Here are the tastingspoons players. I’m in the middle (Carolyn). Daughter Sara on the right, and daughter-in-law Karen on the left. I started the blog in 2007, as a way to share recipes with my family. I’m still doing 99% of the blogging and holding out hope that these two lovely and excellent cooks will participate. They both lead very busy lives, so we’ll see.
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BOOK READING (from Carolyn):
Music of Bees, Eileen Garvin. Absolutely charming book about a woman in midlife, lonely, who raises bees, also makes unlikely friends. Heart-warming and very interesting about beekeeping.
A Postcard from Paris, Alex Brown. Really cute story. Dual time line, 1940s and present day about renovating an old apartment in Paris, things discovered.
Time of the Child, Niall Williams. Oh such a good book. Very small village in Ireland, 1960s. A baby is left on the doorstep. The town all whispers and helps. I listened to an interview of the author, which made me like him and his books even more.
Sipsworth, Simon Van Booy. If you like animals you’ll swoon. An old woman who really wants to die finds a tiny mouse in her house and befriends it and finds a reason to live. Utterly charming book.
The Forger’s Spell, Edward Dolnick. True story. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of Johannes Vermeer.
If You Lived Here, You’d be Home by Now, Christopher Ingraham. Could hardly put it down – about a journalist who takes on a challenge to move to small town in Minnesota and write about it. He expects to hate it and the people and place, but he doesn’t. Absolutely wonderful true story.
The River We Remember, William Kent Kreuger. 1950s, Minnesota. A murder and the aftermath. Could hardly put it down. Kreuger has such a vivid imagination and writing style.
How the Lights Gets In, Joyce Maynard. An older woman returns to New Hampshire to help care for her brain-injured son. Siblings and family, lots of angst and resentments.
The Filling Station, Vanessa Miller. Every American should read this book. A novelized retelling of the Tulsa massacre in 1921. Absolutely riveting.
The Story She Left Behind, Patti Callahan Henry. Love this author. Based on a true story. A famous author simply vanishes, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She had invented a mystical language no one could translate. Present day, someone thinks he’s solved the riddle, contacts the family. Really interesting read.
The Girl from Berlin, Ronald Balson. Love anything about Tuscany. An elderly woman is being evicted from a villa there, with odd deed provenance. Two young folks go there to help unravel the mystery. Loved it.
The Island of the Colorblind, Oliver Sacks, M.D. Nonfiction. The dr is intrigued by a remote Pacific island where most of the inhabitants are colorblind. He also unravels a mystery on Guam of people born with a strange neurological problem. Medical mysteries unveiled. Very interesting.
The Bookbinder, Pip Williams. Post 1914 London. Two sisters work at a bookbindery. They’re told to not read the books. One does and one doesn’t. One has visions beyond her narrow world; the other does not. Eventually the one gets into Oxford. Lovely story.
The Paris Express, Emma Donoghue. 1895 on a train to Paris, a disaster happens. You’ll delve into the lives of many people who survived and died in the crash.
A Race to the Bottom of Crazy, Richard Grant. This is about Arizona. Author, wife and child move back to Arizona where they once lived. Part memoir, research, and reporting in a quest to understand what makes Arizona such a confounding and irresistible place.
The Scarlet Thread, Francine Rivers. A woman’s life turned upside down when she discovers the handcrafted quilt and journal of her ancestor Mary Kathryn McMurray, a young woman who was uprooted from her home only to endure harsh frontier conditions on the Oregon Trail.
A Place to Hide, Ronald Balson. 1939 Amsterdam, an ambassador has the ability to save the lives of many Jewish children. Heartwarming.
Homeseeking, Karissa Chen. Two young Chinese teens are deeply in love, but in China. Then their families are separated. Jump to current day and the two meet again in Los Angeles.
North River, Pete Hammill. He always writes such a good story. A doctor works diligently healing people from all walks of life. His wife and daughter left him years before. One day his 3-yr old grandson arrives on his doorstep.
A Very Typical Family, Sierra Godfrey. A very messed-up family. Three adult children are given a home in Santa Cruz, Calif, but only if the siblings meet up and live in the house together. A very untypical scenario but makes for lots of messes.
Three Days in June, Anne Tyler. The usual Anne Tyler grit. Family angst. This wasn’t one of my favorites, but it was entertaining and very short.
Saved, Benjamin Hall. Author is a veteran war reporter. Ukraine, 2022, he nearly loses his life to a Russian strike. Riveting story – he survives, barely.
Grey Wolf, Louise Penny. Another Inspector Gamache mystery in Quebec. She is such an incredible mystery writer.
All the Colors of the Dark, Chris Whitaker. A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each. Could hardly put it down.
Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Winner of 2024 Booker Prize. I don’t usually like those, but I heard the author interviewed and she hooked me. This is not a normal book with a beginning, a story and an end. It’s several chapters of the day in the life of various astronauts at the ISS (Int’l Space Station). All fictional. She’s been praised by several real astronauts for “getting it” about space station everyday life.
The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins. An island off Scotland. Inaccessible except when the tide is out. Weird goings on. An artist. A present day mystery too.
Iron Lake, William Kent Krueger. A judge is murdered and a boy is missing. Riveting mystery.
Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Carol Ricks Brunt. 1980s. A 14-yr old girl loses her beloved uncle. Yet a new friendship arises, someone she never knew about.
Four Treasures of the Sky, Jenny Zhang. 1880s, a young girl is kidnapped in China and brought to the United States. She survives with many hurdles in the path.
The Boy Who Fell out of the Sky, Ken Dornstein. Memoir, 1988. The author’s brother died in the PanAm flight that went down in Lockerbie, Scotland. A decade later he tries to solve “the riddle of his older brother’s life.”
Worse Care Scenario, T.J. Newman. Oh my. Interesting analysis of what could/might happen if a jet crashed into a nuclear plant. Un-put-downable.
Song of the Lark, Willa Cather. Complicated weave of a story about a young woman in about 1900, who has a gifted voice (singing) and about her journey to success, not without its ups and downs.
Crow Talk, Eileen Garvin. Charming story which takes place at a remote lake in Washington State, about a few people who inhabit it, the friendships made, but also revolving around the rescue of a baby crow.
The Story Collector, Evie Woods. Sweet story about some dark secrets from an area in Ireland, a bit magical, faerie life, but solving a mystery too.
A Sea of Unspoken Things, Adrienne Young. A woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death. She goes to a small town in California to figure it out, to figure HIM out.
The King’s Messenger, Susanna Kearsley. 1600s England, King James. About one of his trusted “messengers,” and his relationship with a young woman also of “the court.” Lots of intrigue.
In the Shadow of the Greenbrier, Emily Matchar. Interesting mystery in/around the area of the famous resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Isola, Allegra Goodman. Hard to describe, survival story on an island in the 1600s.
Save the Date, Allison Raskin. Rom-com, witty, LOL funny. Clever.
The Sirens, Emilia Hart. Numerous time-lines, Australia. Mysteries abound, nightmares, abandoned baby, weird allergies.
Red Clay, Charles Fancher. LOVED this book. Mostly post-Civil War story about the lives of slaves in Alabama during Reconstruction.
Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo. Dual time line, 1946 and recent time. Love stories and a mystery.
Battle Mountain, C.J. Box. Another one of Box’s riveting mysteries. Love his descriptions of the land.
Something Beautiful Happened, Yvette Corporon. A memoir of sorts in Greece, tiny island of Erikousa, where the locals hid Jews during WWII. All elusive stories told by the author’s grandmother.
The Jackal’s Mistress, Chris Bohjalian. 1860s Virginia, about a woman who saves the life of a Union soldier. Really good story.
Song of the Magpie, Louise Mayberry. Really interesting story about Australia back in the days when it was mostly a penal colony. Gritty strength of a woman trying to thrive with her farm.
The Boomerang, Robert Bailey. A thriller that will have you gripping the book. About a lot of secrets surrounding the president (fictional novel, remember) and his chief of staff and about cancer. A cure. Such a good story.
Care and Feeding, Laurie Woolever. Really interesting memoir of a woman driven to succeed in the restaurant business. She worked for Mario Batali and then Anthony Bourdain. Gritty stories.
Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green. Maybe not a book for everyone. A real deep dive into the deadly tuberculosis infection, its history. I heard the author interviewed and found the book very interesting.
The Book Lovers Library, Madeline Martin. Fascinating read about Boots’ drug stores’ lending library. And the people who worked in them.
The Arrivals, Meg Mitchell Moore. LOL funny, about a middle-aged couple whose children (and their various family members) return to the family home and the chaos that ensues.
My Life as a Silent Movie, Jesse Lee Kercheval. About grief. A big move to Paris, finding herself a new life with a new set of real blood family.
Escape, Carolyn Jessop. Another memoir about a woman really in bondage in Utah, Mormon plural marriage.
My blog's namesake - small, old and some very dented engraved silver plated tea spoons that belonged to my mother-in-law, and I use them to taste my food as I'm cooking.
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Posted in Uncategorized, on December 21st, 2008.
My friend Kathy gave me this little Santa a couple of years ago. He’s made by some very well known company – who produce a line of exquisite Christmas ornaments. I can’t remember the name. His feet swing free, and his sturdy body sits precariously on a shelf here in my family room. He’s very well painted and outfitted and carries a wand with a star. This guy is a treasure.
Just a few nights ago I attended my book group’s Christmas potluck dinner. We always have such fun at this annual event. Everyone brings something, the hostess provides wine, soft drinks and coffee. After we’ve stuffed ourselves with all the good food, we sit around in a circle and share something about the holidays – a funny personal story, a poem perhaps, or a very short (published) story.
One of our members, Nancy K, brought a soup this year. Not a very easy thing to take to a potluck, but it survived without spilling in her car. We’re ever so glad she did because it was just wonderful. I couldn’t believe it when she told us what was in it. Canned soups. Amazing. This could be my new fix-and-eat-in-a-hurry dinner, providing I’ve got the ingredients. Notes to self: buy some of those canned soups to keep on hand plus the frozen seafood mixture at Trader Joe’s. The recipe is below.
This year at my group gathering, I shared a short chapter in Caroline Kennedy’s book A Family Christmas (published in 2007), a compendium of Christmas stories, lore, etc. The one I read was about NORAD. I know, what’s NORAD got to do with Christmas, you ask? Perhaps some of you know about this already, but I’d never heard that NORAD (and the comparable military group in Canada) track Santa on Christmas Eve, and you can read all about it on the internet at NORADSanta. You see, Rudolph’s nose is infrared, so the sensors in NORAD’s high-powered system can track exactly where Rudolph is at all times because of that glowing nose! They carefully monitor when Rudolph leaves the North Pole, and shortly after you can watch Santa’s progress (starting about 3 pm on Christmas Eve) around the world. Sometimes fighter jets get a sighting of Santa, and some planes are equipped with “Santa Cams” that also get occasional shots of Santa in different locations. Those photos are uploaded to the website so you and your children can see them. Anyway, the story I read aloud was all about how NORAD ended up even doing this project (because a newspaper misprinted a phone number for a Santa hotline, and the calls ended up going to a communications chief at NORAD. A quick-thinker that guy was – he decided his staff needed to pitch in and help, and the NORAD Santa project was born.)
Another book club member shared a joke – a very cute one. It’s the story about why Santa is a woman. If you’re interested, you can check it out at Christmas Jokes. There’s also some rebuttals out there about why Santa couldn’t possibly be a woman. All good for a laugh.
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Recipe: Nancy K, a friend in my book group
Servings: 8
1 bunch green onions — chopped
4 ounces unsalted butter
1 can tomato soup, condensed (10 3/4 ounces)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup, condensed (10 3/4 ounces each)
2 cups half and half
1/4 cup cream sherry — doubling to 1/2 cup is even better
1 pound shrimp, bay scallops, crab mixture — or shellfish of your choice
1. Saute onions in butter until softened.
2. Add the two soups, half and half and sherry. Bring up to a boil, then add the mixed fish/seafood. Simmer for 30 minutes and serve.
Per Serving: 357 Calories; 27g Fat (66.1% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 141mg Cholesterol; 935mg Sodium.
Posted in Desserts, Veggies/sides, on December 19th, 2008.
Kugel. It’s a Yiddish word. But the food dish is German in origin, as I discovered when I was reading up on kugel at Wikipedia. However, Wiki’s site does say that there is very little documentation about kugel (and they invite people to contribute sources, if known, other than word of mouth). Kugels come both savory and sweet and are Jewish side dishes or desserts. Originally they were only savory, but over the centuries they’ve evolved to sweet-ish side dishes (mine) and much more sweet ones that incorporate fruit, raisins, etc. eggs, custard, etc. which are desserts.
The first time I was served this kugel was in the 1960’s. I used to be in a women’s gourmet group way back then (yes, they DID have such things back in the cave age of the 1960’s). The group met monthly for a weekday lunch at someone’s home. One of the ladies that I didn’t know very well, Alberta, brought this and it was served as part of the buffet lunch (we all brought something, hence it was a gourmet potluck). Having never had it before, I was enchanted. Certainly I noticed how sweet it was, and wondered why it was part of the lunch. But oh well, Alberta brought it, said it was part of her family heritage, and she put it out with lunch, not with the row of the desserts.
Now, though, I know from reading about kugels, this one is actually a dessert type. Why Alberta served it as part of lunch, I don’t know. Consequently, I have served it a few times as a side dish, but I make it less sweet. It’s great with ham, for instance, or a pork roast. Pork seems to lend itself well to sweeter sides. I make it less fat laden too. I was astounded the first time I made this to discover how much butter is in it. A lot. So I’ve cut it down some.
It’s a pineapple kugel – with cottage cheese and a crispy topping of cornflake crumbs and brown sugar. However you serve it, it’s delicious as long as you’re not planning to eat low carb or low calorie, because it certainly is NOT. So splurge and enjoy it.
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Recipe: From an acquaintance I knew in the 1960’s
Servings: 16
NOODLES:
1 pound egg noodles — wide
8 ounces unsalted butter — room temp
16 ounces cottage cheese — small curd
3 ounces cream cheese — softened
6 large eggs — lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vanilla
6 tablespoons sugar
16 ounces crushed pineapple in juice — (do not drain)
1/2 cup milk
TOPPING:
1/2 cup brown sugar — or more, if desired
1 1/2 cups cornflake crumbs
Additional pats of butter on top, if desired
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Prepare noodles as directed (undercook, since they’ll be baked for a long time), and chunk up butter into the hot noodles. Stir until butter is melted. Set aside to cool while continuing with remainder of recipe. (Save butter wrappers for greasing the baking dish.)
3. In a large bowl mash the cream cheese to make sure it’s soft, then add cottage cheese. Then add the canned pineapple, vanilla and sugar, eggs and milk. Stir to combine. Add the cooled noodles and stir to mix well. Grease a large, flat baking dish (Pyrex, 8×13 approx.) and pour noodle mixture into it. Smooth with a spoon.
4. Topping: sprinkle brown sugar over the top of the noodles, then sprinkle corn flake crumbs on top. Original recipe called for dotting the top with an additional cube of butter. I omit that step, but it’s up to you!
5. Cover with foil and bake for one hour covered, then remove foil and continue baking for another 30 minutes. Remove and cool.
6. Slice the kugel into blocky pieces (kind of like sliced zucchini bread in shape), ideally about 3 1/2 inches wide and 2+ inches high, about 1 inch wide pieces. Allow to cool completely and serve. Depending on how you cut this, it may serve as many as 20, or as few as about 12.
7. Can be made ahead (baked) and frozen, but cut the slices before reheating. May also be served hot, if preferred.
Per Serving: 373 Calories; 17g Fat (41.6% calories from fat); 12g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 147mg Cholesterol; 258mg Sodium.
Posted in Brunch, easy, Miscellaneous sides, on December 18th, 2008.
It’s a good thing I enjoy reading, because I get to do a lot of it keeping up with just some of the food blogs out there. And I keep adding more, and very rarely deleting any. More and more people have discovered the fun of writing food blogs, so there are more and more of them. I can’t keep up with them every day, so I work at it every few days, trying to read as many as I can.
One such blog that is very prolific is Al Dente (an Amazon.com sponsored food blog showcasing recipes from foodie authors). In this case it was Nigella Lawson. I used to watch her show on the Food Network (but I don’t think she has a show anymore; at least I haven’t seen one). This recipe came from one of her cookbooks (not the one I own). She was recommending the spiced peaches as a hot side for a Christmas ham. Sounded good, but I had a different use in mind. I wanted to serve them as a breakfast side dish.
I have one recipe that I’ve used for years for spiced fruit. But it makes a rather large quantity (since it utilizes cans of different fruit), so when I spotted this recipe that used just one large can of peach halves, aha! It’s got many of the usual ingredients in spiced fruit (cinnamon, cloves and a bit of vinegar) but also some more unusual things (sliced fresh ginger, chile flakes and rice wine vinegar instead of regular). The best part? It was EASY. QUICK. Took about 5 minutes total start to finish. I highly recommend it. To accompany holiday breakfasts, or as a side for ham (served hot).
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Recipe: Nigella Lawson, Nigella Express
Servings: 8
28 ounces peach halves in syrup
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar — or white wine vinegar
2 short cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes — crushed [maybe less if you don’t like plenty of warmth]
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorn [I happened to use grains of paradise]
3 whole cloves
1. Empty the cans of peaches into a saucepan with their syrup.
2. Add the vinegar, cinnamon, sliced ginger, chiles, salt, whole peppercorns, and cloves.
3. Bring the pan to a boil, and let it boil for a minute or so, then turn off the heat and leave in the pan to keep warm.
4. Serve the peaches with a hot ham, letting people take a peach half each and some of the spiced juice. Or serve it as part of a brunch, as I did. Any leftovers can (and should) be stored in a jar and then eaten cold with cold ham.
Per Serving: 91 Calories; 1g Fat (5.9% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 130mg Sodium.
Posted in Uncategorized, on December 17th, 2008.
It is good to be children sometimes,
and never better than at Christmas.
–Charles Dickens
I don’t know about you, but I’m behind. The faster I go, the behinder I get. Isn’t that the phrase? Everything in preparation for Christmas will likely come together in the next 6 days or so, but right now, right this minute, I’m feeling the usual crush of too many things to do. Too many places to go. Too much pressure!
Here in Southern California it’s 6:30 am as I write this. It’s 47 degrees outside and raining. Now 47 to some of you is likely laughable. You’d think that’s shorts and t-shirt weather, right? To us, with thin California sunshine skin, it’s cold. Brrrr kind of cold. It’s bone-chilling cold to me. But I’m safely tucked into my house, the heater is cranking away, I fired up the gas logs in the fireplace and made myself a coffee latte and now I’ll start my big day of cooking. I’m taking a casserole to my book group’s annual Christmas potluck tonight, so that will likely be the recipe I’ll post tomorrow. I’m planning to make noodle kugel. Some people eat this as dessert, but my recipe is a semi-sorta sweet side dish made with pineapple and cottage cheese.
Then, tomorrow morning I’ll be entertaining a group of girlfriends of mine. We’ve been meeting for breakfast for decades, and once a year in December we meet at someone’s home for a gift exchange and a nice home made breakfast. I volunteered to have it this year. I’m going to make an eggy muffin thing that I’ve never prepared before, some spiced peaches I read about from Nigella Lawson, and schnecken rolls. The latter I’ve posted before, but didn’t have a photo, so now – I hope – I will, and will post about those in a few days.
So off I go – to catch up. To grocery shop, to cook, clean, set my dining table. And try, though it all, to remember that the reason for it all is to celebrate Christ’s birth, and that it isn’t about the shopping and the eating, but about remembering that Jesus was born long ago in tiny town. That a saviour was born. I don’t use this blog as a podium for my Christianity, but today I felt the need to remind myself that the season is all about Jesus. On Sunday evening my husband and I went to St. Andrew’s Presbyterian church in Newport Beach (not our own church) to hear a wonderful, absolutely wonderful Christmas music concert. Through an occasional drama skit, soloists, their 107-voice choir and 20-piece orchestra we heard the Christmas story. Very moving. This coming Sunday we’ll go to our own church’s music concert, with our 100-voice choir, and probably a 15+ piece orchestra. God and the Holy Spirit speak to me through music. Always have. It’s the words, but more so it’s the glorious music. It stirs my soul. Won’t you treat yourselves to a concert where you live? Go to a Christmas Eve service somewhere. Listen to the words, the lilting voices, and hear the amazing story. Believe.
Posted in Cookies, on December 16th, 2008.
The original name of these cookies was White Chocolate Chip Cookies. But to most of us, that’s misleading – it’s not made with white chocolate. It’s a white batter (meaning no brown sugar like traditional CC cookies). So I took the liberty of renaming this one. Guess I could have called it White Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies, but I like my name better. The other thing that’s unusual about these cookies is that they’re made with powdered sugar only. No granulated at all. Lots of people really-really like these cookies – and maybe prefer them to their regular cousins, Nestle’s chocolate chip cookies. I like the brown sugar in mine, but you might just like these better. Give ’em a try. The recipe comes from my friend Cherrie’s sister, Laurie. Thanks, Laurie. There are also no nuts in this recipe (I almost always put nuts in my CC cookies).
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Recipe: From my friend Cherrie’s sister Laurie M.
Serving: 36
1/2 pound unsalted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
6 ounces chocolate chips
1. Cream together butter and powdered sugar. Beat in salt, vanilla and flour, mixing until blended. Mixture will be stiff. Stir in chocolate chips. Roll into 1-inch balls, flatten with glass on ungreased cookie (shiny) cookie sheets.
2. Bake in pre-heated 350 oven for 15 minutes. Check first batch to not overbake. They should be white, not brown.
Per Serving: 110 Calories; 7g Fat (52.6% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 14mg Cholesterol; 16mg Sodium.
Posted in Uncategorized, on December 15th, 2008.
Sorry the photo is a bit blurry. But you can get the idea – warm kitchen, warm hands, lots of melting chocolate on said hands as we sprinkled chopped chocolate all over the hot caramel layer for the Chocolate-Almond Saltine Toffee.
Then there’s an even funnier story. When Cherrie and I were madly baking cookies the other day, I set up an assembly line to make the harlequin pinwheels. Six slabs of dough needed to be rolled out between waxed paper. Then the soft chocolate layer was spread on top, nuts sprinkled on that, then carefully, very carefully, we rolled up the rolls before refrigerating them. So, I was doing the rolling out of the dough and Cherrie did the chocolate layer, nuts and rolling them up. I traveled down the production line with my top sheet of waxed paper, pressing, rolling, reforming, rolling, until it was just the right shape. At the 6th one I left the waxed paper on top.
Now, you have to understand, Cherrie wears glasses for reading only. She didn’t have them with her. She carefully went down the row, spreading chocolate, applying nuts, rolling up. When she got to the last one . . . well, let’s just say she couldn’t SEE the waxed paper covering the cookie dough. So she spread the chocolate on top of the waxed paper. All we could do was giggle. Fortunately we had plenty of chocolate and nuts, so it got tossed. Good friends. Good time. Good laughs.
Posted in Uncategorized, on December 14th, 2008.
This guy, a stately looking reindeer if I ever saw one, is made of metal. He’s heavy. Found him in a shop in Colorado a couple of years ago. Sometimes he graces the kitchen island, or the dining room table. Every year I gather all my Christmas “stuff” and pick and choose what goes where. This year he stands guard in back of the kitchen sink where he becomes a silhouette in the light.
Posted in Cookies, on December 13th, 2008.
Oh, these cookies. Oh, my. Well, they’re almost more like candy than cookies because of the caramel layer in them. The toffee. When I saw this recipe calling for saltines in it, as I am wont to do, with something unusual in it, I had to try it. You might not think this sounds good, but it’s a perfect match. You find that you LIKE the little bit of salt from the saltines. To me, the saltines “make” this. It’s really quite easy – different than making traditional cookies for sure. We made these on Wednesday, and I’m finding myself reaching for just one more little piece of this. It’s particularly delicious with a cup of coffee.
Picture right: one of the saltine toffee shards turned on its edge so you can see the layers.
First you put down a layer of saltines in a rimmed baking sheet (with parchent or silpat – mandatory to get them out of the pan). Then you make the caramel toffee – just sugar, butter and a tad of corn syrup, until it reaches 300 degrees F, at which point it’s turns to a beautiful honey color. That gets scooped or poured (carefully, as it’s really hot) over the saltines. Meanwhile you’ll already have the chopped up chocolate standing by. After cooling the caramel layer for 3 minutes, you sprinkle the chocolate pieces all over. In minutes the chocolate has melted and it’s spread over the toffee with an offset spatula (if you have one). Then the sliced (toasted) almonds are sprinkled on top of the soft chocolate. Press them in slightly so they’ll adhere to the chocolate. Freeze 15 minutes, carefully tip the sheet out of the pan, upright it, then break it into narrow shards. Done. You should really try these. They’re a winner-recipe in my book. It came from Food & Wine.
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Recipe: Nicole Plue at Food & Wine
Servings: about 30 pieces
1/2 cups sliced almonds (6 ounces)
Approximately 60 saltine crackers (not low-sodium)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter — 3/4 pound
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate — chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1. Preheat the oven to 350°, spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast for about 6 minutes, until golden.
2. Line a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or lightly buttered parchment paper. Arrange the saltine crackers on the baking sheet in a single layer, patching any holes with cracker bits; slight gaps are okay.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, butter and corn syrup and cook over low heat until the sugar is melted. Brush the side of the pan with a moistened pastry brush to wash down any sugar crystals. Cook the syrup over moderate heat without stirring until it starts to brown around the edge, about 5 minutes. Insert a candy thermometer into the syrup and simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon, until honey-colored caramel forms and the temperature reaches 300°, about 6 minutes longer.
4. Slowly and carefully pour the caramel over the crackers, being sure to cover most of them evenly. Using an offset spatula, spread the caramel to cover any gaps. Let cool for 3 minutes, then sprinkle the chopped chocolate evenly on top. Let stand until the chocolate is melted, about 3 minutes, then spread the chocolate evenly over the toffee. Spread the almonds evenly over the chocolate. Freeze the toffee until set, about 15 minutes. Invert the toffee onto a work surface and peel off the mat or paper. Invert again, break into large shards and serve.
NOTES: The chocolate-almond saltine toffee can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Posted in Cookies, on December 12th, 2008.
Clockwise from top left: Cranberry Noels, Apricot Butter Cookies, Chocolate Pinwheels, Chocolate Kiss Treasures
Oh, my. We had cookies up the yin-yang yesterday. My friend, Cherrie, and another friend, Jackie, got together and we made cookie after cookie after cookie. There were three new cookies in this year’s batch of Christmas goodies. I posted the savory-sort-of-sweet one with dried apricots and thyme yesterday. The other ones I’ll post in the next few days.
Left to right: Chocolate Almond Saltine Toffee and Chocolate Chip White Batter Butter Cookies. Both of these are new recipes which I’ll post soon.
Four of them have chocolate in them; two do not. They all freeze well. They all are scrumptious. Enough said.
Cranberry Noels – winner of a Martha Stewart cookie contest some years ago. One of my favorite Christmas cookies.
Apricot Butter Cookies – a very “light” cookie, if there could be such a thing. Has pine nuts in them with thyme too.
Harlequin Pinwheels – a cookie I’ve been making for about 15 years. A slice and bake kind of rolled, filled cookie. Takes a bit of practice to create the roll, but worth the effort.
Chocolate Kiss Treasures – a chocolate cookie, rolled in hazelnut crumbs, and topped with a chocolate kiss or a non-pareil.
Chocolate Almond Saltine Toffee – a recent magazine article made these look SO good (and they are) – the base is saltine crackers (you never know it, though) with caramel poured over, chocolate on top of that, then almonds dotted on the top. Once cool, you break it apart in odd-shaped shards.
Chocolate Chip White Batter Butter Cookies – very similar to a traditional chocolate chip, but with powdered sugar and white sugar. Different texture and taste. Will post this in a day or two also.
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