This is a repost from last winter when we decided to try out a classic holiday staple that we hadn’t made at home since we were both kids. These gingerbread cookies were such a treat. They make a perfect rainy project, since a big batch can take a while to roll out and cut, but you can also freeze any dough you don’t use. Not to mention, the end result is a perfectly balanced cookie, equal parts spice and ginger with just the right amount of sweetness.

Originally posted December 2013

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Adding one more cookie to the arsenal of holiday cookies that by now I am sure are piling up in your kitchen! These gingerbread cookies are a little bit of work (the chilling, the rolling, the cookie cutting, etc.) but they are so, so worth it.

I remember rolling these out with my mom (and sometimes sister, but let’s be honest she was not into the arts and crafts, even if they were edible) and making little people every year to send to family afar, friends, to give to teachers, and of course to have on Christmas day.

They are the perfect cookie – not too sweet, not too spicy, not too chewy, not too hard, perfect for dessert with a glass of milk or a cup of tea.  I like the star shape because it’s a good size, but you could also make this into gingerbread men, or whatever shapes you like!

Oven temperature: 350 degrees
Bake time: 12 – 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
2 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves, ground
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Beat sugar, molasses, butter, and egg until fluffy. Then, stir in flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, and salt.
2. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Heat oven to 350.
3. Between sheets of parchment paper, roll dough out (roughly 1/8″ thick). Cut out gingerbread people or shapes, and put on a cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes (they might not look done, but they are, I swear!)

Be sure to leave some of these for Santa – I hear he likes them (on his top five, for sure.)

What are your go-to holiday cookies? Do you make sugar cookies, or stay traditional with chocolate chip cookies?

We love soup, and we love that it can be so versatile. It is easy to put together, you can change it up every time you make it depending on what you’re in the mood for, and is one of those feel-good comforts that makes you feel better if you’re sick, feel happier if you’re sad, and soup just makes everyone feel like a good cook, because HELLO look at this giant pot of food you just created from your pantry.

Enter this soup. A few weeks ago, I had chard lying around from a farmers’ market trip, I had been meaning to try barley that I’d bought from Trader Joe’s, and I was sick with my umpteenth cold of the season, and I was in need of something for lunches for the week. So I whipped up a soup of the following.

Servings: 8 for dinner, more as a side

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
3-6 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
4-5 carrots, chopped
2 tsp cumin
8 cups broth (I used chicken because it’s what I had)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups Swiss chard, chopped (I used leaves and stems)
9 oz barley (I used the 10-minute kind from TJs)
1 lemon, zested and chopped
parmesan cheese (optional)
s/p

Directions:

1. Chop your onion, garlic, carrots, and your Swiss chard. Then, open your broth and can of tomatoes.
2. We use a big Dutch oven for soups, for easy sautéing – start with about a tablespoon of olive oil, over medium heat. Add your onions and garlic, cooking for about two minutes.
3. Add your carrots, cumin, broth, diced tomatoes, and chard. Stir together well, and taste to adjust salt/pepper/cumin levels. You could also add ginger, mustard, or something spicy if you felt so inclined.
4. Now add your barley, and stir to incorporate. The barley will expand, so if you feel at this point like there is not enough “stuff” in your soup don’t worry!
5. Add zest and lemon slices. Heat over medium for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes, remove lemon slices and let heat another 15 minutes, until barley is cooked. Serve hot! This soup freezes well, too, so feel free to free half a batch! Top with parmesan when serving, if you’re into cheese…which you should be.

What is your favorite soup to keep you warm through the winter?

This is a repost from last winter, when the cold was early and dark, and the need for soups was high. We always think a big pot of soup on the stove will cure any 5 pm blues that you’re feeling. With the rain falling heavily in Los Angeles, we’re taking this first week in December to contemplate all the soups we love. We think this soup is a great addition to soup week here on GMS. We hope you enjoy it this time around!

Originally posted February 2014

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Winter has settled in – too comfortably for many of you – and when that happens, you need a defense in delicious piping hot recipes that will make you appreciate even the coldest of days. For us, that means lots of soups, stews, chilis, and anything with chicken broth – the elixir of warmth in the darkest of days.

Enter Minestrone. This Italian soup is wonderful because you make it out of what you have on hand, and it’s thick vegetable laden broth can make anyone feel happier. As with tradition, we made it out of what we like, what we had, and we used gluten free pasta because Corelyn has been trying a mostly grain-free diet so we were sticking to that. Feel free to follow the recipe below, or adapt as you see fit. Add whatever kind of pasta you want – we used shells. I also love a wagon wheel, or fusilli, or corkscrew pasta…you get the idea.

Minestrone Recipe

4 cups water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 can chick peas
1 can red kidney beans
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 head of cabbage, cored and chopped
1 can stewed tomatoes
3-4 celery stalks, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
1 cup pasta
parmesan cheese, for topping
parsley, for topping
red pepper flakes, for topping
s/p

Directions: 

1. Chop your veggies.
2. Take your olive oil and heat in your Dutch oven on medium heat. Add onion and garlic, simmering for 2 minutes.
3. Add water, chicken broth, beans, cabbage, tomatoes.
4. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add carrots and celery. Then, add uncooked pasta. After 10 minutes, salt and pepper to taste.
6. Let simmer at least 30 minutes. Serve with parmesan cheese, parsley, and red pepper flakes.

We hope that this gives you a good weapon against the snow, ice, wind, and general cold. Let us know how you beat the cold – do you make a big lasagna, or a cheesy casserole? Tell us in the comments below!

It is cooling down here in LA, and it even is raining this week, raining down on our drought-ridden earth and promising to keep the December weather around for at least another week. Before the rains came, though, we decided we wanted to celebrate the cooler weather with a week of soups for you to enjoy. Now that winter has finally settled in, it’s time for piping hot dinners to keep our hearts warm.

Now, we’ve been getting at our cookbooks a lot more lately because we’ve been heading back to basics. So when we thought soup, we thought French Onion, which lead of course to Julia Child. And that, of course, lead me to a Friday night watching old videos of Julia making soup. I think she would be happy to know that in 2014 anyone can watch her cooking at any time online.

After watching that, I knew we definitely needed to make her soup by the book and FAST (or, rather, according to Julia, slowly). Her recipe can be found here, although I suggest you just get yourself a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 so you can read along – her recipes definitely have a joie de vivre that just can’t be conveyed through another writing out a recipe.

You should probably make this recipe immediately; although Julia does say in her book, “You should therefore count on 2.5 hours at least from start to finish.” Take time out this weekend – you will NOT regret it.

Tomorrow, another soup recipe to keep you warm!

You guys. WE MADE IT. Our first whole year of desktop calendars! Plenty of other things were accomplished during 2014, but today is all about celebrating a successful year of beautiful, food related, computer screens. Have a real cookie to go with these digital ones, and happy holidays to all!