From Marcella Hazan’s recipe book, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.
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For the past few days, family has gathered in our home for a Christmas cookie baking operation of significant magnitude. I don’t think I can fully fathom the number of delectable delights produced, but I feel certain that it must be in the thousands, if not billions. New recipes were given trial, with great success. Old family favorites were revisited, with steadfast appreciation. In the pictures below, Evelyn and Ian wield rolling pins while helping Grandma make their Great Grandpa Fisher’s famous “Doggy Biscuit” cookies; and Deanna displays a successfully completed pan of chocolate brownies, destined to be crumbled and used as an ingredient in yet another recipe.
The Washington Post has a rather interesting story on "Why the Red Delicious No Longer Is." From the story:
In the 1980s heyday of the Red Delicious, it represented three-quarters of the harvest in Washington state, epicenter of the apple industry. By 2000, it made up less than half, and in 2003, the crop had shrunk to just 37 percent of the state's harvest of 103 million boxes. Red Delicious remains the single largest variety produced in the state, but others are ascending in market share as rapidly as Red Delicious is dropping, notably Fuji and Gala.
We had picked up a big package of fresh, Oregon-grown blueberries from Whole Foods the other day, so we decided to put our Cuisinart ice cream maker to work this weekend, mixing up a batch of "Blueberries and Cream" ice cream. (Recipe from Ice Cream -- beautifully photo-rich and recipe-light in the grand tradition of Williams-Sonoma recipe books.)
A delicious adventure for the whole family!
Continue reading Blueberries and Cream.
Catalano's Pizzeria in downtown Cibolo, Texas makes a mean hand-tossed pizza. Awesome.
I was just offered a cup of Pero, a natural instant coffee alternative beverage of Swiss origin, and I accepted. InterNatural Foods, LLC offered up a helpful explanation:
PERO is a 100% natural beverage with a coffee like taste. It's 100% naturally caffeine free and blended from select all natural ingredients -- malted barley, chicory, and rye. And because PERO contains no stimulants, it will not elevate heart rate or blood pressure, cause sleeplessness or create any adverse physical ailments typically associated with caffeine consumption. Plus the low acidity of this natural beverage makes it easy to enjoy morning, noon or night without the fear of stomach upset.
A nice, hot cup of naturally caffeinated organic Sumatra may be in order. In the meantime, I will enjoy the maybe diminished, maybe just different good warmth and mildness of Pero.
