Off Season

This past December I posted several of my favority Christmas cookie recipes, but I did not actually document every cookie I made. Each year I try to make a mix of traditional family favorites, and new recipes we are less familiar with. One of those new recipes this year came from a good friend of mine.  My friend Elizabeth over at Food-Ramblings brought some of her ricotta cookies over to my house one night to snack on while we watched TV.  After giving them a try, I knew I had a new cookie recipe to try. When Christmas rolled around, my family definitely concurred.  At one point my brother and his girlfriend were rationing the ricotta cookies in the little box of cookies I gave them to bring home.

The great thing about these cookies is that they are a good neutral.  They have a light, fresh taste with a small dollup of easy frosting: perfect!  Last week I was asked to make a few cookies for a “coffee break” event at my school and I thought these would be a perfect addition to the cookie tray.  Since they are more plain in flavor, they work really well as a compliment to coffee and tea, but they are also tasty enough to stand on their own. Needless to say, these were a big hit at the coffee break! It’s proof that they work twelve months a year!cookie tray

Ricotta Cookies

Yeilds about 80 cookies depending on size (halve the recipe for a more managable amount), from Food Ramblings

Ingredients

Cookies

  • 1 cup butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese (basically a whole small container)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder

Frosting

  • 2 Tbs butter, melted
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 Tbs milk (I actually used almond milk and it worked great)
  • 1 Tbs vanilla
  • food coloring (I have made these in pink and green)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 375.
  2. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar.  Once that mixture is uniform, light, and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time.  Then add the vanilla.
  3. In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder.  Slowly add the flour and baking powder mixture to the wet mixture.  Mix until combined but try no to over mix.
  4. Portion the cookie dough out with a small ice cream scoop or teaspoon.  These cookies are (in my experience) made pretty small, and they do puff up a little when they bake.  Place the small balls of cookie dough on a parchement lined cookie sheet and bake about 12 minutes until they are just looking set and ever so slightly golden brown.right out of the oven
  5. While the cookies are cooling, whip together the frosting ingredients.  Make sure the cookies are completely cool before you frost them. Otherwise, they frosting will just slide right off.delicious

 

Do you have any Christmas cookies that you like to make year round?

Top 3 February Flea Market Finds

One of the things I love to do is to go shopping at local flea markets or antique marts.  I often find things at great prices.  Last month, I did found a few things to add to my collections.  Here are the top three.IMG_0884
This chef utensil holder was a bit more than what I would have liked to pay for it at $25. But where can you find something with as much character these days? They just don’t make ceramics like they used to.
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Martha Stewart would be jealous of this batter bowl find. At $25, it was a steal. It just happens to match the paint color of my new pantry area. This area of the house is almost complete. I will update you with pictures as soon as the project is completed.
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These chef salt and pepper shakers were irresistible at $10. The lady who sold them to me took $2 off the ticketed price and I didn’t even ask for a discount. Don’t be shy when at a flea market or antique mart. It is standard operating procedure to ask for a 10% discount. Often at a flea market, you can haggle your way to the price you are willing to pay as well. Sometimes the sellers are just looking to unload their treasures, especially in this economy. Get out there and find some hidden treasures of your own!

Library of Congress

Last weekend was my mom’s birthday, so as a treat, we met up in Washington DC and had a little girls weekend.  Neither of us have spent much time in DC recently so it was fun to try some new restaurants and do some sight seeing.

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A slightly blurry pic of the super decorated main hall

One of the highlights of the trip for me was visiting the Library of Congress.  I know that sounds kind of nerdy, but hear me out.  As you may or may not know, I am a big fan of Mr. Thomas Jefferson. The Library of Congress was basically started by TJ selling Congress his personal library.  So we took a tour at the main Library of Congress building (there are several ancillary buildings around DC), and there were several references to TJ throughout the tour. There was even an exhibit that was a replication of his original library as he would have laid it out in his house.

The building was a lot more ornate on the inside then I was expecting. It was basically decorated wall to wall with paintings, mosaics, and sculptures. Every piece of art was chalk full of symbolism of muses, historical references, and lots of famous faces.  I took a couple shot on my phone but they don’t do the building justice. You should definitely stop by if you’re in town!  There are several rooms and exhibits that don’t allow pictures so there is plenty more to see!

The ceiling of the main foyer of the building
The ceiling of the main foyer of the building