Avgolemono Chicken Soup with Rice, topped with sauteed spinach

This recipe is pretty good, but doesn’t really have enough “oomph,” for my taste, for it to be something that I would make again on a regular basis.  It is, however, the PERFECT thing to make for a family member that has been sick or is recovering from a cold, flu, etc.  I know that’s not terribly exciting, but it is good to have a few recipes like that in your arsenal.  You could spice it up and make it more palatable for someone who isn’t infirm, but that kind of goes against the nature of it, I think.  It’s a simple, good, tasty chicken and rice soup.  It would be great for small children on a cold day.  Not fancy, just basic.

Lavender Honey Tea Bread

This post is LONG overdue, but we went to the Blanco Lavender Festival with my in-laws (who are lavender farmers) this summer.  We met at our house beforehand for a light breakfast before the car ride and lots of walking around at beautiful lavender farms and markets.  I thought, in light of the occasion, that it would be fun to make this recipe with lavender in it.  It was tasty, rich, moist and sweet floral without being cloying.  Recipe here.

Bean Toasts with Herbs and Eggs

(Please forgive  the blurry camera phone photo…my camera has broken recently, but a wonderful new anniversary gift holds the promise of improved photo quality on this blog…as soon as I figure out how to use it!)

This dish is very delicious, very easy and very good for you!

This is a wonderful, high-protein dish to start the day off with.  Yum.  It’s been a few weeks since I made this and it looks so good, I think I’ll plan to make it again very soon.

Recipe here.

Seven-Layer Cookies

Christmas Cookie Tray

(I forgot to take a photo of the Seven-Layer Cookies, alone, so I only have them with the other cookies on a tray that I prepared for Christmas Eve at my mother-in-law’s, but you can still see how pretty these are.  The photo on epicurious is even better.)

from bottom to top:

Seven-Layer Cookies

Swedish Spice Cookies

Orange Slice Cookies

My Grandmother’s Fudge

(click on name of each cookie for recipe)

This year was the first time that I made these traditional, Italian cookies from the beloved and departed Gourmet magazine (the other three on the platter, above, are time-tested family favorites,) but they will most likely be a new yearly addition to our holiday planning.  They are rich and VERY sweet and a little finicky and time-consuming to make, but they are almond-y moist and deliciously sweet.  They are quite good with the apricot jam, but would also be good with seedless raspberry or maybe even strawberry or cherry preserves, instead.  The heating/straining step seems tedious, but I do believe that it’s necessary for easier spreading and to ensure that the layered bars remain intact.  These cookies are breathtakingly colorful and gorgeous on a cookie tray.  The colors are very intense and vividly eye-catching.  If you are disturbed by the amount of food coloring, you can make them all white (it won’t change the flavor,) but I do think that the colors are part of the appeal (and, I’m sure, have some symbolic “colors of the Italian flag” meaning, like a Caprese salad.)

Gougeres

Absolutely delightful little bites of cheesy heaven.  Filled with butter and cheese, they are decadently  sinful.  These things are both ridiculous and sublime.  Ridiculously sublime.  Virtue and vice together.  Seriously.  Just make them.

The recipe that I used is from the September 2009 issue of Wine Spectator magazine, but their website is subscription-only (how rude!,) so I can’t link to it directly.  This recipe is the closest that I’ve seen.  If you cut the amount of gruyere by a couple of tablespoons and substitute a couple of pinches of cayenne for the black pepper, you’re pretty much there.  When I made mine, I added a little freshly minced sage, which was good, but maybe just a TINY bit too much.  I will cut back a little next time.  Parsley or thyme would also be delicious, but tread lightly.  It’s easy too overdo it.

These are fabulous as an appetizer with a good glass of red wine, or, with dinner, in place of bread or rolls.  The recipe is from Chef Terrance Brennan, of New York’s Artisanal, where Girl and I were lucky enough to have brunch with my mother last month.  We had some of the gougeres there and they were fabulous, but this recipe is simple enough to recreate that they were just as good at home.  The secret is really good quality cheese and eating them immediately fresh and warm out of the oven.

Girl at Artisanal, with a GIGANTIC cup of hot chocolate.