use real butter

It’s a good thing we didn’t end up settling in the Bay Area, because I would have died a long time ago from eating way too much of the incredible food here - and I’m only talking about the Chinese food. If I lived here, I’d get to sample all of the OTHER food too, just that when we’re visiting Grandma, we eat what she likes, and that would be Chinese food.

passion fruit bubble milk tea, green tea slushy, passion fruit slushy

The eating, shopping, walking around marathon has come to an end and I feel exhausted! I’ve probably exerted a small fraction of the energy I expend on a normal day at home, but I’m wiped. The city and this culture is mentally taxing on me. I am most certainly a country mouse, or better yet - a mountain mouse. This mountain mouse will be in her mountain house by day’s end tomorrow. A great time was had by all. More pics to come when I get home to my guy and my baby puppy.

beef noodle soup

I realized last night that I had intended to include a recipe, but didn’t. Sorry ’bout that, kids. I’ll do right by you tonight.

I have a problem with buying bulk sometimes. I see one lemon for a dollar in the grocery store and decide to purchase a bag of 20 for $7 instead. Then I run around like crazy trying to use up my citrus before it spoils. This exact thing happened last week except it was limes and not lemons I needed to polish off.

take that, scurvy!

juice the limes

Some of the limes were already destined for other recipes, but I reserved a handful to make lime meltaways that I had spied on Smitten Kitchen. Remember, I am on a shortbread kick and these cookies are eggless and butterful and mmmmmmmm.

mix in the flour

cookie dough speckled in lovely green zest

Since I had a couple of medical appointments back to back last week, I baked up a double batch of the lime meltaways. These were distributed to several folks at the radiation center, as well as packaged for my oncologist and surgeons at the medical center. The funny thing about these cookies is that they are dead giveaways. Everyone can tell if you’ve eaten one and where you ate it - they need only follow the trail of powdered sugar.

slicing

cool the cookies for just a few minutes

The beauty of these babies is how you can prepare the dough ahead of time and bake as needed. People, you NEED these cookies. I like the tart, sweet, light, crispy, buttery, and meltaway all at once. A great alternative for folks who aren’t big chocolate fiends or folks who love citrus. Let us rejoice and thank our lucky stars for Deb, whom I love with all of my baking equipment and expensive ingredients. Take care when tossing the cookies in the powdered sugar (toss your cookies?!) because overzealous tossing can lead to casualties which must be summarily eaten so as not to freak out the other cookies in the bag. You get my meaning…

shake shake shake

mmmmmmmmmm

Lime Meltaways
slightly modified from Smitten Kitchen

12 tbsps unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 limes, grated zest of
2 tbsps lime juice, freshly squozen (I like to use 3)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsps all-purpose flour
2 tbsps cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

With balloon whisk (oops, I used the paddle) of a stand mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; whip until fluffy. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Roll the dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. I held a sheet of parchment on opposite ends, cradling the dough in the middle and rolled it about until it was loggish. Wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, just three or four minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Frozen dough can keep up to 2 months. Makes 4 dozen.

Thanks to everyone who made recommendations for good authentic Chinese restaurants in the bay area! We’ll definitely check a few out and if you haven’t written in, but have some suggestions, I’m more than happy to hear them :) You guys ROCK.

I’m listening to the veep debate and I think I just threw up a little in my mouth…

Okay, it’s still NaBloWriMo! I’ve got a few last autumn shots to post because I’m sick of processing and seeing little yellow leaves on my screen (not out my front door though).

brilliant ground cover

red and green look so much better together in nature than in fashion

mooooooo

majesty

A few months back I spied some cute square muffins at Peabody’s. I made a mental note that those would be great for distributing quick breads and other baked goodies. The reason I love small servings or individual servings is because I like to give the stuff away. These pans would be ideal.

So I’m rushing through Target the other day, not finding what I was looking for and then - I found the other thing I wasn’t looking for but wanted (this must be the dream come true for the people who layout floor plans in big box stores). There were two of those square muffin pans and I grabbed them.

a fundamental shift in geometries, but it’s still good

I test-drove the pans with some chocolate chip banana bread this afternoon. Worked like a dream as long as I didn’t fill more than 3/4 of the wells with batter, but it’s probably better if I stick close to 2/3 full.

This evening while we were giving Kaweah a much needed bath, the neighbor kids came over to say hi. They are two of the coolest kids I know. The oldest one is ten. She is more mature and responsible than most adults in this country - and yet she is still a kid. Amazing. She offered to help Jeremy wash Kaweah while I ran upstairs to grab some banana bread for them. The little one is just cute as can be.

now don’t eat all of those before dinner

saying bye while kaweah (who only has eyes for banana bread) gets toweled off

We took another plate over to our other neighbors before high-tailing it home for dinner. Dinner was gooooooooood. I’ll post that in the next week.

What new views through the lens? I went leaf hunting today and found…

tall trees

leftover snow on the mountains

the big kahuna

The rest of the sampler from today’s jaunt is on the photo blog.

Right, so the title of today’s post should read “to the dogs(’ sitters)”. Miss Kaweah is going to vacay at Camp Crazy this weekend. We decided that my working road trips are much happier and more sane for all involved if Kaweah goes to camp rather than sit in the back of the Subaru whining her brains out for hours on end. Every time I take Kaweah to Camp Crazy, I pay the bill and when I sign the receipt, I notice a line for tip. Do you tip your kennel? Considering what we pay for Camp Crazy (it’s *expensive*) I have a hard time squeezing more money out of my wallet. [Edit: I found this wallet years ago in some random department store. It was exactly what I wanted. I bought it. Since then I have had a number of girlfriends inform me - between giggles and guffaws - that I have a man’s wallet. What, I asked, is a woman’s wallet supposed to look like? Apparently, not like mine. Whatevs.]

espresso to batter

mini chocolate chips

Of course, I don’t want any hard feelings to be taken out on my girl. I doubt they would anyway because they love her there and she walks into the place with a “hey yo, my peeps…” Still, I figured bribery in the form of some caffeinated cookies is a sure fire plan if her sweet disposition doesn’t win them over.

everyone likes some dough

roll it out

I have made one hundred million billion of these cookies to date. Yes, check that quantity. It is totally accurate. I browse a lot of food blogs for inspiration, for ideas, but there are very few that provide recipes I want to try outright. One of those blogs is Smitten Kitchen. Yeah, I know - Deb inspires you too, eh? Fo shiz. I used to make several batches of cookies a week when I lived at sea-level. My co-workers and colleagues loved me… or maybe they just loved my cookies?! The GDC (Gross Domestic Cookies) level plummeted when I moved to our nose-bleed elevation because I wasn’t dealing well with the high-altitude baking scene. I’ve been slowly coming back to cookies because they make the best gifts to ship or hand over to a deserving individual. More than anything, I have discovered that shortbreads are pretty stable up here. Very nice.

measure the slices

slap it on a baking sheet and go

I made a double batch of these today. I make a double batch *every* time (that is how we got to the one hundred million billion) because people LOVE this cookie. Jeremy loves it. My neighbors love it. Astronomy graduate students love it. My buds around the country love it. MIL loves it. Our local ornery postal staff - they love it. Subaru service team. Love it. Surgeon, nurses, radiation techs, dude who draws my blood, oncologist… Love it. [My oncologist asked for the recipe!] Camp Crazy: they will love it. Oh yes, they will. And so will you. Go thank Deb. Everyone in Colorado and then some will be thanking her by year’s end.

this cookie will solve our energy crisis

Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread
from Smitten Kitchen

*Note: I didn’t follow all of the instructions in Deb’s version because I am a lazy bum.

1 tbsp instant espresso powder (I like Medaglia D’Oro)
1 tbsp boiling water
8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped OR 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Dissolve espresso powder in boiling water. Set aside to cool to tepid. Beat butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in vanilla and espresso, then reduce mixer speed to low and add flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate or chips with a sturdy rubber spatula. Using the spatula, transfer dough to a gallon-size zip-loc bag. Put bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet (okay, I didn’t poke the cookies and they’re fine). Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point (I didn’t do that either - I bake one sheet at a time). The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving. Makes about 3 dozen.