Well, that and all other good things, for that matter. (hehe)

Let me explain. The other day, we had too many eggs. And I mean we had wayyy too many eggs. We had so many eggs we were giving them away as presents! So, I decided to make some baked goodies from:

Martha Stewart Cookies!!!!!

There were a lot of cookies to choose from, but eventually, I decided on sugar cookie cutouts, and peanut butter swirl brownies. (technically, those aren’t cookies, but they were in the book!)

Sugar Cookie Cutouts:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups sifted* all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
2. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to just under 1/4 inch thick, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking. Cut out cookies with a 4-to-5-inch cookie cutter, transferring shapes to parchment paper-lined baking sheets as you work. Roll out the scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, and freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes.
4. Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.
5. Decorate however you want! We dipped half of each cookie into a bowl of candy melts, and then decorated with sprinkles. Be creative!

*Here’s a tip: you don’t have to sift the flour! Ever!

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies:

Ingredients:

For the batter:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining (not overhang).
2. Make batter: Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Let cool slightly. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. Whisk granulated sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.
4. Make filling: Stir together butter, confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
5. Pour one-third of batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Drop dollops of peanut butter filling (about 1 tablespoon each) on top of batter, spacing about 1 inch apart. Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan. Drop dollops of remaining filling on top. Gently swirl peanut butter filling into batter with a butter knife, running the knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers.
6. Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 45 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

So, here’s some stuff I noticed. The sugar cookies were supposed to make “2 dozen 4-inch cookies”. And we got at least 50. But that’s probably because we used different sized heart cookie cutters, and I doubt all of them were 4-inch. So, yeah. If you don’t want a lot of cookies (and I mean A LOT), stick to the 4-inch cutters.

And for the brownies, the swirl trick might sound confusing. I know I was confused. So basically, you just have to put blobs of peanut butter filling on top, and take a butter knife, and drag it through them in a criss-cross pattern. And make sure the tip of the knife hits the bottom of the pan.                                                                                                                                                                                                            And something I realized while typing up the recipe: I think I forgot to put in half the chocolate. But it tasted fine to me, so if you don’t really like a lot of chocolate, just leave it out!

So stay tuned, folks! Coming up next: INDIA!!!

Our family was lucky enough to be invited to our friend’s ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this summer.  We had never been to this part of the US before so we were very excited to explore.  If you have never been to Jackson – go!  My gosh – there is so much to do here the – days are long and full.  The sun doesn’t seem to set until after 9 and today when I opened my eyes at 5:40am the sun was already up.  Horseback riding, tubing, white water rafting, swimming, hiking, singing cowboy songs with the wrangler, s’mores by the bonfire – endless!

The day’s activities are planned around breakfast, lunch and dinner which is served at the ranch in a dining cabin and are quite a highlight in the day.

Dining Cabin

See the bell up at the roof?  It is rung 6 times a day – once to warn you and once to say the meal is served.

ready for lunch!

Yesterday for lunch we had cold cuts and salad and pasta salad and lemonade and iced tea and ranch honey.  And for dessert a wonderful cookie with a surprise icing.  It was sort of like a black and white cookie  - kind of soft and cakey.  And the frosting looked like it would be lemony but surprise! It was cream cheesey and almondy – yum!  Had to ask the cook for the recipe.

Celesta and her cookies

And after a littler flattery she was happy to share:

Snake River Ranch Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Now, Celesta did not give me much more in terms of directions but I imagine you just mix the butter and add the sugar and then the eggs.  Then alternate all the dry ingredients with the buttermilk until combined.  She said if the dough rests overnight in the refrigerator it is easier to handle.

Drop onto a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

When the cookies are cooled they can be frosted.  Now, Celesta also did not give me a cream cheese frosting icing recipe – she just wrote “Cream Cheese frosting with almond flavoring” –  but I’m guessing if you mix a room temperature block of cream cheese with a cup of sifted confectioner’s sugar, a 1/4 cup of softened butter and add a teaspoon of almond extract you will get pretty close to the SRR recipe.   I guess Celesta wanted to keep some secrets after all.

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The other day, my grandpa was coming over. And so, we decided to make him an early father’s day treat: his favorite, marzipan!

It’s really not that hard. It’s mostly fun, actually! Here’s what you’ll need:

• an assortment of food colorings
• marzipan (a can, preferably. They have longer shelf lives than tubes)
• cloves (optional)

That’s pretty much all you need! Here are some helpful tips, though:

1. When mixing in the coloring, just try to blend it in, as if you were mixing two colors of play doh or something.
2. After making a couple things, you might want to wash your hands. It makes rolling the marzipan out easier, and you won’t get colors from your last creation mixed into your new one.
3. The cloves are for making stems in the fruits.
4. Be creative!!

Here are some of ours:

An octopus.

A cupcake.

An egg – sunny side up!

A book, creatively titled “Book”.

And, some fruit. (see the clove-stems).

So go make some marzipan RIGHT NOW!!!

So very excited to have received my first box from my CSA which most of you already know is Community Supported Agriculture.  I used to do this year’s ago when it was just me and my sweetie but we couldn’t finish the vegetables and fruits fast enough. Those were also the days of leisurely dinners out.  Decided to try it again as I now have three rebellious hellions for whom it is my motherly duty to force feed vegetables to.  And as for eating out that has become a defense sport in which Aj and I try and shovel down dinner (and a drink!) while simultaneously avoiding hair pulling, hysterical crying and vomiting.

I have never met Farmer T.  From what he has told me he lives this very bucolic life in Massachusetts where he tends his family’s farm and rides around in a wood paneled station wagoney vehicle collecting things to put in my box every week.  And he always has little baby chicks running around his feet in a cute little chicken orbit.  Ok, I made that last part up but it does sound nice.  I’m not sure how his week generally goes but I do know that he drives down on Wednesday morning to make his NYC drop offs and I am drop off #1.  I didn’t quite know what to expect and was hoping it wasnt a lot of swiss chard and kale (which was my experience 13 years ago) and was happily surprised today.  Feast your eyes on this week’s epicurean delights:

Lovely to look at, no?  In fact, I just arranged it on my dining room table and looked at it for a couple of hours.   Truthfully, there were a few things that I had no idea what they were:

Beautiful pink teeny radishes, bok choy, scallions, two bags of green leafy, two bunches of beautiful lettuce, yogurt, some  smoked cheddar and gouda, garlic red pepper miso, homemade vanilla granola, wild rice, the cutest little box of tea, a dozen farm fresh eggs, a loaf of really -good-for-you bread, a chicken from vermont and some fresh ground beef.  And a bunch of green leafy things that I am not quite sure of what they are but will probably taste really good sauteed with some garlic.

Oh, and 3 cookies each about the size of my head.

chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and ginger (with real chunks of candied ginger!)

Cookies in my vegetable box?  Now we are talking!  That is my kind of farmer.

It sort of felt a little like Christmas here today with all these new surprises I got to unpack. Looking forward to my 26 weeks of Farmer T.  Thanks to my sister who hooked me up with him.

By the way, in another life Farmer T was a clothes designer in East Hampton.  And now he’s a gentleman farmer.  Like I said, my kind of farmer.

Kaira was feeling a bit shy so I thought I would post to my few friends who read this blog  - her entry was one of 2 chosen from New York State for the Doodle for Google contest.  As her history teacher says, brava Kaira!   Basically kids are invited to design the Google home page logo.  The topic this year was:

Check out her entry and others here

Sustainable Eating Taking Root
Kaira Mediratta
The Dalton School

And in other news today – and I know this is totally random but I just have to share! – I was in Whole Foods shopping for dinner and look at what I saw!

No, it is not an avocado but an Emu egg!  It costs $29.99 and is the same as 10 chicken eggs!!  Isn’t that amazing?    And quite unglamorously it hails from New Jersey.

Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting for a while…haven’t really had the time. Anywhoooo — remember those cakeballs I said that I’d post about? Well here it is!

But wait! I have to tell you about my “cake ball experience”, first:

So. When I first discovered these,the first thing I thought was WOW! WE HAVE TO MAKE THESE! And so, when I had a bakesale at my school, I did! And they tasted pretty good. But the thing was, since nobody knew what they were, they didn’t buy them at the bakesale! And so, when I went home, I was left with a big fat plate of cakeballs. But don’t worry, we put them to good use – (aka we ATE them!) And so, for my birthday, I decided to try again, and so for my class, I brought in some cakeballs. And when everyone tried them, THEY WENT CRAZY!! Everyone LOVED them! And they were gone in no time! So. When we had another bakesale (this one for Haiti), I brought in the box of cakeballs that you see here, and because everyone in my class knew of their amazingness, they told all the customers, and the cakeballs sold like hotcakes!!

So. That was my cakeball experience.

Basically, Cake balls are magical little balls of cake that I found on a great baking site by the amazing Bakerella, and let me tell you: they will CHANGE YOUR LIFE! Maybe. I don’t know. But they’re really good! So, I’ll just skip the chitchat, and get to the point!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of cake mix
• 1 can of frosting
• 2 packages of candy melts
• Sprinkles (optional, but recommended)

Directions:

1. Bake the cake mix.
2. After it’s cooled (or you can do it while it’s slightly warm), crumble up the cake into a bowl.
3. Mix frosting really well into crumbled cake. I recommend using your fingers to do this, even though it’s messy! It makes it a lot easier, and it’s kinda fun!
4. Use a mini ice cream scooper to make balls out of the cake, and lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. We usually get around 90 cakeballs, but if you use a bigger scoop, you don’t have to get as many.
5. Stick it in the freezer until they are frozen-ish.
6. Melt one package of candy melts for 30 second intervals in a bowl. You will probably need a second bag later.
7. Take the cakeballs out of the freezer, and drop 2-4 at a time into the melted candy melts. You can use tongy things to take the cakeballs out of the melts, and to help lay them on the tray. A spoon will probably work, too. Whatever floats your boat.
8. If you want to, decorate with sprinkles before the melts harden.
9. Wait for the melts to harden.
10. ENJOY!!!

P.S. If you’re lucky, you can find RED VELVET CAKE MIX! Like this:

(choir singing)

But I doubt that you’d be that lucky. Because we got it from some other place. Good luck finding it.

Deeeee-licious! Remember the post that nycmom wrote about her Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake? Well, now we’re working with those mandarin orange/lemon hybrid thingies again! And let me tell you – even though this lemonade is a little sweeter/flavorful, I think it’s just as good, if not better!

Steps (in mostly pix):

Step 1: Find a meyer lemon tree and pick some lemons!

NB: Use a ladder if you can’t exactly reach.

Step 2: Count them – you should have about 12 lemons.

Step 3: Carry them inside…

Step 4: Squeeeeeze them!

Step 5: Mix it allllll up!

Or if you want more precise instructions, here’s a recipe for you:

Meyer Lemon Lemonade

Ingredients:

Makes about 4 cups

• 12 meyer lemons
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of water

Real Steps:

1. Cut all the lemons in half.
2. Squeeze them real good with a squeezy thing.
3. Make sure you don’t have any seeds in the juice.
4. Mix in all the other ingredients.
5. Enjoy!

I just saw the movie, Alice in Wonderland, based on the original book by Lewis Carroll. And let me tell you, I was a little disappointed. But that’s just my opinion. I’ll give you a little summary of what the plot was, first:

Easily distracted, but nonetheless imaginative Alice, who is now 19, feels confined in a world of proper manners, and people telling her how to live her life. And when she arrives at a garden party, she isn’t surprised to find that, Hamish, the son of one of her father’s business partners, is planning to propose to her, and all of the guests expect her to accept. But suddenly, just as he asks her, she spots a white rabbit out of the corner of her eye, and runs after it, through the bushes and trees, until she comes to a hole, and falls in.

I think that this movie would have been a lot better, though, if it were the actual story; I just thought that this story wasn’t as good as the first one by Lewis Carroll. And, one other thing I would have liked to have seen would have been an Alice with a hair color other than blonde. But that’s just me.

But now on to the positives: I really liked the costumes, especially The Red Queen’s (look at the pix below) and The Mad Hatter’s (again, look below). And I also liked how it was like “Alice Returns to Wonderland” (though, like I said before, I think the original story was better). Maybe they should have named the movie something else, so that people would be less confused about whether it is the original version or not. And finally, I liked the fact that it was a family movie (that’s always a good quality!) So, all in all, I think this was a nice movie.

another reason to love NYC!

Where else can you get dinner (Rickshaw Dumpling House) and dessert (Street Sweets) from a truck!