And because one of the requests on the cookie board was "apple cinnamon" and I really wanted to make the cookies that look just like tiny pies that Taneasha sent me a link to (it wasn't really a recipe since all it did was reshape premade dough and fill it with premade apple filling). But for some reason, that seemed like a lot of work. So instead I made perogies.

No, I don't understand how my brain works either.

Apple Pie-Rogies

the lovely crustiness

• 1 c butter
• 3 c sifted flour
• 1 c icing (powdered) sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 - 12 tbsp milk

the tasty fillingness

• 3 apples
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon

apparently we're playing the game of "guess which ingredient isn't in the pic" again

Peel and dice your apples into small pieces.

Toss them into a pot with the rest of the filling stuff and set the burner to medium.

You're going to have to stir these from time to time, but not so often that you can't make the crust while they simmer.

Chop the butter into smallish chunks (and if you stole one of them for the filling, I promise I won't tell) and add the flour and the sugar and the salt to the bowl.

Yes we're making pastry. No you don't have to freak out.

Really, it's one of the easiest things to make. You just have to resist the urge to squish the dough between your fingers. It's gotta be one of those strange lizard-brain things, the urge to knead dough. Like cats do, and small children. Anyway, don't.

Cut the flour/sugar/salt into the butter until you have something that looks kinda like crumbs.

(pic of crumbs goes here... I forgot to take one, you have to use your imagination)

Sprinkle about 6 or 8 tbsp of the milk around on top of the crumbs and then using a wooden spoon CUT through the dough.

Don't stir, cut. From time to time, you'll need to scrape the spoon off. Keep adding a tbsp of milk at a time and cutting through the dough, until you get a shaggy mess that will hold together like damp sand.

You are allowed to squish it this one time only. :P

Turn the crumbly shaggy mess out onto the counter. Don't panic.

Like the nursery rhyme says, "pat it and roll it." Pat it down, then fold (roll) half of it on top of the other half, and keep doing that until it looks like this:

I know, I know, I need the in between pics so you'll believe me that it works and I'm not pulling some kind of Food Network bullshit, but I've only got two hands and they were both covered in shortcrust dough at the time (that's what we're making here: shortcrust dough).

Your apples should be done now by the way.

Chop the dough in half and roll out one half of it. You want it about 1/8 of an inch, or aboout 3 mm thick. 

Using a 2.5 inch cookie or biscuit cutter, or really big wine glass, you should be able to get just over a dozen from half the dough. Ultimately, between the two halves and rerolling the scraps, you should end up with about 3 dozen cookies.

Drop about a half teaspoon of filling on one side of the circle.

Fold over the other side and press the edges together.

I pressed mine with a fork: looks fancy and encourages the edges to stay together.

Oh, um, you should have preheated the oven to between 300 and 325. My oven was being a fucking wack job last night, and I have no idea how hot it was in there, but I'm guessing it was in that range.

Brush the tiny pies with an egg wash of one egg (also not in the ingredients pic) and a few tbsp of milk. You need these extra proteins on top to make sure the pies come out shiney and at least a little browned.

Poke a few holes in the top with a toothpick. If the steam has an easy way to get out it won't try busting through the pressed-together edges.

These take 16 - 18 minutes at whatever temperature my oven was. If the oven is too hot, you'll have very browned bottoms and still white tops. The top will be cooked, but it won't look that way.

They're tiny, they're tasty, they're totally worth the folding and forking.

That is some tender and flaky crust, lemme tell ya. And yes, you can do it too.

I really wanted to make some kind of glaze to go on these (perogies need sour cream), but it was late, and I didn't want to make more dishes, so I left them as is. Plus, I couldn't decide if I should try to make something with sour cream in keeping with the theme, or go with a caramel.

What would you glaze these with?

I had a couscous salad once at a chic, hippie friendly restaurant in Utah.  (They had the most amazing pizza!)  When you hear couscous salad, you probably think of something savory like tabouli, but the one I had was sweet and fruity.  I’ve been meaning to make my own version ever since then, but somehow just never got around to it.  Until now. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 1 cup couscous
• 2 Tablespoons canola oil
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 Tablespoon fresh mint
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup almonds
• ¼ cup dried blueberries 

Wash your mint and remove the leaves from the stems.

Chop.

You’ll only need the zest from about half of a lime. 

Make sure you only remove the green part. 

Juice your lime (it might take more than one to get 2 Tablespoons).  Put the juice into a small bowl and add the honey, canola oil, and salt.  Feel free to use a different type of oil if you prefer.

Whisk those together and add the zest and mint.  Stir them in and set that aside. 

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil.  Remove it from the heat and pour in the couscous.  Stir, then put the lid on and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.  Yes, I said 5 minutes.  How awesome is anything that cooks in 5 minutes and requires on supervision?

Use a fork to fluff the couscous. 

Give the dressing another quick whisk and pour it over the top of the hot couscous. 

Stir until all the little couscouses are coated. 

Chop your almonds.  I actually just cut mine in half.  Put them into a dry pan over medium low heat.  Toss them around frequently and allow them to cook just until the barely start to brown. 

I used dried blueberries, but I’m not sure how readily available they are if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby, and most people certainly don’t have them on hand.  Feel free to substitute dried cranberries or, dare I say it, raisins.  Not only are raisins evil, but they’re extremely toxic for dogs, so they aren’t allowed in my house. 

Add the toasted almonds and dried blueberries to the couscous. 

Then just stir it all together and you have a fabulous couscous salad. 

It can be served as is or chilled.  It’s the perfect side to take along to a barbecue because it can safely be out in the heat and will still be delicious. 

What food qualifies as evil in your house? 

Very soft and cake-like. Cakies!

These are one of those fancy seeming french food things that people are scared to try making. But there's no reason to be afraid of these plain little things.

And they are quite plain. I have no idea how they got their reputation. Gossip is a crazy thing. Someone somewhere probably heard something out of context and misinterpreted the statement and then of course went running off to tell everyone they know. Who all of course did the same thing.

I once made a joke about gossip that turned into a rumour: some editor had left a publisher and I commented about the gossip flying and jokingly made a ridiculous speculation; a few hours later someone started a thread on the forum where I'd made the joke about the editor going off to do the very thing I'd joked about. She's see my speculation repeated on some other forum, but not as a joke! I think it even made it to a blog or two.

I laughed my ass off. I'm still proud of that one.

Also proud that I managed to make nearly 7 dozen madeleines in about 2 hours. And that includes dishes.

Madeleines

**these are the quantities for about 2 dozen**

**I tripled the recipe!!**

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 c flour
• 1/2 c butter

There is absolutely nothing fancy or difficult about this ingredient list.

You also don't need fancy tools or mixers or anything to make them.

First thing you should do is melt the butter.

Next, sift the flour.

I'm usually not an advocate of the sifting step, but in this case, I think it's a good idea. Old school baking recipes were done by mass (weight) not by volume, and when you sift the flour, you lighten it. A cup of packed flour weights a lot more than a cup of sifted.

There, that's the toughest part of this recipe. Sifting flour. OMG AN EXTRA STEP!!!

I sifted mine into a bowl and let it hang out there until I needed it.

Measure a tablespoon or so of butter out of the half cup that you melted, and add it to a bit of flour in a small bowl.

Rather than butter and flour your pans, you're going to use this mixture to flour-butter them. I am loving this idea. I covered the leftovers and put them in the fridge; I'll let you know how it works out on the next cake I bake!

Crack the eggs into a big bowl, add the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon. You don't even have to beat them. No whisking. Just stir. So unfancy.

Once the eggs and sugar have been stirred to a bright yellow, add the lemon zest and vanilla.

You can leave the zest out, or replace it with orange, if you'd prefer. I'm contemplating replacing it with lavender flowers.

Spoon the sifted flour into the measuring cup, and level the top. Trust me, this way, it will weigh a lot less than if you'd just spooned it from the bag.

Again, a plain old stir is all you need to do to get the flour mixed into the batter.

Pour the remaining butter around the edges of the bowl and once again, stir it in.

You should end up with a sticky feeling batter that makes a wide ribbon when you lift the spoon from the bowl.

When you let the batter rest for a minute, it will thicken, but as you stir it, it will start to feel thinner.

So, we've used all the same basic ingredients that are in pretty much every other cookie, but we've put them together in a very different way. That's what appealed to me about this recipe. Cream-butter-and-sugar-add-eggs-and-vanilla can get a bit mindlessly repetitive when you bake cookies almost every weekend.

Plus, the pans. I'm not fond of single use implements, and the shape is a very distinctive part of madeleines. I borrowed these ones from a coworker, but I'm pretty sure I'll be buying a set of my own. These things are way too easy, fun, and tasty to never make again.

Rub the flour-butter mixture into the molds while the oven preheats to 375. A little hotter than usual.

Drop a tablespoon or so of batter into each spot. Underfilling these things is better than overfilling them.

If your molds are completely full, bake them for 15 minutes. If partially like these ones, only 12 or 13 minutes is enough.

The edges will be crispy, the shell side golden, and the strange bump that forms on the top (which is apparently some kind of madeleine requirement) will be soft and buttery.

And then you dust them with powdered sugar.

I don't seem to have a light enough touch to "dust" anything.

They are tasty without the sugar too!

I can't help but wonder if the first ones were baked in the shells they resemble.

If you’re like me, you like the taste, heartiness, and health benefits of oatmeal, but aren’t big on the squidgy texture. Baked oatmeal is the perfect solution. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• ½ cup oat flour (or whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups mixed berries
• ¼ cup chopped pecans
• 2 Tablespoons butter 

First thing, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350° and butter an 8x8 pan.

Put your oats into a mixing bowl.  I happened to have ground flax seed on hand, so I added a tablespoon.  It is absolutely optional, though. 

Add the rest of the dry ingredients. 

Stir that until everything is evenly distributed. 

Measure your milk and add the egg and vanilla.

Whisk that together and pour it over the dry ingredients. 

Stir until everything is incorporated and add the berries.  I used ½ cup each of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries.  I happened to have fresh strawberries, so I used those rather than the frozen ones.  Either will work just fine, though.  In fact, probably any kind of fruit, (apples, peaches, cherries, whatever) fresh or frozen, will work.  You just want a total of 1 ½ cups. 

Gently stir in the berries and pour everything into your prepared pan. 

Slice 2 tablespoons of butter into thin slices and spread them over the top.

Into the oven for about 40 minutes.  It should be golden around the edges and just starting to brown on top. 

The longer you allow it to cool, the better it will stay together.  Then just cut it into squares and enjoy!  And the best part is, any leftovers can be reheated in the microwave in about 30 seconds, so it’s instant breakfast. 

What food textures do you have issues with? 

This is another one of those 20 minutes or less super fast dinners. Granted you need leftover chicken picatta, but that was yesterday's dinner, and we won't worry about that right now. Live in the moment! Super fast dinner!

Picatta Pasta Salad

• 2-4 pieces of leftover chicken picatta
• picatta sauce
• 2-3 cups cooked pasta
• 1-2 tbsp fresh basil
• 1-2 tbsp green onion (or red if you prefer)
• 1-2 tbsp capers
• 1-2 tbsp artichoke hearts
• 1-2 tbsp sundried tomatoes
• 1-2 tbsp olives
• 1-2 tbsp pine nuts
• 1-2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice or wine
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil

Okay, yes, the measurements are more approximations than anything, but adjust as you need/like/have in the fridge.

If you have leftover pasta, this dish is even faster than 20 minutes. I didn't have any so I needed a few extra minutes.

While the water is coming to a boil, collect all the ingredients, and change out of work clothes.

I like to toast my pinenuts, so I did that in a small dry pan over medium heat. Give the pan a shake from time to time, between ingredient choppings works, and when they're nice and golden, turn the heat off.

As the pasta boils, chop anything you want chopped.

If your pasta is freshly boiled, cool it by running it under cold water.

If you have enough picatta sauce to just use it as the dressing, perfect. Me, I didn't (frankly, I'm not sure there's any such thing as enough picatta sauce) so I extended the dressing with wine and olive oil.

Combine everything in a nice big bowl and stir it gently.

If I had any lemon, I probably would have added a bit of lemon zest as well.

And what do you know, dinner!

How do you get creative with leftovers?

Now that Memorial Day has passed, it’s time to pull out the white pants, bright colors, and sandals.  Not that I’m a fashionista.  If I manage to make it out the door with my apron off and shoes on the right feet, I consider it a success.  Fortunately, I can find my way around a kitchen better than I can a closet.  This fresh squeezed lemonade with a hint of basil in the background is the perfect way to escape the heat.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 ½ cups lemon juice
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 8 cups water
• Fresh Basil

Be sure to give your basil a good rinse before you start… unless you like bugs in your lemonade. 

Put the sugar and 2 cups of the water in a saucepan over medium heat. 

Continue to stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and bubbles are forming on the sides and bottom of the pan. 

Turn off the heat and throw in the basil. 

While that’s steeping, juice your lemons.  (If you don’t have a press juicer you can use a reamer, but you might want to strain out some of the pulp.)

When you’ve finished with that, your basil should be nice and wilted and the syrup will have the gorgeous aroma of basil.  It has served its purpose now, so go ahead and remove it from the pan and discard it. 

First into the pitcher goes the lemon juice. 

Next is the remaining 6 cups of water.

And last but not least, the basil syrup. 

And there you have it, beautiful, refreshing lemonade.  Now into the fridge to get nice and cold. 

Serve over ice and garnish with a couple of lemon slices and basil leaves. 

What’s your favorite thing about summer?

Side dishes are usually overlooked and kinda boring. No wonder they're overlooked.

This one is definitely not one of those.

There are some days when boiling a huge pot of water just seems like too much trouble. Especially in the summer when it's warm outside and adding humidity to the house is the last thing you want to do. It's not quite that warm here yet, but I've been craving zucchini, and this is a fun way to eat it. I'll bet even kids would be willing to try them this way!

Zucchini Fettuccini

(this serves one, multiply as needed!)

• 1 zucchini
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 clove garlic

Using a vegetable peeler, or a mandolin (if you have one) peel thin strips off the zucchini.

Keep going with the peeler. Don't worry if the strips are even in width, or if they break a bit.

The middle, where all the seeds are, won't work well, so don't worry about it. Just keep turning and peeling the zuke until you've turned as much of it into ribbons as possible.

Heat a large pan over high heat. The goal here is to really sautee these things. You don't want them to steam at all. Zucchini has a very high moisture content, and we want to trap that moisture inside the "fettuccini."

Chop the garlic. Get the butter sizzling, then drop in the garlic. It and the butter will start to brown pretty fast. As soon as you see that golden edge, drop in your zucchini.

Keep the fettuccini moving around and DON'T add salt. Salt will draw that moisture out, and we want it trapped. It takes about 3 minutes for the zucchini to cook.

Topped with a bit of grated parm, or a tiny sprinkle of lemon zest..

These not-a-noodles, make a perfect side dish

Hm. What should I put on the other half of the plate...

How about chicken picatta?

I'll bet the zucchini fettuccini would be great next to Taneasha's little turkey meatloafs too!

What would you put on the other side of the plate?

Last week I showed you how to make the perfect buttercream.  This week, I thought I’d show you a fabulous conveyance for said frosting.  Even as good as the buttercream is, you still can’t just eat it with a spoon.  Not if there are other people present, anyway.  These cupcakes are soft and tender and I’d say they fall into the category of a sponge cake. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup oil
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Start by preheating your oven to 350° and lining/spraying your muffin pan.  Next up, measure all of your dry ingredients into a large-ish mixing bowl. 

Whisk those together and set it aside.  Next, you need to separate the eggs.  (Seeley has the perfect tip for that here.)  If you measure all the rest of your wet ingredients first, you can just drop the yolks in with them and save dirtying an extra dish.  

Beat the egg whites until you get stiff peaks.  <giggle>  Sorry, I just can’t help myself.  But if you don’t laugh at the term ‘stiff peaks’, then you’ve never read a really bad romance novel.  Some of the descriptive phrases that people come up with are simply amazing.  I have yet to actually come across stiff peaks (HA!), but I guarantee it’s out there somewhere.  Oops, I got sidetracked.  Where was I?  Oh yes, egg whites. 

Set those aside and whisk together the other wet ingredients and pour them over the dry stuff. 

Stir until it just comes together. 

Add about ⅓ of the egg whites. 

Fold that in until it’s mostly incorporated before adding the next third. 

Stirring will deflate the egg whites, so make sure you’re gently folding them in.  Cut through the middle with your spatula.

Then scrape along the bottom of the bowl and up over the top. 

Continue that with the remaining egg whites until they’re all incorporated.  Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each one about ⅔ full.  I always put my muffin tins on a sheet pan.  It makes them easier to move around, and it’s also insurance in case I’ve filled them too full.   

Now, just before you put the cupcakes into the oven turn the temperature up to 425°.  Bake them at that temperature for 5 minutes, then turn it back down to 350°.  Bake them for an additional 10 – 12 minutes. (That’s a total of 15 – 17 minutes.)  They’ll be just starting to brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one should come out clean.  Allow them to cool in the pan for only 2 or 3 minutes before relocating them to a cooling rack. 

When they’ve cooled completely, top each one with a generous amount of delicious buttercream. 

The interior of these cupcakes is fabulous.  They’re light, fluffy, and moist without feeling oily. 

What perfectly innocent phrase makes you crack up?  Come on, we all have our sophomoric moments. 

It's cookies!

In addition to these being one of Recipe Guy's favourite cookies (which means I will be making them again in a few months), I had a request for these at work. Yup, I'm back to work full time, which means the cookie request board is back in business.

Snickerdoodles are a variation on a sugar cookie. They have a slightly softer dough than typical sugar cookies, and because of that they aren't rolled flat and cut. They're rolled into balls and allowed to flatten all on their own. They're also covered in cinnamon sugar. Anything covered in cinnamon sugar is awesome. Even toast.

The one distinct difference between snickerdoodles and other sugar cookies is the leavener. Snickerdoodles use cream of tartar in place of the baking powder.

Cream of tartar is actually a component of baking powder, but the use of it straight to react with the baking soda results in a cookie that puffs up beautifully in the oven, breaking the sugared top and creating that lovely crackled look.

They fall a bit as the air trapped inside them cools and decreases in volume, minimizing the cracked look, but they'll stay nice and soft inside. Soft chewy middle, crispy crackled outside, and covered in cinnamon sugar like some kind of perfect cookie version of a breakfast doughnut...

Snickerdoodles

• 1 c butter
• 1 1/2 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2-1/2 to 3 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• cinnamon sugar

Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature. If they're not, use one of Taneasha's awesome tips to fix that.

Cream the butter and sugar until they're fluffy and golden.

Beat in the eggs and vanilla until you have something resembling a soft buttercream icing.

Dump in 2-1/2 cups of flour, and then top with the baking soda and cream of tartar. Give the dry stuff a gentle stir before mixing it into the wet stuff. Once you've got the flour mixed in, decide if you need any of that remaining cup.

The dough should be soft and a little bit sticky.

You should be able to form it into a ball with only minimal amounts sticking to your fingers.

Wrap the almost sticky dough in plastic and let it chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. You can leave it in there for a day if you're planning ahead, but if you do, give it at least 30 minutes on the counter. If it's too cold, you'll need to put a lot of work into rolling the dough into balls, and since cookies are technically a pastry, you want to touch them as little as possible.

Cold balls plus too much handling equals tough cookies.

Preheat the oven now! 350.

Bust off a piece of dough about the size of a cherry.

Gently roll it into a ball, and then drop that ball into a small dish of cinnamon sugar.

Jiggle the dish and roll the ball around until it's completely covered.

Once you've done that a dozen times, and have a dozen sugary balls on a parchment covered sheet, bake them for 8 to 10 minutes.

(It took a lot of restraint to not eat these things! Holy crap I need to make some kind of no bake doughnut hole cookie!)

Mine needed only 8.

These things are freaking amazing. I've already packed them up to take to work because if I didn't I'd probably eat a dozen between now and then. Mostly now.

What's your favourite cookie?

The other night, Hubby told me that a colleague of his was looking for a buttercream recipe.  Rather than referring him to one of our posts that includes a recipe for buttercream, I decided it deserves a post of its own.  The truth is, there are lots of different kinds of buttercream.  The one I’m making today is foolproof (even in May), reliable, delicious, and perfect for either piping or spreading. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• ½ cup butter, softened (1 stick)
• 2 cups powdered sugar (that’s icing sugar for you non-Americans)
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 2-3 Tablespoons cream
• ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

An important note to make is that your buttercream can only be as good as the individual ingredients you use.  Good quality butter, organic powdered sugar, and pure vanilla extract are a must.  I can’t stress enough just how important it is.  If you’re going to use crap ingredients, you might as well save yourself the trouble and just buy the stuff that comes in a tub.  If you’ve never used organic powdered sugar, give it a try one time.  You won’t believe the difference.  Trader Joe’s is a really good source for stuff like that. 

Ok, rant over. Let’s get started.  Drop the room temperature butter into your mixing bowl and give it a quick stir, just to make sure it’s nice and soft. 

Sift the powdered sugar over the top. 

This is another thing that makes a difference.  All powdered sugar is going to have at least a few lumps in it.  Sifting it will make your icing nice and smooth.  Break up any lumps with your fingertips or the back of a spoon and put them through the sieve. 

Mix on low speed until you have what is basically a crumbly mess.  This is when you want to scrape down the bowl really well.  If you have a dough scraper, they work great for this because they’re stiffer than a silicone spatula. 

Once everything is scraped down thoroughly, mix on medium- low speed until you have something about the consistency of play dough. 

Add the vanilla.  If you want your buttercream to be a different flavor, (mint, almond, whatever) feel free to substitute it for some or all of the vanilla.  (this is also when you would add coloring if you’re doing that)     

Mix that in until it is completely incorporated.  Be sure to continue to scrape everything down. 

Add 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream,  

and give it a mix until it looks well… beautiful!

Now’s the time to check for consistency and flavor.  If you want it to be thinner, add a little more cream.  I wanted salt in mine, so I added ¼ teaspoon. 

Give it one more stir and you have reached buttercream perfection! 

Spread it on a cake or pipe it onto your favorite cupcake. 

If you drop your cupcakes back into the pan, they can’t run away from you while you’re piping.  There are two easy designs for topping cupcakes.  The first is a spiral that has a point in the middle. To accomplish this, use a large open star tip, hold your bag straight up and down, and starting from the outside edge, work your way around, slowly moving toward the center. 

The second is a rosette.  It’s exactly the same technique, except you start in the middle, and work your way toward the edge.  Either way is beautiful!

Repeat with the rest of the cupcakes.  There should be plenty of frosting for a dozen. 

What recipe would you like to see us feature?  Don’t be shy.  Requests are not a nuisance.  We actually love getting them.  Not only do they give us inspiration for posts, but they help us to know what kinds of things our audience is interested in.  So feel free to ask questions or make requests anytime, even if it is completely unrelated to the post.