This was an especially long holiday break – what felt like 30,303.948.505,404,980 days long. We didn’t go away and only had a few day things planned. Keep it simple. That’s what I kept telling myself. So on the one hand, vacation went by very quickly, but on the other hand, the days dragged on.

In the theme of keeping it simple, I wanted to show you our awesome console table, that we actually go a while ago, but just dressed up for the holidays. It’s from a company called Vinna Home and Kitchen and they have these amazing modern console tables. They can make your table in any number of stain colors and any variety of sizes. Home delivery was white glove and we couldn’t have been more satisfied with the customer service. We bought two to run the length of our couch.

With all the baking that I did this year for friends and teachers etc. I didn’t make cookies for Santa – we outsourced. Thanks Cookie Monstah for the assist! We left Santa with options!

Their Burlington location is a breeze to get to, and they have a great selection. I loved that they asked me when I was ordering if I wanted to put the peanut butter cookies in a separate box (even though I didn’t have allergies, I’m not sure I would have even thought of it if I were getting these as gifts – which I did get one box for friends as long as I was here!) And how cute is the artwork on the box by Elissa Surabian?!?! She is a local chalkboard artist, you may have seen her work around town!

Speaking of friends, for my best gal pals and neighbors, I picked up some of our favorite cookies. It’s a tradition that I get them gingerbread girls or boys from The Gingerbread Construction Co. and for a little glam I picked up these cute holiday gift sets by Essie.

In an effort to make alllll of the Christmas magic happen in such a short amount of time – here is a look at everyone’s “stockings”. We tried to do fewer presents this year, and more “experiences”. For example, we paired each big with a little and they got to go into the city to do a fun gingerbread house decorating event. One pair went to the Langham Hotel and one pair went to Eastern Standard Kitchen. Stay tuned to see how much fun we had there in another post.

Back to our “stockings”. We use Sea Bags bucket bags instead of a traditional stocking. I think it started from our apartment days when we didn’t actually have a mantel, but can’t actually remember. I feel like every year the ante is “upped” and just because it fits in a stocking doesn’t mean it should go in a stocking I mean, when I was a kid, it was like candy and toothbrushes, and now I look, and I am totally guilty of this, I’m putting in $30 Owala water bottles (insert eye roll). I mean, but at least they don’t leak in the kid’s backpacks, right?

So for the big we got an Owala, a fun Stanley key chain/ornament whatever, a gold bubble necklace from Anthropologie, books for her Yoto Box, a cute Caboodles kit because it reminded me of my childhood, and a Squishmallow mystery bag.

For the youngest we picked up a Bluey brush, a Squishmallow surprise mystery bag, some holiday nail stickers, a Yoto story, some fun glow in the dark bandaids from Welly, Squishmallow hair claws, a monogram necklace and some fun ooly metallic pens.

For our oldest, we picked out various boxes of sports cards, a bunch of new Yoto stories, some Burt’s Bees lip balm, and an autographed version of the new book, The Bletchley Riddle, by Ruta Sepetys.

Dad was pretty straightforward, a few bags of his favorite coffee beans, a new razor, and some hair putty. Things are almost as fun when you are a dad as when you are a mom…..almost.

And finally, for the other little, we picked up an Owala with a boot, a new Pokemon book and a little sweet treat. Not pictured were a few Beyblades that came in last minute!

Remember when this blog was about food?! Right, me too. Stopped in to Lola’s pre-Christmas week to get one of their amazing chocolate chip ricotta pies. Not going to lie, I also picked up some frozen meals to give as gifts. We all have that one “uncle” who can’t cook and gets take out every night of the week (oh, wait, that’s just us?) and we figured a weeks worth of home (just not my home) cooked meals would be a great way to start his new year off right! I picked up a few for us to throw in the freezer as well, because let’s be honest, after a huge ramp up and all the Christmas magic we moms are making, once Christmas is over, come December 26th, I know that at least I don’t want to do ANY cooking!

Since we were home all vacation, we picked up quite a few friend’s mail. One of those perks was that they brought us home treats from their travels – and these beauties were some of the favorites from Standard Baking Company in Portland, ME.

Since I was baking so many cookies this year, I thought that maybe some people would be feeling like they were getting too many cookies this season (I mean, personally I NEVER feel that way….but maybe some people do). I figured I would try making cookie dough for friends. This way, they could make cookies when it was convenient for them. They could pull them out of the freezer and make one or make them all. So I found this great easy recipe by Melissa, from Design, Eat, Repeat and made her Freezer Cookie Dough. Super big hit. Some friends made them right away, some waited to make fresh cookies on Christmas, and some saved for later! I have made so many batches since, and keep them in my freezer – I grab when the kids are running out the door to play dates and I have nothing to bring – and it has saved the day in many instances! Here is the best part, you melt the butter, so no mixer required! Customize for the holidays using holiday m&m’s or even try and use that left over holiday candy as mix ins!

By the time I got around to making these cupcakes I don’t want to even tell you how many sticks of butter I had gone through already… but had to change things up from making so many cookies! I pick up sprinkles from every place I go – I even got these cute sugar snowflakes from Market Basket!

I love homemade gifts. I love seeing what people choose to give, or what their strong suits are. I love the thought and care that goes into something home made.Peppermint chocolate was a popular choice this year, which is totally up my alley. 10/10.

Our other neighbor brought us these adorable candy cane cookies and hot cocoa cookies, complete with full sized marshmallows. I applaud anything that you have to make two colors of dough for…I’m a strictly one bowl or it’s too much work kind of gal!

One friend brought us TWO boxes of cookies, maybe because we have so many people in our family Don’t see me complaining though! The chocolate s’mores cookies were #1 with the kids. I think the exact quote was, “the marshmallows are perfectly cooked” and “we should invite them over for s’mores one time”.I mean, that was perfect because that distracted them from the other cookies haha. Anything with jelly is A+ in my book, but also, cut out cookies impress me, because, again, that extra step goes a long way! Extra points for the fancy divider in the box, way above and beyond.

Teacher gifts were basically Girl Scout cookies this year, but to the extra special ones, we gave a little something more, and I’m not talking about the corny puns. But we couldn’t just give a gift card, so these cute treasure boxes we had from Bullseye’s Playground at Target filled with Lindt chocolate, a gift card and a tag saying, “you’re a treasure” were just enough to brighten a few days! Top off with a classic ribbon and a little sparkle.

I do also love a good Chex Mix, and this year was no different. Made a large batch, although had to do it solo this year, Isabelle was not around to do the bag shaking! Silly easy to make and a crowd favorite. Put in a cute tin or tie up with a pretty bow in a cellophane bag and you have a great little holiday treat.

Speaking of gift giving, one of my go to gifts I love to give people with kids is a gingerbread cookie making kit. Wilson Farms sells these plain cookies on packs of 2, and icing in fun colors. I pick up bright colored candy and add to a fun basket, throw in some tissue or paper shred and VIOLA! Simple and fun holiday gift for the whole family that will get them a whole 5 minutes of peace. OK, maybe 3. And yes, that is the viral CVS nutcracker in the background that I got 40% off with a coupon

No holiday would be complete without a stop to Clear Flour Bread. I used to live in Brookline and have really good memories of all the delicious things they had during the holidays (and all the delicious smells). So we lucked out one day, when the weather was not too cold and the line was not too long, and picked up these delicious treats. Not shown are the four loaves of bread we also bought

And to end this post, a look at what we did for our holiday cookie box. We went very kid friendly this year. Although my son’s friend told me that he was very upset that I did not put the Pillsbury slice and bake Christmas tree cookies in the box. Way to keep me humble my friend, and on my toes. I’ll keep that in mind for next year! So getting back to this year.

Chocolate M&M Cookies by Cooking with Karli

Sparkling Shortbread Cookies by E2 Bakes Brooklyn

Holiday colored Rice Krispie Treats

Sugar Cookies drizzled with chocolate and dressed up with holiday sprinkles

The post Christmas 2024: Full Hearts, Even Fuller Stomachs appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Everyone is doing the TikTok Tortilla and I just had to see for myself: is it was one of the best ideas ever or is it going to be a total bust.

I decided to make a Rachel with mine. A Reuben is made with corned beef and sauerkraut, and a Rachel is made with either turkey or pastrami and coleslaw. I love extra cheese on everything, so that’s what I did here. I whipped up some home made Russian dressing, added on some pineapple coleslaw and of course, pastrami. First, take a knife and cut halfway through the wrap. Next, fold the cheese (on the right of the cut) up to the pastrami. Fold the pastrami to the dressing and coleslaw and then finish it off with a fold to the cheese, all in a counter clockwise motion. Throw it into a skillet for two to three minutes on each side to get it melty on the inside and crisp on the outside.

Verdict? I loved it. First, because it was so simple and easy to make. Second, it’s a great way to use up any leftovers you may have in your fridge. There are endless combinations that you could make! For example, I’m thinking scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and cheese would be a great choice. Perhaps one with refried black beans, your taco meat of choice, cheese and some yellow rice. What about Nutella, marshmallow fluff, strawberries and bananas?

Have you tried the TikTok tortilla wrap trend? What’s your favorite flavor combinations?

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Every once in a while I get inspired to cook/bake. It’s rare, but it happens – mainly on party cloudy, sixty degree days – you know, the not too hot, not too cold, not raining, days – kind of like the days I went to class in college. I’m generally a baker over a cook because let’s be honest, I have a sweet tooth. So I thought I’d just give you a look into what has been cooking in my kitchen since I’ve been off the radar lately.

It’s apple season and I love a good apple crisp. Plus, we have been apple picking so many times this season that I literally have more apples than I know what to do with. While I love apple crisp, I love it even more in these individual ramekins because you can just pull one right out of the fridge and have a single serving ready to go. Whenever I make a big batch in a pan, I always get disappointed if there isn’t enough toppings to apple ratio in my serving, so this makes sure that each one has the right amount of both! I used the recipe from Allrecipes and they always turn out perfect. I actually prefer my apple pie and apple crisp cold – anyone else out there like it that way too?

Next up, lemon blueberry cake using the recipe I found from Natasha’s Kitchen. Super light and simple to make. I wish it were just a tad more lemon-y in flavor, but all in all, a big hit in our house.

Fall calls for easy dinners and we love to make our own pizzas. The kids get into it because they love to sprinkle on the cheese and other toppings. We buy the dough from the market but you could very well pick some up from your favorite pizza shop too. Important to let the dough sit out and warm up to room temperature if it has been in the fridge, it will spread out a lot easier. We just go with cheese pizzas these days, but we make sure to add some parmesan cheese with out mozzarella to make it a little more dimensional. We add basil and oregano and bake at 450 for 10 minutes for the perfect pie! What are your favorite pizza topping combinations?

I feel like we  either have no bananas or a dozen bananas at our house and we can never eat them fast enough. Just throw those almost too ripe bananas in the freezer and save them until you are ready to make banana bread. We always make two, one with nuts (for the hubby) and one without (for the kids). I used the Simply Recipes version, and it came out great!

I find that eggs are a super easy way to make a family friendly meal. My kids love them for a hot minute and in the blink of an eye they tell me they don’t like them anymore. I try to make them in different ways so that no one gets bored. My sister in law makes a delicious casserole version that is always fluffy and so tasty for Christmas Eve, I suppose I should ask her for the recipe, but know that mine won’t come out as good. There are so many ways to make them – we usually add cheese and potatoes – sometimes ham or veggies if we are feeling adventurous. These are great for parties as well – they are easy to make and you can feed a bunch of people with minimal effort!

Staying on the theme of eggs, I make these single serve eggs and my husband likes to take them in the morning as breakfast on the go. Also a great way to empty the fridge! I use 12 eggs for a 12 muffin tray – and fill it with anything I want to get rid of – some popular flavor choices in our house are bacon and cheese, broccoli with onion and cheese, and of course ham and cheese. Make sure to spray the muffin tray with nonstick spray and cook at about 350 for 20 minutes or until the eggs set.

What have you been cooking in your kitchen?

The post What’s Cooking in the Kitchen? appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

When Laurin started the company she wanted to have the meals be easy to prepare, they had to be healthy, the price of the meal had to be reasonable, and they had to be kid friendly. So how does the service work? You go on the website and you fill in your preferences: what size family are you trying to feed and where you like to shop. The website bases your weekly menu on your food preferences and what is on sale at your local market. Every week you get a weekly dinner plan with 5 dinner ideas delivered straight to your inbox. You can shop ahead or you can order your groceries online and have them delivered by your local grocery store (if available). Want even more savings? The website also links you to online coupons for the items you are shopping for that week.

You can print out your weekly menu and then print out your shopping list. So this way everything is easy and all in one spot, if you need lemon for 2 of the 5 recipes, it puts lemons on the list just once – can’t get any easier than that. Not cooking all of the recipes you got this week? You have the option to delete the ingredients you don’t need off your shopping list.

If you read my blog, you know I’m not much for cooking. So I headed over to Leah‘s house and we made a recipe together. We made a simple chicken dinner with orzo and a spinach salad. I was completely impressed at really how easy the recipe was to make. The chicken was flavorful and tender – even my kids would probably have eaten it, and the spinach salad and orzo were done in the blink of an eye.

Head over to The Dinner Daily website to get your 14 day free trial and see for yourself how you easy meal planning for the family can be.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary subscription to The Dinner Daily. All opinions are my own.

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If I could only eat one dish for the rest of my life, it would be pasta with Parmesan cheese. I was pumped when I was invited to the “From Wedge to Rind” event at Eataly with the Consorzio. The event was mainly cheesemongers and cheese writers. Me, I’m just a cheese lover. We were treated to a variety of dishes, of course featuring Parmigiano Reggiano, and some of the attendees had a chance to make risotto with the executive chef of Eataly.

So what was on the menu?

Sformato di Patate con Fonduta di Parmigiano Reggiano® (Potato Sformato with Parmigiano Reggiano® Sauce)

Risotto con Brodo di Parmigiano Reggiano® (Risotto with Parmigiano Reggiano® Broth)

Tagliata di Manzo con Scaglie di Parmigiano Reggiano® (Sliced Steak with Shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano®)

Torta al Olio d’Oliva e Gelato al Parmigiano Reggiano® (Olive Oil Cake with Parmigiano® Gelato)

And here were the wine pairings:

Antinori, Cervaro della Sala, Umbria

Caves Cooperatives de Donnas, Donnas, Valle d’Aosta

La Stoppa, Macchiona, Emilia Romagna

Capanna, Moscadello di Montalcino, Toscana

Every dish was delicious, and used Parmigiano Reggiano in a different way. The most surprising dish was the Torta al Olio d’Olivia e Gelato al Parmigiano Reggiano. Parmigiano gelato?!? Yeah, that’s what I was thinking! But it was delicious! Another wonderful surprise was the dessert wine pairing that went with it. Sweet, but not the usual dessert wine sweet – you know what I mean…

Want to try out some of the recipes from the event? Check out the links below:

EatalyBoston_LaScuola_RecipeCard_Sformato di Patate con Fonduta di Parmigiano Reggiano

EatalyBoston_LaScuola_RecipeCard_Sliced Strip Loin

Want to visit the dairies where Parmigiano Reggiano is produced? Check out the Parmigiano Reggiano website to see how to make that happen!

Looking to learn more about raw milk cheeses? I certainly am. Head over to the Oldways Cheese Coalition to learn more.

Thank you to The Brand Connection for hosting me at this event. All opinions are my own.

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Spring is finally here!! I have already committed to storing away my winter clothes, so no doubt it will snow in May! So it means dining on patios, open toed shoes, maxi dresses and my favorite, picnics! Not a fan of the outdoors? You could easily do this on a porch (skip the bugs) or throw a blanket down on the floor and transform your living room into the perfect little picnic spot for date night in. Leah and I teamed up with Willow Tree Farm to create some fun ideas to add to your basket, using their delicious chicken salad that comes in flavors like: buffalo chicken salad, premium white meat chicken salad, cranberry walnut chicken salad, sriracha chicken salad and avocado chicken salad.

So if you are going completely gluten free, this recipe is for you. I love lettuce wraps, yes, even the ones at PF Changs. Leah and I thought that we would do a fun take on lettuce wraps (not just a scoop of chicken salad in a lettuce cup) and added in Fox Point Pickling Company’s dill carrots for that extra little zing and that big crunch. Just grab a small head of iceberg lettuce and start peeling off those layers – added bonus, there’s little cleanup to do here!

What’s all over Pinterest? Ball jar meals. So Leah and I took the buffalo chicken salad (that has a nice little kick to it) and added in some layers of black beans, chopped onions, shredded lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and micro greens. Eat straight from the jar or bring along a bowl to pour it into. Tie up a small baguette in wax paper to complete this meal. We made our own lemonade for the daytime version of this meal:

1 3/4 cup of white sugar

8 cups of water

1 1/2 cups of lemon juice

Directions:

Combine 1 cup of water with the white sugar in a saucepan. Bring up to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Plate in refrigerator until chilled.

Squeeze lemons to make 1 1/2 cups of juice. In a large container, mix together lemon juice, chilled simple syrup and 7 cups of water.

For the evening version of this meal (or even the afternoon ) pair with a single serve rosé (bonus if you can find one with a straw!).

Everyone loves Mexican, why not try this: corn salsa from Trader Joe’s, black beans, jack cheese, buffalo chicken salad and an olive tapenade to top it off. Serve with a side of your favorite corn chips. So easy to travel with you could even bring it to work for lunch with you during the week!

How much avocado toast can you have? Why not try the new avocado chicken salad from Willow Tree, it is made with avocado mayonnaise and is sweetened up with cranberries. The salad itself is gluten free, even though we served it up on this crusty baguette. We simply paired this chicken salad with some micro greens and pickled carrots. We garnished with some pickles we picked up on the North Fork from Sep’s Farm and a cute fruit salad.

What’s your go to meal for a picnic? And share with me some of your favorite spots!

Disclaimer: I was provided samples of Willow Tree chicken salad for this post. All opinions are my own.

The post Spring Picnic Ideas Featuring Willow Tree Farm Chicken Salad appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

With Super Bowl 51 just around the corner I thought I would do a post on easy to make snacks for the game. My friends at Willow Tree Farm sent me over some of their chicken dips to get the party started. So no matter which team you are cheering for (ahem, the Patriots), you’re sure to be stuffed by the end of the game!

Let’s start with the Layered Buffalo Chicken Dip using Willow Tree Farm’s Buffalo Chicken Dip. This was super easy to make and you can serve it in the dish you baked it in. I added in extra bacon, the original recipe had 4 slices, but I bumped it to 6 because you know if you’re the 4th person to get to the dip, there’s not going to be any bacon left… You can serve it with tortilla chips (make sure they are the sturdy ones) or veggies.

Ingredients:

• Willow Tree Buffalo Chicken Dip
• 1 can of refried beans
• ¼ cup of hot sauce
• ¾ cup of crumbled blue cheese
• 1 block of cream cheese
• 6 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
• 3 scallions
• Tortilla chips

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• In a small bowl mix refried beans with ¼ cup of hot sauce and then spread into baking dish as first layer
• Spread the cream cheese on top of the beans
• Spread Willow Tree Buffalo Chicken Dip on top of cream cheese layer
• Top with blue cheese
• Bake for 20-25  minutes
• Remove from the oven and top with scallions and bacon bits
• Serve with celery and tortilla chips!

Next up , the Chicken Caesar Dip Artichoke and Spinach Pizza using the Willow Tree Farm Caesar Chicken Dip.

Ingredients:

• Store-bought pizza crust
• Willow Tree Farm Caesar Chicken Dip
• Chopped spinach (I used 3/4 of a frozen container)
• Chopped artichoke hearts (I used about 4)
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• Olive oil
• 4 Garlic cloves

Directions:

• Let pizza crust sit out on the counter and come up to room temperature. Dust store bought crust with flour and spread into pizza pan.
• Mix the olive oil and chopped garlic and spread on pizza crust
• Spread Willow Tree Farm Cesar Chicken Dip on top of the olive oil and garlic
• Top with the artichoke hearts and spinach
• Top with grated Parmesan cheese
• Bake in oven (according to crust directions). I baked mine at 450 for 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool

I might have even added some mozzarella cheese to this pizza – but it was delicious. You can cut the pizza into small squares or slices and have your guests serve themselves (that way you can enjoy the game!)

And finally, the Chicken Salad with Cranberry & Apple. The original recipe called for this to be on a rustic white bread. I decided to make these with a baguette, they are so cute when they are bite sized and this way people can help themselves (read: less work for you). I added the apple slices first because it was easier to balance the chicken salad on top rather than vice versa. I loved the flavors here, a little sweet, a little tart from the Granny Smith apples, creamy chicken salad and crunch from the toast.

Ingredients:

• Rustic white bread or baguette
• 1 tablespoon Willow Tree White Meat Chicken Salad
• 1 teaspoon dried cranberries
• ¼ apple, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon Vermont sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions:

• Lightly toast the bread so that it is crisp but not overly crunchy.
• Mix the cranberries into the Willow Tree White Meat Chicken Salad, then spread over the toast slice.
• Arrange the apple slices over the Willow Tree White Meat Chicken Salad and top with sharp Vermont cheddar.
• Place under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and is bubbling, golden brown.

Disclaimer: Willow Tree Farm sent me complimentary samples of their dips and chicken salad to use for these recipes. All opinions are my own.

For more information on Willow Tree Farm, check out their website.

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This year was the 5th annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. Here’s how it worked – you had to have a food blog and sign up for the cookie swap. You make 3 dozen cookies and send a dozen to 3 bloggers. In return, 3 bloggers will send you a dozen cookies – so you end up with 3 dozen cookies!!! I ended up with some seriously delicious cookies that vanished before I knew what happened!

This year the organization as a whole partnered with COOKIES FOR KIDS’ CANCER, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease.

Here’s the recipe, adapted from Quaker’s vanishing oatmeal raisin cookies:

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons of butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3 cups of Quaker Oats

1 cup cranberries

1 cup white chocolate chips

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed in an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, mix well. Add oats, cranberries and white chocolate chips, mix well. Press dough into uncreased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.

I made these plain, but these would be great with a little extra white chocolate drizzled over top.

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Pecan Puffs

Beat until fluffy:

1 cup vegetable shortening

½ cup powdered sugar

Then add:

2 ½ cups sifted flour

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

¾ cup chopped pecans

Shape into balls. Bake at 350 degrees on greased sheet 10-12 minutes until light brown. Roll in powdered sugar after cooked. Makes two dozen.

Cranberry Orange Cookies

Makes 3.5-4 dozen cookies

Prep: 20 min

Cook: 15ish min

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

2 tablespoons orange juice

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until well blended. Mix in 1 teaspoon orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the orange mixture. Mix in cranberries and if using, walnuts, until evenly distributed. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be spaced at least 2 inches apart.

3. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

4. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 teaspoon orange zest, 3 tablespoons orange juice and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Spread over the tops of cooled cookies. Let stand until set.

Snickerdoodles from AllRecipes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

Sugar Cookies

Cookie:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Icing:
Water
confectionary sugar
food coloring

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In small bowl – stir flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Blend in the dry ingredients. Roll out dough so that it is 1/8″ thick, cut out cookies using cookie cutters.
Lay out cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden. Let sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to another surface to cool.
Once fully cooled, ice cookies and decorate with sprinkles. Lay out flat until icing hardens and enjoy!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yields: 4 dozen

Glazed Cider Cookies from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups apple cider

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole allspice berries

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar

Coarse gold sugar, for decorating

Directions

Bring the apple cider, cinnamon stick and allspice to a simmer in a small pot over medium-high heat. Cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 12 minutes; set aside to cool. Remove the cinnamon stick and allspice berries.

Whisk the flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and half of the cider mixture and beat until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into 3/4-inch balls and arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until golden brown, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and the remaining cider mixture in a small bowl until smooth. Spread the glaze on the cookies and top with the coarse sugar. Let set 30 minutes.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/glazed-cider-cookies-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 4 dozen

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups quick cooking oats

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups dried cranberries

Directions

1. Beat butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla for 5 minutes. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture 1 cup at a time.

2. Mix in craisins.

3. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). These freeze very well. Enjoy!!

Butter Ball Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Cream butter, sugar, salt and vanilla.

Blend in flour and nuts.

Scoop and roll into balls.

Bake 325 for 22 to 25 minutes.

Remove from oven roll into powdered sugar. Roll again in powdered sugar next day.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup additional to roll cookies

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 egg

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

Chocolate chips to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg to mixture. Mix in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Stir in salt, baking soda and flour until well combined. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet and flatten with fork. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups white whole-wheat or all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup virgin coconut oil (melted)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 10-oz. pkg. NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 10-oz. pkg. NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Morsels

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

BEAT coconut oil in large mixer bowl until smooth. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract; beat until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels.

DROP by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. I like to use a small ice cream scoop so that all cookies are the same size.

BAKE for 9 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients

½ cup smooth peanut  butter

½ cup butter or margarine

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¼ cup flour

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove wrappers from Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and leave on a plate.

Cream peanut butter, margarine, sugars, egg, and vanilla together. Add dry ingredients. Mix well.

Roll into 40 small balls and place in mini-muffin tins that have been sprayed with no-fat cooking spray.

Bake 350 degress at 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and center is depressed; remove from oven.

Immediately place peanut butter cup in center of cookie.

Cool completely in muffin pan.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

30 Oreo cookies

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Cover oreo cookie with chocolate chip mix and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Sandwich Cookies using a recipe from Kraft

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER’S Unsweetened Chocolate

1 cup butter or margarine

1-1/2

cups sugar, divided

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

22 Peppermint Patties

Directions

MIX flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add 1 cup sugar, egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Refrigerate 15 min. or until dough is easy to handle.

HEAT oven to 375°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in remaining sugar. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets.

BAKE 8 to 10 min. or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets 1 min.  Sandwich a Peppermint patty in between 2 cookies. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

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At the end of every chapter there are “Restaurant Lessons to Live By”, summary points of the chapter:

If you don’t have a passion for eating and feeding people, don’t bother trying to become a restauranteur. You’ll never make it.

If you really do have a passion for something, then don’t waste time. Get cracking – everything else you need will fall into place.

Establishing trust is fundamental to all business relationships.

You don’t have to be perfect.

Addressing guest complaints should be a core part of any company’s service culture.

Listen to your guests and provide what they want – even if you don’t like it. But make sure that you stay true to your brand.

Skip the arrogance. People starting a business need all the help they can get. None of us knows it all.

Don’t be a jerk to your team members.

If your workplace could be a reality TV show, the friend, you are doing something wrong.

Take the time to bond with team members, not merely police their performance.

Speak out, stand up, raise your hand. Stirring the pot can benefit you in ways you never imagined.

Sometimes it takes  a little while to learns from your mistakes. But until you do, mistakes keep happening.

Here are some recipes from the book:

Pasta Bolognese:

Cook 1/4 pound prosciutto, diced, in a large pot until crispy. Add one finely chopped garlic clove, one large diced onion, one diced carrot, and one or two diced celery stalks, and cook for 4 minutes.Then add 1 pound ground beef, 1 pound ground pork, and 1 pound veal and cook thoroughly, making sure that it is all mixed well. Add one bay leaf and cook ingredients together for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Next add in 2 (32 ounce) cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes that you’ve crushed by hand and reduce heat to low, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Leave it likes this for 2 hours, stirring occasionally, prepare 1 to 1/2 pounds of pasta according to the package direction (we love tagliatelle or rigatoni for this dish) add 2 ounces of pasta water to the bolognese sauce as well as 2 tablespoons of butter. Mix a small amount of the bolognese sauce into the cooked pasta, then top with the remaining sauce. Serve right away!

Potato Gnocchi:

This recipe makes 125 gnocchi, so make sure to invite some friends over. Boil 2 1/4 pounds russet potatoes until tender. Drain the water, ad then while the potatoes are still hot, peel and put them through a ricer. Set aside, and let them cool through and through. (Little tip: This can be done the day before.) On a large board form a “mountain” with the cooled and riced potatoes. Add 1 1/2 cups sifted flour, 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Make a hole at the top of the mountain and add 2 medium eggs into the whole. Working by band from the eggs out, begin mixing eggs with the potato and other ingredients until well blended. Cover the mixture with a slightly damp cloth or a bowl and let rest for 30 minutes.

Come back and roll the dough by hand into eight – 2 foot long rolls, about the size of a quarter in diameter. Then cut each roll into 1/2 inch pieces. Delicately dust the pieces with flour and place them in a plastic container. Make sure there’s only one layer per container and each piece has plenty of breathing room! Cover and freeze  until ready to cook. (Another tip: Once gnocchi are frozen, they can be transferred into ziplock bags so you don’t have a bunch of plastic containers all piled up in your freezer. Oh, and gnocchi can be kept frozen up to 1 month.)

When you’re ready to cook, take some gnocchi out of the freezer and bring 12 quarts salted water to a rapid boil. Add your gnocchi and then cover and cook until the water return to a boil. I’s try using more than one pot when cooking, and I also advise that you cook only a handful of gnocchi at a time. If you jam too many together, you wind up with a watery potato soup! Now uncover the gnocchi and cook for an additional 2 minutes or until the gnocchi begins to float. Strain, add your favorite sauce, and serve immediately in a warm bowl.

Kobe Meatballs and Marinara Sauce:

You want meatballs? Okay, here goes. You need a good marinara sauce on hand in order to cook meatballs, so let’s start there.

Put 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (Monini preferred) in a saucepan and warm over medium heat. Then add 1/2 cup finely chopped Spanish onion and saute until translucent. Add 3 finely chopped cloves fresh garlic and cook until the garlic is a light golden color. Whatever you do, don’t overcook the garlic! The add 1 cup white wine to deglaze the pan. Continue to cook the garlic until the liquid is reduced by half, about 3 – 4 minutes. Next, pour in 4 (28 ounce) cans of San Marzano tomatoes that you’ve crushed by hand. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil, stir, and reduce heat to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1/4 cup chiffonade fresh basil leaves. Congratulations: You now have some killer sauce to work with.

Next come the meatballs. In a large bowl soak 1 loaf of stale bread, broken into small pieces, in 2 cups of whole milk for 2 hours. Over medium-high heat, saute 1 diced white onion and 2 diced cloves garlic. Add the sauteed onions and garlic to the soaked bread and cobine with 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (Monini preferred), 2 pounds ground Kobe beef, 2 pounds ground veal, 2 pounds ground pork, 1/2 cup grated Parmigano cheese, 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese, 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 1/2 cup chopped basil and 6 whole eggs. Mix all this stuff together, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, take the bowl out of the refrigerator and form the mixture into approximately 20 (3 ounce) balls. Over medium – high heat in a large pan, cook the meatballs in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil for 10 minutes making sure that the meatballs are spread out i the pan and don’t touch one another. Turn them often so they don’t burn. Remove the meatballs from the pan and cool. Place the cooled meatballs in another large pan and cover them with 3/4 of a gallon of the marinara sauce you made earlier. Wrap the pan with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it overnight. The next day, cook the meatballs and the sauce for at least 3 hours at 325 degrees before serving.

Warm Chocolate Cake:

It’s easy to forget to preheat the oven, so make sure to do that first. A full 375 degrees, with a high fan on. Noe, take 12 1/2 cups aluminum tins and coat well with nonstick spray and flour. Grab a 9 1/2 ounce bag of bittersweet chocolate (I use 60/40 Callebaut) and pour it into a mixing bowl – we’ll need this in just a second. Melt 10 1/2 ounces of unsalted butter and pout it over chocolate to melt it. In another large mixing bowl, sift 5 1/4 ounces of pastry flour and 10 1/2 ounces confectioners sugar together. Add in 6 whole eggs and 6 egg yolks and mix until smooth. Then combine the flour/sugar bowl with the chocolate/butter bowl – stir and stir until homogenous. Deposit the chocolatey goodness into the prepared tins and then put the tins into the over. Bake approximately 10 minutes or until the edges are set. When you remove the cakes from the oven, let them sit briefly so that they unmold on their own.

Check out Steve’s book for more stories and additional recipes. It’s All About the Guest can be found at bookstores and at Amazon.

**Disclaimer – I was provided with a copy of the book, all opinions are strictly my own. I was not compensated in any other way for writing this post.

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