Feasting on Art

As far as cookie recipes go, this little beauty has become my new holiday staple. I first tried this recipe by Gourmet a couple of years ago but made too many substitutions. The cookies were extremely disappointing and I filed the card away in my recipe box until a bag of what was described as ‘the best pistachios you will ever eat’ arrived from my mother. The cookies are extremely festive, dotted with ruby red berries and dusty green nuts and extremely moorish, one is never enough. I used salted pistachios and so omitted the salt from the recipe. The salted nuts are perfectly offset with the sweet and chewy cranberries while the butter-rich dough melts in your mouth.

Albert Anker, Still Life: Two Glass of Red Wine, a bottle of Wine; a Corkscrew and a Plate of Biscuits on a Tray, oil on canvas, 43 x 40cm, Private collection

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Growing up in the Midwest, cookies played a major part of my December. Throughout the holiday season, we gathered at my grandparent’s home for various parties and meals, always entering their home via the garage and past the cookies. Perched on the woodpile, the cookies lived in old tins between layers of wax paper and were kept cold by the Michigan winter. This holiday staple, a recipe by my grandmother, produces a soft and chewy cookie with a dense crumb and can easily be scaled up or down.

John Frederick Peto, The Poor Man’s Store (detail left), 1885
oil on canvas and panel, 90 x 65cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

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In honour of the 4th of July, I put together a small selection of nostalgia inducing recipes. I am travelling back to the States in three short weeks and after two years away, I am feeling pretty sentimental! Sunday is the 4th of July and perhaps one (or all) of these recipes will inspire a few Independence Day menus. I will be celebrating with my closest ex-pat friend here in Sydney and if my oven was not still broken the chocolate chip cookies would be at the top of my ‘to make’ list. Happy 4th everyone!

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I am delighted to introduce my October blog collaborator, Siri from The Transplanted Baker. The title of her blog refers to Siri’s status as an American ex-pat living on the west coast of Norway. We decided to continue with the Norwegian theme with the art selection so we chose the famous painting The Scream by Edvard Munch. If any of you are familiar with the Ice Cream song by Johnson, Moll & King, I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!, then our recipe selection should not be much of a surprise. I proceeded with my savory theme by making salt & pepper sweets but be sure to visit Siri’s site for her recipe for Red Currant Ice Cream made from hand-picked, home-canned currants!

Edvard Munch, The Scream (Skrik), 1893
oil, tempera, and pastel on cardboard, 91 x 73.5 cm, National Gallery, Oslo

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I am very pleased to present my second Daring Kitchen challenge which is simultaneously my very first Daring Bakers endeavour. Back home there was a Pepperidge Farm outlet store and I don’t think we ever walked out the door without a package of Milano cookies. They are quite easy to make and take very little time to prepare and bake. The cookie can end up quite tough if you overwork the batter so be careful when you incorporate the flour!

Cristoforo Munari, Still-life with Porcelain Vases, Flute, Books, and Oranges, 1706-1713

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