Taco Tuesday Solved

tacos

So easy. So cheesy. So…yeah baby!

Yay—taco night! It sounds so easy, so crowd pleasing, so autopilot for a busy weeknight. It is easy if you and your people prefer soft shell tacos. But let’s talk about hard shell tacos. The opening is too narrow and the shells are too brittle, so if you do end up creating your masterpiece in one piece, it explodes on the first bite. No bueno.

Even less bueno are the proposed solutions, helpful techniques like grabbing each taco with tongs and frying it in oil. Honestly, I’d rather sort rogue socks from the laundry than fry individual tacos. However you say “not happenin’” in Spanish is how I’m dealing with those tacos.

Bevin Wallace out in Colorado has solved this for us on her Real life Delicious blog. The key is filling the shells, standing them against each other in a baking dish, covering them with a loving sprinkle of cheese and then baking them. You get slightly softened hard shell tacos that are totally easy to eat without losing half the filling on the plate.

Bevin is super healthy and organic and fills her with elk meat or grass fed ground beef. The slacker (my) version is to take out the word organic everywhere, and use what you’ve got, which in my case most recently was ground turkey. Non meat eaters can use whatever non meat feels right. Other keys to the recipe are the veggies (they keep us honest on taco night) and the refried beans in the filling mixture that sort of hold it all together. And oh yeah, you can make them ahead and bring the dish over to pop in the oven. It’s all good stuff. Try these, and go sort socks with all your spare time.

Baked Tacos

à la Real Life Delicious
Makes 10-12 tacos

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. lean ground meat (I use ground elk, but grass-fed beef, bison, or pasture-raised turkey are also good)
  • 1 tbsp. taco seasoning (Slackers, open that yellow Ortega packet)
  • 1 tsp. salt (omit if you are using the package)
  • 1 13.5 box organic refried beans, or 1 can refried beans
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 small red bell pepper, chopped (try to buy organic because peppers are on the Dirty Dozen)
  • 1 package organic taco shells
  • 1/2 cup shredded pepper Jack (or sharp cheddar) cheese

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the meat in a large skillet, add the taco seasoning and salt, and brown over medium-high heat. When the meat is almost done, add the chopped vegetables and cook until soft. Stir in the beans and heat through. Make sure the meat, veggies, and beans are well incorporated. Bring a large rectangular baking dish and the taco shells over next to the stove and spoon the meat mixture into the taco shells (about 3/4 full). Stand the tacos in the baking dish as you fill them. They will want to fall over until they are all lined up in there fairly tightly. After you’ve filled the tacos, sprinkle the cheese over them and bake for 10 min.

Bringing it:

Stack those bad boys, cover the dish with foil and proceed to the party where you will be greeted with mucho gusto.

 

It’s Maple Syrup Time (almost)!

Sap IHere in New Hampshire, we continue to wake up to single digit temperatures and lots of snow still covering the ground. Each day, we don our heavy jackets, wool hats, and warm gloves and head out to the blast cold air hitting our faces, just like we’ve done every day for the past several months. Although most of us love winter, this routine is getting old. We are longing for a day when we can walk outside and feel, well, warm! 

Where we live, there are many serious and not-so-serious maple syrup producers. This is the time of year when you walk into the local country store and hear comments about when the sap is going to run. What causes sap to flow? Well, I’m no physicist, but it has to do with temperatures rising above freezing (key word = “above”). These warmer temps of cause positive pressure to develop in the tree. This pressure causes the sap to flow out of the tree through wound or tap holes. During cooler periods, when temps fall below freezing, suction develops, drawing water into the tree through the roots. This replenishes the sap in the tree allowing it to flow again during the next warm period. So, at a very basic level, warmer temps are needed to make this magic happen; hence the constant chatter about when the sap will run. There is still time and hopefully it will come together in the next couple weeks to make the sap run, and run, and run some more.

In the meantime, I decided to break out the pure New Hampshire maple syrup I had on hand to make this delicious salad dressing.  This is getting me in the mood for spring because it will happen – I promise! 

Enjoy and happy spring everyone.

Ingredients

Salad:
12 cups spring greens
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese or gorgonzola
3/4 cup pecans, caramelized*
1 cup fresh strawberries or orange slices

Vinaigrette:
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Method

In a large salad bowl, toss spring greens with cheese, pecans, and fruit. To prepare the vinaigrette, mix together all ingredients except olive oil until well blended. Add oil in a slow, steady stream until incorporated. Toss greens with dressing.

*To caramelize pecans, spread pecans on baking tray and roast in 350 degree oven until just starting to turn brown (about 2-3 minutes). Remove and toss with enough melted butter to lightly coat. Sprinkle nuts with 2 tsp white sugar and 1 tsp salt and toss again. Return to oven for a minute or two, being careful not to burn.

Marcharitas

marg

Baby, it’s still cold outside. But there are ways to warm up your insides.

I held this post until after St Patty’s Day out of respect for beer and cabbage, of which I have none to offer. OK. That is a bold face lie. I held it because I am quite far behind on life at the moment. That, for me, is March. And that is why margaritas come in to play right about now. They’re green. They’re full of the promise of spring. I am including three different recipes, from three friends in the ski world who fully appreciate the filthy car, fast food, too-many-hotel-room frenzy that is March.

A brief history on each:

Speedy is the mayor of Mt Hood in the summer, and a Lake Placid transplant in the winter. He is a constant in the ski world, the ultimate connector and a friend to every struggling ski racer who “will work for training space.” His rocks marg is a western classic—tart with a touch of citrus and, of course, Patron.

Tania, my Rocky Mountain correspondent and fellow ski mom, is the master of turning a ski lodge into your favorite diner and saloon. A spicy westerner, she never met a jalapeno she did not like, and for this margarita she thinks ahead and infuses tequila with hot peppers of happiness. It is seriously worth the extra step and time!

PK has the only pool in the neighborhood, so he is always prepared to entertain. Inside fridge, outside fridge, fridge entirely devoted to seltzer, stand alone ice machine…he does not mess around. He always has something on hand to please every age and taste, as well as lots of towels. His frozen margaritas are as easy as it gets, and always perfectly refreshing.

So here you go—trés margaritas to get your spring off to a good start and head scurvy off at the pass. Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa’ dentro!

Speedy’s Organic Margarita Mixer

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 squirt of agave
  • 1/8 cup organic orange mango juice
  • 1 shot Patron tequila
  • 1 squirt of orange liqueur

Method:

Stir up first 4 ingredients and shake.
Fill short cocktail glass with crushed ice.
Add Patron.
Add orange liqueur.
Stir well.
Toast Speedy and enjoy!

Tania’s Burning Hell Margarita

Takes a week, and worth every moment

Ingredients:

  • TequilaFill a big jar (like a mason jar) with good quality (but not fancy fancy) silver tequila.  Try Camarena Silver.
    Add 4 jalapeños, seeded and cut into strips.
    Add one Habenero also seeded (wear gloves!)
    Add strips of seeded red peppers for color if desired.
    Leave jar alone for a week.  After a few days (and well after breakfast), sample it to see if you have made it spicy enough. If it’s too spicy, add more tequila. If you’re feeling brave add jalapeños halfway through the hang-out stage. Strain to remove peppers.
  • Simple syrup:1 cup of sugar
    1 cup of water
    Boil until sugar dissolves.
    Cool
  • Lemon/Lime JuiceSqueeze all the fresh lemons and limes you have.  At least 6 of each (fight scurvy—use the real stuff). Mix the fresh juice with enough simple syrup to balance the sour. Add a little water to be humane.
  • Triple Sec

Method:

In a big glass filled with ice add two shots of tequila, one shot of triple sec and the juice/sugar mixture to taste. It’s good policy to warn your guests that this has the chance to be very spicy.  But it’s also pretty funny not to, especially if you doubled up on the habanero.

PK’s Frozen Margarita

We’re dealing with proportions here, not absolutes. Amounts are based on what size can of limeade you start with.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can limeade
  • 1 can tequila
  • 1 can Bud Light or other light beer
  • Ice

Method:

Combine first three ingredients in a blender, refilling limeade can with tequila then beer. Fill blender with ice. Process until slurpeelicious. Find a spot by the pool. Sip. Repeat.

Flower Power! Cauliflower Farro Salad

The new kale?

The new kale?

You’ve probably heard the buzz around cauliflower being billed as the new kale. Now, I love cauliflower, don’t get me wrong…. but the new kale? That sounds like a stretch, for me anyway. I think of kale as so pretty and versatile. I think of cauliflower as so muted and routine. Could I be missing something? I decided to do some homework and find out what all the buzz is about. It didn’t take much Googling before I found a plethora of recipes and photos that were fun, interesting, colorful, delicious and healthy.   You can grill it like a steak, crush it into a pizza crust, mash it instead of potatoes, and much more. It takes on many roles without a hitch and everyone is surprised when they learn the “secret” ingredient. Not to mention, the health benefits of cauliflower are plentiful. It’s full of vitamin C, lots of the B’s, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin K. And it is low in calories. What more could you want?

Try this recipe and don’t forget (from a previous blog post), farro is chewy. The “high chew factor” is good for fast eaters because you have to chew it a lot to get it down! Enjoy and send us your favorite cauli-flower-power recipes!

Ingredients

Roasted Cauliflower:
1 large head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Light sprinkle of fine-grain sea salt

Garlicky Farro:
1 cup uncooked farro, rinsed
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp fine-grain sea salt 

Everything else:
15 pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and roughly chopped
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled (a heaping half cup)
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 avocado, sliced into thin strips
4 handfuls leafy greens (spinach, arugula, spring greens, other)

Method

To roast cauliflower, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss the cauliflower florets with olive oil, red pepper flakes, and a sprinkle of sea salt. Roast for 25-30 minutes, tossing occasionally until the cauliflower is tender and golden on the edges.

To cook the farro, in a medium saucepan, combine rinsed farro and 3 cups of water. Bring water to a boil, then reduce burner to low and simmer for 35-40 minutes (if you are using pearled farro, it takes only about 15 minute so to cook).   Once cooked, drain off any excess water and toss with olive oil, garlic, and sea salt (I like to roast the garlic in my toaster oven for a couple minutes before chopping but raw garlic is fine too).

In a large serving bowl, toss together roasted cauliflower, cooked farro, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and lemon juice. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. 

Divide avocados and greens among salad plates. Top with generous amount of cauliflower and farro salad. Finish plates with an extra squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil if desired.

Date Night

CROPDATE

Just another bad, desperate date picture. Imagine the real deal with greek yogurt (not Yoplait), big flaky sea salt (not Mortons) and a real photographer (not me). By the way, even as stand ins these were still darned good.

There are certain things I can’t make when I am going to be home alone for a long stretch. One is bread. I learned this the day after I received a bread machine for my birthday—something I had in fact pleaded for. I was single at the time, recently out of a career and not entirely hopeful about my future. A bread machine was the worst thing to add to this mix. I made a loaf, I ate the loaf, I wiped out the machine repackaged it and brought it back to the store. If you happened to buy a bread machine around the spring of ‘95 at the Reno Macy’s it may have been test driven. Sorry.

That’s the long way of saying that I’ve discovered yet another thing I cannot make when I am alone. Sauteed, salted dates. Really, they are ridiculous. Salty, sweet, creamy and even crunchy (if you cook them too long the way I like to). Also they are easy to make, to serve and to eat. They are very quick, pretty healthy, and totally delicious.

The only beef I have with the recipe featured on Food52 is that they call for unpitted dates and then suggest luscious variations, all using pitted dates. Now really, who wants to deal with date pits, especially at a party? Let’s just leave them out. So here you go. Happy date night!

Sauteed Salted Dates

Serves as many as you care to serve

Ingredients:

  • sharp extra-virgin olive oil.
  • pitted medjool dates (Deglet will do, but medjool are A team material. (count on 4 to 5 per person as an appetizer)
  • flaky sea salt. The good stuff here–you need those big flakes.

Method:

Heat 1/4 inch olive oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Fill the pan with dates and cook, turning them a few times, just until they’ve warmed through. (They burn easily, so don’t overdo it if you want soft dates, but do overdo it if you want some crunch) Serve them on a plate with flaky sea salt.

Notes:

These can be served as is or… with warm bread to sop up the oil, on a shallow plate spread with good plain greek yogurt and drizzled with the leftover oil in the pan, with a wedge of blue cheese and a sprinkling of nuts. Get totally pro and add pistachios to the pan as you heat the dates. Or just saute and salt those babies and be done with it. Be as plain or as fancy as you like.

There are no amounts here, which is key. If you are alone and feeling vulnerable to sweet salty overindulgence, make just a few. If you are having a party, make a whole bunch. Leftover dates, if you manage to resist, are good any time of day. I know. I’ve tried. A-ny-time.

 

Victory Bran Muffins

Fresh muffins, yogurt, toasted coconut. What's wrong with this picture? Yeah, nothing!

Fresh muffins, yogurt, toasted coconut. What’s wrong with this picture? Yeah, nothing!

It’s the weekend people. Regardless of our need to post more healthy, hearty fare and veggies, right now we need muffins. Why are these a victory? First, they come from my cousin Victoria, via King Arthur Flour, via Zella Lane who was the radio voice of Betty Crocker. So, yes, these have been fully vetted. Most importantly, these muffins are delish, whether made as mini muffins (Victoria’s favorite way—less commitment per muffin and way cuter) or as full-sized ones. I took them to a ski race recently and they were devoured by adults and teenagers alike. They are substantial enough to stand up to packing and travel, but still tender and awesome.

Perhaps the biggest bonus, however, is the fact that this batter can stay in your fridge, at the ready, for up to two weeks. They are a bit of a process to put together, only because they require three separate bowls, boiling water and a bit of cooling time. But none of it is difficult, and the reward for that time on the front end is being able to dole out muffin batter as and when needed, for fresh muffins anytime within a half hour. They will save your butt on a busy morning and make you look like a red-hot muffin-bearing kitchen goddess. That, my friends, is a victory.

Notes: Pay attention here to the bran cereal amounts. First, they depend on the type of bran cereal you are using, and second there are two places in the recipe where the cereal comes in, so make sure you have enough. Otherwise you might be subbing in whatever cereal you have in the pantry—doable for sure, but potentially risky (e.g. Raisin Bran vs. Capt’n Crunch). Coconut is an addition from Victoria that is totally good. If you are warming kids or bran-phobes up to these muffins, sweetened is the way to go. Unsweetened, while more virtuous, will dry out the batter more, so be more generous with your buttermilk. Finally, this makes a lot. You can easily halve the recipe if fridge space is at a premium.

 Ingredients:

  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup bran cereal (buds or twigs); or 1 3/4 cups bran flakes
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 2/3 cup shredded coconut (Optional, sweetened or unsweetened).
  • 2/3 cup hemp hearts (Optional, but yummy in pretty much anything).
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar (demerara or coconut sugar take these over the top)
  • 2 cups bran cereal (buds or twigs); or 3 1/2 cups bran flakes

 Method:

1) In a small mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the 1 cup twigs (or 1 ¾ cups flakes) of cereal. Allow the mixture to cool to lukewarm, 30 minutes or so.

2) While the water/cereal mixture cools, blend together the flour, soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. (Pro move here is to use a bowl with lid that can be used to store batter in the fridge). Stir in the cranberries, coconut and hemp hearts if using. Set it aside.

3) Stir the vegetable oil into the cooled water/cereal mixture. Set it aside.

4) Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and sugar. Combine this with the flour/raisin mixture.

5) Stir in the 2 cups twigs (or 3 ½ cup flakes) dry cereal.

6) Finally, add the water/bran/oil mixture, stirring till thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight, or HOWEVER THE HECK LONG YOU WANT!

7) Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease your muffin pan of choice, or line with paper cups, and grease as many wells as you like.

8) Heap the thick batter in the muffin cups; a generous 1/4 cup batter works, but feel safe knowing these are not exploding muffins.

9) Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, till a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

10) Remove from the oven, and tip the muffins in the pan to prevent their bottoms steaming and becoming soggy. Serve warm; or transfer to a rack to cool completely.

11) To bake mini muffins, heap the batter in the muffin cups, and bake for about 15 minutes, till the muffins test done.

Yield: at least 18 standard muffins, or 45 mini muffins.

Bringing it:

These taste great out of the oven but also when cool, and even if baked the day before. They have saying power! Victoria suggests the following for a hostess gift: “present your hostess with a gift bag filled with a container of the refrigerated batter, a mini-muffin pan, and a card that includes the recipe. Alternatively, just show up with those things and commandeer the oven while everyone else is still sleeping in — the fragrance beats an alarm clock any day!”

Basic Lentil Soup, from the hip

Right from the hip....

Right from the hip….

We’ve shared a lot of desserts and drinks and appetizers lately and I thought, gosh…where are all the soups and stews? Then I saw this recipe for Basic Lentil Soup made “from the hip”, and I thought, it must be easy, now let’s just hope it’s good. So, I whipped up a pot and yes, in fact, it is very good! 

I got this recipe from a friend of mine, Michele Estes who works in health and wellness.  For a link to her Facebook page, click here.  She has wonderful, healthy recipes and can offer great advice, tips and tricks for leading a healthier lifestyle. 

Now onto the recipe which, is “from the hip”, so don’t stress about any of this…wing it… throw in whatever you have on hand….. and enjoy!

Ingredients

Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, diced
3 celery stalks and leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
Splash of wine (whatever you have on hand)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup lentils, rinsed
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Drizzle oil into a heavy bottomed pot, add onion and sauté for a few minutes and then add carrots and celery. Sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes (don’t let the garlic burn). Add kale and sauté for a couple minutes. Add wine and canned tomatoes. Add each spice and stir until you can smell the spices. Add vegetable broth and lentils bring to a boil, and then simmer for approximately 45 minutes, until lentils are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For a thicker soup, puree one cup of the soup in a blender and add back to larger pot.

Bring It!

To bring to a party or someone’s house for dinner, a crockpot is the way to go.  That mean no fuss for the hostess and you can keep it warm once you get there.

Frosty the Snow Drink

Winter—if you can't beat it, put it in a cup and drink it!

Winter—if you can’t beat it, put it in a cup and drink it!

Before we do anything else this fine morning, let’s take a moment to honor Michele Ferrero, the inventor of Nutella (which we can now make ourselves), who prophetically passed away on Valentine’s Day. There is some comfort in knowing that he lived a long life and died an extremely wealthy man.

And now, we move on to the weekend. I have been commissioned by an undisclosed publication to create snow cocktails for an upcoming issue. For this, dear Bringiteers, I need your help. This is far too mighty a task for one drinker, especially one battling a tenacious, fun-sucking, taste-bud-negating head cold (scroll below for therapy and recipe that just may get me to turn the corner). I am hoping some of you will be kind and daring enough to take this on with me, to tirelessly fill, pack and refill your glasses with snow, mixers and hootch in whatever ways please you.

Of course, I’m not going to leave you totally out in the cold. Here’s some inspiration: You might want to try some classics adapted for winter, like the Snowjito, the SnowBreeze or the Snowgarita. I can’t disclose the names or exact ingredients that may appear in the aforenonmentioned publication, but I am working on something that riffs on frozen hot chocolate, perhaps with some peppermint schnapps, as well as some hopped-up versions of every kid’s favorite snow day breakfast—orange juice on snow.

Hints of springtime have me contemplating a “Frozen Poma” (like an Arnold Poma, but colder), involving lemonade, iced tea, vodka and snow. The reality of many more ski races compels me to consider pouring any leftover Parent Whisperer from the Thermos on snow to create the “Frozen Parent.” And let’s not forget last year’s foray into Olympic Snow Drinking for some starting points.

As you set forth on this mission keep in mind that snow dilutes a cocktail necessitating it to be a bit sweeter and a bit stronger than the proportions you might usually use, to get the same effect. Also, I urge you to remember that snow drinking is rarely done alone (though there’s no shame in that), so you might want to consider things that can be made with simple ingredients, in volume, and possibly prepared by a bonfire. Of course, virgin versions are always appreciated and will be happily slurped by the younger or simply wiser set.

Ok, my intrepid testers. Go forth, create, and let me know what you come up with. Then, when the next storm hits (or when the first storm hits in CA) we can get celebrate by sampling the finalists. Happy Weekend to all and thanks for playing!

But waiiiiiiiit. This just in. My awesome friend in New York just sent me a cocktail recipe from the Wall St Journal (a killer cocktail source, FYI) for a drink called the Panacea, adapted from another drink called the Penicillin. It was a slow, congested afternoon and I had the fixin’s so I gave it a try. I may have to cancel the doc appt tomorrow. This stuff is GOOD. The honey ginger lemon syrup alone is worth committing to memory. Check out the full story on the Panacea, or just make it from the recipe below!

The Panacea—way better than Nyquil

Make honey-lemon-ginger syrup: In a small pot over medium heat, simmer 1 cup honey, 1 cup water and ½ cup minced ginger until mixture cooks down to a thick syrup, 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on solids to extract liquid. Discard solids (or save them to put in tea later. Yum!) Add¾ cup fresh lemon juice to syrup and stir. Cover and chill.

In a tumbler half-filled with ice, stir together 2 ounces honey-lemon-ginger syrup and 2 ounces blended Scotch. Pour¼ ounce Islay single-malt Scotch over the back of a spoon so it floats on top of drink. Garnish with a slice of ginger and candied lemon peel (optional).

 

 

 

 

 

Snowy Mountain Top Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Pure as the driven snow!

Pure as the driven snow!

You don’t need to look far to find snowy mountain tops in these parts. This winter has brought snow storm, after snow storm, after snow storm to the northeast. It just keeps coming and it’s great. Right out the front door is waist deep powder and more of the fine white fluffy stuff is on the way. I saw this recipe for ‘snowy mountain top’ chocolate crackle top cookies and I thought…. “bingo”! It says it all.

We took these cookies back country skiing this past weekend. They got eaten at the top of a run where it was hard to transition due to the waist deep powder (see photo below). But the cookies helped us power through and the skiing was phenomenal.

This recipe comes to you from one of my favorites, Whitewater Cooks, which is a collection of recipes from the Fresh Tracks Café in Nelson, British Columbia.  That is where I was supposed to be this week but due to the poor snow conditions out west and the great snow conditions here, we made a last minute change of plans and cancelled our trip. This is as close as I’ll get to the Fresh Tracks Café this week, but at least I’m skiing fresh tracks (literally!)

Ingredients

8 oz. semi sweet dark chocolate
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup icing sugar

Method

Coarsely chop chocolate and melt over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter and light brown sugar until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the cooled melted chocolate. Add flour alternatively with milk. When the dough comes together shape into flattened disk and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 2 hours, until the dough is firm.

Using a heaping teaspoon of dough, shape into 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in icing sugar until completely coated. If an cocoa colored dough is visible, roll in sugar again.

Place cookies on a parchment covered cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Make sure they don’t roll around when you put them in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees until flat and the sugar coating (snow) splits, 12 to 15 minutes.

Let them cook completely and then store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Truly waist deep

Truly waist deep