My sister really knows how to plan a weekend visit. Step one, consult with your local Trader Joe’s cashier for the inside scoop on good local tourist spots. Step two, go to the strange place recommended by said cashier and hand-feed goats with baby bottles. It’s over. She’s won. The place in question, Grant’s Farm, brings
Does accidental science still count as an experiment? I’m going to rule yes, and go ahead and share the results of my totally unintentional study of how dough temperature affects cookie baking. In other words, I got distracted halfway through making cookies, stuck the dough in the fridge, ate a good amount of it straight
When words fail me, I resort to communication via baking. These cookies started off as happy-birthday-and-I-miss-you cookies for friends in Chicago, became good-luck-on-midterms cookies for a friend here, and made a quick stop at good-luck-with-big-changes-at-work cookies before settling in at just-because-it’s-Tuesday cookies. It’s amazing what a little chocolate can say, given the opportunity. And chocolate
Cocoa powder holds a special place in my heart as the ingredient that got me into food science. During my senior year of college, I wanted to pursue research in food science but my school didn’t have any faculty in that area. Amazingly, one of the chemistry professors had a connection to a local chocolate
After the intricate carving and too many piping bags of my 12 days of Christmas series, I needed to reset in the kitchen with something simple. As per usual, cookies were the answer. Chocolate cookies, to be exact, and I wanted them packed with as much chocolate as possible. Armed with four kinds of solid
I love the holiday season for too many reasons to count: silly family traditions, ambitious knitting projects that result in half-finished presents, Christmas carols everywhere, and COOKIES. All of the cookies. We have to make a batch of sugar cookies when everyone is home so that my sisters and I can use all of the
I generally keep a pretty hefty stock of baking supplies on hand—flour, butter, sugar, eggs, giant Costco bags of chocolate chips. You know, the essentials. But it’s also important to know how to work around a sparse pantry or fridge when you need some emergency cookies. I didn’t know this when I ate them as
I remember lots of great food coming out of my grandma’s kitchen, with the peanut butter bonbons from two weeks ago pretty much at the top of that list. It continued with peanut butter treats masquerading as “energy bars,” holiday cheeseballs, and all sorts of yummy things that my childhood self adored. These cookies did
My childhood home had a built-in stepstool in the kitchen that pulled out like a drawer, which was, of course, directly in front of the mixer. I’m not sure if my parents were encouraging independence or resigned to the fact that their oldest would always be short or ensuring a constant supply of chocolate chip