Sugar Cookie Dough

Decorating sugar cookies during the holiday season is a simple pleasure for both children and parents. I still remember the decorating station my mother would set-up for my sister and me, icing, sprinkles, and cookies galore.  Armed with a mug of hot cocoa, we were entertained for hours.

But sometimes, the hectic pace of the season can make mixing up sugar cookie dough seem more like a task than an enjoyable tradition.

After I started decorating sugar cookies and subsequently receiving not-so-subtle requests from my friends, I learned to always keep at least one batch of this recipe on hand. While sugar cookie dough only keeps for a few days in the refrigerator, it can, gloriously, be frozen for up to three months.

Apple-Cranberry Tart

When it comes to leftovers, the savory components of Thanksgiving dinner receive all the love. Turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pies, turkey soups, turkey paninis. Potato pancakes. Cranberry sauce by the spoonful.

Mike and I were absolutely sick of turkey by day three of trying to create something incredible from our leftovers.

While there was not a crumb of Thanksgiving pie to be found, I was left with three lovely machintosh apples from the farmer's market and one bag of fresh, ruby cranberries.

So, technically, this is Thanksgiving leftovers, dessert-style. Served alongside a perfect quenelle of homemade vanilla ice cream, these flavors provide a beautiful transition to the holiday season.

And with a presentation this beautiful, who would ever guess these are leftovers?

Baker's Gift Idea: BeaterBlade Mixer Attachment

Last year, I received the BeaterBlade attachment as a Christmas gift from my parents. I had been eyeing the seemingly brilliant product during each and every excursion to a certain kitchen goods store.

However, I was always somewhat hesitant to purchase the attachment, not because of the price, but because I was not certain how well this product would actually perform.

As most of you know, I have a typical closet-sized Manhattan kitchen - meaning every new product or appliance I decide to purchase, no matter the size, must work perfectly all the time.

Almost a year and countless cookies and cakes later, I can hardly imagine my world without this clever little tool. Life with the BeaterBlade is one where phrases like "scrape after each addition", a phrase us bakers have put up with for far too long, do not exist.

So if you are looking for a unique, time-saving, sure to be used over and over again gift for the baker in your life (or yourself!), I cannot recommend the BeaterBlade enough.

As a note, the BeaterBlade is available for many different mixers and models. To ensure you gift the correct attachment, this handy guide is available.  BeaterBlade can be purchased from the following:

Online Stores - USA

Local Stores - USA

Canadian Purchases

Outside the USA

Happy Baking!

Mercat de la Boqueria

While Mike and I enjoyed our sun-filled days in Barcelona, it became quite apparent that we were lucky enough to be in a city boasting an incredible array of food. The Mercat de la Boqueria, just off La Rambla, was no exception to this observation.  The indoor market was filled with vendors manning stands of vegetables, fruit, meat, cheeses, nuts, chocolates, and candy.

We so enjoyed walking the aisles and were even lucky enough to find one of our favorite breakfast places right amongst the energy and pace of the market - a restaurant that deserves its very own post. Be sure to add this to your "must do" list while in Barcelona.  You do not want to miss food shopping amongst the locals.

Mercat de la Boqueria

Placita Boqueria, 1

08002 Barcelona, Spain

933 182 017

Cheesy Onion Bread

You simply must make this recipe.

If these could be my only words for this post, it would summarize my feelings completely.

Like so many of the recipes I eagerly tear from the crisp binding of magazines, this recipe found itself placed in a folder, forgotten in the back of a bookshelf.

And there it remained, until a few days ago while I hunted for a completely different recipe.

And then my fingers ran across the glossy page.

A few hours later, this cheesy, salty, flaky loaf emerged from the oven, ready to accompany Mike's spicy chicken chili for dinner that evening.