CoSkay.com

My oh my.  It has been a while hasn’t it?
Well, I’m not apologizing.  It’s been a busy two months and I’m not quite sure where to start!  The logical move would be to start with a very late Christmas post and then move into January, but I’m not always logical.  So I’m starting with January.

Read the rest of this entry »

Julian Kreusser is 5, and I have no doubt he can cook better than I can.  Plus he says super cute things like, “this time I don’t want you to help me, ok mamma” and “now that we have the food processor, I don’t have to use a knife.”

Are delicious.

No, I’m not going to end my post there (although I could).  They are relatively simple to make and are great to eat on their own or with a beverage.  The first time I made them, I dunked them in my coffee.  They are after all the perfect dunking cookie; long enough to put in the mug and durable enough they won’t fall apart in your coffee.  This of course, made my mom a bit nostalgic because her father used to do the same thing.  I never met my grandfather, I’ve been told we would have gotten along like two peas in a pod.

During the semester, I actually had to answer the question, “who would you choose to have lunch with, dead or alive” during my communication class.  I knew immediately the answer was my grandfather, after 24 years of hearing stories, there really wasn’t anyone else I could think of (although as I write this, I can hear my grandmother totally yelling at me for not picking her, partially because she loved to lunch).

I never really thought of where we would go to lunch since the question really focused on the “who,” not there “where.”  A couple of weeks ago while in my old NYC neighborhood, Hell’s Kitchen, I made a pit stop at Bis. Co. Latte.  I didn’t discover this little nook until just before I moved (regrettably so because I love it) but I’ve visited it almost every time I’ve been back.  There are tons of biscotti and great Illy coffee (my Italian grandfather would most definitely approve).  Holly (the owner) even created some fun seasonal biscotti with candy canes baked in (I’m bummed I’ve eaten all the ones I bought).  The summer months are also welcomed with gelato, how can one go wrong?  The place is cozy and a great place to spend a lazy Sunday (see tweet circa October)

Most definitely the perfect place to enjoy a late afternoon coffee and biscotti with my grandfather.

I love the holidays.  The baking, the gift-buying, the decorations, the general merriment.  It’s all contagious (in a good way of course).

It’s also a time for traditions, specifically those of the family kind.  Of course my family (as I’m sure many others do) pretty much spend the time eating and passing out on the couch.  Although one of our biggest traditions is our Christmas breakfast.  My mom’s side of the family all come over (usually 13, this year we have 12) to enjoy a feast.

We all crowd around the table (which is much harder now that we’re all grown up and take up more space mind you) and dive into arguably the best meal of the year (it’s a toss up with Thanksgiving).  On the table we have: eggs, bacon, bagels, lox, croissants, crumb cake (the absolute best in the world from Front Street Bakery), herring, scones, donuts, pastries, rolls and of course coffee, oj, tomato juice and eggnog.  I’m sure I’m missing something…I have no idea how my parents manage all of this each year.  Additionally, my mom makes it all look amazing.  She decorates to perfection for the holidays, with each little detail taken care of.

While I neglected to take pictures of the table w/ all of the food on it (dumb, I know), I did get a shot of the settings and due to a Christmas miracle, I also found a cord and was able to upload some pictures!

And then when finished, everyone goes home, passes out for a couple of hours then goes to my Aunt’s house for dinner where we eat again.

Happy Holidays to everyone and I hope you love your traditions as my family enjoys ours.

I seem to be in the habit of coming home at 2 am and having to get up early in the morning.  Usually it involves having to go to class, but a week ago Sunday, I was actually excited to get up at 7:30 am (which might be a first this semester).

The reason?  I had signed up for a “Thanksgiving Desserts” cooking class at the Williams-Sonoma downtown.  The menu included spiced pumpkin layer cake with cream cheese frosting, cranberry cheesecake with a chocolate-cinnamon crust, molasses gingerbread cake with cinnamon whipped cream and bourbon pecan pie with buttermilk whipped cream.  I’m not a huge cheesecake (usually too heavy) or pecan pie (usually too sweet) fan, but the other two choices seemed liked winners.

It was a bit pricey ($50) for the session, but I figured we were paying for supplies.  It turned out that this was actually just a lecture by the pastry chef at the Harvard Club….I was slightly disappointed.  They also served us samples of each dessert, at 9:30 am on Sunday morning.  I did not expect to be sampling pecan pie that early.

Overall, the class was useful, but in the future, no thanks.  I would much prefer to spend a bit more money and actually cook instead of listen to someone that early on a Sunday.  I learned a few helpful hits for making pie crust and also the differences between the three main types of vanilla (Tahitian, Mexican and Madagascar).

The food was delicious, even if it were my breakfast.  I think I was most surprised the pecan pie was my favorite dish (followed by the molasses cake).  The pie called for bourbon (already a winner) but also used brown rice syrup, which is less sweet than the corn syrup traditionally used.  Thus, it produced a toned down pie.  The buttermilk whipped cream was also a winner because the tartness also helped mask the sweetness.

On the other end, I was most disappointed by the spiced pumpkin layer cake.  I was very excited for this recipe, but was not pleased to see it included (canned?!) pineapple and sweetened flaked coconut (not a huge fan).  It was ok, but not great.

In the end, none of the recipes will be making it to my family’s Thanksgiving table.  Then again, we usually make enough food to feed our entire family (~12 ppl) twice.  I know that seems crazy, but we celebrate again on Friday every year.  I’m looking forward to celebrating because, while this sounds corny, we have a lot to be thankful for this year.