My dad madee an amazing antipasto salad. He’s not really the cook in our family so we were impressed!
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My mum made the cutest cheese ball I’ve ever seen.
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On Christmas morning, we have coffee and a cheesecake-like coffee cake while we start gifts. It had apricot jelly and almonds on it.
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During a gift break, we have brunch with this casserole assembled the night before. It has rice, ham, cheese, eggs, and asparagus. It’s creamy and delicious.
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Christmas dinner was a surprise this year. Turducken! I was sooo excited to try it. We weren’t overly impressed and I think their suggested cooking time was way too much.
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We weren’t sure it would feed the 7 adults attending so we had a few heftier sides like this awesome shrimp dish (just shrimp, butter, and ritz).
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We had a Yule Log since it’s Dad’s favorite.
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In Maine Mrs. S recreated my failed apple bacon stuffed French toast. Amazing. It was so thick, sticky, and had plenty of crunchy bacon. I loved it and I knew somebody else could do it right.
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For lunch/dinner we had a cool ramen and cabbage salad. I’ve never had one with grapes and I loved it.
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We had some crockpot dishes that were good for feasting throughout the afternoon. The turkey meatballs we delicious.
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I wish I got a shot of the cake balls. I mean I ate enough of them there really wasn’t an excuse not to get a photo.

Christmas was really fun and we are always so grateful to make it to both families.

Did Ya Miss Me

I’m back from my moving/house-buying hiatus. I’m happy to be back to a normal routine and I have LOTS of catching up to do!

Allow me to introduce my new house’s kitchen! I’m loving it. It’s my favorite part of the house. I wish I had some “before” aka the world’s tiniest & darkest kitchen photos for comparison. I meant to, but it just didn’t happen.

Here’s a wide shot. I could live on that island.
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The backspash is also one of my favorite things about the kitchen. The colors are really nice blues, copper, tan, and cream. It is awesome.
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And here are the sisters. Double sinks are pretty bomb, especially when they’re both this big & deep. I secretly like doing dishes so they’re perfect.
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Check. Out. This. Fridge. Wow. It is so big and shiny!
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We were pleasantly surprised to discover this nifty filtered water spout inside. I hadn’t been able to get used to the taste of the water but this solved the problem.
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The corner cabinets are used really well. Genius! The cabinets are cherry and i just polished them up.
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There are great “pantry” cabinets against the stairs. One has drawers that pull out. I use the term pantry loosely since a pantry is actually a room. My parents have the coolest pantry ever. Maybe sometime I’ll kitchen-snoop there.
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The other was a broom closet and handy Mr. J installed shelves for more storage! We have some organizing to do between the 2 cabinets.
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Here is the stove. I’m getting used to the gas and my new pots & pans. The power burner, as it is called, proved too powerful for yesterday morning’s bacon. It went from uncooked to burnt in a second. Tragedy. (Check out the time! palindromes are my favorite!)
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There’s an awesome wet bar/buffet by the dining table. I love that the quartz counters continued and that baby sink I’m sure will prove handy. Like my wine stock? I realized it is a bit much since Mr. J doesn’t really drink wine. Guess it calls for a party!
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The house is awesome and we’re loving it. Mr. J has found his calling in life as a homeowner and Mr. Fix-It. Our wedding fiestaware makes nightly appearances at dinner as we smile looking around. We actually get to live here! The pup cannot get enough of his yard, or all the windows that look out at it. We still have more unpacking to do but things are looking good so far!

This week I’ll get you caught up on Christmas and a pretty sweet mac & cheese tasting. Stay tuned!

Just Like The Terminator

…I’ll be back. I need a bit more time since I am settling into my new home. We JUST got internet and cable and have made our way through the boxes. Work is nutty and post-holiday craziness is subsiding, so we’re getting there!

I have some exciting tidbits for you, when I do come back. Here are some morsels you can salivate over until I return in full force:

  • a google-hosted mac & cheese tasting: 5 mac and cheeses…count ’em
  • 2 amazing Christmases
  • maybe some resolutions for the new year
  • a tour of my dare-I-say amazing kitchen (complete with new-to-us but from-the-wedding gifts!)
  • a cookie swap at one of Boston’s best bakeries
  • pumpkin pasta
  • tomato zucchini risotto
  • etc etc etc

See ya soon!