Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam

Organic triple cream with a heart.
Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam cheese just flies off our shelves. It is well-loved by both our staff and our customers. It has all the lusciousness you expect from a triple cream, with a unique core that upholds its texture. We like to think of it as Brie’s quirky Read more…

Steamed Artichokes

Thistle Do!
I have always had a thing for steamed artichokes. It started when I was a kid. My grandmother was a huge fan of artichokes and she passed that love on to me. My sister and my mother weren’t as crazy about them. So, it was a connection that was just between me and my grandmother. It was ritualistic.

She would get so excited for the Spring because it would mean that artichokes would be in season. And, she would take a trip to Watsonville just to get the freshest ones. At home, she would steam them, and we would devour them with a dollop of mayonnaise on the side. Always mayo. Never butter, vinaigrette, or anything else. I have since embraced other options like chipotle aioli to aid my obsession. But, I admit that the mayo is still my favorite way to eat the leaves of a choke.

It never occurred to me growing up that the love my grandmother and I had for artichokes wasn’t universal and that other people wouldn’t have the same fondness for artichokes. I was completely shocked when I went away for college and encountered friends who hadn’t even heard of an artichoke—let alone eaten one. But my grief at the lack of artichoke reverence was lifted by the lovely woman who was the house manager for my sorority.

Ms. Church lived on the premises and managed more than just the kitchens and the grounds. She was an invaluable resource for anything we needed. She didn’t have any kids of her own. So, Ms. Church considered us all hers. She was classy as hell and didn’t take any crap. But, she was also a lot of fun. Ann Church liked her cocktails, smokes, dirty jokes, tv shows, drove a hot little Cadillac, and she was as crazy about artichokes as I am. (She was basically my hero).

Every Spring Ms. Church would order cases of artichokes that would be steamed to eat for dinner for the whole house. There was nothing else to go with them. Just the artichokes. No chicken. No potatoes. Just chokes. It was fantastic. I spent most of my first artichoke dinner explaining to others how to eat them. But, every artichoke dinner after that I sat next to Ms. Church, and we happily gorged ourselves while others looked on and thought we were nuts.

My daughter has inherited my love of artichokes, although her enthusiasm may not always match mine. We did enjoy our first giant choke of the season the other day though. It was glorious…

Steamed Artichokes Recipe
Yields 4 servings

It is not difficult to prepare steamed artichokes. It just takes a little time for them to steam and to allow them to return to room temperature. So, if you are planning a dinner party, steam the artichokes first and set them aside. They make a lovely appetizer. Read more…

PaperChef Culinary Parchment

These pre-cut sheets are for more than just lining cookie sheets.
From baking and roasting to sautéing and steaming, PaperChef Culinary Parchment has so many uses in the kitchen. We love the pre-cut sheets because they are so easy to use. And, they make clean-up a cinch. Read more…

The World’s Greatest Cookie

Categorically Correct
Describing myself as a foodie can be problematic—mainly because I am not sure what that means exactly beyond the fact that I love everything about food. I am not the person who will take pictures of my food at a restaurant (though I have done it on occasion). I am not the person who has to go to the latest “it” restaurant (though I am always down for a tasty night on the town).

I guess you could say I am the contradictory foodie. I have line in the sand standards and can be psychotically obsessive about an ingredient, technique, or authenticity. And, yet can be very cavalier about, say, Cool Whip and/or American cheese. (Though, as you can tell, I still have a healthy food snob side.) Adding to my quirks? Rules about certain edible items.

Case in point: I had a recent conversation about what constitutes a Christmas or special occasion cookie versus an everyday cookie. And, I, true to form, had some line in the sand opinions. A chocolate chip cookie is an everyday cookie. You will never convince me otherwise. Mexican wedding cakes are a Christmas cookie. You just don’t make them all the time. They are special. The problem is that, in my true contradictory/quirky foodie way, I have discovered a grey area. A good example is this cookie recipe my grandmother made, rather presumptuously named The World’s Greatest Cookie.

I love this cookie. It is without question one of my favorites…but, I hardly ever make it. Growing up, the only time I had them was when I went over to Gam’s house. My mother almost never made them. My theory as to why this was the case is that they are made with so-called pantry staples that were not staples in our pantry, things like coconut and corn flakes. These are not obscure ingredients. But, for whatever reason, we just never had on hand. So, to make these cookies would have required forethought and planning—which doesn’t quite qualify them for everyday status.

Fast forward to my own kitchen where corn flakes and coconut are pantry staples. And yet, I still don’t make these very often. So, you would assume that these cookies would fall into my Christmas/special occasion category based solely on taste and planning. But, no.

These cookies are buttery and flakey and are so darn good that they should go in the myriad of cookie tins that we make up every holiday season. But, they don’t for the same reason that they don’t fall into the everyday, pack ‘em in a lunch category. These cookies don’t travel well. These cookies break. They are delicate and unless you pack your lunch with utmost care, by recess you have crumbs instead of The World’s Greatest Cookie. They are tasty crumbs, but still…

So, I have placed these cookies in their own category that I have recently named Because I want to. The only reason needed to make these lovely bites is because you want to.

There are a number of versions of this cookie available on the interwebs. This is the recipe for The World’s Greatest Cookie that my grandmother used.

The World’s Greatest Cookie
Makes approximately 5 dozen (depending on your definition of walnut-sized) Read more…