Showing posts with label Poppyseed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poppyseed. Show all posts

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Poppyseed Cookies


These tiny sandwich cookies are my absolute favorite. They take forever but are so completely charming that one look (or bite) melts all the frustration you had while you were rolling out and cutting a billion little 1 1/2 in cookies.

I brought these to work on my birthday this year, and everyone still talks about them. They are sprinkled with sugar and salt. Nobody expected the salt, so they were thrown off and they didn't like the distinct taste. Of course, I reached out and tenderly told them that the cookies do require a sophisticated taste and some people just aren't refined enough to enjoy such an adult pleasure. Needless to say, "Megan's Cookies" carries mixed connotations.

If you are looking for flaky salt, Trader Joe's is a great source. Or, you can just use fine grained sea salt.


It is easier to sprinkle the sugar if you use a mini strainer.

When you are rolling them out, it is easiest to do it between two pieces of saran wrap. The dough stuck to the counter, and it also stuck to the silicone baking sheet. And I hollered in frustration. Keep it simple and just stick to the plastic wrap.


This time, I made half of the cookies with sugar and salt on top, and half with just sugar. The ones that have flaky salt on them are the ones I sandwiched with chocolate. Yum-O-Licious. Here the fabulous, golden brown cookies. Oh, dear. I think I may have died and gone to heaven. I really didn't expect to get here.....now I don't know what to do with myself.

The ones with just sugar are just going to stay as they are. Mostly because when I was rolling out the cookies I looked at the clock and cried to see it was taking so long for so few cookies. Then I cried again when I was finished sandwiching the salty ones because then there were only half as many cookies. It was too much to bear, and this way they look more plentiful


This is my favorite one. Where is my heart? Oh yeah - Kevin has it.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Salad that Pleased an Engineer


Engineers hate salad. About once a month the company will have a lunch meeting and order 35 pizzas and a single tray of salad. The pizza is wolfed down in a matter of minutes but the salad lingers all afternoon until someone grabs the tray and throws it into the trash. It may begin to explain why "engineer" and "sexy" aren't generally used in the same sentence.


Today we threw ourselves a party to celebrate delivering our product on schedule. I signed up to bring the salad, Susie conquered the dessert and everyone else chipped in for pizza and soda. Did I mention that this isn't a good place to work if you are trying to eat healthy food?


Everyone eyed the salad suspiciously, but to my astonished amazement, everyone also went back for a second helping. Huh? Yep, you heard that right. Of course, everyone had taken only their obligatory 3 lettuce leaves the first time through the line, but then they thought it was so good that they got up specifically to get more. Not every salad has those kinds of bragging rights.


The dressing recipe makes a LOT. I used a 18 ounce bag of lettuce and about 3/4 of the dressing is still left. Hopefully someone will hear that I have a bunch to spare and show up on my doorstep, offering to take it off my hands before it goes bad. 1/3 - 1/2 of the dressing recipe would have been plenty. It is straight from the latest church cookbook.
On a final note, I don't really like mandarin oranges, onions, mustard, or vinegar. But when they all come together they balance out nicely and turn into something yummy.


Orange, Cranberry and Poppy seed Salad
Salad:
Lettuce
Grated Cheese
Mandarin Oranges, drained
Dried Cranberries
Slivered Almonds

Dressing:
2 T poppy seeds
3/4 C apple cider vinegar
2 C oil
1 small onion (or a small handful of food storage onions - they are milder)
2 T mustard
2 t salt
1 C sugar

Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth. Drizzle over the combined salad ingredients.