Meyer lemon and rosemary shortbread cookies

I don't really consider myself much of a baker, though I have been known to bake up some tasty treats. To me, baking takes too much forethought to make it fun. Plus, all that precise measuring sucks even more fun out of it. For someone as slightly OCD as I can sometimes be, I am a little haphazard in my baking.

Recently though I've been thinking about shortbread cookies. It started with having one of those magnificent chocolate, fleur de sel ones from Miette Confiserie near my house. I've been wanting to recreate it, and Eleanor kindly sent me a recipe for chocolate shortbread cookies, which I still need to work on once I figure out the conversion from metric mass to non-metric volume.

Then, on Sunday, we went to Colin's mom's house in Burlingame, where we picked Meyer lemons and rosemary from the garden. I left with a giant bag of lemons (perfect for making limoncello, just as summer is nearing) and had the bright idea that Meyer lemon and rosemary would go together well in shortbread cookie form. I've never made shortbread cookies before and none of my cookbooks had a shortbread cookie recipe. But, Google gave me my answer. I went over multiple shortbread cookie recipes, found one that seemed simple enough, and got to work in the kitchen.

I followed the recipe exactly, with the addition of the lemon zest and chopped rosemary. The finished dough wasn't coming together and was all crumbly. I didn't quite know what to do. Should I add melted butter? That sounded gross. Ian suggested some water, which worked in pulling the dough together. I rolled the dough into a rectangular log, wrapped it in plastic, and stuck it in the refrigerator. Ian and I made cabbage pancakes and tofu for dinner, and ate while the cookie dough was chilling.

After dishes were done, I pulled the dough out, sliced it, and placed the slices on to two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. They went into the oven and cooked for a little while. Once done, we ate them. I didn't know how they were supposed to be, but these ones were buttery, crisp, and just barely sweet. I could taste the rosemary and wished that the Meyer lemon was more pronounced. But, overall, not bad for a first time shortbread cookie baking experiment. Ian took some cookies with him and I took the rest to school to share. The other counselors and some of the students thought they were great, heavenly even. Lauren asked me for the recipe, which I typed up for her. It follows.


Shortbread Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup European style butter (Strauss Creamery butter for me)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Sift flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt together. Put in a bowl.
2. Beat butter in a separate bowl until fluffy.
3. Gradually add sugar and vanilla to the butter.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients in three batches. Do no over mix.
5. Roll dough into a log and put in refrigerator for about 2 hours.
6. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Slice dough into 1/3 inch slices. (I think I would have liked my cookies smaller.) Bake for 18 minutes, turning the trays once.
7. Let cookies cool until they are cool enough to not burn your fingers and mouth.
8. Eat.

A note: I added the zest of two Meyer lemons and maybe a teaspoon or so of chopped rosemary to my cookies. I think you can really add whatever you want to the basic recipe.

Cookie disappointment

After spending my Sunday afternoon reading the newspaper and editing, I had grown restless and was overcome with a strange urge to bake cookies. I had no reason to bake cookies. And, more importantly, there would be no way I could eat two dozen cookies. But, I baked away anyhow, needing to do something other than look at my computer screen.

I measured and mixed away, making chocolate and butterscotch chip cookies because that was what I had in the pantry. And, when it was all done, the cookies weren't as good as the ones from a few weeks before, when I baked for Manoella. They were too sweet and not as soft and chewy this time. Very disappointing.

So, I packed some in a Tupperware container, rang Ralph's doorbell, and asked if he wanted some. Scott had one too. Just 14 more cookies to go.

Vacation eating

Karen and Jeanne are in town for a few days before we all drive down to LA for Christmas and New Year's. And, as we're apt to do when they visit, we eat more than any normal person could possibly imagine. But it's all so good and so worth it.

Tuesday
Spices II. 7:30PM.
Jeanne and Karen arrived in time for dinner. After they had a couple of beers and a few rounds of pool at Place Pigalle as they wait for me to get home from work, we had dinner at Spices II in the Richmond. There are very few times when I get spoken to in any Chinese dialect, let alone my native one of Cantonese, but when we entered the door of Spices, the hostess greeted us in Mandarin, the language I learned during countless childhood years spent in Chinese school. It took me a little while to figure out what she was saying but realized that she was telling us to sit wherever we liked (the fairly vacant room and her hand gesture tipped me off).

We tried not to be greedy and showed some restraint in placing our order. We had the fried squid, which was crisply fried on the outside yet succulently tender. The squid pieces were spicy, salty (in a good way), and hinted of basil. I think it was the best dish we had.

The cumin lamb, one of the house specialties, was nice too. The thin slices of lamb were stir fried with cumin and green bell peppers, which I was careful not to eat in case they were jalapenos or seranos or any other green chili that would have stung my mouth, tongue, and insides.

I couldn't stop eating the dry braised green beans with a black bean sauce. They dish was placed in front of me and my chopsticks kept going back to them. They beans were somehow, miraculously both smushy and crunchy. They beans were a little salty, but for this dish, salty equaled tasty.

Our last dish was the spicy seafood noodle soup. The bright red soup came in a large white bowl. A layer of what appeared to be chili oil slicked the top, and through it peaked pieces of squid, fish, shrimp, and mussels. The egg noddles within were good--chewy and tender--but nothing really spectacular. The soup itself was spicy ad quite flavorful, although having to wipe the grease from my lips after each bite proved rather annoying.

Karaoke in Japantown. 9:30PM.
After dinner and a brief jaunt to the Green Apple Bookstore down the street, we drove over to Japantown for a round of karaoke. It was just the three of us in the large room for twenty in the Korean restaurant and, apparently, karaoke house above the Denny's. Jeanne and I had some Heinekens, Karen ordered a bottle of soju, and we sang until we were bored, which can be hard to do.

Wednesday
Breakfast at the Hickory House. 9:30AM.
Our mom had packed 16 steamed meat buns for us--two for each of us (Jeanne, Karen, Scott, and me) for two days. I steamed some of them and we had tea.

J's Pots of Soul. 11:45AM.
I'd been passing J's Pots of Soul for more than a year now. Every time I walk back from the MUNI station to my house, there it is and always closed (it closes at 2:30 in the afternoon). So, I was determined to eat there. Jeanne, Karen, I drove over there (we had to move the car) and squeeze into one of the spots by a window. There was only one other man in the small restaurant. I ordered the salmon croquettes with beans and homefries. Jeanne ordered the meatloaf with cabbage and sweet potatoes. And, Karen ordered the pancakes with sausage, bacon, and eggs. Everything was incredible. That meatloaf rivalled Scott's, and I could have drank my bowl of beans in one gulp.

Snacks in the Car. 3:30PM.
We had planned to hike Muir Woods and stop at the Tourist Club for a cold drink. After a little bit of help with the directions, a little bit of driving around, a bit of huffing and puffing, and then a little bit of more help with directions, we found the Tourist Club. It was closed. Instead of cold beer in a Swiss-style chalet, we had water, almonds, and dried cranberries in a Toyota.

Swan's Oyster Depot. 5:00PM.
Our way back to the City landed us at Swan's Oyster Depot. Jeanne and I had bowls of clam chowder, while Karen had half a steamed crab.

Nick's Crispy Tacos. 5:45PM.
Still unsatisfied with our snack, we found more food up the street at Nick's Crispy Tacos. I had a carnitas taco "Nick's Way." Jeanne ordered chips with salsa and guacamole (both of which were delectably fresh-tasting), corn on a stick smothered with cheese (which smelled quite pungently of cheese--I had to scoot away), and a fried fish taco (oh, so good). Karen had a bowl of soup and a carne asada taco.

E & O Trading Company. 8:45PM.
I hadn't seen Quressa since before she left for New York, but she was back for the holidays and I met her for dinner at E & O Trading Company for dinner as Jeanne and Karen shopped. We shared the peanut chicken, the duck imperial rolls, the char siu style smoked black cod, and steamed Jasmine rice. All the dishes were delicious, but the cod was especially so. The meat was velvety smooth and the char siu sauce that stickily coated the fish fillet was sweet and salty without overpowering the flavor of the fish. I had a Thai basil martini too.

Olivia's Godparent's House. 10:30PM.
We had to make a stop at Olivia's godparent's house to drop off a box of fruit that our parent's sent with Karen and Jeanne. We looked at wedding photos and watched a video of the dinner banquet as we ate Asian pears and grapefruit.

Baking Cookies at the Hickory House. 11:45PM.
Jeanne wanted to bake cookies as a gift for Ross' parents. She made chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. Scott even got out of bed to have one at one in the morning. She wasn't done until almost two.

Thursday
Breakfast at the Hickory House. 10:30AM.
I steamed more meat buns and we had more tea.

Koi Palace. 1PM.
We were hoping to have dim sum as an early lunch, but as we were slow and as we had to wait an hour for a table for three in this 500-seat restaurant, we didn't eat until a little after one in the afternoon. For just the three of us, we managed to do pretty well: shrimp dumplings, steamed egg custard bun, soya tofu, egg custard tart, mushroom shiu mai, chicken claw in black bean sauce, bee's nest taro puff, shrimp stuffed eggplant, Shanghai dumplings, sticky rice in banana leaf, and something that looked like a Chinese version of a beignet.

More Baking. 5PM.
Thanks to a little inspiration from Michelle Tea, Jeanne and I made peanut butter cookies with Hershey kisses stuck in the middle. Needless to say, we ate peanut butter cookies for the next several days.

Little Star at Home. 6:30PM.
We had a stay-at-home dinner. We ordered chicken wings, a Little Star pizza, and a Classic from the Little Star on Divisadero (Jeanne and I figured out that my house is equidistant from both Little Stars--the one of Divisadero and the one in the Mission). We made a green salad too. Scott and Eleanor joined us for dinner as we sat on the rug in the living room with Red Stripes on the floor.

Grapefruit. 9PM.
I needed fruit. I ate a grapefruit as Karen and I watched Dear Frankie.

Friday
Breakfast at the Hickory House. 11AM.
I steamed more of my mom's buns (we still hadn't finished them) and a couple of leftover ones from Koi Palace. I made some tea and did math problems.

Bill's Place. 3:30PM.
After a trip to the De Young Museum, Karen craved a burger, so I took her to Bill's Place, where I had only been once before but loved. She had a burger topped with beets and onion rings with a side of coleslaw and fries. I had a cheese burger with avocado and bacon with a side onion rings. We split a vanilla milkshake. Simply put, it was good.

No Name Sushi Place. 9:30PM.
We headed over to the No Name Sushi Place on Church at 15th for a relatively light dinner. We had miso soup, pickled daikon, the rainbow roll, the rock 'n' roll, some sashimi, and the spicy yellowtail roll. As we sat at the counter, we watched the interactions between the workers there and realized that they weren't Japanese. On our way out, we learned that our server was a Cantonese-speaker and that the woman was from Shanghai. He was so apologetic for not knowing English and having to use other means to communicate with the mostly non-Asian diners. We told him that we enjoyed our food and wished them good business.