Adding Pop To A Cookie

When you are decorating a cookie and want to keep things simple but still make an impact, try outlining it with a contrasting color of royal icing.

A white border on the lobster cookie makes the red color pop and enhances the shape of the cookie.

Experiment with unexpected color combinations and have fun.

When using different colors to outline and flood a cookie it's important to let the outline dry before adding the other color.

Use a skewer or toothpick to gently ease the icing into the outline. Now all this lobster needs are two tiny black dots for eyes and it's complete.

Clover Cookies

Calling all beginning cookie decorators: These clover cookies are for you.

No special cookie cutters are required and all you need are two colors of royal icing.

They are super easy to make and the results are satisfying. And, with St. Patrick's day under a week away, how can you resist? Please give these a try.

Here's how to make them:

Outline a cookie.

Fill the cookie with flood consistency icing and use a skewer to help move it to the edges.

While the flood icing is wet, drop three drops of flood consistency green icing onto the cookie.

Starting at the top of each drop, use a skewer or toothpick to draw through the drop and down to create a stem. Wipe the toothpick or skewer clean after each swipe.

Kalamata Olive Bread

Two loaves of kalamata olive bread made for less than $4.

Both of my daughters love kalamata olive bread and ask me to buy it for them at our neighborhood market. The price though is hard for me to swallow - $4.99 for a very small loaf.

Starting today, they'll get it more often because I found I can make it myself for a lot less - two large loaves for under $4.

The kalamata olives are the most expensive ingredient in the recipe. The best price I've found on them is a 12 oz. jar of pitted olives at Trader Joe's for $2.99.

The rest of the ingredients - flour, yeast, salt and a bit of sugar are under $1.

Besides saving money, baking your own bread is satisfying, makes your house smell great and you get to eat it hot right out of the oven. Yum!

Cook's treat! A slice of warm bread.

Kalamata Olive Bread
(Makes 2 loaves)

Sponge Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups water
1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast

At least 4 hours before you want to make the bread, combine the flour, water and yeast in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave out at room temperature.

Dough Ingredients:
Sponge mixture
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sliced Kalamata olives

In a small bowl combine the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let this set for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl combine the sponge, yeast mixture and salt. Mix well. Add the flour a cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Add the olives and knead them into the dough. Keep kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean towel and set it in a warm place for the dough to rise until it is double in bulk. This takes 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a loaf and place on a parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Let the loaves rise for 30 to 40 minutes.

The loaves rising before baking.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and set aside a 1/2 cup of water.

When the loaves are ready to bake, place them on the middle rack of the oven and underneath toss in the 1/2 cup of water. Immediately close the door and leave it closed during baking so that the steam doesn't escape.

Adding the water to the hot oven helps the bread form a nice chewy crust.


Reduce the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the loaves are a golden brown color.

Delicious And Nutritious

We do our best at the Wednesday Community Meal to serve food that is delicious and nutritious because we know that that's what our guests want and what their bodies need.

A plate of oven-baked chicken, roasted carrots and rice pilaf.

When you are poor and struggling, free food more often than not, consists of day-old bread and pastries which do ease hunger but don't offer much nutrition-wise.  With the help of generous donors and the support of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, we aim to please every Wednesday by serving a well-rounded meal consisting of lean protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Today we served 355 meals of oven-baked chicken, vegetables and a side of rice, quinoa pilaf or roasted potatoes. Guests were also offered bowls of hot soup, salad and dessert.

A tray of green salads ready to be served.

Longtime volunteer Mary is always one of the first to arrive on Wednesdays and helps with all the busy prep-work. Here she's chopping fresh parsley to add to roasted potatoes.

Potatoes ready for the oven.

Dessert today was orange cream shortcake that was donated by Good Samaritan Hospital.

Mario, a regular guest, stopped by the kitchen window on his way out today just to say, "thank you" and that he loved the chicken.

"The chicken was so good and better than any restaurant," he said.

To make the chicken we set all the pieces on foil-lined sheetpans and seasoned them well with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, sage and Italian seasoning. Then, we added a generous sprinkling of cornflake crumbs for a crispy crust. We basically made a homemade "Shake 'n' Bake."

Seasoned chicken ready for the hot oven.

We baked the chicken in a 375-degree oven until it reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees and was a dark golden brown.

Our guests were so happy with the meal today - and that makes me happy.

Fast Drop Biscuits

These drop biscuits can be mixed and baked in under 20 minutes and they are tender and delicious.

My family enjoys having them warm for breakfast with a bit of butter and my mom's homemade jam. And, the smell of biscuits baking is a miraculous mood lifter in the morning.


Instead of using buttermilk in the recipe, I use plain milk mixed with a bit of white vinegar. Buttermilk isn't something I keep on hand and the milk/vinegar substitute works just as well in recipes.

To make one cup of buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Let this set for 3 to 5 minutes before using.

Drop Biscuits
(makes 1 dozen)

2 cups flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2  teaspoon baking soda
5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix the vinegar in the milk and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture until coarse crumbs are formed (I like to use my hands to do this).

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the milk/vinegar. Gently mix until a dough forms. Work the dough as little as possible.

Use two large tablespoons to drop the dough onto a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet.

Drop biscuits before baking.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

Grapefruit Macarons

When I told my husband that my next macaron creation would be grapefruit, he was skeptical.

"I don't know Heidi, that doesn't sound like it would be very good," he said.

The comment made me just more determined to prove him wrong and that's exactly what I did —my whole family, husband included, love these grapefruit macarons.

The filling is a Swiss meringue buttercream flavored with nothing but a reduction of fresh squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice and zest. It's a bright and zippy accompaniment to the sweet macaron shell.

Grapefruit might just be my favorite flavor yet. 

Use the fresh squeezed juice of the best ruby red grapefruit that you can buy. It's the only flavor in the buttercream so it has to be good.

Grapefruit zest.

Grapefruit Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
orange food coloring

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.  Towards the end of mixing, add the food coloring.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Grapefruit Buttercream.   

Grapefruit Buttercream
1/2 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
zest of one grapefruit
pinch of fine sea salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 large egg whites
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
red food coloring


In a small sauce pan combine the grapefruit juice, zest, salt and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Over medium heat, reduce the mixture by half, stirring frequently. This takes 7 to 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Grapefruit juice and zest reduction.

Place the whites in a clean mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar and cream of tartar.

Place bowl over a double boiler on medium heat, stir frequently until the mixture is very hot (120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit).

Move to mixer and whip whites on high for 2 to 3 minutes; turn down to medium low until cool (use the bowl as your guide).

In a separate bowl with a wooden spoon, stir butter to soften.

With mixer on medium/high speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, adding the next tablespoon just as the previous one is blended in. Once all the butter incorporated, add in the cooled grapefruit reduction and coloring and whip on high speed until fluffy. 

Blame It On The Eggs

When it comes to making French Macarons, the question I get asked the most is, "Why do I have to weigh the ingredients?"

Well, blame it on the eggs.

 You need egg whites to make French Macarons and the amount of white inside one egg varies considerably.  Even if the recipe called for just say "the whites of five large eggs" — this would not be a consistent measurement.

In my experience I've even seen a small egg sometimes yield more white than a large egg. It's just a guessing game unless you use a scale.

You need 150 grams of egg whites for a batch of macarons and from my testing it takes anwhere from four to seven eggs to obtain this amount.

And since you need a scale for measuring the whites, why not also measure the other ingredients for accuracy and success?

I swear I'm not trying to make things difficult. I'm just trying to help you make macarons.