Biscochitos

These were pretty good tasting, but kind of a pain. The dough turned out way too crumbly, I think it may have needed more water than the 2 tablespoons. It also required anise seeds, which aren't available in Winona. So I substituted anise extract. The extract gave it a nice bitey flavor. Matched well with the orange zest and orange liquor. Side note, I have been sending the cookies to work with John, and his co-worker Will has been a part of our cookie journey. He found my hair in it today. Sigh. I have been so careful about that - I do an extra kitchen scrub before making things I share with others. I guess it was bound to happen. This one is not on her web-site. Sorry dudes.

Oh, also, it said to use a 4 inch "fleur de lis" cookie cutter. Surprisingly, I do not have that one in that size. So, I used a car shaped one.

Cupcakes?

I think we'll stick with the cookies.....for now!

Banana-Walnut Chocolate Chip

Pretty good cookie, the gang likes them. I think they could use more nuts or more chocolate....one of the two. Silpat makes it so much better. Here is the recipe.

Baci di Dama

Yummie! I made up these cuties today. Baci di Dama, which I believe is Italian for Ladies Kisses. My husband found them to be too crunchy, but I think they are suppose to be on the crunchy side. I am trying to temporarly quit coffee, but I am sure that these would go fabulously with coffee. The recipe said to use a pastry bag to form the cookies, but I just used a spoon. It made them more uneven shaped, but I think they are cute that way. The recipe is on Martha's site, but they are called "Chocolate Kisses".

Red Box

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Red Box. We have two of them in Winona - one in Wal-mart, one in Walgreens. It's super cheap and super easy. For $1 a night you rent a movie out of a vending machine. You have to use a credit card, and if you give your email address, it instantly emails you a receipt. And, on Monday nights - there is a code for a free rental. Just check out their blog - http://www.insideredbox.com/. Even though we do Netflix, it's still nice to be able to go out and rent a movie for cheap, and not deal with a store. Only downsides are those stores are all the way across town, and only have DVDs. Not Bluray or HD-DVD. (does anyone else still use HD-DVD?)

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am back making cookies! I skipped a head a bit, because I knew I would have all the ingredients for these gems, plus it's Con's birthday this week, and I thought these would be good to share with his little friends. It turns out, I did not exactly have all the ingredients. It calls for 2 eggs, and I only had one (for some crazy reason, Hy-vee had a shipping issue, and there are no eggs to be had). I read online to try smashing up half a banana instead. So I did! The banana added some crazy flavor, but one that worked.

Silpat

Normally, I hate the French. I mean, they are rude and whiney. But, they did something right. The Silpat. I don't know how I did my baking before. You know how fabulous parchment paper is for baking cookies, this takes it to the next level. They are expensive, like $15 a piece, but worth it. I have a Wilton silicone sheet, but this is far superior to that. I got mine at Linens-n-Things, but they are now out of business, so you probably have to buy them online now.