Handmade: Spritz Cookies

Some time ago (when I moved to my first apartment), I stole the cookie gun shown below from my grandma (love you Grandma).  And now, every Christmas, I make spritz cookies at least once over the holiday season.

The worn pink box and the shiny, aluminum glorified-caulking-gun inside make me super happy every time I look at them.

I use the spritz recipe from Williams Sonoma: Cookies but I add some food coloring and peppermint extract (I tend to crave all things minty during the holidays).

Spritz Cookies
adapted from Williams Sonoma: Cookies


1 c. unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
3-5 drops red food coloring
2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Colored sugar or sprinkles for decoration.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In large bowl, cream butter and sugar on high speed until sugar is no longer grainy.
Add egg, extracts and food coloring, stir until blended.

Sift flour and salt together onto waxed paper and add to butter mixture by spoonfuls until blended.

Follow your cookie press directions to place cookies onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use silpats on mine).

Sprinkle with colored sugar or sprinkles.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are golden brown.

Let cookies cool on pan for 1-2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies, keeps well for a few days.

Handmade: Throw Pillows

Last weekend, some of the girls from my office came over so that I could teach them how to make pillows.  We all got some pillows made (after figuring out how to work with zippers) and below you can see my end result.  I made 2 of each kind and now I've got an itch to make some more.  Such a simple and fun project.

Mmmm, shiny.

My First Time: Framing

Until now, I've always used pre-matted, cheap frames from places like Bed, Bath and Beyond or Pier 1, but now I've dipped my toes into the (expensive) world of professional framing.

While heading home from a business trip in Europe I happened to be on the same flight as David Lynch, who happens to be one of T's favorite directors.  The only reason I knew what he looked like is T decided on a documentary about David Lynch to watch sometime before that.  Well, since I'm an amazing wife, I went up and told him how much my husband loved his work and asked for an autograph.  He was very nice and obliged me.

So our anniversary came around (November 21st) and I thought that framing this autograph would be a fantastic first anniversary gift (paper, check).

I also had some lovely nudes done by a friend of mine in Seattle, she wanted to find some good homes for her artwork and I was more than happy to take some off her hands.

I went to FrameStore in Culver City, because it was convenient, but I was really happy with the quality of the work and the assistance from the shopkeeper, Nancy, in helping me pick out so the frames and mats.

Here's a close up of the autograph with a snapshot of the director that I took at the Charles de Gaulle airport. It's sort of floating in a shadowbox frame with a black suede mat.  T loves it.

And here are the nudes by the lovely Heather Haws.  They are the perfect amount of sketchiness and softness, and the colors are just amazing.  They're our first 'real' pieces of artwork and I can't wait to add more to our home.

After getting over the sticker shock of custom framing, I have to say I'm hooked.  I think I'm going to have to try and keep myself in check by only framing things that are important to us, but I keep thinking about what I can get framed next.  The one tip I've got if you're going to get something framed is to give yourself some time at the frame store.  There are tons of mats and frames to choose from and it takes a little while to pick something perfect.

My First Time: Whoopie Pies

T bought me Baked Explorations recently, there might have been some heavy hinting on my part, but I'm still grateful.  It's fantastic, the photography is beautiful, the graphic design is cool and the recipes are delectable.

I was immediately drawn to the two whoopie pie recipes.  I had never made whoopie pies and I felt it was time to see what all the fuss was about.

I used the Chocolate Whoopie Pies recipe (p. 108) for the cookie portion and for the filling I used the cream cheese recipe from the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies (p. 117).

Chocolate Whoopie Pies
-adapted from Baked Explorations.

3 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup hot coffee
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment or silpats.

In large bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda.

In another large bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and coffee until cocoa is dissolved.

In a medium bowl, stir the sugars and oil together.  Add to the cocoa mixture and whisk until combined.  Add the egg, vanilla and buttermilk, whisk until smooth.

Fold dry ingredients into the wet.

Drop by large rounded tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cookies are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cookies completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies (2 dozen whoopie pies).

Cream Cheese Filling
-adapted from Baked Explorations

3 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
food coloring (optional)

Cream butter and cream cheese together.  Add vanilla, salt and food coloring.  Add sifted powdered sugar in batches until filling reaches desired consistency.  I made these for Halloween (just felt a need to explain the haz mat suit orange).

Assemble the pies.  I started out by matching up cookies that were similar size and shape so I wasn't left with a weirdly paired pie at the end.  Then scoop on some filling and sandwich them up.  Mmmmm.

These cakey cookies came out great, they held together well, but were still soft and delicious.  I tend to hate coffee in desserts, but the coffee in this recipe just makes the chocolate better, no more no less.  Paired with cream cheese frosting (always a winner) these pies just couldn't be beat.  I will have to make these again as soon as I have a chance to give them away, or else I would absolutely eat them all.

Oh, I wish I could eat my screen right now.

Miraculously, these lasted a couple of days.  They were still fantastic the next day, but the day after that, they were on their way out, still good, but not as good.  So eat 'em quick, tough, I know.

Side Note: Goat Cheese Cheez-it

Goat cheese on a Cheez-it is amazing!

I know you think it sounds absurd, but we had a bit of leftover goat cheese and we were out of normal crackers, so we gave it a whirl on the Cheez-it's.  Man am I glad we did.

Explore: Abalone Cove

I don't know why I never wrote about this, but T and I went with my cousin and his family to Abalone Cove in Rancho Palos Verdes this summer.  If you're going to visit you just have to check the tide schedule and make sure you make it there at low tide to get a glimpse of all the sea life.  You park on top of the cliff, take in this view...

as you begin your hike down.  Then you catch a glimpse of your goal.

After the descent you make your way along a rocky beach

And then you get there, get your feet wet (definitely wear water friendly shoes), and start to look around.

Lovely, vibrant sea urchins that can sting you.  They're everywhere, but they can be avoided.

The dry stone is pretty interesting also.

It looks so structured.

The starfish are fun too.

I definitely recommend a day trip if you haven't been.

Handmade: Baby Quilt

My cousin and his wife just added a little baby boy to their family, so for the baby shower I whipped up a baby quilt.  For those new to quilting, starting small is the way to go.  And I'm not sure I possess the required amount of patience for a large quilt.

I started out looking through my fabric stash and found some browns, blues and teals with an overall theme of stripes and polka dots.  For the quilt, I decided to incorporate a lot of white and the lighter colors rather than the standard pastel-for-babies route.

Because I don't particularly like patterns, I just cut strips of varying widths and lengths.  Then I started laying them out and playing around with the composition.

After sewing the strips together, I added a wide, white border to freshen it up.

After layering the top with 80% cotton/20% polyester batting and the quilt back fabric, I planned out my stitching pattern.  I simply 'stitched in the ditch' for the strips in the center, and for the border, I measured out large 'x's to go in the border.

Then I bound the edges in crisp white to finish it off.  You can see the stitching pattern a little bit better from the back as well.

This quick and simple project was a great way to get me back into sewing.  I haven't made anything in a while and it felt good to be back behind the machine.