Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Last night I made the other half of the Shortbread cookie dough. It dawned on me that I should share the recipe for my loyal readers to try next time you need a great cookie. I hope you enjoy the Barefoot Contessa's cookies as much as I did.

Note: I find the edges of shortbread are ever so slightly sharper if you chill the cookies for ten minutes before you bake them. Shortbread can also be cut into shapes and refrigerated for a week and then baked the day you serve them.

Yield: 24 cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with your choice of cutter. Place the cut-outs on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

If you try it let me know how it turns out.

The Way the cookie crumbles

For those of you who don't know I have a tendency to fixate on things. If I get an idea in my head I can't let it go until I've either expressed it (about a million times) or resolved it.

Last week at work we had lunch catered by Panera bread Company. The last two times we've (and by we I mean me) ordered lunch from there, they brought these AWESOME shortbread cookies. Normally I wouldn't give a shortbread cookies a second look. But since I wasn't impressed with the chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies. I decided to give Panera on more shot to redeem themselves and tried the shortbread cookie.

After the first bite I was blown away by the buttery flavor, and flaky crispy texture. It had just the right about of sweetness and was rich enough that I only need half a cookie to satisfy me. Last week after my second go around with the cookie. I thought to myself, these seem pretty easy I bet I can make these myself!

Then the hunt was on for the perfect, shortbread recipe. Of course I waited until I got home from work to do this search and not look for it on company time ;) . After many recipes I found it. I was not at all surprised to see it was from my cooking and entertainment idol Ina Garten. 

The beauty of this recipe is it only has four ingredients, Butter, flour, sugar and vanilla extract. Things that most bakers have on hand. I was excited because I didn't even need to go the store.

Well, I sat on the recipe for about a week and on Tuesday night I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to make the cookies, I was like a woman on a mission.  The once the dough is made you have to chill in the fridge for thirty minutes. It was late so I figured I'll bake off the cookies tomorrow. 

I got up the next morning and found my dough was rock solid. It had frozen in the back of my fridge overnight. I was sad because I thought I ruined my dough. I got home tonight and thought well try thawing it out and see what happens. After thirty minutes on the counter the dough was still too hard to roll and completely crumbled every time I tried to roll it. I was just about to toss it out and try again. When it hit me let it sit for a little longer and give the butter a chance to melt. 

When I came back I found that indeed the dough was now rollable but it still kept crumbling on me. At this point I thought just roll it out slowly and see what happens. To my surprise I got it rolled out and cut out the cookies. I still was nervous not sure if they would taste any good. The timer went off and the first batch was out and they were so GOOD! They tasted as good if not better than the ones I had at Panera. I am glad I didn't scrap the dough and I stuck with it! Now, I can move on to my next food obsession!

I am baaaccck!

Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time since I've updated my blog. And as an avid blog reader myself I know how annoying it is not to have new post from your favorite bloggers. Then again it's not like you my loyal readers have been hounding me for a new post either. Only one reader asked about a new post? Where's the love?

Well, I am back and I promise to be more consistent with my updates. I'll do my part to write the food blogs if you'll do your and read it and tell your friends about it. Okay enough with the shameless pleas for readers. Now on to what I've been up to.

I haven't just been lazy the last few weeks, I've been busy. The last week in July I returned to the good old Land of Enchantment for a friends wedding. My mom came to visit me in California the week after that. Work has been busy and I even worked in another weekend trip to Palm Springs! 

Even though I haven't been blogging about food lately, doesn't mean I haven't eaten and made some great food while I was away.  My goal this week is to give an update on what I've been up to in the world of food lately. Here are just a couple of topics I plan to tackle. New easy desserts for summer, wedding cakes and Cory's addiction to Salsa and New Mexico Chile! So come back and see what I've been up to! In the meantime I am going to give you a foodie word of the day to hold you over until the next new post. The foodie word of the day is...

 Cruciferous vegetables - The scientific name for a group of vegetables that research has proven may provide protection against certain cancers. Cruciferous vegetables contain antioxidants. These vegetables , which are all high in fiber, vitamins and minerals, are: broccoli, Brussels spouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, kale, mustard greens rutabagas and turnips.

If you have any foodie words you want the definition for drop me a line in the comments and I'll be happy to post it! 

More updates on the way :)

Good bye old friend

Tonight I got some very sad news. The Martini Grill in Albuquerque has shut it's doors for good. According to the news reports they lost their liquor license, because they were serving well liquor and passing it off to their costumers as premium liquor.

I don't agree with them cheating their costumers and breaking the law. But I have to say that when I heard the news my hear was broken. Even though I have not lived in Albuquerque for four years now. The Martini Grill was still one of my top spots to visit when I came home. It was one of the few spots that all my friends and I could agree on. 

The thing that made Martini Grill so special wasn't just the cocktails. Although they did have over a dozen varities of martini's. The food was great, they took bar food to a whole new level. One of my favorite dishes to order there was, the green chile cheese waffle fries topped with chicken wings. 

They made the best waffle fries I've ever had in my life! So good that they were even featured on the Food Network. When my mother told me the news she said you grew up there! She didn't mean I had been going there as child. But that I once I was drinking age I grew up drinking there. It was the place my friends and I would go when we wanted a "grown up" cocktail.

Not our standard rum and coke, or lemon drop shots we would do at our local college bar.  It was a place for us to go for girls night out. I've so many great memories there, of happy hours and long talks with friends that lasted until last call.  There are so many Friday nights here in California when I wish I could go to Martini Grill for a drink after work. 

I know it may seem silly to be this upset about a bar closing. But for me and my friends it's truly an end of an era! I feel like I've lost a friend. One of those really great friends who would keep your secrets, who is there for you to celebrate your triumphs and to comfort you when your down.  Good bye Martini Grill! You will always have a place in my heart. And all though you are gone you are not forgotten! As long as I can hold a martini glass in my hand you will be in my heart!

Love,

the 505 girls!

Foodie word of the week?

It's a working title okay. I told you I didn't think I could commit to a new word every day but I am going do my best to post a word as often as I can.  Remember if there is a foodie word or term you want the definition let me know and I'll post it.  

Today's word is for all my peeps in my home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The hardest thing about living in California is not the gas prices. It's not being able to get these delicious treat accompany every Mexican food meal. The word of the day/week/month is....

Sopaipilla -[soh-pi-PEE-yuh] This crisp, puffy deep-fried pastry resembles an air-filled pillow. The sopapaipilla is thought to have orginiated in Albuquerque, New Mexico, more than 200 years ago. It's a favorite Southwestern U.S. dessert, usually served with honey or syrup flavored with anise or cinnamon. Sopaipillas are also sometimes filled with savory ingredients like Refied Beans.

Kim's note they are also great stuffed with beef and red chile! New Mexican's leave a comment with your favorite place to get a good Sopaipilla. Since I no longer reside there I think it would be unfair for me to weigh in. To be perfectly honest, I miss them so much that all Sopaipillas are good to me these days. :)

Quote of the day

You all know by now how much I adore wine! I got my weekly newsletter from my local wine shop and it had this great quote from Ernest Hemingway in it about wine. I just had to share it with all of you.


Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.

Ernest Hemingway

Death in the Afternoon

Yes, it's Wednesday morning and I am all ready thinking about wine. No judgement!

Foodie word of the day

Okay, so I am going to try and post a new foodie word everyday. So send me any cooking or food words you would like the definition for.

Today's foodie word is:

Eau-de-vie:  French for "water of life" describing any colorless, potent brandy or other spirit distilled from fermented fruit juice. Kirsch(made from cherries) and framboise (made from raspberries) are two popular eaux-de-vie. 

Cheers!