I consider myself a pretty good cook. Master Chef good no, but a decent home cook. I can take a recipe and make it my own and I can do wonders with some garlic, chicken, and a can of tomatoes. There is one thing I have never really tried much of and that is baking. I have done some. I make pretty good chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, crumbles, and once I made a green tomato cake that was a big hit, but I have never really ventured beyond the usual suspects, until today that is.
You see a couple of weeks ago I was searching online for new cookie recipes. Mr. Grey Cat loves cookies and I thought it was time for some variety. I came across a recipe for Lemon Cookies that I thought would be worth trying, but before I made it, I needed a couple of things. Like a rolling pin. I don't really know how I have managed to live to ahem years and never owned one. So I went looking for a rolling pin. Of course the local department store did not have any in stock and neither did it's larger counterpart in Central. I certainly did not feel like traipsing all over the city looking for a rolling pin and fortunately I got lucky and saw one at City Super on the way home one day. It is a nice one too, made of Brazilian hardwood, which I figured must be good since it cost enough. I then wanted a mat to roll dough on, but I couldn't justify the price City Super was asking for what is nothing more than a sheet of silicone. So the cookies had to wait a bit longer. About a week later I found a good mat at Ikea for a nice Ikea price, so I bought it. I also found a rolling pin. For a lot less money of course. Honestly I never thought to look in Ikea for a rolling pin, but considering that they have absolutely everything else, up to and including the kitchen sink it was rather silly of me. I consoled myself with the fact that I doubt the Ikea one is Brazilian hardwood. Only one last thing remained and that was some cookie cutters. Ikea did have those, but I didn't like them, not that I have anything against Moose shaped cookies, but it is just not me.
Last night I started on the cookies. I followed the directions and made the dough, I then wrapped it in plastic and put it in the fridge to chill, just like the directions said. I still didn't have cookie cutters but I wasn't too worried about them since I could use an overturned glass. I did think something other than circles would be nice so I decided to wait until today to roll and bake them (the recipe did say the dough could chill for up to 3 days). After getting my hair cut I went into Wing On and saw some flower shaped cookie cutters that were quite nice so I decided to buy them. When I got home I put on my apron and got to work on the cookies! This is the result:
My icing is way too thin and I obviously did not roll the cookie dough to an even thickness since it happily took the path of least resistance and ran as fast as it could for the sides. Either that or it did not want to be associated with the cookies. Despite being thin, the icing actually tastes pretty good but the cookies are not the yummy lemony wonders all the recipe comments made them out to be. I even took the advice many commentators said about adding extra zest and juice. Not only are they not very pretty, they just don't taste that good. But they are not bad enough to throw out, which might be worse, because it means I have to eat them. Good thing Mr. Grey Cat is home for a few days, and he is not fussy. Personally I think the Brazilian hardwood is to blame...
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