The Ginger Cookies of life

Let me begin this post by stating that, thanks to my dear friend Jessica's post on winter cravings,

I am no longer craving sweets with the same voracity. Thus, I can now make Holiday cookies

without being a slave to them. With this new freedom in mind I share with you one of my favorite

cookie recipes.

Last Winter during one of my visits to Prof. Hubs in Boston, my friend Evelyn and I found ourselves in her kitchen craving Chrismas cookies. In the end, we couldn't agree on what kind of cookies to make so we decided there was no harm in making two recipes. The Russian Tea cakes were good enough, but it was this Ginger cookie recipe that was the great success of the afternoon. I must have made them 50 times since that fateful afternoon with Evelyn. They are the most perfect, chewy, ginger-y snaps... This week I have been invited to my first cookie swap (girlie night of gossip and cookie noshing? SIGN ME UP!) and I think I may bring these-it will be the second time in 3 days that I've made them...they're that good. I have passed the recipe on to many of my nearest and dearest and here I share it with you:

Ginger Cookies

thank you, thank you, Paula Deen...

xo, Desperate Housediva

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats. Using an electric mixer at low speed, cream the shortening and sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the egg and molasses and beat until completely incorporated. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt and add to the mixture. Stir until combined. Roll the dough into balls about 1-inch in diameter. Roll the balls in sugar.

Place 1/2-inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten the balls slightly with your fingertips. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (so far...)

The following is a recipe that came together after scouring other blogs that claim to have found a replica recipe for the famous

Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie. The truth is, after attempting each of the recipes I could find,

I can say with certainty that none of the replica recipes comes close to the taste of a real Levain cookie.

And yet each of them makes a pretty fantastic chocolate chip cookie in their own right.

After putting together this recipe, I had my dear friend and recipe tester, Ana, give them a try.

She gave them rave reviews and said they reminded of Mrs. Fields cookies.

So it's back to the drawing board in terms of Levain replicas... In the meantime,

Mrs. Fields still makes a mean cookie so the recipe's worth trying.

So far, this is the best Chocolate Chip cookie recipe I've come up with.

Don't forget these cookie baking tips:

-when you're ready to store any cookies: Put them in a sealed container atop a slice of soft bread.

It really keeps them moist and chewy (if, like me, you love a chewy cookie.)

-chilling the dough and the cookie sheet will make for less cookie spread (if you are looking for a thicker cookie)

-Chilling the dough overnight makes for the best chocolate chip cookies, no matter what recipe you're using

(that tip is from Maury of THE CITY BAKERY himself!)

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (so Far)

1 stick butter, cold and cubed

1 c. brown sugar

1 egg

In an electric mixer, or by hand cream all above ingredients

add:

3/4 c. all purpose flour (using only BLEACHED flour will result in less cookie spread)

3/4 c. white whole wheat flour

1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch

Mix all ingredients with an electric beater until incorporated and a thick, creamy dough is created. Then mix in:

1/2 cups of crushed walnuts

1 cup of {good quality, small} semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat again with electric mixer.

please excuse my graphic design additions...I've been going a bit photoshop crazy these days...

If you have the time, do take the time to work these a bit by hand (knead) like a bread dough. It's not necessary, but they are a bit more Levain-y that way :)

Drop large balls of dough on cookie sheet covered in parchment or, my fave: silpat mat.

Bake 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes (depending on desired gooey-ness), or until the tips of the cookies have turned light brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool and ENJOY!!!!

Festival of Lights

It's that time of year again: Chanukah!
In my family Chanukah is synonymous with Latkes. Usually my Dad (though on occasion, my Mom) prepares them annually to celebrate this. As a child I used to invite a friend or two over (usually non-Jewish friends as there weren't a large number of other Jewish families in our town) to light the candles, eat latkes, exchange gifts, and play dreidel. One of these childhood friends wrote to me a couple of days ago requesting that I write a post divulging the secrets of my family's famous Latkes. It warmed my heart in the most wonderful way that she remembered: how amazing to think that the little Chanukkah dinner we shared as children stuck with her after all this time. In her honor I dedicate this:

The Famous Family Latkes

(From the complete American-Jewish cookbook, edited by Anne London and Bertha Kahn Bishov, 1971)

6 medium potatoes

1 small onion

2 eggs slightly beaten

3 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Peel and grate potatoes and onion.

Let stand 10 minutes so liquid will rise to top. Remove liquid.

Stir in eggs.

Add other ingredients.

Drop by spoonfuls into hot, well-greased skillet. (my Dad uses canola oil)

Brown on both sides.

Drain on absorbent paper.

Serve hot with applesauce, or sour cream. (I like both)