Dec 29, 2011

2011 Annual KTC Cookie Bake!

Whew! Well, folks, it's January. As in, January 2012. That's right, no more 2011! It's time for a new year, a new start, and new fun times on our bloggity-blog! I cannot wait to tell you about our marvelous cookie back recently at Joyce and Jessica's home...So, with no further ado, here you go!

Way back in 2011 (Remember those times?), we met at Joyce and Jessica's home on a Saturday morning. Yes, it was a little earlier in the day than our usual meeting time, but it was obvious that J-n-J really knew their audience. A bevy of bottled beverages beckoned:
Fernando had, shall we say, overindulged at his office's Christmas party the night before, and I felt a little bad about our slightly-tardy arrival. However, I needn't have worried - it turned out that we all trickled in at different times, and were all moving at a markedly slower-than-usual pace. Curse you, holiday stress and busy-ness! Curse you! Why, even Rosie was feeling a little lazy!
But wait - Just because some of us may have FELT a little lazy did not mean that we were BEING very lazy, however. Lots was already going on even prior to our arrival. Have a look at some of it! I believe these were Jessica's lip-smackingly delicious Drunken Molasses Cookies with Ginger, patiently awaiting their time in the oven.
This is a pan of Meg's hilariously-named-but-oh-so-delicious White Trash cookie bars - AKA Magic Cookie Bars. The real magic is probably that these were usually made--at least in my grandmother's house--with margarine instead of butter, and somehow they still tasted pretty delicious. What a nostalgic treat, straight off of the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk can label!
Shawn had brought along a Bacon-Jalapeño Cheese Ball, courtesy of Homesick Texan. It ended up looking more like a cheese disk rather than a cheese ball, but it still tasted pretty darn yummy.
Joyce made a salmon pate, too, that was equally delicious. It originally had a very fun cone shape, but we decimated the pretty part too quickly for me to capture it with the camera!
Finally everyone had trickled in. Damian's cousin Clare had joined us, to our delight. Damian would arrive a teensy bit late, William wouldn't be joining us, and we expected Henry and a friend a little later in the afternoon. We ate some snacks and visited a bit, and pretty soon, things started coming back out of the oven. We were making progress! Here's Meg showing off her lovely White Trash bars, fresh out of the oven.
Don't they look scrumptious?
Shawn and Fernando planned to make caramels in addition to the cookie dough they brought along. A modified version of the Barefoot Contessa's Vanilla Bean Fleur de Sel Caramels (modified in that the recipe calls for vanilla paste and we used vanilla extract instead) was just the ticket. Here's what the beginning of that process looks like:
We pulled the first pans of the molasses cookies out of the oven, aromatic and heady:
Rick began cutting out peanut butter cookies for his famous chocolate-dipped peanut butter sandwich cookies...
More Drunken Molasses cookies went into the oven...
Frank reduced a lemony glaze to brush over his cookies (what were they, Frank? If you send the recipe, I will post it for us)...
Meg melted some chocolate to brush onto her almond-oat lace cookies...
Between rounds of baking, we had time to take in the holiday ambiance. What a lovely tree!
Shawn inquired as the favorite or most kitschy ornaments on the tree, and Joyce pointed out one of Jessica's favorites. Ain't she a cutie? Jessica, you really haven't changed a bit!
And here's one of Joyce's favorites - here she is, folks, flanked on either side by glamorous feathered-hair gentlemen, and chock full of holiday spirit, as always!
Here was Shawn's favorite ornament on J-n-J's tree:
Joyce and Jessica's old neighbor reportedly built this divine little Christmas tree from a piece of wood. He drilled holes into which to insert the lights - it is really a super fun piece!
We mustn't forget, however, the star of J&J's Christmas decor: Gay Santa. And because we're still infected by the holiday spirit just an eensy-weensy bit, we'll discreetly avoid any discussion of the blown-out behinds of the reindeer. Ahem.
We'd set up some mismatched tables on which to cool our freshly-baked goodies, and at first glance, our invention appeared to be quite a feat of engineering. Doesn't this look like it's working nicely? Those are Meg's cookie bars again, along with her Almond-Oat Lace Cookies - a recipe I'll definitely be making again!
However, the laws of physics are more reliable than the laws of Fake Engineering by Kiss the Cooks, LLC, so gravity eventually won. Boo! Here we are trying to salvage what we could of Meg's extraordinary almond-oat lace cookies, which had unexpectedly tumbled to the floor.
In the end, we reasoned it could always be worse than this...But still...Oh, the humanity!
 
And still, we  baked on...Henry and his good friend, Clifton, brought chocolate chip cookie dough, and got those successfully into--and then out of--the oven. 
Anne prepared these gorgeous Pain d'amande - she says they freeze beautifully and are killer easy to prepare. I can't wait to try them myself, they were one of my favorites!
Jessica whipped up some no-bake cookie options...Here are the Chocolate Peanut-Butter No Bake Cookies, and she also made Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies:

In addition to all these, Shawn and Fernando also baked Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies (small batch but dark-chocolate-DELICIOUS) and a light-on-the-flour Basler Brunsli, or Swiss Chocolate Almond Spice Cookie. Saveur published a gluten-free version recently as well.

Rick prepared his infamous Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies (Rick? Do you have a recipe for those?).

Damian made a couple of different gluten-free versions of holiday favorites: Gingerbread and (something else? Damian? Do you want to share recipes for those? We can post them too for our gluten-avoiding brethren!)

As our goodies cooled off, we sneaked crumbs, bites, broken bits, and even whole cookies as we finished organizing lunch. Isn't it easy to understand why?
As batches finished cooling, we began offloading them into containers to ready the table for lunch...
An assembly line for caramel-wrapping had been formed, and was chugging right along:
There was a lot going on in the kitchen, but what a warm and happy-feeling place it was! Don't we look like we are having a ball?




Before we knew it, it was lunchtime. Joyce and Jessica had prepared what would be one of my absolutely favorite soups of the entire year: Cheese Tortellini Soup with Cannellini, Kielbasa and Kale

The recipe looks pretty darn easy, and calls for store-bought cheese tortellini for even quicker prep. And soooooo tasty! Have a look for yourself! Here's the soup, pre-tortellini, fragrant and soothing:
We added the tortellini...
And served things up with a generous spoonful of parmesan cheese. Doesn't that look yummy?
 
Meg put the finishing touches on what would be one of the most beautiful AND delicious salads I'd eaten all year, also. Don't the pomegranate seeds look gorgeous?
We added some cornbread and butter to the table, and our bellies smiled all around. What a satisfying day, topped off with such a satisfying lunch! Look how full of the holiday spirit we are!
During a lull in the conversation, Fernando put on a serious face. He solemnly announced that he had just had some photos taken, and that he wanted to know what the group thought about them. He passed a plain manila envelope across to Anne, who opened it up to find a couple of pictures that looked a little like this:
Anne's look of utter surprise was a hoot, and once everyone got over the initial shock and confusion that Fernando's less-than-direct announcement had created, congratulations began flowing around the table. We'll have a Junior Kisser-in-Training (JKIT!) by the summer!

A couple of Kissers distributed some delightful holiday gifties...
Then we got right down to the very serious business of distributing treats to take home...
And there you have it, folks! A cookie-licious recap!

Next up, we will be enjoying a lesson in coffee roasting at Cafe Rococo in Kirkland, courtesy of Rick and Damian. See you on January 29 for that! Wear your coffee-tasting hats, and bring a few extra bucks if you're interested in purchasing some of the amazing coffee or other goodies!

BONUS:
Here's a quick reminder of what dates/pairs we have planned through the spring. I'm glad I checked, I had no idea we would be up so soon! Whew!
  • Feb 25 (Joyce and Anne)
  • March 17 (Shawn and Rick)
  • April 21 (Fernando and Jessica)
  • May 19 (Frank and Meg)
Cheers, Kissers! See you soon! oxox