The other day I made shortbread for a friend that had helped me out with a project. I've made shortbread for this friend before so I wanted to make sure it wasn't just your average shortbread this time around. Since everywhere is now selling pumpkin spice everything, I figured why not do pumpkin spice shortbread.
I followed the recipe I found to a T but, once the cookies were out of the oven, they were lacking a certain flavor kick. So I dusted them with powdered sugar, cinnamon, and allspice.
I slept in on Saturday, which is what you're supposed to do, right? Well, despite the joy of sleeping in, I was feeling super sleepy in the afternoon so I decided some sugar was just what I needed. I went into Chocolatier Blue on 4th Street in Berkeley expecting to come away with some tasty candy but instead I found out they make ice cream sundaes. How could I resist a s'mores sundae with milk and dark chocolate ice cream, graham crackers that taste an awful lot like graham cracker short bread (which means they are delicious), and marshmallows toasted with blow torch? I managed a few photos before I devoured it.
Lately I've been thinking a lot about how much I loved being a server and bartender and how nice and stress free it would be to just make people drinks all day. But before I get serious about a career as an amateur mixologist, I figured I should try my hand at a really simple homemade summer classic- lemonade.
This first batch was sweetened with cane sugar simple syrup. I attempted to infuse the simple syrup with lavender to imitate my favorite drink (yup, you guessed it, lavender lemonade) from The Grove in San Francisco but there's not an inch of lavender flavor in my version. I'll have try a different tactic on the next go-round. I didn't use any special lemons this time either, just cheap store bought ones because I just wanted to conquer the basics first. And, if I do say so myself, this lemonade is not too shabby.
Today I decided to take a short break from bookbinding and made some cookies instead.
I used the 'always delicious' chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Joy of Cooking, substituting M&Ms for the chocolate chips. My other secrets include using raw cane sugar, not granulated; always using dark brown sugar, regardless what the recipe calls for; and 'accidentally' spilling a little extra vanilla extract into the mixing bowl.
