about bliss

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

twd: sablés

sparkly tree

Me: Okay, I'm going to read off some different flavors. For cookies. Tell me which ones sound interesting, 'kay?

G: Alright... (said skeptically, wondering, no doubt, where i'm headed).

Me: Lemon. Pecan. Spice—cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. The next one is weird: parmesan.

G: Lemon, no. Pecan, ehh. Spice, yes. Parmesan, interesting.

Me: Alright, I'll make two different kinds—spice and parmesan.

This was Saturday afternoon. Somehow, we couldn't tear ourselves away from our brand new blackberries (yeesh! the yuppiness! the techiness! the thesephonestotallyrockness!) to mix up the dough. We managed to melt some chocolate and whack some candy canes for a delicious peppermint bark before meeting G's parents for dinner, but our culinary aspirations were thwarted by a search for apps and ringtones...

On Sunday afternoon, while G was at the store buying Christmas lights for the tree, for the second time in one day, when tree trimming isn't his favorite activity in the world (have i mentioned how totally awesome he is?!? he is.), I mixed up the dough in two separate batches, since the parm have no sugar and the spice do. Because the logs had to chill three hours, we didn't make it to the tasting portion.

I did, however, prepare a lovely hot spinach and artichoke dip, as well as a Wisconsin favorite—cheese platter!—as a tree trimming snack. When G returned from the store, he strung the new lights on the tree, and we piled crackers with dip and cheese whilst basking in the glow of a balsam tree lit with 200 LED icicle lights.

Yesterday I headed home from work, turned on my sparkly tree, decked with ornaments from both of our collections, and sliced and baked the two sablés.

Spice: good.



Parm: weird. Not bad. Not good. Different.



I'll tuck them in the freezer, ready to add to holiday packages and to share with tree-trimming-hero G next weekend.

Thank you, Barbara, of Bungalow Barbara, a fellow Wisconsin TWD baker, for selecting these simple and tasty treats.

10 comments:

  1. What is it with guys and tree trimming?? My hubs will hang the lights and get grumpy when I ask him to add that 3rd string. Then he just watches football while the boys and I decorate. Oh well, I guess that's our "tradition". :o) Nice job making the two versions.

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  2. Great looking cookies! Im glad you enjoyed them. Your tree looks really nice!

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  3. Ha....what Pamela said. Direct quote from Steve, when I mentioned the fact that he was sitting in a chair not 10 feet from me when I was trying to finish tree trimming: "I thought that was your thing!"

    In all fairness, I do get a little territorial about SOME aspects of holiday prep (but not the tree!), and he DID go get the tree, haul it home, trim it down, and put it up, and he also did go outside in the cold, cold weather to put up our garland and bows outside.

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  4. You are braver than me trying the savories. LOL

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  5. They both look great, but the spice ones look really fantastic!

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  6. After several years of forced tree trimming togetherness, we've evolved to: I buy the tree, I get help carrying it in (usually 10-11 ft tree), I set it up + rig guy wires, I string the lights, I trim the tree. It's beautiful and I love to bask in its glow, and hubs does too and sometimes admits it!

    Your cookies are pretty, your tree is pretty and your new Twitter profile picture is pretty! Glad you liked the spice sables, but you've got me worried about the parmesan ones - the savory sounded great to me!

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  7. My hubby will put the tree up, string the lights, then sit back and watch me put all the ornaments on it. Been that way for 20 Christmases. :) Your cookies look great.

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  8. Anonymous8:50 PM

    I'm laughing at all the tree trimming comments. My husband happily sat on the couch with his laptop while I decorated the tree. I asked him if he even likes the tree and he said "yes, we have to have a tree!" Hmmm.

    It's cool that you made the parmesan ones. I was intrigued, but not enough to make them!

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  9. Hubs and kid/kids buy tree. I decorate. They oohh!! and aahh!! I'm happy.

    And your cookies make me happy too. I like that you tried two. Now we know.

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  10. Anonymous11:52 AM

    I was curious about the parm version. Blackberries are awesome.

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