San Francisco's Food Blogger Bake Sale

If you are like me, you might have memories of your church's Sunday bake sale, a long table full of cookie plates and Bundt cakes, all wrapped in plastic, ready for the car ride home in the back seat, nestled in between to you and your younger brother. The knowledge of getting a donut or cookie was sometimes the only thing that would get me through Sunday mass.  

Whatever your motivation, if you are in San Francisco, really anywhere in the Bay Area, this Saturday, please consider coming out to the 3rd annual San Francisco's Food Blogger Bake Sale.  The amazing organizers - Anita, Shauna, Irvin, and Annelies - have an awesome event planned, with all proceeds going to Share Our Strength.  You'll be able to buy an assortment of cookies, cakes, pies and other baked goodies, including some of my very own breakfast cookies, all made by local food bloggers.  You can take a look at the participating bloggers here.  This year's event will be held at Omnivore Books, and if you come a little later in the day, you'll get the added bonus of getting to hear Alice Medrich speak about her upcoming book.

Hope to see you on Saturday!  

cookie of the month: chai spice snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are the cookie of my childhood.  I have very vivid memories of making them often and it was the only recipe that I knew, as much as a child could know a recipe, for many, many years. 

Now, let’s get real for a minute.  These cookies that I love so much are traditionally made with shortening.  A few years ago, I was on the “I don’t use shortening and only use organic ingredients” kick along with the rest of the Internet and sought out a shortening-free recipe.  Looking back on that recipe, it definitely was not the snickerdoodle of my childhood.  Fast-forward to a few months ago when my mom found the actual recipe that I used to make and…well, words cannot explain.

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cookie of the month: double chip cookies

I can’t count on two hands the number of batches I made of these cookies.  I need my toes to count them all!  We have been up to our ears in chocolate chip cookies for the past two weeks.  But enough with the body parts and on to the cookies.

I firmly stand in the “thick and chewy” chocolate chip cookie camp.  I’ve made many batches of chocolate chip cookies over the years but none of them were ever perfect.  None of them were ever my chocolate chip cookie.  So I made batch after batch after batch after…you get the picture. 

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cookie of the month: chocolate espresso shortbread hearts

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, small gestures are the name of the game for me. I’ve never liked the pressure or the cost that comes along with planning a big Valentine’s Day celebration. Something about it being a Hallmark holiday, we already celebrate on our anniversary, yada yada yada. Yes, I’m one of those people. But I would be lying if I tried to deny that I crazily love all of the pink and the red and the hearts and the roses that have popped up everywhere, from the Internet to the corner gas station. Which brings me back to my small gestures.

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cookie of the month: secret breakfast cookies

Never trust a skinny pastry chef.

When I was researching pastry schools a few years ago this is what one of the admissions people told me at one of the local schools.  Since then I've heard this tenant repeated many times.  Ever the doubter, I've always scoffed at this saying.  Tasting the things that you create is a key component of recipe testing and is integral to learning and growing for me in my baking.  Bu I'm a big believer in another common saying, everything in moderation.

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