I bet you have some idea of the ridiculous picture I have in my head. Imagine: a restaurant, dressing up a little bit, a fascinator hat, pinky in the air, and a three-tier tray with tiny sandwiches and sweets. I know it’s not really going to be like that and my little fantasy is probably closer to a stereotype than anything else. Regardless, I still want to go to tea and Ryan and I have been collecting a few suggestions for where to go.

Until that day though, I’d like to pretend that these cookies would be  one of the sweets served at tea time. They are simple looking and dainty in size. The cookies have a subtle citrus flavor while also feeling a bit like a decadent treat. Sounds like a nice tea-time pairing to me.

I was also drawn to this recipe because I love desserts that use citrus. My usual go-to are lemon desserts, but I wanted to expand my horizons and using grapefruit felt exciting and unusual. Grapefruit is nice because it has a little bit of lemon’s tartness while also being a bit sweeter. Eat these cookies however you like, but I’ll eat them while pretending I’m at tea with Ryan in London.

Adapted from Martha Stewart.

Ingredients

Cookie:

zest of 1 grapefruit,  plus 1/4 cup of juice

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 egg yolks

Filling:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tbsp honey

3 tbsp grapefruit juice

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In a small bowl, combine the zest and 1 tbsp of sugar.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, and salt.

4. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, beat the butter and remaining sugar on medium-high for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

4. Add egg yolks and beat until combined. The dough will turn a gorgeous yellow. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

5. Mix in the sugar-zest mixture.

6. Add flour mix in two batches, alternating with the juice. Mix until combined.

7.  Collect dough into a disk shape and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

8. Flour your work surface and roll out the disk of dough to about 1/8″ thick. Using a 2″ round to cut out circles. Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheet about 1″ apart. These cookies don’t spread much as they bake so they can be pretty close together.

9. Bake until the edges start to turn golden. For me, this took 10 minutes. Martha Stewart recommends 18-20 minutes. So, set your timer and check them regularly.

10. Let cool completely before adding filling.

11. For the filling, using an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy – about 4 minutes. Then add the honey. Once the honey is incorporated, add the juice 1 tbsp at a time. Mix until creamy.

12. Spread filling onto the flat side of one cookie. Put another cookie on top of the filling with the flat side down. Store cookies in the fridge because butter cream will melt!

Messy level: I’m giving this two spoons. Anything with flour is inherently messy for me, but this recipe isn’t too different from sugar cookie type recipes. The grapefruit is actually the messiest part. During the zesting it releases a lot of oils and that makes things a little sticky. Also my juicer is too small for a grapefruit so I got a lot of juice on the counter. If you have a better juicer, you should be fine.

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I love holiday decorations. From October to February you can be sure there is some sort of decoration in our apartment.  Holiday decorations make me feel happy and festive. Why treat holidays like any other day when there’s the opportunity to make things look colorful and special?I have things to hang on the door, towels to go in the bathroom, centerpieces for the kitchen table and much much more. And of course, I also have things for baking (Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter cookie cutters). A few weeks ago I added to the collection while I was shopping with two college friends. I found a four-pack container of Halloween sprinkles.

“What are you going to make?” Jackie asked, “I expect to see them on your blog.”

Gulp. This was going to be a mini-challenge. I had planned to make regular sugar cookies, but that was out of the question since I’ve already posted that recipe.  So what to make? She suggested cupcakes and I was totally prepared to do that, until I was indulging in some after work retail therapy at Hill’s Kitchen, and I bought a set of Halloween cookie cutters. Therefore, cookies it would be.

I wanted something with a holiday flair, so I searched for pumpkin cookie recipes and didn’t find anything I was excited about. Then I went to my favorite cookie book, The Art of the Cookie and found a brown sugar cookie recipe that included a suggested addition of cinnamon and all spice. Boom, I was sold. Ultimately, I didn’t stray too far from the regular sugar cookie but these are different enough in look and taste. While cooking the whole apartment filled with a warm cinnamon smell that made the place feel like the holidays. The cookies are chewy, with a rich flavor that reminded me a bit of mellow gingerbread cookie. The cookie comes out a nice brown, and topped with autumnal colored sprinkles, they have just the spooky Halloween feel I was hoping for.

Aparted from the Art of the Cookie

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp all spice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

14 tbsp unsalted butter (it’s less than 2 sticks)

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp heavy cream (usually I just use milk, this time I actually used cream)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, all spice, and nutmeg.

2. Using an electric mixer (or your arm if you’re strong!) mix the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy. This should take 2-3 minutes in the mixer and it will look like a mocha colored mousse.

3.  Add the egg and molasses to the butter and sugar. Beat on low until the egg is completely incorporated.

4. Still on low, slowly add the flour into the wet ingredients. I did this in four batches. I’d pour some in, mix until it was mostly incorporated, then add more flour, and mix again.

5. Add the heavy cream and mix until everything is incorporated.

6. Scrape out all the dough and form it into a large rectangle or circle. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least one hour. I left the dough in the fridge for a day. I made the dough one night and then baked it a day later.

This is the dough after it’s been wrapped and in the fridge

7. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°.

8. Generously flour your work surface and rolling pin. Take the dough out of the fridge. Break out a manageable piece (I broke it into thirds). Using the rolling pin, roll the dough until its somewhere between 1/4″ and 1/8″ thick.

9. Press cookie cutters in the dough to make the shapes you want!

10. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the cookies at least 1/2″ apart. Decorate with sprinkles ahead of time if you want, or you can wait to decorate until they are done being baked.

11. Bake for 10-13 minutes. Since the cookies are dark it’s hard to tell when they are done. Simply press the center of the cookie with your finger. If it’s mushy let them cook longer. If it’s a little firm, the cookies are ready!

Messy Level: I’m giving this three spoons. For me, all baking is messy. I opened up a brand new all spice bottle, but the teaspoon in to scoop and when I took the spoon out I spilled probably another 1/2 tsp. Why can’t I be clean?! I truly don’t know. I also had dough on the sleeves of my sweatshirt. Cookie-cutter cookies take a lot of steps, and a lot of flour, and therefore there is so much opportunity to make a big mess. But for me, these kind of cookies make the holidays.

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I got this recipe from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. I’m a big fan of hers, but when I saw this recipe I was skeptical. But I had to know what it would taste like. And it’s amazingly good. Salt, sweet, crunchy, buttery – WHAT COULD BE BETTER?! I shouldn’t have been skeptical, Smitten Kitchen came through and this recipe is lovely. I’ve brought it to two workplaces and the cookies always get devoured. It’s a yummy surprise cookie and you should make it and wow people in your life.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Get a large saucepan with a lid. If it’s a see-through lid that’s going to be helpful. Pour the oil in the saucepan and add the popcorn kernels. Make sure the kernels are on the bottom of the pan in one layer.

2. Cover the pot, heat it over medium-high heat. When you see/hear the first kernel pop, start to shimmy/shake the pan continuously. Keep the pan moving until all the kernels have popped, which is about 5 minutes. This part is really fun for me because I’ve really only ever made popcorn in the microwave. It’s fun to see the transformation.

3. Transfer the popcorn to a separate bowl. Pour the salt and melted butter over the popcorn and mix it up. Let it cool.

4. Preheat oven to 350°.

5. In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

6. In a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking soda.

7. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. The amount of batter you will have will look small. Don’t worry.

8. Mix in the cooled popcorn so it’s evenly mixed and coated with the batter. This is a little challenging because there isn’t a ton of batter, but it will work out ok, just don’t get too crazy. Now, don’t just pour in the popcorn because you’ll end up with kernels in your cookies. Instead, take handfuls and place them in your mixing bowl.

9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop big tablespoon size cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet.

10. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are a little brown. Let cool and then enjoy!

Messy Level: This is a two spoon recipe. It’s messy in the way all cookies are messy because flour gets everywhere and you have to handle the dough. But otherwise it’s not going to create an out-of-control mess.

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We started out the week by cooking for our family. Ryan and I made pasta with shrimp and scallops in a white wine sauce. Sounds delicious right? And luckily our family is super nice, and told us that it was delicious. But, in our opinion it was mediocre. Cooking in a rental kitchen is hard folks! It took half an hour to boil water for pasta, we had to chop with a steak knife, and we set off the fire alarm. Everything tasted fine, it just didn’t come out exactly right and so we were disappointed. But after that comic disaster our meals greatly improved. If you’re ever in Stone Harbor here are my recommendations for some places to eat.

Moqueca
Photo credit: Ryan Cazalet

Quahogs From the outside this place looks tiny and can easily be overlooked, but inside is a surprisingly spacious and cozy restaurant. They have indoor and outdoor seating so you can choose your pleasure. I’ve always sat outside, and I feel like it’s not breezy enough and so can be stuffy – but I deal with it because I really like eating outside. Eating here is all about the seafood. Everything is fresh and the textures and flavors are so vibrant and bright that everything is a joy to eat. Start with oyster shooters. It’s so good, I want to make a cold soup out of it. Be careful though, because at $4.50 you can get your bill high pretty quickly. The lobster taquitos are also amazing. When I think of taquitos, I always think of those disgusting logs of mysteriousness that my college friends used to get from 7-11 on the way home from the bar. But these are three small little tacos overflowing with lobster meat. But the best thing you can eat at Quahogs is the moqueca. It’s a Brazilian seafood stew and it’s amazing. The last time I went, six out of eight of us ordered it – and many of us wiped the plate clean. There’s five kinds of seafood, the sauce is out of this world, and it’s slurp it up good. Also this place was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

Shore Feast for Two

Mike’s Seafood Yes, there’s more seafood to be eaten. Mike’s Seafood is great because you can get epic meals with multiple kinds of seafood, and some of the options are under $30. This past week I got the Steamed Combo which has shrimp, flounder, scallops, and lobster. How awesome is that? But the best thing I ever got is only on their take out menu. It’s the Shore Feast for Two. Ryan and I shared and for $53 we got what is basically a trough of seafood. It has two lobsters, corn on the cob, potatoes, shrimp, clams, and mussels.  Awesome.

The Painted Pie This adorable purple bakery sells a small variety of pastries made with seasonal fruits and fresh ingredients. They probably have about six or more options each day, and it’s really quite enough. There are scones fat with fruit chunks, gorgeous pies with star shaped crusts, and light and fluffy quiches. It’s a great way to start the day.

Now when I was a kid, my family used to vacation in Cape May, which is only a short drive from Stone Harbor. My favorite bakery then was La Patisserie. From what I can tell, this place no longer exists in the same format but it seems from my internet research, that bakery is still in Cape May but makes wedding cakes. When I was a kid I thought this place was so cool because they made bread in the shapes of animals. One time my parents let us get a loaf, but unfortunately I don’t remember the shape. But my favorite thing to get was the pig cookie. It wasn’t anything crazy, just a sugar cookie with royal icing and a chocolate chip eye.  But I loved it. So when I started vacationing with Ryan, we’d take a drive to Cape May and pick up a bunch of pig cookies. And then three years ago we went and they weren’t there. The lady at the shop told me they no longer made them. A few weeks later when my mom was in Cape May, she too went in search of pig cookies and found out that the chef left and took the recipe. Anyway, when I found out there were no more cookies I stormed out of the bakery, with Ryan bewildered and hungry behind me. He had wanted to order and I was too upset to stay there a moment longer. A little dramatic yes, but I was sad. And so although there are no more official pig cookies, I still think of them every year.  So now I’m home, and as my tan faded and I was back at work and in the thick of my regular routine, I decided to make my own pig cookies. I wanted to bring back a piece of the vacation to Arlington. They’re not the same cookie, but they make me feel nice anyway. And who couldn’t use a good sugar cookie now and then?

Before we get to the recipes and pictures, let me warn you, I’m having a mild feud with my oven. It’s been running a bit hot so I got an oven thermometer to better understand what’s happening in there. When I went to make the cookies I set the oven, waited for the oven light to go off, and then I checked the thermometer, it said 350° so I was good to go. And then 13 minutes later I took out my cookies and they were brown. BROWN! And the thermometer said 400°. Sigh.  Luckily these cookies still taste good even though some were overcooked. Let’s call the brown ones “pigs in the mud.” I did better on the second batch. Moral of the story – check on your cookies before the timer goes off!

This recipe is adapted from The Art of the Cookie, which is a really gorgeous book that has many yummy recipes and impressive decorating ideas.

Ingredients: 

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp milk (the book says heavy cream, but I’m not buying a whole thing of heavy cream for 1 tbsp. I’ve just used milk and it works fine)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. In another large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. If you use an electric mixer, this takes about 2 minutes.

3. Add the egg and the vanilla to the butter-sugar mixture.  Beat on low speed until the egg is completely mixed in.

4. Still on low, slowly mix in the flour a little bit at a time. Mix until it’s almost incorporated. This means that it’s ok if you can still see bits of flour.

5. Add the milk. Mix until everything is incorporated.

6. Scoop up the dough, press it into a rectangle/square/blob shape and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Stick in the fridge for anywhere between 1 hour to overnight. You can also wrap it super tightly and freeze it for up to a month (that’s what the book says). What I did was I made two blobs of dough, put one in the fridge to make and one in the freezer for later. With the blob I baked, it made 15 cookies.

7. Preheat oven to 350°

8. If you don’t want to make cut out shapes, just tear a little pieces of dough and make small circle cookies. If you want to make shapes, generously flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll out the dough until it’s about 1/4″ thick. You can roll out the dough in stages, you don’t have to do the whole thing at once.

9. Use cookie cutters to make the shapes you want. I made pig and Star Wars shapes. Why not, right?

10. Use a spatula or your hands to place the cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheets. Leave some breathing room between the cookies.

11. Bake until the edges of the cookie are slightly golden. The book says this could take 16-19. In the past it’s taken me 12-13 minutes, and this time with the crazy oven fiasco the perfect time was 10 minutes. So check you oven occasionally to see how long it will take.

12. Let cool for a few minutes… if you can!

13. Decorate!!! I did three types of decorating: sprinkles, royal icing, and gel icing from a tube. The sprinkles I put on after step 10 and before I put them in the oven. The royal icing and gel icing I put on after. I used this royal icing recipe, and then added 2 drops of red food coloring to make pink. Royal icing dries hard, but not crunchy. It’s sweet and reminds me of my old Cape May cookies. I put chocolate chip eyes on the pigs when the cookies were still warm and fresh from the oven.

Messy Level: I’m giving this two spoons. It’s not that messy or difficult to make this recipe. The biggest mess came from all the flour and rolling out the dough. Also sprinkles get every where so that’s a bit annoying, but at least it’s a colorful mess.

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