Nefarious but delicious...

Part of my new workout plan includes fattening up all my coworkers so I look smaller. Nefarious, but at least they'll die happy. I've been working all week on the secret Marco-family-recipe chocolate bark, my famous 81-calorie cookies, and finally, Peanut Butter Kiss cookies. These last lovelies are not even remotely healthy, unless you'd like to make the argument that peanut butter contains a lot of healthy fats and proteins. :)

The recipe below is for a triple batch (36 or so cookies) but you can by all means split it into one dozen each and enjoy that way... but your coworkers will never get fat off only a dozen. ;)

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
- 3 cups Smooth Peanut Butter (I've used Jif reduced fat with good results)
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 bag dark chocolate or milk chocolate Hershey kisses

That's right. This has no flour. None at all. Trust me, it'll be okay. I use the confectioner's sugar to stiffen the batter up a bit, the brown sugar for some depth of flavor and the white sugar for some pure sweetness. Now, bust out your hand mixer and beat it to death (1-2 minutes generally works). I refrigerate my dough for about 20-30 minutes just to make it easier to scoop out and less sticky. Place on a greased or lined cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes (you can tell when they're done) in an oven set to 350. When they're done, pull them out and immediately press hershey kiss into the middle. I leave them on the cookie sheet for another 3-5 minutes just to let them settle a bit more.

Without Darkness, You'd Never See the Stars...

As I'm emerging from my weird three-month cocoon of work, grief, love, and life itself - I'm having a hard time "getting back to normal". It occurred to me this morning, that this is my new normal. My husband and I lost a very good friend in Ben, but thank you to Ben for giving me Kate-E, her sister Laura, and so many of his very good friends who have all come together to bond in our grief and in the loss of such an amazing human being. You were never a stranger to Ben, within 5 minutes - you were his friend. We should all be so lucky to have been one.

I am finally halfway through my first month of being uninjured at Crossfit and I have to admit, my thirty year old body is a little rougher around the edges and slower to heal than my twenty year old body. However, I have a beautiful thirty year old soul - and even on the days when my jeans are snug, and running hurts so badly that I want to just stop - I am thankful for it.

The end of the year and the holidays always brings to mind changes and the resolutions of a new year. I've made a few already - I want to run a mile 5 times a week to get over my utter and complete hatred of running. Most importantly, I want to be kind, and warm. I've been working on this one for awhile (thank you again, Ben). I make cookies for my trash guys and package them up and put them out with the cans every Wednesday. Because they are helpful to me, and I want to thank them for it. Some might argue - they're just doing their job. I remember saying when I worked at Dell that you never got kudos for "just doing your job"- but maybe you should. My lovely friend Dana is a stay-at-home mom of two. I give her mental kudos every day, as someone who gets super irritated when my dog gets needy - I absolutely could not do her job. She deserves the kudos and the cookies too. Maybe sometimes we just need to tell people that we admire what they do - or give them a big thank you for making your life better, no matter how they do it.

I've already decided to sign back up for the I Am Crossfit challenge again this year. I was injured halfway through it last year, and though I limped my way through it - I am determined to emerge victorious this year. I will be running, and finish with my arms in the air and my head held high - proud of DOING something I wasn't even sure i THOUGHT I could do.

A lesson for life - half of it is just showing up and being there.

Kitchen Tip #3

As you can tell - I do a lot of baking. I enjoy the look of total pleasure on someone's face when they're scarfing down a cookie or having a bad day, and then I swing by with a brownie. It's enough to make anyone smile. I've been baking since roughly third grade, so I've got a lot of trial/error knowledge to pass along :) Here's one cookie-changing tip.

Whenever you add something like chocolate chips or raisins, etc to a cookie, cake, bread - whatever. Toss it in a little all purpose flour first so they're just coated. This will help "suspend" them in the dessert so you won't end up with a cake with all the chocolate chips at the bottom, or a cookie with no visible chips on top!

Madeleines, how do I love thee...

For some reason, these cookies remind me of Sharon Chen. Maybe it's just anything French? I learned the recipe when my old roommate professed a love for these cookies. I have to admit - she was right. They're delicious and the perfect afternoon snack with a good cup of coffee.

Madeleine Cookies

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar (plus more for decoration)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and butter and flour your madeleine molds (if you have them) and set aside. In a microwave, melt the butter for 20 seconds and set aside to cool. In a small mixing bowl, beat eggs, vanila, and salt until light and fluffy. With your beaters on medium, add in the sugar, and beat constantly for 5 minutes. You want it to be light and fluffy.

Gently add the flour into the mixture, 1/4 cup at a time and fold into mixture - keeping the air in. Add the lemon zest and butter in by folding with a spatula. Immediately spoon the batter into your buttered molds (you can also use a cupcake tin though, they won't be true madeleines!). The batter will be a little bit over the top of the molds - this is okay!

Bake for 13-15 minutes. They should be lightly browned and springy. Wait 5 minutes, then turn the cookies out onto a rack and sprinkle with some additional sugar.

Biscotti

I love coffee. (Points to my mom who told me when I was grossed out by it at 12, that one day I too, would drink it.) I have a favorite memory of Rome, sitting at a little cafe, drinking a wonderfully made cappuccino and dunking an almond biscotti in between sips. This always reminds me of that gorgeous day, in the second home of my heart, Italy.

Almond Biscotti

• 2 cups all purpose flour


• 1 cup sugar


• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, chopped and toasted


• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract


• 2 eggs


• 1 egg white


• Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. In a small separate bowl, combine vanilla, almond extract, 2 eggs, and egg white. Mix together and then combine with flour mixture. Turn the dough out onto a flour surface and knead gently 8 times. Shape the dough into a large roll. Place dough onto a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray, and then flatten the roll down to 1" thick. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove and let cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

Decrease oven heat to 325 degrees, and slice the cooling dough on a diagonal - with slices about 1/2" thick. Place the slices about an inch apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the cookies over and bake for another 10 minutes. They'll look a bit soft in the center, but they will harden as they cool.

Let them cool and then enjoy with your favorite cup of coffee :)

Lemon cookies

My husband loves all things lemon. Which I find strange and slightly freakish but I use to my advantage when I feel like baking but can't be trusted not to eat the final results. For this, we have lemon cookies. They're a basic variation on sugar cookies but with a boatload of mouth-delighting lemony goodness.

Lemon Cookies

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup of butter (room temp or softened in the microwave)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons, finely grated lemon peel

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup of the sugar and the melted butter until combined. Add in the egg, lemon juice, and zest and mix together until just combined. Next, gradually blend in the flour mixture.

Take out two piece of waxed paper and spoon half the dough onto each. Roll into a log with the paper and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (I did two and it worked perfectly!)

After your dough has firmed up, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Unwrap 1 log of your cookie dough and cut into slices about 1/4" thick. Sprinkle with a little of the remaining sugar and place onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until LIGHTLY brown around the edges.

Enjoy! (or let your husband ;) )