Ali Sweeney
03-31-2007, 11:17 AM
I woke up this morning so excited to bake. I am going to a bridal shower today, and while I’m gone, my father-in-law and Dave are going to spend the afternoon with Ben. So my baking inspiration this morning was to provide the boys with some yummy afternoon snacks. My other inspiration is the huge lemon tree in our backyard that is just overflowing with lemons. We actually have a number of fruit trees in our back yard. We just picked the last of our oranges. In about a month we’ll have more peaches than we can handle, as well as crab apples, plums and well, the list goes on.
So Ben and I went into the garden last evening and picked a grocery bag full of lemons. Well, Ben drew in the dirt with a stick, while I picked lemons. Once I tried asking Ben to help me by putting the lemons in the bag, but he was equally likely to throw the lemons down the hill as actually put them in the bag, so he has escaped that chore for the time being!
With my bowl full of lemons staring at me this morning, I whipped out a few cook books to see what my options were. I ended up selecting a Lemon Sugar Snap Cookie recipe from my Martha Stewart Baking book. I have had excellent luck with her recipes and it seemed a yummy way to enjoy our fruit. (also, I had all the other ingredients.)
Now, as a back up, because some people do not like lemon flavors, I am also baking a Spice Biscotti. A deceptively simple recipe with accents of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Right now, they’re out of the oven, I have to slice them into the cookie shape, and then re-bake them for that biscotti crispiness.
While the biscotti are cooling, I’ve taken the dough from the lemon cookies out of the fridge, and put the first batch in the oven. The dough is yummy – we’ll see how the cookies turn out! While I waited to find out, I thought I’d sit down, sip some lemonade (another use for the lemons!) and say hi to you all.
So “HI!” What’s up? I have been so busy with Days and getting ready for the big may story we have. I’m sure you’ve seen stuff or read about it, right? Sami & Lucas’ Green Wedding? It’s been such an education – learning about all the eco-friendly ways you can have a wedding – or any party for that matter. It’s really neat to learn how many people are involved with getting Sami & Lucas’ wedding together – do you suppose that means they’re really getting married this time??? Hmmm… time for a subject change:
Days is on hiatus for the next two weeks. I am so grateful for the break. It’s been a very taxing schedule lately. And one of the hazards of having a child is that you get sick a lot. Lol. We seem to keep sharing it in our house – if Ben’s not sick, Dave is, and if they aren’t, I am. Or two at a time. Ugh! I think on the air shows last week you heard Sami with a pretty scratchy voice. And yesterday, at work, Lauren (Kate) was doing a great job of disguising how utterly exhausted she was from her cold. It’s going around!
Ooo – the oven’s beeping --- I have to rotate the cookies.
Okay, I’m back. Where was I? Oh, so yeah…Speaking of being sick – I had a pretty crazy mom moment last week. Ben’s nanny was sick at the last minute, so he came to the set with me. I felt terrible, but desperate, so I called my mom who thankfully was able to take care of him for the day for me. Because what would I do with Ben while I was shooting on set? Lol – he doesn’t exactly understand the whole having to be completely “quiet” thing anyway, and certainly not for the long stretch of time it would take to do the scenes. And some of the scenes had content I didn’t exactly want ben seeing anyway… lol…
– cookies are done. ---
Okay, so anyway, ben was so great during the morning routine of hair/make-up and rehearsal. He played with his truck on the set while the director talked to Bryan and I about our scenes. But it was a bit distracting when he started jumping on the bed on the set! And then, whew, my mom/hero, arrived in time to whisk him off for a fun day of visiting horses, eating coffee-cake (but what am I going to say?) and teaching my dad how to throw a basketball – my dad told me afterwards that he had to rush out and buy a few rubber balls to have in the house for Ben’s visits. Yup, the kid is obsessed!
--- wow, the cookies are really tasty. But I can see now why the recipe called for me to leave the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours. The cookies didn’t hold their shape really well. Good thing I put the dough back in the fridge, so perhaps the second batch will have the perfect texture. That’s what I get for being to anxious.
Hey, so I have to go get dressed for the shower now. Talk to you soon!!
XOXO
Ali
So Ben and I went into the garden last evening and picked a grocery bag full of lemons. Well, Ben drew in the dirt with a stick, while I picked lemons. Once I tried asking Ben to help me by putting the lemons in the bag, but he was equally likely to throw the lemons down the hill as actually put them in the bag, so he has escaped that chore for the time being!
With my bowl full of lemons staring at me this morning, I whipped out a few cook books to see what my options were. I ended up selecting a Lemon Sugar Snap Cookie recipe from my Martha Stewart Baking book. I have had excellent luck with her recipes and it seemed a yummy way to enjoy our fruit. (also, I had all the other ingredients.)
Now, as a back up, because some people do not like lemon flavors, I am also baking a Spice Biscotti. A deceptively simple recipe with accents of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Right now, they’re out of the oven, I have to slice them into the cookie shape, and then re-bake them for that biscotti crispiness.
While the biscotti are cooling, I’ve taken the dough from the lemon cookies out of the fridge, and put the first batch in the oven. The dough is yummy – we’ll see how the cookies turn out! While I waited to find out, I thought I’d sit down, sip some lemonade (another use for the lemons!) and say hi to you all.
So “HI!” What’s up? I have been so busy with Days and getting ready for the big may story we have. I’m sure you’ve seen stuff or read about it, right? Sami & Lucas’ Green Wedding? It’s been such an education – learning about all the eco-friendly ways you can have a wedding – or any party for that matter. It’s really neat to learn how many people are involved with getting Sami & Lucas’ wedding together – do you suppose that means they’re really getting married this time??? Hmmm… time for a subject change:
Days is on hiatus for the next two weeks. I am so grateful for the break. It’s been a very taxing schedule lately. And one of the hazards of having a child is that you get sick a lot. Lol. We seem to keep sharing it in our house – if Ben’s not sick, Dave is, and if they aren’t, I am. Or two at a time. Ugh! I think on the air shows last week you heard Sami with a pretty scratchy voice. And yesterday, at work, Lauren (Kate) was doing a great job of disguising how utterly exhausted she was from her cold. It’s going around!
Ooo – the oven’s beeping --- I have to rotate the cookies.
Okay, I’m back. Where was I? Oh, so yeah…Speaking of being sick – I had a pretty crazy mom moment last week. Ben’s nanny was sick at the last minute, so he came to the set with me. I felt terrible, but desperate, so I called my mom who thankfully was able to take care of him for the day for me. Because what would I do with Ben while I was shooting on set? Lol – he doesn’t exactly understand the whole having to be completely “quiet” thing anyway, and certainly not for the long stretch of time it would take to do the scenes. And some of the scenes had content I didn’t exactly want ben seeing anyway… lol…
– cookies are done. ---
Okay, so anyway, ben was so great during the morning routine of hair/make-up and rehearsal. He played with his truck on the set while the director talked to Bryan and I about our scenes. But it was a bit distracting when he started jumping on the bed on the set! And then, whew, my mom/hero, arrived in time to whisk him off for a fun day of visiting horses, eating coffee-cake (but what am I going to say?) and teaching my dad how to throw a basketball – my dad told me afterwards that he had to rush out and buy a few rubber balls to have in the house for Ben’s visits. Yup, the kid is obsessed!
--- wow, the cookies are really tasty. But I can see now why the recipe called for me to leave the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours. The cookies didn’t hold their shape really well. Good thing I put the dough back in the fridge, so perhaps the second batch will have the perfect texture. That’s what I get for being to anxious.
Hey, so I have to go get dressed for the shower now. Talk to you soon!!
XOXO
Ali