What is it about Holiday baking?

It’s the indefinable scent of sugar, butter and spices wafting from the oven and falling like a soft cloud of sweetness, covering every nook and cranny of your home. And, it’s the childhood memory of anticipating that first buttery bite as the object of fondness finds its way through the creative cycle of mixing, baking and decorating.

Growing up I always found the intersection of art and food so thrilling this time of year. And that magic of transforming ingredients into beautiful, edible works of art continues to inform my baking. Every year I pour over hundreds of cookie recipes, carefully choosing the year’s selection by balancing flavors, shapes and colors to create a final canvas of artfully assembled sweet delicacies, always hoping to reflect the magic of Season.

My theme  this year was fruit and nuts, and I have included a delicious cranberry cookie recipe below. The dried cranberries and coconut make this a welcomed gift anytime of year.

Wishing You All A Happy, Joyous Holiday Season.

Coconut Cranberry Cookies

Makes 6 doz cookies

Preheat oven to 350℉

1 1/2 cups butter room temp (3/4 lb)
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 teaspoons vanilla

In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, orange peel, and vanilla until smooth.

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stir to mix by hand, then beat on low speed until dough comes together in a smooth mass, about 5 minutes. (The mixture will look dry until it comes together as a dough. If it is too crumbly to form into balls, the dough needs to be mixed longer).

1 1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cup sweetened flaked dried coconut

Mix in cranberries and coconut.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place about 2″ apart on  lightly sprayed baking sheet (do not use parchment).

Bake at 350℉ until cookie edges begin to brown, 8-11 minutes. Shorter baking time will yield chewier cookie.

If baking  2 sheets at once in one oven, switch their positions halfway through the baking.

Cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

Dust with powdered sugar (optional).

From Sunset Magazine published sometime during the last decade!

The lovely lemon has a recorded history dating back to ancient Egypt and Rome. It was brought to the new world in the 16th Century. Aren’t we lucky! We use it not only for brightening flavors but also medicinal purposes. It even has an artist’s paint color named after it:  Lemon Yellow. All cooks are crazy about this magical pantry staple.

I love lemons to enliven flavors; as a stand alone dessert filling; candied; and zested or peeled for that explosive punch of color on a plate. And it’s the only pantry item I can think of that has this association: squeezed.

This is why it’s been front and center in my mind. We all know the pressure of being squeezed: time; space; ideas; both real and virtual. I have been carefully navigating  the shoals of studio work and readying the house for a move in the future. It’s no wonder this word popped into my mind.

It’s fitting that it has taken me 8 months to finish this piece:  “Lemon Meringue Pie Slice”.  True, part of this delay was locating the right cardboard. Another was placing my non-commissioned pieces on the back burner while waiting for “time” that had been squeezed out of my schedule, to appear.

As I watched the little streams of juice trickle between my clenched fingers to pool  in my bowl, it suddenly became my visualization.  The perfect image of a certain kind of pressure for the kitchen inclined.

Squeezing lemons clearly illustrated that the current pressures would yield exactly what I needed in the future. Drop by drop the juice would meld together the flavors of the lemon cilantro pesto I was preparing. Being squeezed by these crazy constraints  will extract just what is needed for the move to go forward.

Lemon Cilantro Pesto

Zest and juice of 2 small lemons
1/2 cup toasted almonds
4 cups fresh cilantro leaves loosely packed
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
3/4 cup freshly grated pecorino

1 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor fitted with steel blade attachment, blend first 5 ingredients until coarsely chopped.

Drizzle in the olive oil in a slow stream while the processor is running, until finely chopped.  Season with salt and pepper.

Makes approx 2 cups.

This pesto is very stiff.  Set aside a little pasta water after draining your pasta, to loosen the sauce.

It was late May,  really not that long ago.  The low gray sky and heavy clouds were barely filtering the sun on a cold wet Saturday morning. It was another dreary visit to the Farmers Market on the wettest recorded Spring in 70 years.

I love potatoes and turnips, and I arrived expecting to see their broad palette of browns, muted reds, and pale yellows which always follow a drawn out winter and cold Spring. But this visit gave me my first  hint of color, and with it the fruit and veggies yet to come. The artist’s hope can reside in color!  On this visit, the color was orange, and the produce was baby carrots.

Spring, although late, had finally arrived.  Soon I would be able to slather butter on my radish baguettes and anticipate that first bite of my fresh tomato tart.

I scooped up several bunches of baby carrots.  I love the incredible sweetness, the tenderness with just a little crunch, and the versatility of this earliest Spring veggie. You can eat it raw as a snack or in salads, or barely cook it as an addition to any dish.

I wanted to celebrate these carrots as the harbinger of a long awaited Spring with a simple recipe.  I have made this so often I no longer use a recipe: a splash here and a pinch there. This preparation lets the carrots shine in color and flavor. I sauteed them gently in butter, and when barely tender stir in a little sugar and balsamic vinegar to taste. For an added contrast in flavor and color I toss in chopped chives at the end, and viola! A delicious Spring welcome.

Balsamic Glazed Baby Carrots

1 lb baby carrots, washed and trimmed
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoons sugar ( or to taste)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Balsamic (or to taste)
2 Tablespoons chopped chives or sauteed  shallots

Melt butter in heavy saucepan over medium heat.

Add carrots.

Saute until tender-crisp.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Serve!

I have substituted honey for sugar, shallots or onions for chives, and apple cider vinegar for Balsamic and it’s always delicious! Also good cold in salads!

From the perfect selection on a trolley that’s wheeled around ‘fine dining’ establishments, to the orange day- glow product extruded from an aerosol can, when it comes to cheese there is something for everyone.

Be it artisanal or lowbrow, melting creaminess or plastic wrapped slices, the variety of  choices is seemingly endless. And most astonishing of all: it originates from the same product, milk.

For the artist, all the usual descriptive qualities are present: color, texture and shape. If I then mix in the interpretive characteristics, such as creamy; sweet; complex; rich; sharp; etc.,  this ancient food that crosses all cultures becomes a still life subject of infinite exploration, deserving of canvas and paint.

The cheese, as they say, stands alone.

I still write my initial blog notes with pen and paper. And sometimes, I just can’t pick up that pen. The words just aren’t there. During the last ‘pen-less’ three weeks I also watched as a human rights revolution, and celebration, spread across the Mid-East and North Africa.

I thought I had nothing to say, but it was now obvious to me that this was the perfect time to re-visit, and bake, my Peace Cookies.

I explored the Peace Cookie in a recent post, and after researching options on the internet, I complied a list of variations. Since many blogs have been written about the Dorie Greenspan chocolate sable Peace Cookie, I decide to bake the Croatian Peace Cookie. This cookie was a cream cheese pastry with a jam filling. While staying in the spirit of the original, I did find myself redesigning this recipe.

I began by substituting my own cream cheese pastry for the original cookie pastry when I discovered the original recipe was incomplete. After making one batch I  changed the size of the original cookie, a 3″ square was just a mouthful of pastry, trimming it down to a  2″ square which was the perfect two bite size.

But the most important change of all, and in solidarity with our Mid- Eastern/North African sisters and brothers, I changed the filling to a mixture of fig preserves, dates and almonds.

I rounded out this little cookie with a brush of egg glaze and sprinkle of sugar to hold it together, and give it shine after baking. A much prettier finish than just a dusting of powdered sugar, which is what the original recipe called for.

The original cookie was a Croatian family recipe. It was published along with the following notation: “Each cookie is a prayer for peace for all people living in war torn and repressed nations.”

I’m so happy I decided to double the recipe. Double the Peace!

‘Redesigned’ Croatian Peace Cookie

Makes 4-5 doz

Pastry: ( can be carefully rerolled  two times)

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 8- oz package cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

Whisk salt and flour together.

Using stand or electric mixer, beat butter and cheese until light.

Beat in sugar until mixture is fluffy.

Mix in flour/salt until dough can be gathered together. It will be soft.

Divide the dough, forming into 2 equal square shapes, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour, or can be made a day ahead and chilled overnight.

If chilling overnight leave out until soft enough to roll.

Filling:

1 cup pitted chopped dates
2/3 cup fig jam
2/3 cup  chopped roasted, unsalted almonds
2 tablespoons melted butter

Mix above together in a medium size bowl

1 egg, beaten
additional sugar

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 350°

Flour your rolling surface.  I roll out this pastry on wide plastic wrap dusted with flour.

Roll out one chilled square of pastry  to 1/8″. If pastry was chilled more than one hour, leave out to soften until it is soft enough to roll.

Cut pastry into 2″ squares. ‘Gently’ re-knead and re-roll scraps to prevent dough from getting tough.

Lay out the 2″ squares so you can fill them assembly line style. See photo below.

Place one scant teaspoon of filling in the center of each square.

Bring opposite corners of the square to the middle, pressing the first corner down sightly onto the base, and overlapping the second corner.

Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar.

Repeat process with second square of rested pastry.

Bake on an unlined, ungreased baking sheet for 20-25 min, or until bottoms and edges are golden brown.

Think Peace!

I sat looking out my studio window watching the robins gobble the last remaining red berries from my yard, wondering why I placed a Peanut Blossom, such a sunny cookie,  in a decidedly cool background. But watching the last speck of red in my yard disappear down the gullet of one happy robin, it dawned on me: it’s the color of winter.

And when I visit the market in the winter, both the farmers outdoor markets and my local co-op, doing my best to support our local farmers by passing by the bright red hydroponic tomatoes from North of the border, and the bright green scallions from South of the Border, what remains is a very muted winter palette of color. There are the root vegetables such as  carrots, potatoes,  parsnips  and beets. These earthy colors are punctuated here and there by onions, squash, and apples.

But what I was really dreaming about in the middle of continual gray, was a nice bright salad. That left me one choice. Construct a salad with all the colors that winter has to offer, and brighten the taste with a vinaigrette. Its ‘The Colors Of Winter Salad’!

The Colors Of Winter Salad

Use any root vegetable that appeals to you. In this salad I used red, russet, and purple potatoes; golden beets; parsnips; onions; carrots; and squash. I also used apples in the dressing and as a finish to the salad for added crunch!

Roasting veggies: use the veggies of your choice,  just cut them all approximately the same size for even roasting.

Preheat oven to 400°

1 lb.  each purple, russet, and red potatoes scrubbed and cut into 1 inch pieces.
1 1/2 lb. carrots  scrubbed, cut into 1″ pieces on the diagonal
1 1/2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 lb. beets, whole (I used golden beets to avoid staining the other veggies)
1 small onion, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
1 lb.  hard winter squash (Butternut, Delicata, Danish etc.) peeled and cut into 1-1/2″ pieces
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh Rosemary coarsely chopped.

Toss all ingredients, in a medium bowl.

Place all ingredients, except beets, in a half or baking sheet, and roast until barely fork tender, 20-30 min.

Wrap whole beets separately in foil, and roast approx 40-50 min.

To assemble:

1  large apple, large diced skin on
Apple dressing: recipe follows ( uses an additional 1/2 apple)
Crumbled gorgonzola as garnish optional.

Cut cooled, peeled beets into 1″ pieces.

Toss all veggies  and diced apple in a medium bowl.

Add dressing to taste: I like this ‘lightly’ dressed, adding about 2 tablespoons.

Serve at room temp.

Apple Dressing:

Makes 1 cup.

You won’t use all of this in the salad, but it’s so good you will use up in no time!

2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons grated shallot
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup finely chopped apple ( approx 1/2 medium apple)

Pulse a few times in cuisinart or with immersion blender.

Stores for 5 days in fridge.

I never do resolutions for the New Year. I do have a New Year tradition however, that I call ‘Reviewing’. Reviewing is a visit to the past year’s favorites. ‘Favorites’ can be places; people; things;  or events. And favorites can be new or old!

I  just sit down and make a list. In very short order I have filled a legal sized sheet of paper. With so many memorable ‘Favorites’, I can’t help but look forward to what’s in store for the New Year!

Here are four of my ‘Favorites’ from this years list. Three are repeats, and one is new.

Grandma Goldie’s Snack Mix:

It just wouldn’t be the holidays without this one of a kind, stellar snack! It is a yearly gift from our friend Linda.  Without a doubt this is the best snack mix recipe I have ever tasted. It has the perfect spice, salt, sweet and texture balance. It has been passed down to Linda so that she may carry on Grandma Goldie’s very secret recipe!

Diva Tool:

I love this new favorite gift I received from friends this year. It’s 5 tools in one, WITH rhinestones!

The handle contains 4 different attachments. I am already using this one one in The Cardboard Kitchen. And guess what?  It does make you feel like a Diva!

Agnes Martin:

Agnes Martin makes my list every year. I find her life and work inspirational. I absolutely love getting lost in her fields of color and line.

Several times a year I revisit her work and writing. One of my favorite text’s is a 1979 lecture she prepared for the University Of New Mexico that was then revised and published in Artspace, entitled  “The Current Of The River Of Life Moves Us”.

Pierre (Bonnard) And Henri (Matisse):

Affectionately referred to as ‘my boys’, Pierre and Henri  definitely make me happy every day, and they make my list every year!

And they are so artistic. Look how they  arrange themselves to form their own graphic patterns of blacks, grays and whites. I think they discuss the artistic merits of how to position themselves before they get comfortable.

Don’t you agree this is a much better tradition than resolutions? May you all look forward to 2011!

While pondering my last post of the year, I decided to explore the “Peace” cookie. Oh, if only baking would make it so. But, what if we ALL made Peace cookies around holiday time?

After a busy holiday season when we are all through with this:

(Cooking and baking in The Cardboard Kitchen!)

and this:

(Painting 'Seafood" in The Cardboard Kitchen!)

let’s say we all bake for Peace.

The Peace cookie has many variations. As I began to research all the recipes that came up during my web searches, I reduced it down to four distinct recipe themes.  These range from a Croatian filled pastry; the Dorie Greenspan Chocolate version including a vegan recipe of this now famous cookie; a cookie that uses healthy ingredients; and a sugar cookie with a lovely royal icing Peace decoration.

But really, Peace cookies do not have to be any one of these ‘sanctioned’ cookies. I believe if you think Peace while baking, than whatever you are baking magically becomes an ambassador of Peace. I shall try one of the following recipes in the coming month, and let you all know how it went! Until then, here are the links to the cookies described above.

Croatian Peace Cookies

Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies

World Peace Cookies For Vegans by Cinnamon Quill

Healthy Ingredients Peace Cookies

Decorated Sugar Cookie

So choose a recipe, and bake for Peace!

Wishing you a Peaceful 2011!

At Art On The Menu it’s been holiday baking time for the past 6 weeks. My approach is eclectic a best.  I look through my books, cookie magazines, and recipes. What jumps out, goes on the list.

This year it was 2 bar cookies; one sliced cookie; one rolled  cut out cookie, and the peppermint and chocolate graham cracker cookie bar my niece and nephew love. Because I make this cookie every year for them, it almost defines my holiday baking.

I am also crazy about the way this cookie looks. Dark chocolate is the perfect backdrop for red and white peppermint. And since I love everything vintage, to my eye these bars are reminiscent of a 40′s cocktail dress: dark brown velvet worn with red and white rhinestones that sparkle against the velvety chocolate color!

This cookie is easy, elegant, and everybody loves them. If you don’t already have a version of this recipe, it’s my holiday gift to you!

Happy Holidays!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Bars

Makes 48

Preheat oven to 350°

Line a regular cookie sheet (11″ wide, not a  1/2 sheet), with foil and coat lightly with cooking spray.

12-16 graham crackers
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 package chocolate chips
1 package Peppermint Star Lights, unwrapped, crushed

Line  baking sheet with Graham crackers, breaking as needed to fill gaps. Approx 12 – 16 graham crackers.

Boil butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly, for 2 min.

Add 1/2 tsp salt.

Stir in salt.

Immediately pour over graham crackers, spread to cover.

Bake for 7 min. only.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Wait 5 min until chips soften.

Spread chocolate.

Sprinkle with crushed peppermint.

Cut into bars.

Freezes well.

We’ve had enough turkey talk, so lets talk salmon. This amazing fish has quite a place in history. Salmon lore crosses cultures from Native American to Druids, with the traditions of preparing this fish spanning from grilled to gravlax.  And of course, there is the color.

No matter what we are describing, umbrellas or dishes, if it’s this color we refer to it as ‘salmon’ colored.

I am in the ‘oh so early’ process of preparing salmon in The Cardboard Kitchen. No grilling or gravlax with this version. This salmon will be baked whole.

Part of this early process includes painting subjects before I construct them in cardboard. This gives me a feel for the form.

So how do I plan to translate this intricate, beautiful and complicated fish form from this pile of cardboard:

into this fluid, shimmering shape?

I couldn’t guess right now!