In Good Taste

Raspberry Pecan Square Cookies

It's Friday. You should have a treat. You should, but I shouldn't. I have had plenty of treats over the past couple of weeks...or months. Semantics.

So, with a package of sugar cookie dough then went unused over the holidays -- but has not yet expired -- and a jar of raspberry preserves that I bought back in June intending to make pop-tarts but never got around to it -- also not yet expired -- I made these gems.

Sour Cherry Almond Thumbprint Cookies [Cuisinart Giveaway Winnner]

 
No matter what kind of holiday entertaining you're planning, I can't think of one occasion where cookies are inappropriate. Holiday brunch? Absolutely. The office potluck? You'll be lucky if you have leftover crumbs.

During the month of December, cookies also happen to be a perfectly acceptable breakfast or midnight snack and if there is any time of year where you're going to allow yourself to eat cookies in bed, this the one. I think you understand where I'm going here. It's December, get out your rolling pins and preheat your ovens.

Peppermint Mocha Brownie Cookies

 
Even if you're not a big cook or baker I am going to go ahead and guess that the words "holiday” and “baking” will appear in your vocabulary at some point before you change your calendar page from December to January.

No matter what holidays you celebrate, cookies bring a smile to anyone’s face – especially when they’re packed with seasonal flavors like peppermint, almonds and cranberries. My current favorite cookie is one that I invented on a whim when my friend Jennifer sent me a stash of flavored Starbucks VIA, which is quite possibly my favorite product ever invented.

Last Minue Halloween Treats: The Sweet, The Savory and The Scary

Halloween is in the air this weekend and no matter how old you are, it's never too late to celebrate. When you're a child, Halloween means costume parties at school, candy before dinner and staying up past your bedtime if you were lucky enough that Halloween fell on a school night.

In college, Halloween became a polarizing holiday: some felt that they were "too old to dress up" and others used it as an excuse to wear short skirts, 80's-style prom dresses from Goodwill and in some cases, costumes meant for children because they were half-price at WalMart the day before Halloween. No, no, I never did that. Of course not.

Not just yet: Recipe for Peach Crumb Bars

Everywhere you look, from the candy aisle at CVS to...well, anything else that tends to overtly display seasonal affection in a commercial manner, you'll see Fall, Fall and more Fall. Now, this bodes well for me. I like to sleep with my windows open and I glean just enough joy out of a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks for it to be an appropriate small delight as opposed to a pathetic fixation.

This also bodes well for the farmers markets and pumpkin farms - everyone is all about apples, squash and gourds from now until Thanksgiving. Finally, it also bodes well for the dental industry (because between caramel apples, maple-flavored everything and pumpkin spice donuts...stop looking at me like that...sweets are abundant and good dental hygiene? Priceless this time of year).

I digress.