Jam Thumbprints

(Remember back in August when I promised to share that apricot cookie recipe? Well, 'tis the season for Christmas cookies to flow like water!)

I found this recipe in The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book and I make it exactly as directed, because those people know what they're talking about. (Though I have used whole wheat pastry flour with success.) Is it just me, or are sugar cookies usually terrible? I looove these cookies because they're not dried out sugar bombs. They're chewy and not too sweet, letting the jam shine.



Jam Thumbprints

Ingredients:
1/2 cup jam
2 1/4 cup (11 1/4 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (4 3/4 ounces) sugar
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill small zipper-lock bag with jam. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
2. Using hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in cream cheese, egg, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl and beaters as needed.
3. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Working with 1 1/2 teaspoons of dough at a time, roll dough into balls and lay them on prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart. Use wet thumb to make indentation in center of each cookie.
5. Bake until cookies are lightly browned around the edges and just beginning to set, about 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and, working quickly, gently reshape indentations with bottom of teaspoon. Snip small corner off bag of jam and carefully fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of jam. Rotate baking sheet and continue to bake until lightly golden, 12-14 minutes.
6. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let them cool completely, about 30 minutes, before serving.

Gift boxes with a few of my favorite things...

Gift boxes are here! It couldn't be easier to put a little sunshine in someone's holiday. A sampler with your choice of 3 jars, ready to put under the tree. (Above are half pints of blackberry jam, 3-way marmalade, and kiwi lime jam.) Wrapping not pictured, but think brown paper packages tied up with string...

Cranberry Sauce x2

Can-Berries was a blast. My industrious guests made two kinds of sauce, survived floods AND hail, and had way too much fun with kitchen-aid attachments. We ended with a homemade feast - sauce, my favorite local cheese, pickles, and carolyn's apple galette!)

Even if you missed out on the fun, it's not too late to make your own sauce for the holidays! I love a classic sauce with a very traditional sweetener. This year I was excited to also try a more locally-influenced recipe. The pears and honey gave the sauce a jam-like consistency and milder flavor - not what I would choose to serve with all the trimmings, but delicious, and perfect for winning over cranberry holdouts.

Rebecca’s Decadent Cranberry Sauce
16 oz fresh cranberries
zest and juice of a large orange
1 cup water
1 cup maple syrup

Put everything in a pot and boil the crap out of it for 40 minutes or so, until thick and saucy, adding water and squishing as needed. Let cool. (Or process in jars for 10 minutes.)


Cranberry Sauce with Pears and Honey
Adapted from this recipe

1/2 cup water
2 pears - peeled, cored and diced
1 (12 ounce) package fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup honey, or to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Stir in pears, cranberries and honey. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook until cranberries pop and the mixture thickens, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Cool to room temperature, then store covered in the refrigerator for up to one week. (Or process in jars for 10 minutes.)

Can-Berries, the flyer

8 days til Can-Berries! The flyer doesn't lie!



If you want to invite someone the old-fashioned way, and I know you like to do things the old-fashioned way, you can actually download and print the flyer here. (Why is there a maze on the back, you ask? Because SOMEONE has to help the cranberry find his way to the rake!)

Can-Berries!

OK, I'm the first to admit that can-shaped cranberries are a beautiful thing. But canning them yourself is tastier and more fun!

Can-Berries: By the Spoonful brings you a seasonal canning workshop, complete with punny name. Cranberry sauce itself is very low-maintenance, so this is a perfect introduction to water-bath canning. We'll make a traditional sauce and a locally-influenced sauce with pears and honey. Take a jar home for your Thanksgiving feast!
•Sat, November 20, 3-4:30ish
•My kitchen (please inquire for the address if you don't know)
•$5 to cover costs
•Please RSVP (email or facebook)

Farm Focus: Lavender love

Take a deep breath - this month's focus is lavender from Gabriel Farm. Honestly, I'm kind of embarrassed to be buying lavender at all. I'm probably the only person around here who doesn't have some growing in their yard. And no, I'm not venturing into aromatherapy, although you might think so if you were in my kitchen tonight. It's all about strawberry lavender jam! Served plain, the flavor a bit floral for my taste, but I love to bake with it. And you can't argue with popular demand - it's my most requested flavor!

Gabriel Farm is a 14 acre Organic farm located in the ideal fruit growing climate of Sebastopol, California. The Farm features 8 varieties of Asian Pears, several varieties of Apples, Fuyu Persimmons, Lavender, Plums and many sorts of berries. Gabriel Farm is the definition of a traditional “family farm”. This is where we live, work and raise our family. As organic farmers, we are devoted to the idea of sharing the process of raising our fruit with the folks who ultimately will eat our fruit. With this in mind, we encourage everyone who eats our fruit to come visit our farm, at least once, to see how we go about raising what we hope is a most delicious piece of fruit.

Plus they make a mean jar of lavender jam themselves! You can sample their Asian Pear and Blackberry Lavender Conserve at the Thursday/Saturday Berkeley farmers market.

Farm Focus: Happy Girl and Van Dyke, enablers of apricot appreciation

I'm so excited to offer apricot jam for the first time! I always seem to blink and miss the short apricot season. Thanks to Linda for turning me on to the Food Preservationists, a project from Happy Girl Kitchen that promotes home canning and offers weekly deals on bulk produce! I tried their service for the first time last month. I ordered online and a few days later picked up 20 pounds of beautiful Blenheim apricots. The apricots are sourced from Van Dyke Ranch, a 5 generation family farm in Gilroy specializing in organic dried fruits. Van Dyke's apricot sales pitch:

After they finish harvesting and packing cherries they move on to their signature crop, Blenheim apricots. Their farm has great southern exposure which increases the sweetness and flavor of their fruit. The Blenheim apricot is one of the best tasting apricot varieties, very sweet with true apricot flavor.

Southern exposure or not, they melt perfectly into a luscious jam with a heady summer perfume.

Hungry yet?



How about now? (Stay tuned for the recipe!)