It was around…oh…January when I started thinking about things to make with rhubarb. Despite the fact that winter never really showed up in Southern California, I was already dreaming of the smell of fressia on the air and the delicate spoils of early spring.
Then, in late March, “catastrophe” hit: the oven died. This wasn’t entirely unexpected. In fact, I’ve been waiting patiently for what seems like years for the stock appliances in our kitchen to gracefully go to the Best Buy in the sky. We tried to revive it, really, we did. But the appliance dude diagnosed an issue that would cost almost half of a new oven. The choice was easy: buy new.
But of course, that would take research…and another two weeks passed, leaving me, the baker, without my instrument.
So I took to the stove with some fresh rhubarb and sugar. It’s like I always say, “when life gives you a broken oven, make a cocktail.” In some languages, this saying also translates into “sometimes it’s okay to drink your dinner.” Language and culture are funny that way.
And, that’s how the “Oh Rhubarb” came to be. Pimms #1 was the most English spirit I could conjure up. The result is sort of a rhubarb Pimm’s punch. Don’t let the seemingly low alcohol content of this libation fool you, at 25% proof, the Pimms will sneak up on you.
Oh Rhubarb!
For Rhubarb Syrup
Ingredients
10 ounces fresh rhubarb, washed and roughly chopped
1 C sugar
1 1/4 C water
Directions
Using a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, stir together sugar and water until sugar dissolves. Add rhubarb and turn heat to high.
Allow to come to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer.
Simmer mixture until the rhubarb falls apart (about 20 minutes).
Strain the liquid from the rhubarb.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
For the Cocktail (makes 1 cocktail, multiple by 6 or 8 for a punch)
Ingredients
1 1/2 ounces Pimms #1
1 ounce rhubarb syrup (more to taste)
4-6 ounces dry sparkling wine
Orange and cucumber wedges to garnish
Directions
Using a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine Pimm’s and rhubarb syrup. The syrup will be heavier than the Pimm’s so this helps the two stick together.
Pour into a high-ball glass filled with ice.
Top with sparking wine, give it a mix.
Garnish with an orange wedge or two and a tall wedge of cucumber.
I think I’ve talked about our adventures in cake-tasting and the beautiful but epic fail of a wedding cake that came out of them. Thinking of that 100 degree day in San Diego combined with the smell of buttercream across many bakeries still make me cringe a little.
Let’s say the average wedding cake tasting consists of seven samples. If my memory holds true, we visited four bakeries that faithful summer day. A little air arithmetic, carry the one and it comes to about 28 different taste tests.
And after biting into each morsel, TD would say, “that’s dee-lich-chus cake.”
About a dozen samples in, my curiosity (and annoyance) got the better of me and I asked what the hell he was talking about.
The details were a bit fractured (probably all that sugar) but what I gathered from his story is that there was a wedding, an elderly woman, some loose dentures and a cake that was decidedly not “dee-lich-chus.”
In my witness, every times he’s eaten cake since, he says the same thing: “that’s dee-lich-chus.”
It only took nearly ten years to wonder, if “dee-lich-chus” cake was a flavor, what would it be?
I decided a cake of this caliber would start with a buttermilk base. In to which roasted strawberries would be gently folded.
And accessorized with clouds of pillowy pink strawberry and balsamic buttercream. Stay with me here. Adding balsamic to strawberry is like adding coffee to chocolate. You don’t actually taste the extra ingredient, it just really enhances everything.
And so was born dee-lich-chus cake.
Roasted Strawberry and Buttermilk Cake with Strawberry Balsamic Buttercream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gently wash and cut strawberries into quarters. Place berries on a cooling rack, seeds-side-down over a sheet pan. Bake until strawberries are partially dried, about 45 minutes. Let cool, the chop (they’ll be sticky). Divide into 3/4 and 1/4 portions. Set aside 1/4 for the frosting.
Grease (use your use butter wrapper) two 9-inch cake pans and set aside.
Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set Aside. In a small bowl (I also like to use a 2 C pyrex liquid measuring cup), whisk together eggs and vanilla.
Using a mixer (standing or hand) on medium speed, beat the butter until creamy. Beat-in the sugar slowly over the course of 3-minutes. Beat- in egg-and-vanilla mixture one egg-at-a-time.
Reduce speed on mixer to low and mix-in flour and buttermilk in three parts, beginning and ending with the flour.
Gently fold-in strawberries by hand. Distribute batter into pans and bake in middle rack of oven for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes up clean.
Once out of the oven, allow cakes to cool on rack for 10 minutes. Carefully un-mold and allow to cool completely.
for the frosting
Ingredients
remaining chopped roasted strawberries from cake recipe
5 large egg whites
1 C plus 2 TBS sugar (superfine)
pinch of salt
16 ounces (1 pound, 4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp, cut into tablespoons
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
Directions
Add balsamic vinegar to reserved strawberries, puree mixture and set-aside.
In the heat-proof bowl of a stand-mixer, combine egg-whites, sugar and salt. Set over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly by hand until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved. The temp on an instant-read thermometer should read between 150-160 F.
Attached the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low speed, and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, beat until the mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool (you can tell by touching the side of the bowl). Process will take about 10 minutes.
With mixer on medium-speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at-a-time, mixing well between each addition. At some point the frosting will start to look curdled. Don’t worry, just keep on going.
Switch to the paddle attachment. Add-in vanilla and strawberry puree and incorporate with paddle on low. Scrape-down sides and mix until frosting is completely smooth.
Frost cake as desired. Enjoy and try not to think about how much butter is in the frosting.
Growing up in San Diego, my mom would buy these fruit bars from a local establishment called Dudley’s Bakery. Chewy, dense and studded with raisins, these bars were the perfect pre-swim workout snacks. Over the years I’ve made several failed attempts at cracking the recipe code for these not-quite-cookie bars. I could never get the texture quite right. They were either too dry and crumbly or too chewy–like over-developed gluten.
To be honest, after my last swing-and-a-miss I’d purposefully put the damn things out of my mind.
Until a couple of weeks ago when I ran across a picture on Pintrest that looked like a “close-enough” match to merit the purchase of a bag of raisins.
Thanks to a blog called The Lemon Bowl.
Contrary to what people seem to think, I don’t generally eat a whole lot of what I bake. For me, baking is about making, not eating. It’s a hobby, like quilting or glassblowing or that weird thing they call cosplay that I don’t really understand.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit, these bars were the exception. They’re really good. Wholesome, satisfying, and for me, nostalgic, the magic in these bars is enough to help me not only overcome my distaste for raisins in baked goods, but
They are properly called hermit bars. But, in my head, they’re Thurman Merman bars. Should I fix some sandwiches?
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a jelly pan with parchment (standard half-sheet, 12X17) with parchment. If you want to use a 9X13 pan, you’ll just have significantly thicker bars. Grease and then flour the parchment and sides.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, all of the spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream butter for 2 minutes.
Add-in brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 3 more minutes.
Mix in eggs one-at-a-time.
Reduce speed and drizzle-in molasses. Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
With mixer on lowest speed, slowly incorporate dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Pull bowl from paddle and mix in raisins/dried fruit by hand.
Using an offset spatula (or floured fingers if you are brave), dump dough into prepared pan and carefully distribute until you have an even layer.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes up clean.
Allow to cool completely before cutting.
These will store well for up to a week in an airtight container.
I’ve been working on updating our master bedroom for a couple of years now.
It started with bedding. Then we took the plunge and bought a real dresser. While nary a scrap of my own clothing is organized within its deep and generous drawers, I love this dresser. I’ve long admired the mid-century modern influence; even before Jon Hamm became its ultimate accessory. And while this dresser’s clean lines are a clear nod to the movement, the natural finish and walnut grain make it feel smart and casual. When we bought the long dresser, we also considered purchasing its three-drawer younger brother. Alas, I didn’t have any organs to sell that weren’t being used at the time, so we waited.
Until I needed a project. While researching the hardware for my little necklace display project, I wandered through the dresser section of Ikea’s online site.
And found the unfinished Tarva. My goal was to find something I could stain to go with the long dresser while keeping the budget low. At about $80, this baby had potential.
The morning went we to pick this guy up I had TD set the stopwatch on his phone. We were in and out of Ikea in 23 minutes. And that included a trip to every floor to pick up some other odds and ends. Of course it took me another 2 1/2 hours to build the dresser–which was fine with me since I happen to love building Ikea furniture. No really, give me a box of wood…or wood-like parts, an alan wrench and one of those graphic novels they call instruction booklets and I’m pretty much in heaven.
It had been about 20 years since I stained my last piece of furniture, so I did quite a bit of research in advance. I used Centsational Girl’s tutorial on the X base table they built from scratch (ridiculous!) and her tutorial on refinishing this table as my template. Because the wood on the dresser was unfinished, I lightly sanded, wiped-down and then applied a wood conditioner. This was followed by two super thin coats of Minwax wood stain in special walnut. My goal was to enhance the grain rather than hide it. I finished the staining with two coats of clear wood finish (sanding lightly in between). I wanted a natural finish but some protection from wear and tear, so just a couple of coats was the trick. Finally, I swapped-out the wooden knobs for some stainless knobs similar to the ones on the long dresser.
In the top drawer I laid down some anti-slip liner and filled it with night-stand type stuff. You know, lip balm, hair bands, extra furry mice for the Kitchen Gods. I also threaded the cord of a charger through the back and now have a hidden charging area for my ipad and phone. The rest of the dresser is filled with TDs stuff. This is in addition to the giant dresser, his custom closet, the storage bench at the end of the bed and a couple of shelves in my closet. The dude may have a problem.
While this addition isn’t a perfect match to the Room and Board dresser, it wasn’t meant to be. I like a room that feels like it belongs together but doesn’t match exactly.
And now that I’ve broken the seal with our orbital sander attachment and the wood stain, I have at last two more projects in the works for the near future.
Light and crispy, these sugar cookies are flavored with sparkling blood orange zest and floral cardamom pods.
These have a higher butter-to-flour ratio than my usual sugar cookie recipe, I kept them in the fridge until right before popping them in the oven and they held their shape just fine.
I topped half with clear sanding sugar and the other half with a simple blood-orange and confectioner’s sugar icing. As usual when using blood oranges, no food coloring was needed. This pink was natural, baby.
I’m not certain if she uses the same recipe, but my mom makes an orange (not blood) cardamom cookie at the Christmas holidays. The mixture of orange and cardamom is reminiscent of the traditional-holiday pairing of oranges and cloves. However, out of context–say, for Valentines Day…or maybe more appropriately at this point St. Patrick’s Day or Easter, these pretty cookies don’t taste out of season at all.
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated blood orange peel (I used a microplane)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature
Raw sugar
For icing
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup blood orange juice
Directions
Whisk flour, cardamom, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar; beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in finely grated orange peel and vanilla. Add egg; beat to blend.
Add 1/3 of flour mixture; beat on low speed just to blend. Add remaining flour in 2 additions, beating on low speed just until blended.
Divide dough in half. Place between two sheets of parchment or wax paper and roll-out to about 1/4-1/8 inch depending on desired thickness. Repeat with second half of dough. Chill until firm (at least an hour).
Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cut out cookies using festive cookie cutters. Carefully transfer cookies to prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with sugar if not topping with icing.
Gather dough scraps into ball. Flatten, cover, and freeze dough until firm enough to roll out again, about 10 minutes.
Bake cookies until light golden brown, about 16 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through baking for even cooking. Carefully slide parchment paper with cookies onto racks to cool completely.
To ice, whisk together confectioner’s sugar, adding juice a little bit at a time until you reach the desired thickness (I prefer mine runny for better coverage).
Lightly grasping the edges of each cookie, dip into the icing so that only the top of the cookie touches the surface. Quickly pull up and let cookies dry on a cooling rack.
When I mentioned the big plans I had over the holidays to attempt making my own puff pastry dough, I had morning buns on the brain. Alas, the sun was too inviting and I decided to play with puff pastry another day.
I still had morning buns on my mind though.
This recipe, if you can even call it that, is embarrassingly simple: a sheet of puff, some butter, cinnamon and sugar. Then, right out of the oven, an additional dip in butter and a final cinnamon and sugar bath (sort of like these french doughnuts).
I took these little darlings to work along with the Jesuites. Someone very important in my organizations who had the ability threatened to fire me if I ever brought them in again. I think this means they were a hit.
Mini Morningish Buns
(one sheet of puff pastry yields 16 mini and 6 regular-sized buns, hun)
Ingredients
Sheet of puff pastry, thawed
1 C granulated sugar
1 tsp (or more to taste) of ground cinnamon
12 TBS butter, softened
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter your muffin pan.
Combined sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl until cinnamon is thoroughly distributed. Taste and add-more spice as desired.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry dough until about 18X10 inches. Be sure to life the dough after each roll so that it does not stick to the surface.
Spread a thin layer of butter over entire surface of dough (it will take about a stick of butter, maybe a little less).
Generously sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture across the buttered surface, reserving at least 1/3 of a cup.
Starting at the far long end of the rectangle, roll the dough tightly all the way to the edge of the closest long end. The finished product will look like a log.
If using a mini-muffin pan, cut log in half and then cut each half into quarters and half each quarter so that you have 16 small rolls. If using a regular muffin-pan, cut the log in half and then each half into thirds.
Carefully place each cut roll into the wells of the pan, cut side facing up. You may want to squish the dough down a bit to get it to spread-out in the well.
Bake until dark golden brown (20 to 30 minutes–begin watching at 20).
While buns are baking, melt remaining butter. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl.
Remove buns from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
Using tongs (or your fingers if you are brave), remove each bun, dip it in butter, roll it in the remaining cinnamon sugar mixture and set atop a cooling rack to cool.
But seriously. I promise this quadruple chocolate threat cookie will get the job done.
And you know what they say. If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.
Quadruple Threat Chocolate Cookies
adapted from Sunset Magazine’s 50 all-time best Sunset Test Kitchen recipes
Ingredients
10 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar plus more for dipping (or cocoa could be used to dip)
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (I used the ground espresso right out of a Nespresso capsule)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 C bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 C chopped white chocolate
1 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan over low heat. Once butter is melted, remove from heat and add-in the chopped bittersweet and unsweetened chocolates. Swirl pan to cover chocolate (as best as it will) and let stand for five minutes. Using a wire whisk, whisk until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. You may need to return to very low heat.
Whisk eggs, sugar, espresso powder, and vanilla into chocolate mixture. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into chocolate mixture until evenly mixed, then stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Wrap dough airtight and chill until firm enough to hold its shape, at least an hour.
Using a large scoop (I scooped between 1/8 and 1/4 of a cup), scoop dough, placing it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet with two inches in-between (I fit about 8 drops of dough on a half-sheet).
Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Dip the bottom of a pint glass or even round surface in sugar or cocoa powder. Gently press down each drop/ball of dough until flattened slightly (the chunks in the cookie should help to keep the thickness at about 1/2 and inch).
Bake until cookies no longer look wet and you can feel a slight crust on top, about 10 minutes (don’t overbake); switch position of baking sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool on sheets on racks.
Cookies freeze nicely up to two weeks in air-tight containers or freezer bags.
A couple of years ago I went to work for a Catholic university of the St Ignatius of Loyola and Marymount persuasions. While I’ve made my career in education, most often at the college-level, this was my first religiously-affiliated institution.
Always the diligent researcher, I went deep when preparing to interview for the job. Part of my motivation was professional—I needed this prospective place of employment to know that I’d done my homework. Selfishly, I also needed to understand the values of the private, religiously affiliated institution. See, I wasn’t raised Catholic. In fact, even though both of my parents affiliate as Episcopal, WASP is the closest to religion I come. And by WASP I mean the hair-band wearing, knowing how to use the appropriate fork and then stabbing you in the back with it part…not the actual Protestant part. But, as usual, I digress.
In my research of this Catholic university in the Jesuit tradition, I was impressed by what I learned. The Jesuits are known as teachers and seekers of knowledge. Among other things, their educational tradition seeks to produce not just successful leaders, leaders in the service of others. It’s kind of their jam. To this end, I was very drawn to the idea of a mission-driven university. This was especially true provided this university’s triumvirate mission: the encouragement of learning, the education of the whole person and the service of faith and justice.
I’ll admit, at the time I didn’t really understand the service of faith piece. But, the other components certainly read like the kind of place I’d like to be producing our future (in the form of college graduates). I didn’t learn until I had an employee ID number that the mission truly saturates the being of the institution. It is in the classroom. It is in the activities and programs in which students participate. It is in the engagement of the alumni. It is a pleasure to work in a place that strives to walk the talk.
I’ve also come to understand that this is pretty standard across other Catholic-Jesuit institutions. Values are important. Being a good person is important. Striving to create a more just society is important.
Which, brings me to a bit of serendipity. About the time I went to work at Loyola Marymount University, TD began collaborating with some colleagues on a documentary about the 1951 University of San Francisco football team (also a Jesuit university). The story is poignantly emblematic of the racial climate of the time. In a sentence, the University’s undefeated football team chose not to play in a bowl game rather than leave their black teammates behind. Ironically, 1951 was the last season for football at both USF and Loyola University (now Loyola Marymount University). ’51 DONS airs this Sunday on ESPN (4:00 PM PST) and ESPN2 (7:00 PM PST):
You can also go here to learn more about the team.
Speaking of serendipity. I had this post for Jesuite pastries scheduled for later in the month. I actually didn’t think to line up my Jesuit themed bits and pieces until yesterday. Sometimes I wonder about myself.
Jesuites are a french pastry filled with almond cream and topped with almonds (and sometimes a layer of icing). They get their name from the three-pointed hats Jesuits are said to have been fond of wearing back in the day. Over the holidays I had big plans to make my own puff pastry. But, unlike most of the country, the sun was shining in Southern California and I abandoned my winter-dark kitchen to go play outside. So, for this recipe and its partner (that I’ll post later in the month), I used prepared pastry dough.
Jesuites
Almond cream recipe adapted from Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel’s Bouchon Bakery
This recipe makes about a dozen Jesuits with two sheets of puff pastry. I was pretty wasteful with the dough…a strategic cutting and you could get several more out of it.
Ingredients
1/2 C + 2 1/2 TBS (75 grams) almond flour/meal
2 1/4 tsp (7 grams) all purpose flour
2 1/2 ounces (73 grams) unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 C + 2 TBS confectioner’s sugar
2 large eggs (1 for almond cream, one for egg wash) (44 grams)
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
flaked almonds (I like the honey glazed variety from Trader Joes)
Directions
note: finished almond cream needs at least 2 hours in the fridge before use
In a medium bowl, sift together almond flour and all purpose flour. Set aside.
Using an electric hand mixer, cream butter until it is the consistency of mayonnaise.
Sift-in confectioner’s sugar and mix on high until fluffy (2-3 minutes).
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the almond mixture in 2 additions, combining on low.
Scrape the bottom of the bowl to combine all ingredients.
Add in 1 egg and combined on low until mixture is smooth (about 30 seconds).
Refrigerate until cold (at least two hours). Can be made up to three days in advance, kept in an airtight container in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
On a floured work surface, roll-out puff pastry to roughly 14X18 inches.
Using a 12 inch bowl as a template, cut out a round using a sharp knife. Cut the circle into 6 equal parts. You should have enough dough left at the corners of the rectangle not included in the circle to cut 4 additional triangles. Repeat with second sheet of pastry.
Space five triangles on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Spread about a tablespoon of almond cream evenly across each triangle leaving about a centimeter along the edges.
Top each triangle with a second triangle, pinching the edges (they’ll break free in the puffing-up process…this is supposed to happen). Repeat until each triangle on your tray is topped.
Paint each pastry with egg wash and top liberally with flaked almonds.
Repeat with second baking sheet.
Bake baking sheets one-at-a-time for 20-25 minutes until tops are golden brown and pastry puffs to about 3 inches.
I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a clothes horse and shoe hound (which is odd considering I was born in a year of the ox).
In my defense, I’m pretty careful about how I curate and take care of my…collections. So, I find myself cleaning-out and re-organizing my closet every month or two. I not only own a flipfold. I use it with relish.
For the last couple of years, I’ve kept track of my ever expanding collection of costumy-type necklaces on a giant cork board. It worked well for a long time, but I was ready for a change and itching to use the power drill.
So, I had an idea.
While there are a thousand ways to skin this cat, the method I used cost a whopping $15 all in. After measuring the horizontal space available in my closet and then cruising the Ikea website, I decided that the 22-inch Bygel rail would fit perfectly. Measuring my vertical space, I figured I could fit three of these spaced to accommodate the varying lengths of my necklaces.
To do the actual hanging, I picked up several sets of the coordinating Bygel S-hooks. What I failed to do was calculate the two-inch drop created by the hooks. Of course, I installed the rods before realizing this mistake. It threw off the aesthetic a bit–but not enough to re-hang the rods.
A level, a dozen screws and my power-drill itch scratched and I had a brand new way to display and organize my jewelry.
I was pretty proud of myself. In fact, I thought I’d come up with a pretty clever idea all on my own. Then I went over to Pinterest.
Damn! Damn Pinterest!
At least a dozen or so persons had already had the same idea. With better execution.
The view off of the back porch of my parent’s house for the first couple of days we were there.
TD and I spent the Christmas holidays with my family up in Montana. There was lots of eating and drinking and general merry making by all involved.
TD enjoying a Moscow Mule and the gloaming.
While my parents currently live right outside of Bozeman, their first Montana love (and house) was up in Big Sky. A couple of days before Christmas, we wandered up the pass to Big Sky for lunch at the Lone Mountain Ranch. The property is located just up the road from my parent’s place in the Big Sky Meadow and I’ve hiked their trails in the summers.
Among other things (like the fact that you get your own horse for the whole week you stay there), the Lone Mountain Ranch is known for its locally sourced, gourmet lunch and dinner menus and is open to the public (though they don’t offer us occasional diners a pony for the duration of the meal). One of the constants on their impressive dessert buffet is a hearty, oaty trail mix sort of cookie. Intrepid baker that she is, my mom somehow finagled the recipe from their pastry chef.
And now I’m sharing it with you.
Similar to other recipes of this type, the add-in combinations are endless. I’ve included the recipe in its original but immediately began experimenting. The cookies here have the almonds and cashews but I also added-in butterscotch chips, dried cranberries, golden raisins and shredded coconut (about 7 ounces).
These babies freeze well. And, to be honest, taste better the longer they’re around.
