There are some things in the world of cooking that are like money in the bank or resemble beautiful gold treasure. Things like having a really well-stocked pantry and freezer. You know what I’m talking about; when you want to make a recipe that calls for chili paste or tamarind or cake flour… there is no getting in the car and going to the market for you, just open a cupboard and there it is – smiling back at you! Pure Jubilation! Hugs, high-fives, and kisses for everyone in the house!

Or how about when your spouse comes home and tells you that last week he/she signed up to bring two dozen homemade cookies to the office potluck, by the way, the potluck – well it is tomorrow!  Sure, as you walk towards that  pillow that is calling your name, you could say, “Darling, how absolutely fabulous! Now you have fun making those cookies tonight, sweetie, I’m off to bed.”  That method doesn’t work when the entire office knows you cook for a living.  Edible, in fact delectable, cookies are anticipated and expected! So that gold treasure in this case is “slice and bake” cookies that you have in your well-stocked freezer. Even your older kids (when they casually mention that they need fresh-baked cookies for the school carnival, that is (wait for it…) of course, in the morning.) could do the slicing and baking without you anywhere to be found.  Your home is instantly filled with Joy, Peace, and Happiness for all!

The espresso powder can be found at an Italian deli or ordered online, and I found the cappuccino chips at Trader Joe’s.  This recipe makes three logs of dough. I generally refrigerate all three for the 8 hours, then slice and bake one log. I double wrap and freeze the other two logs for up to 1 month. The frozen dough does not need to be defrosted before baking – just slice the logs and bake about 1 minute longer. Or the logs may be thawed in the refrigerator, if that works into your schedule better. After all it’s all about you – as it should be!!! Oh, and these are going in the “Easy-Breezy” category on the recipe index too, because they are just a more adult version (hence the “big girl” reference) of good old Toll House cookies and nothing is easier or breezier than slice and bake!
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we're friends and we're neighbors! Lori, Ronnie, Amy, and me

Before you even look at this recipe, disclaimers all around! This is not an original recipe, this amazing cake was inspired by a recipe in the December 2007 issue of Bon Appétit. Since it just was not expensive, time-consuming, or impressive enough already; I added in the toppings of vanilla pastry cream, whipped cream and fresh berries! Want to know what is really crazy– I made this cake 5 times! I needed to make a total of four cakes for two separate cooking classes that I taught back in December (four cakes so I would have the various stages of the cake for each class). I used two of those cakes to actually serve at the classes, two as prizes for students who visited my blog, and finally the fifth one was for my dear friend, Ronnie’s, birthday. Unfortunately, the pictures do not show the cake with its toppings because I was too tired, broke, overbooked, and overworked to put those on Ronnie’s cake.  Although, even without the extra work and calories of the toppings,  it is truly a showstopper and undeniably delicious too!

Ronnie not only got gypped by not getting the cake toppings, but also was ripped-off on my blog, when I didn’t even mention that it was her birthday! You see, her birthday is December 23, so I’m sure that all her life, she’s felt slighted in the birthday department -always being upstaged by Christmas, and here I did it to her again. Sorry, Ronnie, I love you and dedicate today’s blog to you! xoxo

Consider making this cake for the next big birthday in your house or maybe even for Valentine’s Day, as long as there are at least a dozen of you celebrating together (kinky!) because, boy is this thing rich!

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Connor made these pretty bars to add to our cookie collection today. He used both the red peppermint and the green creme de menthe flavors of Andes candies and then sprinkled them in stripes on the bars. Pretty and sweet! Thanks, Con.
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My friend and co-worker, Kim Howard, makes the very best toffee every Christmas. I was a lucky recipient of a tin of her toffee this year – but after days of picking away at it, it’s all gone. I was at her beautiful home yesterday and saw 4 new pans of the detectible toffee sitting on her counter, ready to be cut and packaged for her other other happy friends and family – darn, why did I eat all of mine already?!  There is an upside though, it reminded me of the recipe for these wonderful toffee scones and I just knew I had to share them with you!  Kim, “The Toffee Queen” would want me too!

Barbara Pool Fenzl and Kim Howard at our amazing spa trip at Rancho LaPuerta in 2008

If you don’t have the good fortune to be in line for a tin of Kim’s toffee, or if you have sadly already eaten your share – Trader Joe’s sells a couple great options. The type of theirs I like the best is not only chocolate-covered but also covered in nuts. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s in your area (I am truly sorry and feel your heartache), Heath bars work perfectly well for these scones.

The only liquid in the scones is cream, whipped to stiff peaks. The way to find out if the whipping cream has stiff peaks and is ready; while beating, once the cream begins to look fluffy, remove the whisk attachment from the mixer, dip into the whipped cream (or egg whites, when whipping them for a recipe) pull out the whisk and turn it upright. If the peak flops over, you have soft peaks.

Return whisk to machine and continue to beat. If the peak stand straight up, you have stiff peaks and are ready to fold the whipped cream into the dry mixture.

Another fantastic thing about these scones – they qualify as “easy-breezy”!
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These unique and pretty Christmas cookies are from the December 2005 edition of Gourmet Magazine. Speaking of Gourmet, its final issue is this month, November, 2009. After 68 years, like so many other publications, it is now a thing of the past. What led to Gourmet’s demise? Even with nearly 1 million subscribers, who looked forward to the fantastic articles,recipes, and pictures each month, the magazine fell victim to a decline in ad sales due to popular television food shows and online recipe sites, like its own Epicurious.com, taking up its former advertising revenue.  Upon the announcement, on October 5, 2009, The Wall Street Journal said it was “like a giant soufflé falling.”  I have to agree, Gourmet was the first food magazine I subscribed to, some 27 years ago.  I kept every one of those issues until just a couple summers ago, when I donated some 300 issues of Gourmet and nearly 1000 issues of Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Saveur, Cook’s Illustrated, Cooking Light, and Martha Stewart Living to the Culinary Program at Scottsdale Community College.  It took two trips in my SUV because of the extreme weight and mass! Gourmet was the granddaddy of them all and it will be sadly missed by foodies worldwide.
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My three-week cooking class series at Les Gourmettes Cooking School is only a little more than a week away and the theme for the first class of the session is “Holiday Open House”.  That seemed all good, until I took a look at the menu (that I developed in the summer and haven’t thought about or looked at since) and saw that it includes Assorted Christmas Cookies. Time to get busy and get some cookies baked and into the freezer!  I’ll be making a double batch so I can get my own Christmas baking out of the way at the same time, see there’s an upside to everything! Baking is not my favorite thing, so all the cookie recipes will be coming from elsewhere, such as this one from the 2004 December issue of Bon Appetit.
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Now that’s one of those jingles that just gets stuck in your brain and won’t go away – “because, sometimes you feel like and nut, sometimes you don’t!!!”  Almond Joy candy bars are my absolute favorite, OK well, those and Kit Kat bars (“gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off…”  Alright, enough already!).

So with Halloween a few days behind us, why am I still craving an Almond Joy, even though I did have a couple of the minis? I need to bake a batch of cookies for a charity donation, and since I can’t stop thinking about Almond Joy, I’ve come up with this recipe to recreate that wonderful taste blend of chocolate, coconut, and almonds. It honestly turned out to more the consistency of cake then cookie, but still a tasty treat.

The filling layer includes cream of coconut, which is a thick and sweet concoction made from coconut milk and sugar and is found in liquor stores or in the liquor section of the grocery store. Although it is sometimes used in baking it is most commonly used in mixed drinks such as Pina Coladas, so look for it near the mixers and such.
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I had a lovely birthday, thank-you for all your sweet birthday wishes.  My wonderful friends, Ronnie, Amy and Lori took me to the Queen Creek Olive Mill for lunch; it was a gorgeous afteroon that we spend under the olive trees enjoying wine, antipasto, and sandwiches. Afterwards, we headed off to the Pork Shop and unfortunately, we discovered that they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so no amazing bacon, sausages or chorizo for us to take home….next time we’ll remember that! For my birthday dinner, Dave took me to Prado at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa where we shared a bottle of wine and Paella with mussels, clams and scallops. It was tasty, but I have to say my paella is really much better; I include sausage, chicken, and shrimp plus peas.  I’ll have to make it next time the kids come home and post the recipe.  Until then, we have Halloween to contend with, so here is a fun Spider-Web cake that is fun for kids but has an adult taste, with the addition of Espresso in the frosting.  You will find the Medaglia D’Oro instant espresso powder at any Italian Deli or locally at A.J.’s or on the web at this link. I use it often in baking and once you try it you will too, so invest in a jar now and I promise I’ll be posting more recipes using it in the future.  I am working tonight, and certainly don’t need to have a whole cake around the house, so I’ll be dropping it off at our monthly neighborhood Bunko night for the ladies to enjoy.

For the 7-minute frosting, or anytime you are beating egg whites, be sure the bowl and the beaters are completely clean and free of any grease.  The egg whites will not beat up and increase in volume with even a trace amount of fat, such as from the egg yolk, present.  Also, eggs separate much easier when the are cold, straight from the refrigerator, but they whip up best when they are at room temperature, so separate them a little bit ahead of time. Finally, ever wonder what my kitchen looks like after I’m done cooking and taking all these pictures and ready to put up a new post? You’ll see at the bottom of this recipe – scary indeed!
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Continuing on the panini theme, how about a couple dessert panini? Since I have leftover panettone, brie, and pears – it sounds like a plan to me! Raisin bread, sourdough, challah, or brioche are other great bread choices.

Nutella on top, brie on the bottom.

Ingredients to make Banana-Nutella-Granola Cookies!

If you have been to Paris, then you have probably had a Nutella crepe and possibly of Banana-Nutella crepe.  And when you arrived home after your amazing vacation you most likely went to the store, got yourself a little jar of Nutella and came home and made yourself some crepes!  I know that after every trip I make to Paris, one of the first things I want to make are crepes, it keeps the illusion that you haven’t left the City of Light alive in your heart.  It’s been a year and 3 months since I was last there – when Dave, Connor, and I went over to join Marissa for a wonderful 2-week vacation.  Needless to say, we had to bring her home, kicking and screaming, after her magical “semester abroad!”   Plus my mentor and dear friend, Barbara Pool Fenzl, owner of Les Gourmettes Cooking School, just left this very day for France, so in her honor, I made not crepes – since there is no one here to eat them with me :(   But instead cookies.  As we all know,  you can freeze cookies and share with loved ones when the come home to visit from college!

NOTE: In the “ingredients” photo at the top, you’ll notice that the bananas are quite brown.  This is because once bananas become ripe on my counter, and I don’t have the time to bake, I place them in either the refrigerator or the freezer. Either option turns the skins brown as brown can be.  If refrigerated, use within a few days and if frozen, best within a few weeks.

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