Let the baking orgy begin!

I made three pounds of spiced nuts tonight. There will be six more pounds made, at least, by the time Christmas rolls around.



I combined two recipes, one from Smitten Kitten, and one from America's Test Kitchen, and made three pounds of almonds at once. I chose to make almonds, because even though I like pecans, not everyone does.

So, here is my finagled recipe for...

Sweet and salty rum spiced nuts

1/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg white
1 tablespoon dark rum (can be substituted with water)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound whole raw almonds, unsalted

Preheat oven to 300, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

Mix the ingredients from the brown sugar to the allspice in a medium bowl, breaking up any clumps

Beat the egg white, run and vanilla together in a large bowl with a whisk until frothy.

Add the almonds to the egg white mixture and toss until coated. Dump the sugar mixture into the almonds and mix until evenly coated. Spread the nuts on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on the baking sheet, breaking apart any nuts that are stuck together as they cool.

Yum.

Belated Thanksgiving post

Sorry it took so long to get up the Thanksgiving post!

Thanksgiving was mellow this year. I didn't have the kids. I made dinner for my mom, my brother, his wife, and her parents. It was fairly simple.

My mom got chorizo that she didn't end up using for stuffing. I put some of it in my stuffing, but there was enough left over to make spur of the moment chorizo stuffed mushrooms. They were delish.



I made an herbed butter to put under the skin of the turkey.



The rest of the dinner was pretty basic. I made a gravy with the neck, since the turkey had no giblets. (!! I know!) I made fresh cranberry sauce. I also made fresh whipped cream with fruit for dessert. The guests brought the other sides.

Another week down

This week was rough. I worked seven days straight. Five more to go before I get a day off. Even though I got out at noon today, I was pretty exhausted. After a nap, I decided I wanted to cook for the week even though I worked all weekend. I made artichokes with melted butter and tortellini with peas and bacon in cream sauce for tonight's dinner. Tomorrow we will be having sausage and swiss chard lasagna. I also roasted a chicken with a lemon in it for Wednesday.

I am really liking having the dinners made during the week. I decided I needed to make smaller dinners, though. The 11 x 9 casseroles are way too much for the kids and me. Although the kids and I were fine eating shepherd's pie for three days, I still ended up having some left over.

I divided the lasagna into three loaf pans (which is how I used to make lasagna for two way back in the day). I froze two and put one in the fridge for tomorrow. I plan to make some of the same casseroles again - the kids liked the shepherd's pie and the chicken lemon artichoke pasta a lot. But, I will be most likely dividing those into smaller pans, too.

Even though I was tired today, it is so much better the whole week to have dinners made. And,I just don't like driving through or eating out at cheap places, and we can't really afford it. I also don't like most premade foods.

Yawn. Alarm set. Time for bed.

Quote for the day

Forgiveness is not the misguided act of condoning irresponsible, hurtful behavior. Nor is it a superficial turning of the other cheek that leaves us feeling victimized and martyred. Rather it is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past.

-Joan Borysenko

Catching up

I have been really busy with the single mom thing and the medical school rotations thing, but I have been keeping up with feeding the family. Just not keeping up with blogging about it.

I also just realized that the name of this blog is more than just about my cooking. My life is getting to the point that it's almost healthy now. I'm still working on it. I still have doubts. For example, I know that Picky, and perhaps members of his family, are reading this blog and my other blog. That is probably one of the reasons I haven't been posting that often on either.

I know he read this post because he showed up at Z's birthday party with my kitchen knife, of all things. Leave it to Picky to blemish a party day with some petty nonsense. But, I was happy to see the knife. I have to think in the Almost Healthy mindset. Instead of being worried that his family knows how I feel about their treatment of me, I should be comfortable in the fact that I never treated them badly; I bent over backwards to cook them amazing food and cater to them. It is ridiculous that I feel any sort of angst over admitting out loud that I was treated absolutely atrociously. How does that make me the bad person? If Papa Picky (Picky's father) refuses to ever come to my house again, that means I will never get bullied by him again. I shouldn't feel bad; I should rejoice.

Maybe if I complain on here about his keeping the patio table my former mother in law gave me after saying he was just going to keep it until he got a dining room table will lead to him showing up randomly with my patio table. Here's to hoping for a shred of decency. Or, he can sit outside at his new place at one of the two patio tables with seating for ten and eat take out by himself. I can still be happy that it's not my problem any more.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest. Here is some proof that I have been living, not just ruminating about what Picky's family thinks of me:

S loves talking about Mexican food for some reason, but it seems like whenever I make it, he only eats a little bit. He loves talking about tacos. In fact, he is dressing up like a taco this Halloween. I'm not kidding. Well, I made these shrimp tacos the other night, since Z has trouble chewing the steak in the steak ones I love to make. They were a huge hit.



Here is a favorite breakfast for Z. He asked for it on his birthday. It's nothing fancy, but it reminds me of my childhood. I love it that he loves it. Bananas, peanut butter, and honey:



The weather is getting beautiful. The kids and I love to eat outside, and now that Picky isn't here to object, we get to do it whenever we want. It's wonderful, even if we have to push some cheap folding tables together. I made this cajun catfish with browned butter the other night, and it was scrummy:



I was so proud of myself last Sunday. I posted on Facebook that I deserved a mother of the year award. I made baked French toast for breakfast, folded three loads of laundry, put together my new vacuum / steamer and vacuumed the house, took the kids out for a picnic lunch in a park, and we played ball there and went on a nature walk, made THREE dinners from scratch - one for that night and two for the week, and built a fort with Z. Picky blew it off saying I thought I was mother of the year for just cooking and doing laundry, but I am confident that I did more in one day as a parent than he could pull off in a month. Two months if it was football season, or if a new video game just came out. And, I got the added bonus of not having to do anything but heat up dinner all week, and we had delicious, homemade food.

Here was the most popular meal from the week - chicken and pasta with artichoke, peas and lemon:



And finally, even though I said I wasn't going to talk about Picky any more, I was pretty perturbed that he complained that I wrote about "hating his family" on my food blog. I didn't say I hated them. I said I was upset at how I was treated surrounding food, especially considering the fabulous meals (and endless creme brulee!) I made for them without complaining. Just scroll through the posts on here and check it out. But, since I already vented about it on this post, I might as well finish it off with a laugh. I was in the ER this week to admit a patient, and I saw someone's snack sitting in one of the employee areas. I will most likely never get to cook for Papa Picky again, but if I do get the honor, I think I will hook him up with something like the spread I saw in the ER:



I questioned putting this up, but then I realized he has always treated me with barely concealed hostility, almost since the day he met me. I can continue to cower and be afraid, and listen to his family members telling me how it's my fault and I deserved to be cursed at and treated like dirt on the bottom of his shoe, or I can be Almost Healthy about it and have a good laugh.

Farinata!!

I have a new favorite recipe. I saw a food show a while ago. I can't remember the name of the show, or even what channel it was on. I tried to search for the exact recipe, but wasn't able to find it. But, I was able to find another recipe for the same dish, and it was phenom. And cheap. And simple. And almost healthy!

It is a garbanzo (chick pea) flour flatbread. I have seen it described as a "pancake", even though it is entirely savory. It was so easy to make, has very few ingredients, and was soooo delicious. It has a complex, unique texture and flavor, which is amazing considering how simple it is. Garbanzo flour is a specialty ingredient, but it isn't that hard to find if you have access to a health food store. And, it was $3.00 a pound, so it's hard to complain.

I used this recipe. I heated the water before adding it, since every other recipe I found says to do so. I opted to add the onion and rosemary. I also grated some Parmesan-Reggiano on top because I seem to remember the dude in the show doing it. And, why not? Everything is better with cheese.

Oh. wow. I ate it, I ate some more, I ate leftovers for breakfast, and I am making it again tonight so I can have it for breakfast for the rest of the week. I told the kids we will be eating it for every meal for the rest of our lives, so get used to it.

Here is the lousy photo of my farinata:

Pickiness abounds

So, I was talking about food near someone today who started making "yuck" faces- one of my pet peeves. Don't yuck my yum, people. The really funny thing is, she immediately started arguing about how she doesn't like most seafood, but she "isn't picky". She won't eat anything with a shell - crustacean or bivalve. And most fish is "too fishy". Seafood is usually a good litmus test to me as to whether someone is a picky eater. Then she proceeds to say she doesn't eat any cheese unless it's melted. (?!!!) She hates goat cheese, only likes cow cheese, but will eat feta (which she kept arguing with me wasn't goat cheese. It is. It is sheep cheese, too.) She will eat watermelon but not cantaloupe or honeydew. She won't eat any "gamey" meat, like lamb, goat, rabbit, venison, etc.

And she kept defending that she wasn't a picky eater. Right. Whatever, everyone is entitled to her food issues. Just have a little insight into the fact that you have them, and these aren't inherently gross foods.

Star Wars breakfast!

I got these Star Wars pancake molds from William Sonoma. I couldn't resist. We had lots of fun making these.



Z, when I asked him to smile for the photo: "Mom, I need to look at what I'm doing!"






It took some getting used to in the beginning - some of the first ones were a bit overdone. Consider it the dark side!

Foodie kids!

My mom and I introduced my kids to one of our family foodie traditions: artichokes. My father took my mom out for artichoke when they were dating, and it has been a family delicacy since. The kids loved them!

And, they qualify as almost healthy. Vegetables, but dipped in melted butter. Mmmmmm. I was happy because they both filled up before they got down to the hearts, so i got to eat lots and lots of the heart, which my mom and I agree is the most important part.

Back from beyond, ch-ch-ch-changes

Sorry about the long hiatus. I broke up with Picky (note the blog name change), and moved my kids and I across town. I have been getting used to a new kitchen. For the most part, I am cool with the new kitchen. I really, really miss my gas stove. I have one of those glass topped ranges now. Ehhhh.

I miss the double sink. I miss my new fridge with the freezer drawer on the bottom. I thought I would miss our metro shelving with the hanging pots and pans, but my new kitchen has plenty of storage, and there is significantly less dog hair on everything when it's stored behind cabinet doors. I left Picky a lot more kitchen supplies than he uses or deserves (and he has complained about what I took, natch), but the only thing I really miss is one of the nice knives I left. I need to order a similar one, since I am most likely not going back to the wonderful restaurant supply store near Picky's sister's house where I bought it.

I don't miss cooking for someone who is rude, with so many food issues, and his extended family. And I sure as hell don't miss being bullied to make really high maintenance food, like crème brûlée, on short notice, for really ungrateful people. I would slave over gourmet food for Picky and his family, only to have his dad insult my cooking, Picky give me his usual backhanded compliments (if I got one at all), and his mom tell me that her best friend could make it better, and did she tell me how nice it was to be cooked for since she cooks all the meals when she visits her stay-at-home mom daughter?

She never even made a pot of coffee at my house, even if I had to be at the medical school for an 8 a.m. exam. I was late for one exam (and should have been turned away at the door, but luckily wasn't) because I had to make coffee for her and Picky's dad, and then she somehow forgot she had promised to take Z to school since they stayed the night before I had an exam with about one days' notice. They never, ever, ever asked me about my schedule before making plans that involved me and my family, even though every other member of the extended family doesn't work or go to school. They would make plans, and then inform me, and if I complained or tried to negotiate, I would have to brace myself for the guilt-trip and/or wrath.

But, I seriously don't want to turn this into a complaint-fest about Picky and his family. I am happy to revive this blog with new, fun posts about me and my kids. So, consider this the Picky-and-family exorcism. On to the fun posts!

Eggs with artichoke and havarti

Yup, more eggs.

I made soft boiled eggs, and put them over artichoke bottoms, on which I had melted a piece of havarti cheese over a slice of Canadian bacon. It was delicious. The artichoke bottoms were from the refrigerator, however. They were too cold. it would have been better if I grilled them a bit first before I melted the cheese over them.

This is similar to a design it myself Benedict I order at one of my favorite restaurants: Croissants du France on Doral St. in Key West. They serve eggs in brioche, and used to have an artichoke Benedict. As is my curse, it is off the menu, but they still make it to order when I come. I get it with black forest ham and Hollandaise. This was similar enough.

Food tour of San Francisco

I just went to San Francisco for the ACOG convention. I managed to get in a fair amount of munching and food shopping. I even took a few pictures. Here is a wrap up.

It started in the airport. I forgot to bring ginger, which really helps me with motion sickness. I was happy to find a sushi kiosk where they let me take unlimited packets of pickled ginger. My traveling mates and I were a little alarmed by the suggestions that we put the chopsticks in our ears and nose.

I had grass fed steak tartare at A Girl and A Fig in Sonoma. It was delicious and tender, but a wee bit heavy on the Dijon for my taste.

Their other dishes looked delicious. My friend got a cheese sampler that was excellent.

We went to the Mayo Family Winery in Glen Ellen. The wine tasting was wonderful. I especially liked the Meritage and the Cab, which were really drinkable. The Pinot Noir was smoky and interesting, too.

The next morning I got a fresh mojito while overlooking the Bay to Breakers run. That may be one of the coolest events I have ever been able to witness, and I have been to Mardi Gras and Fantasy Fest.



We waited for more than an hour to eat at Mama's for brunch on Sunday. It was worth it. I had a shrimp benedict. My friends had a crab omelet and the cranberry french toast. They were all delicious, generous, and well made.

We went to Trader Joe's and to the Rainbow Co-op, where my old friend works in the produce department. My buddies and I had fun in the bulk department at the co-op. I secured my crystallized ginger for the flight back. One of my roommates got 2 buck chuck - a two dollar bottle of wine from Trader Joe's. It was surprisingly not toxic.

I had good Tom Kha Guy from the Thai restaurant in the hotel. The cafe across the street had delicious breakfast burritos that they made fresh with avocado. Even the welcome reception at the convention had good food, with some delicious pasta with black truffle oil. Anchor Steam, one of my favorite beers, was plentiful every where I went.

I didn't manage to get the best meal on camera. I got invited to a sponsored meal with Academic Ob/Gyn (thanks Sage!) at the XYZ restaurant at the W Hotel. It was fabulous. I had a picked beet salad, and an English pea and marscapone ravioli, with this scruptious light fresh green sauce. So delicious. Tiny, tiny servings, and everything was so good you felt compelled to share. I think they tried to mention that it was supposed to be tapas style, but the menu was grouped into courses, which made that difficult.



We went to Fisherman's Wharf. I got sourdough with havarti cheese melted on it. Umm, yummm. The place we got the bread (I forget what it was called) had a great little gourmet shop where I munched my cheesy toast and drank my Anchor Steam. If my bags weren't already overstuffed I would have bought out the place, with its cute utensils, books on cooking with artichokes and fig spreads.

Substitution nightmare

I decided to make Moo Shu pork for some reason tonight. I had a weird assortment of pantry and fridge items, and figured I could pull it off. I sort of followed this recipe for Moo Shu Pork, and was going to follow this recipe for a gluten free hoisin sauce, which was already pushing it.

Well, we just started rolling out the pancakes when I figured out I didn't have any soy sauce.

None. Not a packet, even. I am almost ashamed to admit this: I used Worcestershire sauce. I swear. I am hanging my head in shame. I went through the trouble of making Moo Shu from scratch with pancakes from scratch, fresh scallions from my yard, and I didn't have any soy sauce.

Actually, it wasn't half bad. Z had a whole one, S had a whole one (he had already eaten pizza), Picky ate FOUR, I had three. Picky has never had Moo Shu, and he loved it. I hate to think what he'll say when he eats some made with real hoisin sauce and real soy suace.

Some fun new meals

I have been continuing to do low glycemic / South Beach / Mediterranean style cooking and eating. I am not specifically looking to fit some sort of weight ideal or BMI, but I have blood sugar fluctuations and can tend toward disordered eating. I think eating a diet heavier in vegetables, beans, proteins, natural oils and nuts is better.

I don't agree with sweeping bans on categories of foods, including fruit, like in the induction part of the South Beach diet. I just happily munched down on a Fuji apple with peanut butter on it.

I am really happy Z and S, for the most part, have been very cooperative about eating my dinners, and have not peeped ONCE about a lack of a white starch at the dinner. As predictable, Picky has been the biggest obstacle.

Elevensies today: "Fresh" mozzarella, presliced (my new favorite grocery item), with home roasted sweet orange pepper, and chimichurri. Mmm mmm mmm.

Elevensies yesterday: soft boiled eggs and asparagus (made the day before, simmered in chicken broth)

Some South Beach diet, some cheezburger

So, I have been mostly sticking to the South Beach diet. I have followed a low glycemic diet before, and I wanted to increase my vegetables. So, this is a good plan with recipes that fits with my ideas of what's healthy. And, hey, I went to high school on South Beach, so, I suppose it was meant to be.

This salad was divine. I made roasted orange peppers the night before, and they were so sweet, I am beginning to wonder if they are still low glycemic. Simply scrumptious. That, plus home grown tomatoes, spinach, fresh mozzarella, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.



Of course, more eggs. I made a version of the creamed spinach from the South Beach diet book with garlic, onion and sour cream, then made bacon, then poached some eggs, then made a bastardized version of the Joe's Stone Crabs mustard sauce (I have been there many times. I never have the mustard sauce. Why, when there's drawn butter? *drool*) and the mock Hollandaise. Picky tried to dump my sauce, but I intercepted it. It would have been a real shame, since it was delicious and made the dish. The whole dish was also divine. Unlike the salad, no one wanted to share this one. They ate leftover frozen pancakes. Their loss.



C'mon, have a bite!



So, all the deviations from the diet happened around S's 11th birthday. For his birthday dinner, he chose pizza meatloaf. But, I didn't want it to be just any pizza meatloaf, so I made a special sauce with bacon, and used fresh mozzarella on the top.

This smelled divine. It is a base for a "bold" spaghetti sauce recipe from Eating Well. It is similar to this version, also by Lidia.

Then, the next day he had some friends over. He had an "I Can Has Cheezburger" themed party. I made cheeseburgers, of course. They were darned good, I must say. I doctor them up quite a bit. I am not one of those "Don't overwork the meat" people. I am one of those "throw some garlic and stuff in there" people.

South Beach diet Day 1: breakfast

I have started the South Beach diet today. I made scrambled eggs with chopped fresh spinach, mushrooms and shallots. I put salsa verde on mine. Picky and Z put shredded cheese and ketchup on theirs.

It was super delicious.

Now for some complaining about Picky, which is part of the reason why I keep this blog.

You may recall that Picky earns his name by having many food rules. One of the strictest that has led to fights between us involves eggs. In fact, I think our first food argument was over putting onions in eggs. His attitude: nothing but cheese, no way but scrambled. I tried to reason with him about other ingredients I know he eats in other contexts (i.e. the spinach, mushrooms and shallots mentioned above) and I get back a no, no way, no how response. I tried to tell him there is a difference between having a favorite way to eat something and being repulsed by all other ways to prepare it. Nope.

So, Picky did recently tell me he would go on the South Beach Diet with me. He flipped through the book, saw a few recipes for steak, and thought it would work. Well, first meal, first day, we lock horns. Every breakfast is some combination of eggs and vegetables. After another argument about it, I went ahead and made scrambled eggs with the above ingredients. He cleaned his plate, and when we were done, I asked him how they were. He said "Good."

*bang head*

Dark Chocolate ice cream recipe

This is for Picky, since he wants to eat this more often than I want to make it. He is buying the half and half and asking me for the recipe.

2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup Hershey's Dark Cocoa powder (not hot cocoa mix)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. finely chopped high quality high cacao content chocolate (I used Ghiradelli Bittersweet)

1. Heat the half and half and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 170 degrees, mixing occasionally. The mixture will form small bubbles along the edges, and will coat the back of a wooden spoon even if you try to scrape it off. (You can steep a vanilla bean at this point instead of using vanilla extract later).

2. Add powdered cocoa and whisk until combined. Let sit for 10 minutes to cool. (Remove vanilla bean if used, scrape seeds out and return seeds to mixture, saving or discarding bean).

3. Add chopped chocolate and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.

4. Cool, then put in ice cream maker, and follow instructions.

Optional addition:
1/2 teaspoon orange zest or instant espresso powder in step one.

Edited to add:

OK, Picky couldn't wait for me to post this, so he added 2 cups of sugar by mistake. So, we added another pint of half and half and a pint of whole milk, and we are tripling all the other ingredients. Sheesh.

Behold, this is how much chocolate goes into a tripled version of this recipe:

Superbowl / Beatles Rock Band party menu planning!

I am menu planning for my Beatles Rock Band (Super Bowl) party. On the online invite, I called it "Football in the Front, Rock Band in the Rear". I am going to be playing rock band, but the cuisine is going to be New Orleans themed.

Here is what is on the menu:

Beignets and French Press coffee with chicory. I just got a new French press. Picky broke the four cup one, so I replaced it with a twelve cup one. Love. I am drinking more coffee lately.

Shrimp and chorizo tapas, but I am going to use Andouille sausage instead of chorizo.

Crab cake appetizers. These are from a box (gasp! no, really) My mom left them in my freezer when she came to another dinner party at my house, and I was nervous I wouldn't have enough to serve. I didn't use them then, and my mom swears they're delicious.

Dirty rice, based on a recipe from Cook's Country. I add extra pork, and am going to use pepperdew peppers in it instead of bell peppers. I am also going to use pepperdews (my new obsession) in vegetarian red beans and rice.

White salad and a broccoli cole slaw with homemade dressing

Pulled pork sammiches. I think I am going to add the liquid smoke I am buying for the vegetarian red beans and rice. I have never used it before, but I have heard good things about it.

And, last but not least, I wanted to make some chicken wings. I was racking my brain for a chicken recipe to fit the New Orleans theme, but I couldn't. Then, duh, it hit me! I will be altering this Bourbon style chicken recipe for wings.

I can't wait!!

Fearless comfort food

It was unseasonably chilly in South Florida this week. We actually had frost on our windshields a few mornings!

I decided to make some warm, stick-to-yer-ribs comfort food this week. I made two of my favorite dishes that I have never made myself: chicken and dumplings, and shepherd's pie. I also made another new recipe: shrimp chowder.

The chicken and dumplings were absolutely delicious. We ate it too quickly to take a picture. I (mostly) used the recipe from my American Home Cooking cookbook. I already had homemade chicken broth, so I didn't use the chicken for the recipe to also make broth. I seared it and then braised it in the chicken broth, without boiling it in between to make a quickie, vegetable-less batch of broth as the recipe called for.



I made shepherd's pie with a lot of adjustments and combining of recipes. I also cheated and used ground chicken, since that was all that I had at home, and I didn't want to go brave the near freezing temperatures to get beef and lamb. I added a little bit of A1 and red wine to "beef" it up. I also cooked the potatoes for the topping in buttermilk, and then mashed them in the cooking liquid, as Cook's Country recommended just this month. Mmmm, tasty. I topped the taters with cheese and scallions. It makes for an ugly picture, but it was tas-tee.




This shrimp chowder with bacon and fennel was delicious. Our local grocery store had some lovely shrimp on sale. I was thinking of making a scampi, but I wanted to try something new. Picky made the mistake of saying he was "a little sick" of one of my dishes in the rotation, spaghetti carbonara, so I am going to be throwing some curveballs this week.

I entered in "shrimp" into my epicurious-on-the-go app on my phone, and this shrimp chowder recipe was the first one to come up. It called for shrimp, fennel and bacon, three of S's all time favorite ingredients. Since he will be gone for the long weekend, and this will be his last dinner with us for several days, I sent him off with a bang.

The recipe calls for adding the raw shrimp one minute before the end of cooking the chowder, then taking it off the heat, mixing in the cream, and letting it sit for ten minutes. The shrimp were cooked perfectly. Just past the underdone threshold. Barely not translucent. Bite, but no chewiness.

S and I both had three servings.

Maintaining the white / yolk balance

I made macaroons for a favorite aunt:



(They're more attractive than what the bad photo shows)

I recently got a shipment of food from a local-ish farm. Their egg yolks are gorgeous, firm, and richly golden. I couldn't waste them, and didn't want to freeze them. As much as I love Hollandaise sauce, I am going to be alone over the next few days (yes. for real. amazing!) and would have to make a double batch to use all the yolks. I don't even think I could manage to eat that much Hollandaise sauce, and it's best fresh.

So, I used the handy interwebs search engines, and found this recipe for egg yolk cookies.

I didn't have orange or lemon extract. My mother in law makes spice cookies with cardamom and orange juice, and it's a tasty combination. I substituted a few things, added some turbinado sugar to the top, and came up with a sinfully rich, scrumptious cookie.

Cardamom egg yolk cookies:



Ingredients
• 1 cup butter (or shortening for cookies that won't spread quite as much)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Directions
1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Separately, beat egg yolks and add extracts.
3. Add beaten egg yolk mixture to creamed butter and sugar.
4. Blend well.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and cream of tartar).
6. Add dry ingredients to creamed butter, sugar and egg mixture, mixing until well blended.
7. Form into balls about the size of a walnut.
8. Roll balls in sugar, place on greased cookie sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet, and slightly flatten.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on desired softness/crispness.

My adaptation: omit lemon and orange extract. Add 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 teaspoon dried orange peel to egg yolks in step 2, and 1 teaspoon of cardamom to the dry ingredients in step 5. In step 8, sprinkle each cookie with turbinado sugar, and then gently press the sugar into the flattened cookie.

*****

Next time, I will be making Avgolemono.