food photos
recent posts
Knock, Knock. Who’s There?
Date: Nov. 3rd 2009
Category: Cookbooks, Cookies and Bars
Email This
| 
Add to del.icio.us
It’s all the cookies you’ll be baking.
Don’t look now but it’s already November and if you think that the holiday season is still far off, you’re wrong.
Very soon cookie recipes from all over the world will be knocking on your door, begging you to bake them.
Don’t fight it. Embrace the cookies.
Let’s say that together.
EMBRACE THE COOKIES!
If I may be so bold as to get the ball of cookie dough rolling, you may want to consider Julia Usher’s Cookie Swap: Creative Treats to Share Throughout the Year
Take it from a cookbook addict, this is an incredible baking book. Don’t be intimidated by the idea of cookie-baking projects. While there are recipes for both elaborately decorated cookies and simpler treats, the book’s greatest strength is to approach each recipe in a clear, organized way so that even the beginning baker can master these cookies.
Oh, and the cookies! They are so sweet … literally and figuratively. Every major holiday is covered so it’s a book that will guide you throughout the year, not just Christmas.
I’ve had this book for awhile and if I had the time, I would have tried many of the recipes but I wanted to tell you about it in advance of the holidays so you can run out and get a copy or put it on your wish list for Santa.
I have a real soft spot for crescent cookies of any type. The book features a recipe for a crescent cookie called Sugar Between the Sheets. For more than ten years I’ve had a go-to crescent cookie recipe that I make every Christmas: my Apricot Walnut Crescents. I make them every year, often by request. But after making the crescent cookies from Usher’s book I must say they’re going to give my Apricot Walnut Crescents a run for their money.
Made with sour cream, a rich and tender pastry holds a filling of walnuts and sugar that almost caramelizes as it bakes. So. Sweet!!!
As I mentioned above, I could have easily tried every recipe in the book if I’d had the time. Rest assured, though, I’ve bookmarked several other recipes for the holidays.
While I’m getting myself organized and planning ahead, you should be too. If you’re big on cookies for Christmas or any other holiday, you’ll love this book!
Ciao!
15 Comments
Post a Comment
extras
August 2010
Pestos, Tapenades, and Spreads: 40 Simple Recipes for Delicious Toppings, Sauces & Dips
Time to put all those herbs in the garden to good use! I’m loving this book!
Magazine Mondays
Click here for more info!
Categories
- 2006 FIFA World Cup
- 2006 Winter Olympics
- Antipasti
- Baking Class
- Beans and Legumes
- Beverages
- Bread
- Brunch
- Cakes, Cheesecakes, Cupcakes and Muffins
- Canada
- Canadian Blogging By Post
- Chocolate
- Choux Pastry
- Christmas
- Coconut
- Comfort Food
- Cookbooks
- Cookies and Bars
- Cooking Italy
- Dairy
- Daring Bakers
- Dessert and Pastry
- Drinks
- Events
- Fish and Seafood
- Flavour of the Month
- Food Blog Awards
- Food of Piemonte
- Fruit
- Gnocchi, Pasta, Pizza and Rice
- Ice Cream
- Italian Sweets
- La Festa al Fresco
- Lemon
- Magazine Mondays
- Meat and Poultry
- MEMEs
- News
- Panini, Sandwiches and Tramezzini
- Pies and Tarts
- Potlucks
- Preserves
- Salads and Dressings
- Soup
- Sugar High Fridays
- Sweet Snacks
- The Daring Bakers
- The Daring Cooks
- The Travelling Cream Puff
- Treasured Family Recipes
- Uncategorized
- Vegetables
- Weblogs
More Links
- Alpineberry
- Caramels, Bonbons et Chocolats
- Confessions of a Cardamom Addict
- Cherry's English Kitchen
- It's My Life
- Tip of the Iceberg
- DavidLebovitz.com
- Dessert First
- Eye for a Recipe
- Hungry In Hogtown
- Jumbo Empanadas
- Kochtopf
- Le Moulin
- Make Life Sweeter!
- Living Venice … and Beyond
- Italian Cooking Recipes
- Joonbug.com (New York)
- Once Upon A Feast
- Pinch My Salt
- Posie Gets Cozy
- Rubber Slippers in Italy
- Scrumptious Street
- Seven Spoons
- Still Life With
- The Flying Apple
- The Second Helping House
- My Kitchen in Half Cups
- Winosandfoodies
- Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow
- 101 Cookbooks
- A Blithe Palate
- ACE Bakery
- All Recipes
- All Things Edible
- Scones, Muffins, and Tea Cakes
- Trattoria Cooking
- Dip It!
- Panini, Bruschetta, Crostini
- Chez Panisse Vegetables
- Perfect Cakes
- Chez Panisse Fruit
- Italy in Small Bites
- Marcella Says
- Once Upon a Tart
- The Cook and the Gardener
- The Weekend Baker
- Chez Panisse Desserts
- Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
- The Good Cookie
- Lorenza's Pasta
- The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
- Barefoot Contessa Parties!
- The Babbo Cookbook
- Rustico
- Barefoot Contessa Family Style
- The Complete Book of Baking
- How to Be a Domestic Goddess
- An Alphabet of Sweets
- Death By Chocolate Cookies
- Canadian Living Cooks Step By Step
- Breads from the La Brea Bakery
- The Art of Eating Well
- On Food and Cooking
- The Pie and Pastry Bible
- The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking
- The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
- The Cake Bible
- Baking with Julia
- Italy Al Dente
- The Food of Italy
- The Silver Spoon
- Celebration Breads
- Williams-Sonoma Collection: Dessert
- More From Magnolia
- Paris Sweets
- Pure Chocolate
- Cheesecakes
- Biscotti
- Sweet Miniatures
- Afternoon Delights
- Luscious Chocolate Desserts
- The Simple Art of Perfect Baking
- Essentials of Baking
- The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion
- The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion
- Easiest and Best Coffee Cakes and Quick Breads
- Out to Brunch
- Barefoot in Paris
- Everyday Italian
- Wanda's Pie in the Sky
- For the Love of Soup
- Truly Madly Pasta
- The ACE Bakery Cookbook
- Salad Dressing 101
- Biscuit Bliss
- Party Nuts!
- French Farmhouse Cookbook
- Fagioli
- Avventura
- Bittersweet
- Home Baking
- Bread Made Easy
- Soffritto
- Pasta!
- Caprial's Desserts
- The Great Chocolate Book
- Risotto
- Bread
- Brunch
- Buonissimo!
- Recipes from an Italian Terrace
- A Passion for Chocolate
- Basic Italian
- Simple Italian Sandwiches
- Mediterranean Street Food
- The French Market
- Patricia Wells' Trattoria
- The Italian Baker
- A Thousand Days in Venice
- Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home
- The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
- All About Braising
- Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating
- The Cake Book
- Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague
- Larousse Gastronomique
- Baking: From My Home to Yours
- The Chef's Table
- Chez Panisse Pasta, Pizza, Calzone
- Rose's Christmas Cookies
- A Passion for Piedmont
- The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook
- Williams-Sonoma Collection: Cake
- Italian Farmhouse Cookbook
- The New Food Lover's Companion
- Pizza (Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library)
- Luscious Lemon Desserts
- A Passion for Desserts
- Caramel
- Delicious Dips
- Luscious Berry Desserts
- The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market Cookbook
- Cupcakes!
- A Passion for Ice Cream
- Coffee Cakes
- A Sweet Quartet
- Sunday Suppers at Lucques
- Kitchen Sense
- Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best
- Wing It!
- Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings
- The Best Quick Breads
- Iced Tea
- Artisan Baking
- Bread for Breakfast
- The Cheese Board: Collective Works
- Les Halles Cookbook
- Simple Soirees
- Twelve: A Tuscan Cook Book
- Al Forno
- Italian Vegetables
- Meze
- The Lost Art of Baking With Yeast: Delicious Hungarian Cakes & Pastries
- BakerBites
- Baking and Books
- La Tartine Gourmande
- BetterBaking.com
- Cottage Chic Living by Cherry Menlove
- Chez Pim
- Chocolate & Zucchini
- Chocolatier
- The Cookbook Store
- Cooking.com
- Cook's Illustrated
- La Cucina Italiana On Line
- Cucina Testa Rossa
- Delicious Cafe
- Delicious Days
- Epicurious
- Flickr
- Food & Wine
- Foodbeam
- Foodieblogs.net
- FoodieView
- Food for Thought - A Foodtv.ca blog
- Golda's Kitchen
- Il Forno
- International Recipes
- Is My Blog Burning?
- ItalianMade.com
- Joy Of Cooking
- Our Adventures in Japan
- Kitchen Connaisseur
- La Toile Maison
- Leite's Culinaria
- Lidia's Italy
- Lori Longbotham
- Lucullian Delights
- Market Hall Foods
- Living in Florence
- Michaelaram.com
- Monika Korngut's Delicious Living
- Orangette
- Pastry Arts and Design
- Pastry Chef Central
- Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum
- The Republic of Tea
- ReTorte
- Rustico Cooking
- Saveur
- Simply Recipes
- Slashfood
- Taste T.O.
- The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz
- The Perfect Pantry
- Tish Boyle: Sweet Dreams
- Tomato_Kumato
- The Traveler's Lunchbox
- The Vanilla.COMpany
11/3/09 at 2:19 am
Those look divine!
Cheers,
Rosa
11/3/09 at 6:43 am
You’re right about holidays being right around the corner. I’ve found a great way to save recipes like this that look good that I’ve found online is to save them in Evernote so I don’t forget about them. I look at so many blogs and websites with great looking recipes and sometimes I loose track. This one is going in my desserts folder on Evernote! It’s like my own personal recipe box. Just a tip!
11/3/09 at 6:45 am
AMEN to embracing the cookies
11/3/09 at 6:48 am
Mmm, they do look good. And I love dough made with sour cream.
11/3/09 at 8:20 am
Woohoo!! I’m embracing the cookies!!! I never made a batter with sour cream. Definitely gonna try this!! Ciao!!
11/3/09 at 8:27 am
Olá!
Amo este site!!!
Por gentileza, quero a receita deste cookie da foto…ou melhor ainda, como consigo este livro??? rsrrs
Obrigada por ter este lindo site.. parabéns !!!
Abraços
Rosana/Brasilia/Brasil
11/3/09 at 1:14 pm
When I first saw them, I thought they were rugelach. I’m glad they’re not because now I have yet another pastry cookie with a pleasing shape (I love crescents, too).
11/3/09 at 2:52 pm
I’d like to embrace these cookies. They sound fabulous!
11/3/09 at 3:17 pm
Sadly, the book appears to be out of print - there are six copies available used from Amazon.com, none of which are less than $60 USD.
11/3/09 at 10:43 pm
those look fantastic! I am also a cookbook addict- I will have to pick up a copy of this book!
11/4/09 at 11:15 am
Hi, Ivonne. Thanks so much for the lovely post about my book! Much appreciated!
Tracy: The book is not out of print - just so wildly successful that we’ve had a hard time printing it fast enough, so Amazon is stocked out. We’re between 4th and 5th print runs and the book was only first released in August! We expect a shipment in a week or so. In the meantime, the book is available through Borders, Barnes & Noble and Michael’s craft stores, so you may want to check these spots first! It retails for $19.99 USD, so I have no idea why it’s showing as $60 on Amazon, but will check into that. Thanks for the kind words and I hope you enjoy the book!
11/4/09 at 5:21 pm
Do these freeze well? They look great.
11/6/09 at 12:12 pm
Hi, Brenda!
I am a real proponent of baking-to-eat so everything is at the height of fresh-baked goodness. But, these cookies do, in fact, freeze well. Assemble (but do not brush with egg wash or bake); then freeze in an airtight container. They should freeze well for a month or so. When ready to bake, put frozen cookies on prepared cookie sheet, thaw at room temp, brush with egg wash, and then bake as directed. Hope this helps with your cookie baking-planning!
11/7/09 at 8:00 am
where’s the recipe to those scrumptious looking puffs!
11/10/09 at 8:31 pm
Yumm! They look just like butterhorns, a type of cookie my mom and I bake every year at Christmas, also made with sour cream. Hmmm, I’m going to have to make a batch soon I think!