Phone Photo Flashbacks

I found a couple dozen photos on Dan's phone that I didn't realize/remember existed. Their discovery comes with some lovely food memories of the recent past.



Hey! Remember that awesome bánh mì we ate in Chinatown with Kate and Luke and Melissa near the bike polo and soccer fields? I think those are shrimp chips to the right of the sandwich.




(photo by Dan)

Ooh! And remember the pretzels I made for H's first birthday?



(photo by Dan)

And how she wouldn't eat the blueberries, but really enjoyed squishing them with her fingers? And spilling them?



(photo by Dan)

Those were some good pretzels. I should make more.

Christmas in July

It's hot outside. We could use some snow.

Hey, what might I be snacking on if it were cold December? I have a holiday cookie party every winter, for which I bake hundreds of cookies (and make a few non-cookie treats).

Here's the recipe I use for Spritz Cookies, which are a favorite of many guests. My mom gave me this recipe, and her cookie baking eclipses mine.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract

Heat oven to 400 F. Cream butter and sugar. Blend in remaining ingredients. Divide dough and color with 2 colors of food coloring. Fill cookie press (my second-hand aluminum press works much better than my newer, plastic, trigger-handled press). Form desired shapes on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6-9 minutes or until set but not brown.



Yeah. That's a lot of butter. But it's such a tender, melting cookie. The butter does good, not evil here.