Grandma's Kitchen Table

TWD Dorie's Cookies: Christmas Spice Cookies

  
       For December, the Dorie's Cookies group participants could chose from one of two recipes to post, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday.  I chose to make the Pfefferneuse for the first Tuesday, leaving the Christmas Spice Cookies for this third week.  This spice cookie recipe can be found in Dorie's Cookies on pages 236-238.
       Ingredient list:  butter, sugar, salt, egg whites, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, allspice, and sanding sugar. 
      The recipe was easy and simple with common pantry ingredients, the only thing of note is that it does require some resting time in the refrigerator or freezer so it's best to plan ahead to fit all that into the mix. 
       I am so-so on the dough's friendly nature...I've had friendlier dough to work with so this one would not rank in the top five. It was a bit sticky and even rolling it between sheets of parchment didn't make it more friendly.  I had a difficult time getting it to stay firm long enough to move the cut out to the cookie sheet and a real struggle getting the little ends of the stars and snowflakes to come cleanly out of the cookie cutter, despite it's required rest in the freezer. That said, on taste alone, this is one very top five tasty cookie dough which translates to a very desirable cookie, as in I would choose one of these off the cookie tray immediately.  The combination of the spices is lovely and not overpowering, it makes me sort of want to use this from now on as the sugar cookie dough I use for cutouts now seems a bit bland.  Would I make these again? Yes for flavor...might need to try again on dough management.  Definitely repeat worthy.
       The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies.  The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Dorie website here.  You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location. 

Eating with Ellie: When Life Gives You Lemons - Roasted Provencal Salmon and Fennel

       The 81st recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Roasted Provencal Salmon and Fennel, and can be found online here.  The theme for the week was chosen by Gaye:  When Life Gives You Lemons.  

        Ingredient list: lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, honey, thyme, salt, pepper, fennel, salmon, and lemon wedges for serving.  
         Lemon is my favorite ingredient, sweet or savory, if there is lemon in the recipe, I'm usually in right away.  I always have a bag of lemons on hand and I don't use them sparingly.  It's not unusual for me to substitute other ingredients when I am out to avoid a trip to the market, but when it comes to lemons, if I'm using the last one, the next stop for me is the produce department to restock my lemons. 
        This recipe has lemon wedges, lemon juice, and lemon zest...your complete lemon round up! Salmon and lemon are MFEO (Made For Each Other) and seriously, you can't really serve me any kind of fish without a side of lemon, it just wouldn't be right.  Loved this recipe, it was fast and easy, and the fennel is best ever when it is roasted with those crisp little brown edges and that nice bit of lemon to perk it all up and make it sing its own song, as in you could just make a meal out of roasted fennel and lemon.  Definitely a repeat, the only question is how often. 

       If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links.  You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks.  Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Peggy and is Nuts and Such.  Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

        Note:  In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes.  You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here.  We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.

 

TWD Dorie's Cookies: Pfefferneusse

       For the second month, the Dorie's Cookies group participants could chose from one of two recipes to post, one on the first Tuesday and the other being the post for the third Tuesday.  I chose to make the Pfefferneusse (Dorie says this is the German word for Pepper Nuts...both plentiful ingredients in this cookie) for the first Tuesday, leaving the Christmas Spice Cookies for the third week.  This recipe can be found in the Dorie's Cookies on page 233-235, you can also find it here.
       Ingredient list:  flour, cinnamon, fine sea salt, freshly ground pepper, nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cardamom, dry mustard, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, lemon (or orange), butter, eggs, pecans, confectioner's sugar, chocolate, and espresso (optional). 
      These cookies were easy and fun to make...you don't need a lot of fancy ingredients, or fancy equipment, or fancy time slots set aside.  It was fun to use so many spices, just measuring them out and adding them was an aroma treat all its own. I followed the recipe exactly and baked them for the amount of time she specified and declared it all a success, especially since Mark really enjoyed eating them, the combination of lemon and pepper was delicious.  Dorie had instructions for making some dusted with confectioner's sugar, some spread with melted chocolate, and then I also opted to make some without either, because, well because sometimes you just want a cookie without a lot of extras.  I made a big plateful and then packed three quarters of them away in the freezer for Christmas trays in a couple of weeks.   Definitely a repeat.
       The Tuesdays with Dorie group is now baking from Dorie Greenspan's new book, Dorie's Cookies.  The posts will be the first and third Tuesdays of the month and can be linked at the main Tuesdays with Dorie website here.  You can also find the information on joining in and/or see the posts from those in the group baking along at this location. 

Eating with Ellie: It's Pizza Night - Grape and Ricotta Pita Pizzas

       The 80th recipe I made with the Eating with Ellie group is Grape and Ricotta Pita Pizzas, and can be found online here.  The theme for the week was chosen by Margaret:  It's Pizza Night.  

        Ingredient list: pita pocket bread, olive oil, ricotta, grapes, honey, lemon, and basil.  
      This week for Pizza Night I decided I wanted to try something new and different and maybe not what one thinks of when one thinks of Pizza Night.  I found this recipe online, decided it sounded delicious, and it definitely didn't sound like any pizza I had ever had before, so this was the direction I ended up going for this week.  It is absolutely worthy of a repeat, the flavors are fresh, fun and tasty.  I particularly liked the grapes/cheese/lemon/honey combination.

      If you wonder how the others did this week, click here to follow their post links.  You can also find the recipe schedule there for the coming weeks.  Next week's recipe theme was chosen by Gaye and is When Life Gives You Lemons.  Please come and join us at any time, just leave the link to your post that week so that week so we know where to find you.

        Note:  In our posts, we do not publish the recipes from Ellie Krieger's book as those belong to her, we like to honor that and encourage you to guy her books to get the recipes.  You can also find her recipes at her site here, at her weekly newspaper article here, her recipes online here, and at her current tv show site here.  We know that you will enjoy using Ellie's books again and again and that you will feel your money was well spent.