The Four Seasons Hotel here in Seattle is calling all cookie enthusiasts to join the search for the Ultimate Holiday Cookie Recipe! The winning cookie will be served at ART Restaurant and in the Hotel this holiday season. And, you don’t have to be in Seattle to submit a recipe! In fact, they’ve gotten recipes from England, so join in the fun!

Here are the details:

ART Restaurant and Pastry Chef Ryan Witcher are searching for the ultimate holiday cookie recipe. From November 1 to December 1, the public is invited to submit a recipe, along with 150 words describing what makes it a holiday cookie. Are these cookies served during the holidays? Do they have seasonal ingredients?

The winning cookie will be served during the holidays in ART Restaurant and at The Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, and the submitter of the winning recipe will receive dinner for two and a one-night stay at the Hotel – plus bragging rights. All recipes tested by Chef Ryan will also be featured on Foodista.com!

On Sunday, December 6, three finalists will be announced, and their creations will be sampled and judged by attendees and a panel of cookie enthusiasts at the Hotel’s first annual Holidays with HeART – a fun-filled and philanthropic family event hosted by Chefs Kerry Sear and Ryan Witcher. Attendees will enjoy a holiday lunch buffet, decorating stations with fresh-baked cookies, a reading of children’s holiday books, and more. Holidays with HeART will take place from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Four Seasons Hotel Seattle. The cost is USD 35.00 for adults and USD 25.00 for children ages 6 to 12. Part of the proceeds will support Treehouse Seattle, which helps kids in foster care. Reservations are recommended, and may be made by calling (206) 749-7070.

From now to December 1, 2009, e-mail your ultimate holiday cookie recipes to ryan.witcher@fourseasons.com.

Rules and Regulations

Please read the following rules and regulations for the Ultimate Holiday Cookie Recipe Search. By submitting a recipe, you are agreeing that:

• The recipe must be original and not previously published
• The Hotel will acquire ownership of the recipes to use during the holidays
• The submitter must agree that the recipe can be posted on a number of sites and can be the subject of Hotel tweeting
• The submitter must agree that their name and photo can be used by the Hotel, including publishing on websites, and in print materials and in radio broadcasts
• The finalists do not need to make themselves available to come to the Hotel on the particular dates
• The finalists will receive one Holidays with HeART ticket, compliments of the Hotel

Photo by: yashima

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Categories:	Baked Goods	1 Comment
Tags:	baking contest • cookie contest • cookies • four seasons hotel • four seasons seattle

Amongst my family members there are those who clearly favorite one or the other, and there are those that don’t care, as long as it’s pie. And then there are those who don’t even like pie.

My brother-in-law loves pumpkin pie, my husband’s whole family really. Growing up they used to buy a stack of pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. I, on the other hand, love pecan pie. Specifically homemade. And guess what? November is Georgia Pecan Month, which I think speaks very highly of which is the better pie for Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong, pumpkin is great. But pumpkin is better put to use in a cheesecake than a pie, in my humble opinion.

Which is your favorite pie, pumpkin or pecan? Maybe strike a compromise with Pumpkin Pecan Pie? Are you one of those no-pie people? Or do you serve an entirely different dessert at your Thanksgiving feast?

Photo by Cameron Nordhom

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It’s one of those simple ideas you wish you’d come up with yourself.  They may not be wearable and they may not be cheap (62 euros plus shipping), but bread shoes are selling like crazy.  Several of the styles offered at dadadastudio.com, a creative photography site, are already sold out.

There’s no indication of the freshness or origin of the bread, but as they’ll be more of a conversation piece than anything, it probably doesn’t matter.

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(image by Shamanyx)

Cupcakes are hot. Pop culture has elevated cupcakes from kindergarten birthday party to wedding cake status in a few short years. Cupcakes are fun, tasty and easily decorated, with a superb frosting-to-cake ratio. Everyone can enjoy cupcakes; in addition to the regular butter/sugar/flour varieties, there are vegan, sugar-free and gluten-free versions, plus some permutations of the three. NPR provides a more academic analysis of why cupcakes have shot to popularity.

Still, I’m over cupcakes. It’s almost 2010. Cupcakes are sooo 2008/9.

The New York Times, enamored with all things Maine, pushed whoopie pies as the next big thing in dessert back in March. That prediction has yet to come to fruition. Why? Whoopie pies are ugly. Despite the naughty-sounding name, there is nothing sexy about even the prettiest whoopie pie. Whoopie pies have little potential for creative toppings or decoration. The best ones are wrapped in plastic wrap and sold in convenience stores; ask any Mainer who makes the best whoopie pie and the answer will be a) his grandmother or b) the gas station down the road.

I argue that macarons are the next big thing. Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons), are cookie-like French confections made by sandwiching cream, ganache or almond paste between two wafers made from egg whites, almond powder and confectioner’s and granulated sugars. As you can see from the chart below, macarons have increased in search popularity over the past five years, a trend that continues to grow:

(image from Google Trends)

Like cupcakes, macarons are cute, colorful, portable, single serving-sized bits of goodness. They are also extremely versatile, with flavors ranging from lemon to mocha to pistachio raspberry- even bacon. Their colorful stackability makes them a natural subject for blog headers and Twitter backgrounds. Plus, “Sex and the City,” credited in part for catapulting cupcakes to mass popularity, even featured macarons in one episode, an indicator of macarons’ commercial potential.

I had never heard of macarons until a few months ago; now I see them all over the internet. They certainly have more elitist origins than cupcakes, being both French and difficult to bake (first-time macaron makers often complain that their macarons lack “feet”, the ruffles around the bottom of each cookie), which I see as the only potential drawback. Otherwise, macarons are just one SNL reference away from international cult status.

Just a theory. What do you think?

Other people’s thoughts on the matter:

• Serious Eats: Talk
• Domestic Deep Thought of the Day: What’s the Next Cupcake?
• Willow Bird Baking: Un Petit Trésor: Les Macarons

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Tags:	cupcakes • macarons • whoopie pies

Let’s talk about pie crust. I realize it’s still a couple weeks before Thanksgiving- the day I most associate with eating pies- but it’s never too early to talk about the importance of pie crust. This is one largely contested debate. Do you swear by butter, lard or olive oil? My husband swears that shortening is the key to flaky crusts. If you want to see me get into a hot debate, please don’t tell me to use shortening or chemical margarine in my pie crust! I’m a butter girl.

What’s your secret to a great tasting flaky pie crust?

Other Types of Pie Crusts

Above photo by [177}

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Tags:	baking pies • pie crust • Thanksgiving

When it comes to seasonal fall and winter squash, there is always one that seems to take center stage on restaurant menus, glossy food magazines and in premade food products. That would be the ever-popular butternut squash. Yes, as much as I love this creamy, sweet and mild squash, I feel that it has been over used in ravioli and in pureed soups. I think it’s time to stir things up!  By no means am I suggesting you set aside your beloved butternut, in fact, I think you should fall in love with it all over again and try it in something new. Think of it as butternut therapy for your butternut addiction. To get you started, here are a couple recipes that might make you look differently at your favorite gourd. Before I forget, you can substitute kabocha squash, acorn squash or sugar pumpkin and really try something different.

This recipe for marinated butternut squash is a tangy twist on sauteed butternut squash that is usually tossed with olive oil and fresh herbs.

Butternut and parsnip quesadillas!  And, for the salsa lover who wants to eat seasonally, you can get inspired with this beet salsa that not only tastes sweet, fresh and tangy- it looks like a bowl of ruby jewels just waiting to be sprinkled on a salad or scooped up with chips.

Another dynamic duo- risotto and butternut together! This creamy risotto with sweet butternut squash could be eaten as a side dish or eaten as a main course. This dish is like putting a warm sweater around your stomach.

Don’t forget dessert! Here is a twist on the old  apple crisp classic: Butternut Apple Crisp!

Need more delicious inspiration? Here are three more delicious ideas:

Kalyn’s Kitchen

101 Cookbooks

Relish

Pink Stripes

Above photo by lumierefl

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Categories:	Baked Goods • Cooking tips • Technique • Uncategorized • desserts • quick and easy	4 Comments
Tags:	autumn • butternut squash • fall • winter squash

Open your fridge. Can you tell the exact history of where one item came from? Eating local doesn’t seem like a hard challenge until you start thinking about it. Last Sunday night, a group of us got together and cooked a meal that was made almost entirely with local ingredients. The best part of it all was that we didn’t intentionally mean to have a dinner made completely of locally sourced ingredients, but once we realized we had the beginnings of one, we made it our goal to get as a close as we could to a completely local dinner.

When you start learning where your food really comes from, you learn how much labor, transportation and energy and resources go  into everything you eat. Eating local doesn’t just mean you help out the farmers, gardeners and butchers in your area, you are also saving other costs that add up, including energy, gas, storage and other hidden resources used to get those items off a truck and onto a shiny display. Challenge yourself to make it a personal goal to eat one thing at one meal a day that is sourced locally, not only will you feel good, believe me, it will taste better!

The Menu

Locally Caught Salmon with Lemon, Herb Butter: The salmon was caught locally by my friend Neil. Oregano, thyme and dill all from Washington state. Our splurge was the lemon, salt and pepper and olive oil, purchased from the grocery store.

All Blue Potato Salad with Fresh Dill: The all blue potatoes came from a farm that I was apprenticing at, about 20 miles away. Fresh dill and a sweet onion came from the Ballard Farmer’s market that morning. Our splurge was purchased Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and salt and pepper.

Summer Corn and Tomato Salad: The corn, basil and sweet onion came from the farmers market. The tomatoes were grown in my garden. Our splurge was olive oil, red onion and salt and pepper.

Winter Greens with Garlic and Lemon: The Swiss chard, kale and collard greens were all from the Ballard farmer’s market, our splurge was olive oil, lemon, garlic- (although it should have been bought at the farmer’s market), and Parmesan Reggiano.

Katy’s Blackberry Pie with Lemon Verbena Infused Fresh Whip Cream: The blackberries were purchased at the farmer’s market, the whip cream was from a Washington state organic creamery and the lemon verbena was from my friend Katy’s lemon verbena plant. Our splurge: organic pie crust from PCC, lemon juice, purchased spices.

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Tags:	all blue potatoes • blackberry pie • corn salad • eating local • eating local in the northwest • salmon • winter greens

In Seattle, now that fall is here, it means it starts raining. The days grow increasingly darker and the clouds rarely take a break from hanging out above the city. As a native, of course I’m sad to see the sun go for months on end, but honestly there is a big side of me that is excited to spend all evening roasting winter vegetables and drinking red wine, while a game is on in the other room. The wind and cold rain whipping leaves from the trees forces me to stay inside and convince me that it’s okay to not do anything, but cook comfort food, feed it to my favorite people and not feel guilty about staying in my sweats all day long.

Cheers to Autumn!

Here are 10 Fall Dishes We Can’t Wait to Cook

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Tags:	autumn food • comfort food • fall food

I’ve been meaning to pay homage to the famous 60’s era concert and thought,”Hmm, what would be the quintessential hippie Woodstock food?”

Pot brownies, for sure. But alas, not the most legal thing. And I’m not sure I’d even know how to make them were I to somehow acquire the necessary bud.

Then I thought, “Granola!” Everyone ate granola then (and still). Maybe not the most Woodstock-esque food, but certainly a buzz food of the times. My mom made it all the time, and we ate it dry and with milk. We even genericized her healthy food as “granola food.”

When I went searching online for some great recipes, I found the following on Amateur Gourmet. And he read about it on David Lebovitz’s blog, who got it from the book “Baked: New Frontiers in Baking” by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. David said it’s one of those books that made him want to make everything in it, so I promptly bought it. (No, I have not been eating pot brownies).

So here it is (and here’s to Woodstock!), a superb recipe for easy homemade granola.

Photo: cuttlefish

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Tags:	amateur gourmet • cereal • david lebovitz • granola • hippie food • homemade granola • woodstock

The annual “Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch Day” was August 8th, and even if you happened to sneak several large squash into mailboxes,  friend’s purses or onto co-worker’s chairs that day, the likelihood that you still have more zucchini than you know what to do with is pretty high. We figured you were not alone, so we have found 10 great recipes from Foodista and five more from food bloggers to help you get your creative juices flowing…oooh there’s one I forgot Zucchini Juice!

1. Raw Zucchini Pasta
2. Zucchini Pasta with Sausage
3. Stuffed Zucchini Boats
4. Zucchini Cookies
5.Savory Zucchini Pancakes
6. Zucchini Bread
7. Zucchini Parmesan
8. Green Curry with Zucchini
9. Zucchini Dip
10. Vegan Veggie Burrito

5 More Great Zucchini Recipes From Bloggers

All Things Nice Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Home Joys- Zucchini Crust Pizza

Cooks United Zucchini Fritters

Chocolate and Zucchini Zucchini and Mushroom Crumble

Kalyn’s Kitchen Zucchini Carpaccio

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Categories:	American • Baked Goods • Chocolate • Cooking tips • Pasta & Grains • Uncategorized • Vegetarian • Veggies • condiments • desserts • quick and easy	Leave a Comment
Tags:	vegan • Vegetarian • Zucchini recipes