busy bee

i has been awhile since i last did or wrote anything...but i will have you know, i am going to buy a bigger memory card today so i can take more pictures and hopefully someday i'll be able to buy a nice SLR to take more pictures. for the time being, me and my canon powershot are gonna become buddies. and, i'm really looking forward to it.

also. its so interesting to "follow" blogs; let alone food blogs. i think those of us that read them, read the same 7 and jump around to other suggestions from time to time. i say this  b.c i've noticed that theres a trend in what someone ifsattempting to cook, there's always similarities. it makes you really feel like you're involved in a community!

that's all. enjoy the crisping of leaves.
xo

presents

stuff done: i had a friend move to manhattan literally yesterday. he crashed on my couch the night before moving to what i am sure is a kick ass apt on the uws. i would love to someday live on amsterdam or columbus between 69 and 80. its such a cool neighborhood, albeit expensive as all get out but very nice nonetheless.

anyway - i've been having an itch for something sweet. even at work i said, out loud, i want cookies or brownies but the idea of buying them makes my stomach turn. i want to bake something sweet and eat it. so...i decided to bake a house warming gift (which i'm not even going to eat, unless tomorrow he wants to share them) i'm baking thumbprint cookies. with black raspberry jam.

i got the recipe from one of the blogs i read: eat make read. i dig kelly's blog a lot. she has a lot of good recipes and ideas. i want to read the book she posted today, especially if i'm getting into this cooking/stuff blog. the only thing missing is a camera.

i made these cookies for kyle after we talked at length last night about how, when he cooks he googles what he's in the mood for and the filters it through blogs. he browses a bunch of the blogs i frequent, so i thought using a blog i love would do perfect justice to these little guys!

and here's the recipe:
Cookie Dough
based on this recipe from everyday food

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract OR 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 jar of jam

Preparation
1. in a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy.

2. add egg yolks, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. reserve egg whites. add vanilla and lemon extract or zest.

3. with mixer on low, add flour; mix just until combined. wrap in plastic; chill until firm, about 1 hour. to make ahead: refrigerate up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 3 months.

4. preheat oven to 350°. remove chilled dough from refrigerator. using a small scoop, place round of dough on cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart.

5. using the bowl of a 1/4 teaspoon, make an indentation into each cookie.

6. whisk the egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brush each cookie with the wash. (i forgot this step so i did it after i had put the jam in the cookies.)

7. spoon 1/2 teaspoon of your chosen jam into each cookie.

8. bake for 13-15 minutes.

for me, this yeilded 20 LARGE cookies and b.c they were so big, i cooked them for about 20 minutes or so. (they smell, divine! the whole house smells of buttery goodness.)

let's hope he likes them!

delish!

stuff done: i took a really fabulous yoga class last night. it was a really specific class and i decided to give myself a solid intention for the practice for the evening so everything matched up brilliantly. we ended the class with a 3 minute seated meditation, which is not normally how they end a beginner level class and i wept. tears flowed from my eyes for those full three minutes. it was a lovely release.

i then had a hankering for mussels...
so i bought a bag at whole foods and tossed in a big glug of white table wine, a whole roughly chopped shallot, 5 chopped cloves of garlic, a bunch of herbs chopped up, a pinch of saffron and a whole tomato chopped. steamed them for about 15 (if that, i wasnt really watching) it was so yummy. i ate all of them. BY MYSELF. for some reason, i could eat mussels all the time, whenever. they are so good and so easy! (this picture is not what my mussels looked like...i borrowed it from this guy, thanks guy. :) )

on that note, i think i am going to dig out my old canon 35mm and start shooting!