Blue Cheese Crisps

I have just enough time for another Valentine’s Day suggestion, well maybe a few suggestions. 

One, if you happen to have a sigoth (significant other) don’t fuss, exchange some cards, eat some food (possibly drinks), make some sweet, sweet love.  You only live once so be happy where you are cause we all know it probably ain’t that bad.

If you are currently sigoth-less, don’t fuss, grab a Galentine or Palentine (thanks Lee) also known as a friend, eat some food and definitely have some drinks even if it is only Tuesday. Live a little because you only live once so be happy where you are. If you really think about it probably ain’t that bad. 

Those tips may sound a little similar so I have others.

Two, appreciate the fact that a lot of people love you and be grateful for it. However, don’t be so grateful that you spend the holiday of love (even if it is made up)with your Family, unless one of their Birthday’s are on that day. No matter how much of a happy and confident person you are, or how much fun you had that day with your Grandma,  for years  to come it will be remembered as the Valentine’s Day you spent with your  Grandma/Uncle/Niece/Cousin or Best-Friend-and-their-Sigoth-who-are-like-Family-to-you.

Third, I know you all feel like following my advice right? So while you are wining and dining yourself and possibly others think of  making these to go with your red wine. Normally I’d be like you can thank me later, and you still might, but in this case you may want to give some props to Susan. She actually made them and brought them to my house with wine cause she is a doll. 

Blue Cheese Crisps

ever so slightly adapted from the Halifax Metro

• 3/4 cup crumbed blue cheese (vegetable rennet)
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Method

If you do not have a food processor you can definitely combine these ingredients by hand in a medium sized bowl. A food processor is preferred as it’s quicker and generally less handle time on the dough is better. It tends to produce a flakier texture almost like a shortbread cookie.

With either method, first, combine cheese and softened butter.

Add flour, almonds and pepper then blend until dough starts to come together.

Tear a  large piece of plastic wrap and lie on a clean surface.  Pour the dough out unto the wrap and shape into a 6″ log.

Roll up in wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Unwrap the chilled dough and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Try to be as even as possible so they cook at the same speed.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake crisps for about 15 minutes or until golden.

Let them cool completely on pan. Remove with small spatula. Eat immediately and pair with a Chianti, Port and other hors d’oeuvres. Also if you are a vegetarian ask for a blue cheese made with vegetable rennet.

 

Sweet Treats for V Day – Velvet Sandwich Cookies

I’m not a Valentine’s Day girl. I am pretty sure I never have been and I’m also pretty sure I finally figured out why. I don’t think I am a romantic; in practice.

Let me count the ways with help from some of the definitions provided on dictionary.reference.com :

ro·man·tic 

1.of, pertaining to, or of the nature of romance; characteristic or suggestive of the world of romance: a romantic adventure.

• Maybe

2. fanciful; impractical; unrealistic: romantic ideas. Imbued with or dominated by idealism, a desire for adventure, chivalry, etc.

• Definitely and often. Yes ,but dominated may be a strong word. Desire for adventure (check); chivalry? Questionable.

3.characterized by a preoccupation with love or by the idealizing of love or one’s beloved.

• Not often preoccupied, not an idealist, however I do super dig my boyfriend. He is pretty rad.

4. displaying or expressing love or strong affection. Ardent; passionate; fervent.

• Yes and yes! Loads more yeses!

5. imaginary, fictitious, or fabulous.

• Not imaginary otherwise ya’ll have a wild imagination. Fictitious- you can’t make this shaz up. I’ll take Fabulous and figuratively run with it.

6. noting, of, or pertaining to the role of a suitor or lover in a play about love: the romantic lead.

• I’m obviously not the romantic lead in my life, that role is filled by my man.

Ok so I think I proved to myself I’m a borderline romantic. I still have no clue what to do for V Day for my man but I do know how to bake. If you are in the same boat, bake something for someone special. That special person definitely does not have to be a lover. In fact doing something for a good friend this V Day would be pretty amazing and thoughtful. I suggest you make them these Red Velvet Sandwich cookies. As a side note  this recipe makes a lot of cookies which is totally necessary. They didn’t turn out very red, so feel free to omit the colouring in the cookie itself and call them Velvet sandwich cookies.

Velvet Sandwich Cookies

adapted from How Sweet It Is

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp red food coloring (optional)

Cream Cheese Icing

• 1/2 block of cream cheese
• 3 tsp of butter
• about 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp red food coloring
• pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350.

In  large bowl cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer. Mix in eggs,vanilla and red food coloring and beat until smooth. Beat in red food coloring.

  

Add cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt into a separate bowl and mix well.  Slowly add dry ingriedeints to wet using the mixer and be sure to scrape down the sides to combine.

Roll about a teaspoon of dough into you hand and place on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.  Once you have placed about 8-12 cookies on the sheet use the back of a measuring cup (spray with cooking spray if needed) to flatten to about 1/3 “.  I didn’t have a heart cutter so I took too smaller balls and squished them together at one end then flattened it with the measuring cup. If you did have a heart cutter, roll out cookies to about 1/3” and cut to bake.

  

These cookies baked up fast, and you need to watch them. I would say 5-8 minutes. Often I would take them out at the 5-6 mark and leave them on the cookie sheet for about 2 more minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Once the cookies are all baked and the remaining are cooling make the frosting.

Soften cream cheese and butter and combine with salt, vanilla and food colouring. Add a few tablespoons of icing sugar at a time. I rarely measure my icing sugar because I don’t always want the same consistency so you may want more or less. If you are simply topping the cookies you may want a looser frosting, but if you are using it to fill a sandwich cookie make sure the frosting is relatively stiff at room temperature.

Once cookies are all cooled, start icing! I try to pair cookies as close to size of each other before hand. You need about 2 teaspoons of frosting for each cookie or less in some cases. I actually had a small amount left over. Store in an airtight container and gift to friends!