love forever

Cookie Time

I can't believe I haven't mentioned the word "holiday" on my blog and Christmas is only one week away! Even though it doesn't seem like I'm in the spirit yet, festive things are starting to happening around the Loveforever house, we are just firm believers in some good holiday procrastination. Basically we talk about how much we need to get started on holiday preparations for a couple of months and finally spring into action around December 10th. Over the last week, wrapping paper was made, presents were crafted and of course, cookies were baked.


We were invited to a co-workers cookie party this weekend and I wanted to try a few new things. Last summer I went to Blue Bottle Coffee in Brooklyn and had parmesan fennel shortbread with sea salt. It was sublime, buttery, salty goodness. I couldn't find the recipe for it so I doctored this Ina recipe a bit, adding fennel seeds, a sprinkle of cheese and pink himalyan sea salt on top. Oh and a tiny bit of sugar to the dough. Mr. Love Forever said they tasted like tiny pizzas. I believe this to be a great compliment.






Another cookie I dream about is the TKO cookie (that's Thomas Keller Oreo) from Bouchon Bakery. Thankfully this recipe is very easy to find on the internet. The cookie is incredible: salty, crumbly and rich with chocolate and the filling is just like an Oreo but without the waxy shortening aftertaste. I made also made a peppermint variety, adding a few drops of peppermint oil to the filling and rolling the sandwich in peppermint candies crushed into sparkling minty dust. Oh. my. gosh. They are so good. Like tempted to not go to the party and spend the day in bed with a plate of cookies good.

All that Glitters

Oh boy, these glittering beauties are the cookie equivalent of a party dress. I looooove them. I thought about making them for Christmas but couldn't get the good sanding sugar in time. So maybe New Year's Eve?

By the way, these cookies are adapted from the Gourmet Cookie Book (oh Gourmet, please just bring the magazine back full time!) by the fine ladies at the Purl Bee. The Gourmet version is made with lemon and these are almond. What do you think-which would you prefer?

 

These Were Delicious

Wow, wow, wow. It's been a quiet nesty weekend over here so I decided to bake. I found this recipe for homemade pop tarts on Chez Pimm a few weeks ago (oh, and here's the crust recipe- my new go-to!) and oh man, these are just so good. So good.

I used the apple butter that we canned a few weeks ago too! Delicious, delicious. so much so that I can barely form sentences and keep repeating things.

 

 

Pumpkin Patch

So the Mr. and I have this new thing where we try to actually leave the city a bit on the weekend. It's a new thing for me, this free time. Lately, we have been going to farms and picking things. I can't say we've found our perfect farm yet, mostly they have been a little more on the touristy/cheesy side and less on the picturesque/pastoral side of things but who are we to complain? We're not farmers so we certainly don't get to complain. Anyway, it's always fun and we keep coming back for more!

This weekend, a couple of friends came down from NY to go pumpkin picking. We went on a hayride, got a few pumpkins in the process and picked up fresh ingredients to make a veritable locally grown feast. The buffalo burgers, the squash and the apple pie was delicious. The corn, not so much. The moral of the story here: no matter how local, when it's out of season, just don't buy it!

One more moral of this story: Kayte, stop being so lazy and bring the good camera with you! Please note the difference between these photos and the apple picking photos. Um, night and freaking day. I've learned my lesson.

Apples to Apples

I totally forgot to do a weekend update post I think because I was buried under pounds and pounds of apples. The Mr. and I went to a u pick orchard on Saturday and had a fall-themed blast despite the 90 degree weather.

Note the apple the Mr. ate while we were walking around. I was sure we were going to get in trouble.

In true nerdy form, I wore my Vera apple print shirt.

We spent all day Sunday making apple butter, apple pie, hand pies and a lot of apple pie filling. I would have taken some pictures of that but our kitchen lighting was not cooperating.

Jin Patisserie

I am still in LA and loving every minute of this amazing weather!  I know that we New Yorkers are supposed to hate LA but I really like it here. My only complaint is all the driving; I just don't think I could ever get used to it. I like my cities to be walkable. Thankfully, I had the very fabulous Cathy of California to drive me around and show me the sights. She even rescued me from the bus stop one day after I had the audacity to try to use the LA public transportation system!
Anyway, over the next couple of days I am going to blog about some things that have inspired me over my trip.

Jin Patisserie in Venice makes beautiful sculptural pastries, chocolates and cookies. We were drawn in by the idyllc garden out front and left with a delicious box of macarons in flavors like yuzu, ume and violet cranberry. I am happy with even the most mediocre of macarons (that's how much I love them!) but when they're good, I'm  in heaven.

Conversation Hearts

These conversation heart cookies from Martha's February issue are killing me with cuteness. I think I might have gasped when I turned the page and saw them.
Despite my dislike for the typical commercial trappings of Valentine's Day, as a stylist I love the look of Valentine's Day. Do you know what I mean? Hearts, red, pink, lace and doilies? It's all so deliciously over-the-top. Mr. Love Forever and I don't really celebrate Valentine's Day but I think that I am going to do some baking and give a few things to friends.
What do you think about Valentine's Day? Love it? Hate it?

Gourmet cookies

Every month, I eagerly await the arrival of my issue of Gourmet magazine. I read every single issue cover to cover and the holiday issue does not disappoint. Their collection of cookies is absolutely breathtaking. Just look at these photos!

And if that's not enough cookie for you, Gourmet.com is featuring a favorite cookie from the last 68 years of holiday baking. What people cook and bake is often a really good barometer of what's going on in the larger world, so it's really interesting to see trends come and go and tastes change. There's the alcohol-soaked Palets de Dames of 1952, the very rich Mocha Toffee Bars of 1987 and the comfort-food-gone-gourmet Mini Black and White Cookies of 2005 to name a few. Delicious.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving...

and absolutely loving these inky indigo blues and from this month's issue of Gourmet.

Just gorgeous.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

It's 90 degrees out, I'm wearing a sundress, drinking an icy cocktail* and...making gingerbread cookies for a photo shoot. That's right, it's the beginning of holiday season for photo stylists and my apartment is looking very confused. There is a giant pile of holiday themed decor parked in my kitchen on its way to a shoot this week.

In more seasonally appropriate news, I just bought my plane tickets for San Francisco. I am so excited about Renegade!

*Oh and the cocktail? Whiskey, lime and San Pelegrino Limonata equals the most delicious summer drink ever. I swear.