Reinventing the wheel

You would think that I would be satisfied with a flavor menu of more than 70 items, enough would be enough. But no, I keep trying new things, new flavor combinations, new recipe ideas. Sometimes they actually work! To wit: remember my rosemary lemon palmiers? I wanted a cookie with the same flavors, so after some searching and tweaking, I made these, Lemon Rosemary shortbread.

Same great flavors as the palmiers, with the same crunch from an edging of coarse sugar. I also made Ginger Cherry Sugar Cookies - spicy ginger melds with the sweetness of cherry preserves.When I put together the chocolate thumbprints, I was deep in conversation with David, and didn't notice that I had forgotten to add in the chopped chocolate. Thankfully, they were still yummy without. They are like Swiss Fudge Cookies of Stella D'oro fame, but better. Don't confuse them with "Chinese cookies," either. The texture is better, and the puddle of fudge has the perfect consistency - it's not just a pile of melted chocolate chips.Yes, they would be even better with the chocolate chunks, but it will have to wait for next time.

A special order for Shabbat was a gift for a twin bar mitzvah Shabbat. I made these Sefer Torah sugar cookies with the b'nai mitzvahs names, decorated with fondant and royal icing.

They were not fabulous, but they were cute and got the point across. (Plus, they led to something even better for Yom HaAtzmaut - stay tuned for the next posting!) Here they are on the platter.And here is said platter before the enhancements.Thin mint sandwiches, ginger cherry sugar cookies, chocolate thumbprints, Mexican brownies, lemon rosemary shortbread, red velvet sandwiches, and sugar cookie ganache sandwiches.

And that's last Shabbos - coming next, Happy 62nd Birthday to the Medina!

Dvora