Sunday, November 14, 2010

Good -For -You Gingercake

Tis The Season For Gingercake

     A standard dessert growing up was my mother's gingerbread.  Soft, damp and slathered with my favorite chocolate icing, it was the smell  and texture of being at the kitchen table with the winds howling  around the apartment building.  The sweet strange smell of a gummy eraser, the  dark atmosphere of the entry way to Nightingale Bamford School for Girl's where I would wait to be picked up at 4 o'clock, the sudden cold shock of air as the doors opened and parents picked up their children-- and then home to a tea of gingerbread and milk.  Mama's opinion

Monday, November 8, 2010

Mona Lisa's Having A Baby

The beautiful Diana who bakes with me is very very close to meeting her baby. Last Saturday was her baby shower and since I was kneedeep in cooking for a Cubano dinner for twelve Kim and I were hosting that evening, I sent my love in the forms of ginger cakes, carrot cakes with candied carrot strips, red velvet cupcakes and these little Baby Cookies. Kim represented us at the party , and as we prepared for the dinner, she filled me in on how beautiful Mona Lisa looked and how sweet her family was.
Sending something that I hope charms or touches someone is sometimes a better representation of my intentions than I am, I think. I'ts certainly purer. Just love. And that's what I always mean.

These cookies are made with the linzer dough from the excellent Sherry Yard who adds Chinese five spice and orange rind to the traditional cookie. The potato starch pictures are edible, of course, and can be found on the Fancyflours website. A little tricky to work with but so worth it. Anything that can help me send the best part of me out to Mona Lisa and Matt and Baby is worth it!