First day back working the farm. The drive up took longer than I expected due to construction in two spots on 101N, so there was already a line of people waiting to buy when I showed up. Luckily they were all regulars, and just wanted cases of peaches and nectarines.

Today was the busiest day ever in the history of the farmstand. I worked solidly without even time to sit down the entire afternoon. It was so much fun. At the end of the day I get paid in peaches and produce which is so worth it. I didn't have time to take any pictures I was that slammed! Gail and Brian sent me home with a pile of extra goodies- like kitchen garden produce and a bottle of prosecco with Bellini mix to celebrate the highest grossing day.

We have 2 kinds of yellow peaches- Suncrest (all yellow) and Red Top (kissed with a rosy blush to the cheeks), both quintessential summer yellow peaches with good texture, high sugar content and a nice acid balance to round out the profile. The 2 white peaches- Arctic Gem (floral and sweet) and Sugar Lady (ethereal & perfumed) are fabulous. If you have a sweet tooth, you'll like the white ones.

In addition to the peaches, the Fantasia nectarines are back! So ugly to look at, yet amazing flavour with a dense flesh that holds it's shape. It's almost mango-like in its profile. Most people pass on these because of the mottled and crusty exterior, but they have a cult following, where people drive up to Healdsburg specifically to buy these flavour explosions. Today a lady bought some first thing and then came back to buy more before the end of the day because her family had already finished the first batch 8^)
When she said that she was back to buy more, everyone else who was present in the store also bought nectarines, since she was proof that they were that good. lol

The Howard Miracle plums are headed to Chez Panisse this week to be served as their fruit plate option. So I took a batch home, since what's good enough for Chez works for me too.

We do tastings of all the different stone fruit, it's like a wine flight and with each one I'll talk about what they're tasting, information about the varieties and options for serving each. Is it good plain? in a pie, fruit salad, grilled on the BBQ etc. As I serve the various types, there are bits that don't really make a good impression on a customer- maybe a blemish or brown spot but still fine to eat (anything that's mouldy or fermented goes directly into the trash). I keep a bag under the counter and sweep those pieces into it, so as to keep the tasting area clean and fresh. At the end of the day I generally have enough bits to make a BBQ sauce or chutney, which works out great. I like to keep it simple, so I've created a fairly minimal recipe that works out well with what I've got.

Ingredients:

4 lbs peaches & nectarines chunked
1 C Vinegar
2 tsp Salt
6-8 Scotch bonnet (whole)
6 bird chilli peppers
6 Thai peppers
2 Tbs spice chi
2 C white sugar
6 ginger medallions (thick)
1 large Walla Walla onion, sliced
1/2 cup cranberries

Method:
1. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and spices. Heat till boiling & stir till dissolved. Add peaches, ginger, onion, peppers and cranberries, drop temperature and simmer till it is thick and golden brown. Stir occasionally during cooking- reduced in volume by about 1/3 which takes about 45 min-1hr.

2. Pour into clean, hot jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace; close jars. Process in a water bath 15 minutes. (I don't generally bother with the canning step since I know I'm going to be cracking this open the first chance I get...) If you do the canning step correctly, this can be kept for a year unopened. Enjoy!

2 Cs flour
1 C salt
2 Tbs Cream of Tartar

1Tbs cooking oil
2 Cs water
food colouring

Thoroughly mix all dry ingredients.
Mix all wet ingredients.
Combine wet and dry ingredients, mixing till smooth.
Cook over medium heat until consistency of commercial play dough (I'll try to work on a better description but this is how it was described in the recipe)
Allow to cool then knead until smooth and elastic.
Store in an airtight container.

If young children are helping by making individual portions, let each child:
*pour some mixed dry ingredients into a bowl
*add in some mixed wet ingredients
*allow child to stir to his/her heart's content.

Adult:
*combine contents of all bowls into pot, mix some more and then cook.

Ingredients:
1 onion or leek (white stalk) chopped
1lb ground chicken
3 Cups water
3 pieces kelp
3 shiitake mushrooms sliced
2 Tbs red pepper paste
2 Tbs honey or sugar
1 Tbs garlic black bean paste
1 pack rice cakes (~20 tubular) soaked
2 fish cake (flat rectangular kind) cut into squares
1 tub silken tofu
1 Tbs fish sauce
2 Tbs cilantro chopped

Instructions:
Sauté the onion till glassey, and the mushroom till tender.
Quickly sauté chicken and stir to break into small pieces.
Add water, kelp, red pepper paste, honey and garlic bean paste and bring to a boil.
Simmer rice cakes ~ 15 minutes till just soft but still chewy. The center should not be tough.
Add in the fish cakes and tofu (whole), try to keep the tofu chunks large, stirring will break tofu into smaller pieces.
Reduce to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes until tofu is heated through. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Ingredients:
6oz flank steak grilled and sliced

2 Apples (Fuji & Granny Smith) grated
1/4 Cabbage shredded
1 carrot grated
1 Cup bean sprouts
6 sprigs of cilantro
1/4 Cup peanuts
lime wedges

1/2 Cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 Cup fish sauce
2-3 Tbs palm sugar
1-3 tsp hot chilli peppers sliced
up to 1/2 cup water

Preparation:

Mix together vinegar and fish sauce, add sugar and chillies dilute with water to taste.

Layer vegetables together top with beef and nuts. Pour over 3 Tbs of dressing.

Dim sum would not be complete for me without Feng Jiao (romantic translation Phoenix talons) aka chicken feet. Another binary selection food, that people either love or hate. Sometimes it's the texture, maybe it's the idea of it, but everyone has an opinion which they are happy to share with you. In general people appreciate it if you refrain from calling their food disgusting, a sensitive quirk perhaps, but I've found that many folk feel no need to edit their feelings of disgust when it comes to chicken feet.

When I was a kid, I came across my Mum chowing down on a bucket of something strange, brown and wrinkly. I was definitely put off by the way it looked. When I asked her what she was eating, she replied "Nothing you'd like"... but she was so evidently enjoying herself. I thought I'd give it a try- Wow flavour explosion, super chewy yet succulent chicken with sweet, salty and spicy hot notes and an evocative hint of mysterious ginger, cinnamon and anise. When Gwynie wandered into the kitchen to find out what we were eating with such relish, I told her it was "Nothing you'd like"... Lol that didn't dissuade her one bit.

So it's safe to say, thanks to Mum, we're fans of the chicken feet. There are a bunch of different methods of cooking chicken feet. One involves deep frying followed by braising/steaming, and I have to point out that deep frying always improves an item- for example twinkies. Altho this method produces a very intact foot, which is considered more appealing, given that most of us can't indulge in those kind of calories very often, that's slightly limiting.

In Taipei I used to pass by a restaurant called Elastic. It served teas and soups made of connective tissue plus special herbs and spices that are supposed to help your joints. At fraction of the price, holistic and tasting infinitely better than that Glucosamine chondroitin, MSM, Sam-E, CoE Q10 etc. I'm definitely sold on the idea, and I try to make stocks from cheaper parts (pig feet/hocks, pork and beef neck bones). The stock has a richer, glossy, more proteiny feel to it and I get to count it as my cartilage supplement, so it works out all round. Hence chicken feet/carcass make a great start to a stock, and then you can dress up the feet and eat them too!

I recognise that the idea of chicken feet can be initially disconcerting. But I urge you to put aside these preconceived notions and give it a try. Maybe sample a tiny bit at dim sum, or use stock made with chicken feet. Well whatever your preference, I include my recipe below. If you don't want to see the process, read no further.

Start out by trimming the feet. They're pretty clean when they come packaged, but I like to cut off the nails, which come loose as they cook. Boil the water and all the ingredients. Reduce to a simmer, and cook till the chicken feet are tender (just beyond al dente) 60 minutes. Remove the feet, strain and reserve the broth, discarding the carcass/bones.

Braising sauce
1 Cup chicken stock
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs rice wine
1 Tbs grated ginger
1 Tbs black bean sauce
1 Tbs brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
Siracha to taste...

Mix ingredients together.
Heat sauce and then toss feet till coated and shiny.
Simmer on low till the stock is all evaporated, 20-30 minutes.
Feet should be meltingly tender.
Garnish with pepper slices and cilantro.
Serve over rice.

Ingredients:
1 lemon- juice & zest
OR
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar

3 Tbs Fish sauce
1 Tbs mustard
1 Tbs sugar/honey
1/3 Cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Optional: adjust to taste
white vinegar or rice vinegar for a neutral acid
ginger grated
shallots/green onion/pickled garlic chopped
cilantro finely chopped
Siracha/hot pepper
sesame oil

Gwynie made this for Christmas. It was so good I thought I'd give it a write up. It's more like French toast than a quiche, with a great contrasting texture of succulent mushrooms and crispy bread. Most of the steps can be done in advance, so it would be a great dish for say a dinner party where you'd rather spend time with your guests. Gourmet magazine talks about using parchment lined ramekins, but I prefer to do it in one large dish. If I were going to serve it in smaller volumes, I'd just use large muffin tins with cupcake papers, and prolly bake for only 10-15 minutes. Alternatively prebake and then broil as discussed below.

Herbed Sausage & Wild Mushroom bread pudding
Ingredients
4 Cups (1/2-inch) fresh bread cubes (Acme herb foccacia- missing 4 slices...)
1 large onion coarsely chopped OR
1/2 Cup shallot finely chopped
1/2 lb sausage meat
2 Tbs butter unsalted
1 1/2 lbs mixed fresh mushrooms (crimini, chantrelle and shitake)
1/2 Cup flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
1/2 bunch sage coarsely chopped
2 Cups half-and-half
4 large eggs
1/2 Cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Gwynie started eating the herb slab before making the bread cubes... I think a whole herb slab would have been too much? Bake bread cubes in 1 layer in a large shallow baking pan until golden-brown, about 10 minutes. This can be done ahead and stored in a air tight container.

Tear or cut mushrooms lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Sauté shallot or onion in butter until glassy ~3 minutes. Add mushrooms, sausage, salt & pepper and cook until dry ~15 minutes. Add parsley, sage and cook, stirring ~2 minutes. Remove from heat. Sometimes I feel that a cycle of heating and cooling helps to boost flavours, if you want that then this step can be done ahead and stored in the fridge.

Whisk together half-and-half, eggs, cheese, salt & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in sausage, mushrooms and bread cubes until coated well and let stand 10 minutes for bread to absorb egg mixture. Mix again before placing in a shallow casserole dish, sprinkle top with more cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, remove and allow to rest for 20 minutes. The egg continues to cook while waiting, making for a very tender chew. Gwynie likes hers served hot, and if you want more crunch, heat under broiler ~5 minutes for the top to crisp up. You can also bake in a large dish and then when serving individual portions toast under broiler for more of an edge effect.

As a child, my Gran in Nottingham made light and fluffy Yorkshire puds, with crisp shells and melting centers- served with gravy and roast beef. Yum! But she could never really articulate how she did it. Now my Mum is a great cook, and super adventurous experimenter when it comes to trying recipes. That said, back home, Mum attempted Yorkshire pudding on countless Sundays. Mum would peek anxiously in through a crack in the the oven door every couple of minutes and watch in horror as it deflated to a limply flat and soggy pud. We supported her attempts with typical scientific interest and critical eating, what factors could be changed? some day we were sure, it would all work out. At school in England, the muffin sized yorkies were tough, chewy (and to my horror- bounced). So for me the search for a reliable recipe was similar to the Grail.

In the USA, people refer to popovers and Dutch babies, where it's all about height with crisp shells and serve them sweet instead of savoury. The first time I experienced the impressive form of the Dutch baby was at a ski cabin in Tahoe where a professional chef whipped one up in about 15 minutes. She made it look so easy, producing crispy lofty peaks of golden pillowy meltingly soft goodness in a massive cast iron pan**. With a dusting of icing sugar and raspberry jam, it was a perfect winter wonderland breakfast. Inspired by her success, I made a note of her recipe which I've tweaked and been using ever since. I've experimented with proportions and have determined the golden secret ratios which will work every time. So you can adjust your proportions based on how many people you're cooking for. The ratios are essentially 1:1 for milk:flour*:egg ie For every 1/4 cup flour & milk you need 1 large egg or about 1/4 cup egg.

Ingredients:
3 Tbs Butter
2 Tbs Grapeseed oil (or lard)
4 eggs
1 C milk
1 C flour (3/4 Cup All-Purpose: 1/4 Cup Bread)
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425oF. Place butter & grapeseed oil in cast iron pan and heat in oven while you prepare the batter. In a blender or food processor whiz eggs until they are well mixed. With the motor running, add milk, flour and salt, whiz for another 30 secs - 1 minute.

Pour batter into preheated skillet (the butter/oil should sizzle) and return to oven. Bake for about 18-25 minutes until craggy peaks are browned but not burned. It's most impressive if everyone is ready and waiting since it deflates slightly when it comes out of the oven. (I've tried leaving it in for longer to keep the puffiness but then the outside gets tough...)

If serving sweet, dust with powdered sugar and top with fruit, preserves etc. Whipped cream is fun too.

For savoury garnish with chopped chives or parsley, and smother with gravy. I served it with sautéed wild mushrooms and shallots.

Flour
* I use a mixture of All-purpose flour and Bread flour 3:1 Bread flour is a high-protein flour. The high protein supports the pancake's rise to an impressive pouffe, but too much can make it tough and chewy. The All-purpose flour makes the pancake tender and melting. You can adjust to your preference.

Eggs
It's not as complicated as a soufflé, but the protein from the eggs also helps support the structure as the steam causes it to rise. You don't need baking powder, which is a completely different chemical reaction! Caution- overbaking will make the egg proteins tough.

Equipment
** The cast-iron skillet transmits heat to allow the pancake to rise quickly and then the sides set to support the structure. Adjust cooking time based on the size of the pan.
Individual vs large – I use a cast iron takoyaki/abelskiver pan sometimes, but you can use a muffin tin. Just be sure to use plenty oil/butter else they will stick! Clearly individual popovers require significantly less time than one in a skillet, 10-15 minutes is good depending on how firm you want the center.

Heat
Make sure that the oil/butter in the pans is almost smoking before you add the batter. It should sizzle as you add the batter.
Avoid opening the oven once you've started baking, it will deflate if the sides are not strong enough to support the weight of the structure. Trust that it WILL work...
If your oven is too cold, it will also not rise.

During the traditional Christmas cookie baking, my friend Wendy produced her birthday present- Tartine's new book- you can imagine my excitement. I quickly flipped to the Rocher recipe and announced that we were going to make it. We didn't have enough sliced almonds so I substituted almond meal but I think that resulted in a flatter and less chewy center since the cookie was overcooked. I'm going to try increasing the sliced almonds to see if that will help with the 3D structure (lattice effect). I'll post pics later...

Tartine's Almond Rochers
1 Cup + 2 Tbs Almond (sliced + meal)
2 Large egg whites
1 Cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 tsp salt (pinch)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350oF.
Line baking sheet with parchment/silpat.
Prepare a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch (no.6 or 7) plain tip.

Toast almonds in a thin layer on a baking sheet in oven until golden
brown 7-10 minutes. Cool completely. Break almonds into ~1/4 inch
pieces. Tartine warns: Large chunks will clog the pastry tip if you plan to
pipe the forms. I didn't have any trouble with clogging but that may be due to the almond meal substitution.

Over a simmering water bath (saucepan with 2 inches water), in
stainless-steel bowl of a stand mixer whisk together egg whites,
confectioners' sugar and salt. Tartine warns: bowl should NOT touch the water.
Continue whisking 5+ minutes till the mixture is hot to the touch
(120oF). Place bowl on stand mixer and fit with whisk attachment.
Whip on high until mixture is thick and holds glossy stiff peaks when
you lift the beater. (I think I should have whisked for longer since my mounds tended to collapse. Heated egg whites are supposed to be more stable than raw egg whites.) Fold in the almonds and vanilla with a spatula.

Immediately fill the pastry bag with the meringue mixture and pipe
onto the baking sheet, forming kisses approx 1 inch in diameter,
spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Alternatively you can drop the
meringues by the tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet. Regular macaroons are left to rest for 30 minutes creating a "foot" with cracks etc when the cookies are finally baked.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and keep the oven door ajar with
the handle of a wooden spoon to allow moisture to escape. Bake the
cookies until they puff slightly, crack along the sides and feel dry
on the outside but soft to the touch 15-20 minutes. Transfer the
cookies to a wire rack, they will harden as they cool.

Store in airtight container at room temp for up to 2 weeks. After a
couple of days they dry out completely and are still tasty delicious.

Every year we get together with our friend Wendy to make cookies. Wendy is a very good baker and she makes brilliant cookies. One of Gwynie's favorites is the Molasses spice cookie from Wendy's Magnolia Bakery recipe book. It's a rich deep flavor, not too sweet with a sharp almost gingery quality, despite there being no ginger. Super easy, they take almost no time at all to whip up AND because it makes a great soft chewy cookie, you can bake these in the toaster oven without a drop in quality.

Magnolia Bakery iced molasses cookies

Ingredients:

2 Cups flour sifted
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbs all spice
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 Cup or 1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 Cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 Cup molasses

Directions:
Pre heat oven 350 degrees.

Combine sifted flour with other dry ingredients, sifting again, set aside.
In food processor, cream butter and sugar until smooth.
Add egg and mix well.
Beat in molasses.
Add dry ingredients all at once, and pulse to mix ~10 seconds. (For a sturdier snap you can go longer to activate the gluten, but watch out for your teeth!). The debate whether to chill the dough or not...
warm dough spreads quickly during cooking resulting in a flatter slightly more crisp effect. Chilled dough holds the mounded shape and makes for a lighter more fluffy center.

Drop by rounded scoops on to parchment lined cookie sheet leaving 1-inch for expansion
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Cool cookies on sheet for 1 minute then remove to rack to completely cool. Cookies are tender and soft (if you want a crisper cookie, you can extend the baking time by 2 minutes- be careful not to burn them!) When cooled spread a thin layer of icing on each cookie with a small knife or spatula. Let icing set before stacking cookies or they will stick together. Makes 3-4 dozen cookies

I recently had a chance to stay a couple of days with some dear friends Dale and Doreen down in Monterey. They get a farm box every week stuffed to the brim and were struggling to finish before the next box arrived. Luckily they have a male monitor lizard (Daphne) which they feed leafy greens so he helped to cut down on leftovers. While I was there, one of the best dinners was a stew which they jokingly referred to as "Daphne stew". I took copious notes as Dale prepped. The meat was tender, the sauce juicy tomato-based, chock full of veggies. Lest you think we were eating the family pet, Doreen explained that they decided to use stuff from the box in every dish. It was working great, they had delicious stews and they started including more and more veg in the recipe. Dale and Doreen laughed as they told me- one day they ran out of veg and decided to use Daphne's portion of the box, wow adding the leafy greens to the stew added a whole other dimension of texture and flavor. Served over rice- perfection!

This week Morgan and Julie kindly gave me a box of their Riverdog Farm share- Rapini, cauliflower, carrots, turnips, bok choy, apples, persimmons. Daphne stew seemed a fitting way to cook these fantastic fresh veggies. I like to think of it as: Meat, onion, garlic, green veg, root veg, leafy greens, moisture, flavor & tomato paste. But if you need a more structured recipe...

1 lb Korean style short ribs
salt & pepper
1 onion chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
6 cloves cured garlic

1 bunch baby turnips
4 carrots chopped
4 Cups stock/water
1/2 Cup sake/wine
thyme
bay leaves
1 Tbs soup chi

4 oz tomato paste
4 Cups Rapini chopped
1 Tbs fish sauce (to taste)
1 Tbs vinegar (optional)
Instructions

In a dutch oven, sear the meat on all sides.
Add onion, celery & garlic, cook till glassy.
Add root vegetables cut into 2 inch chunks.
Add liquid to cover meat.
Place spices etc in a "Disposable Tea Filter" and submerge on the side.
Cover with lid and place in oven at 350oF.
Allow to cook at least 2 hours.
Remove from oven and mix in tomato paste and leafy greens.
Return to oven uncovered for 30 minutes. Adjust taste with fish sauce. If garlic was not cured in vinegar, finish dish with a splash of vinegar.

Serve over rice. Enjoy!

Here are my latest efforts in baking- Chocolate wafer cookies. The story starts with the fact that I'm in the process of making a base for a chocolate torte/cheesecake, which requires dark black brown chocolate cookies broken into crumbs. (Think oreos without the filling) My friend Doreen points out the ubiquitously available (at least in the USA) Nabisco "Famous" (brand) chocolate wafers are what I'm really trying to emulate. But my allergies of course make these verboten since they contain some sulfites, and based on the fact that I get hives- contain food dyes as well. Here's a picture for calibration purposes. Notice that they also cost a whopping $4.79! Price alone is an incentive to make my own...

I did a little investigating and found a recipe for the chocolate thin mint girl scout cookie @Baking Bites. These sounded like just the ticket. All I'd have to do was omit the mint and dipping chocolate and I was golden! After an afternoon of happy baking and tempting smells. OMG I must have done something wrong. I think it was the volume of milk that went into the dough and the subsequent mixing then activated the gluten... they were tough as rocks! haha the taste was ok, but my jaw! They were also a great brown color, but not that deep devilishly black brown that I wanted. I think the trick to getting them really DARK is Dutch-Processed cocoa powder (Alkalized Unsweetened Cocoa Powder). Again I returned to the internet for more recipes to test.

So far I think that this recipe from smitten kitchen looks to be the right one. I followed the directions exactly with no deviating from the recipe, and the happy result was a delicate chocolate wafer, crunchingly satisfying with a great crumb. Just about perfect in all respects except the depth of dark in the chocolate color and taste. I really wanted it to be dark black!

On my third try, I used the more expensive Valrhona cocoa that Deb suggested (in her pictures the wafers are pretty dark) and it works a charm. I also swapped out some of the butter with semi-sweet chocolate to boost flavor. The last thing that really amped up the flavor, added depth of color and nice texture was replacing some ground black sesame instead of the flour. (I get it at my local Asian grocery store) Wow! So intensely black chocolatey with an elusive nutty crunch.

1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup black sesame flour
1/2 Cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 Cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate coarsely chopped
3 Tbs whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine the dry ingredients: flour, sesame, cocoa, sugar, salt, and baking soda in the food processor and pulse several times to mix. Coarsely cut the butter and chocolate into small chunks and add them. Pulse several times till the mixture forms pea sized sandy grains. Mix milk and vanilla and add gradually while whizzing until the mixture starts to clump and form a rough dough. Use wax paper or clingfilm to form into a log about 1 3/4 inches in diameter OR line a small loaf pan with wax paper and pack the dough in to form a rectangle. Cover with clingfilm, wax paper or foil and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour. (This dough also freezes very well).

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the dough thinly about 1/8-inch and place them at least 1 inch apart on the sheets. Bake, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and back to front at about 5-6 minutes, for a total of 10 to 12 minutes (watch the baking time carefully-if you can smell them, they're very close to being done). The cookies will spread and puff, sliced too thin you might get little air bubbles that break, giving the cookie a more lacy texture.

Cool the cookies by sliding the parchment onto rack, they crisp up as they cool... about 2 minutes. The flavor changes significantly between warm (nutty) and cool (CHOCOlatey); An interesting taste test to try- ok I admit I couldn't really wait for them to cool! You can store these cookies for up to two weeks (but I bet they won't last this long) or frozen up to two months. (IMHO it's better to freeze the dough and bake fresh, unless you like the girl scout thin mint cookies frozen). They are very delicate, you can add a bit of structural integrity by covering the base with (maybe mint?) chocolate...

Note: These cookies should be crisp once they cool. If they are still soft, return them to the oven to bake a little longer, then cool again. You'll soon figure out the time that works for your oven and the thickness that you slice the dough.

Happy Baking!

home-made ice cream sandwiches- Soften ice cream and coat underside of cookie. Top with another cookie. Success can be deadly

The icebox cake pic on the Famous wafer packet is inspiring and super easy- Since I can control the size of the cookie, I made panels 8x4-inches. Whip cream and place in a lined loaf pan. Insert cookies into the cream, placing them them vertically to form a log. Top with more cream if necessary and cover. Store in fridge overnite. Cookies will soften. The vertical placement allows you to slice across the grain (perpendicular to the cookies) to expose the contrasting black and white layers. (Horizontal layers will cause cream to squish out when pressure is applied). You can freeze the log for a firmer result. Whipped cream extravaganza.

A fun variation adds raspberry deliciousness to chocolatey goodness. I served this as one of my Thanksgiving desserts. It was so successful that Stephen asked for another one for his birthday. Since I was out of raspberries, I made it with cranberries. I only used 1/3 Cup of sugar in order to accentuate the tartness of the berries. This time I made a couple of smaller logs and individual ramekins. Haha I couldn't wait- It's pretty fantastic freshly crunchy... http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pop-Art-Raspberry-Icebox-Cake-238747

Don't take my word for it. There are a ton of recipes out there. I may check these others out for completeness, but truthfully why mess with success?

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/crisp-chocolate-wafers-recipe/index.html

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateWafers.html