cooking -

by BS

Baking for Friends: Linzer Heart Cookies

With the Beyonce Bowl come and gone, it must be about time to start focusing on the next food-obsessive holiday on the calendar.

Yes, Valentine’s Day can be dumb, but it also can be an excuse to bake up some over-the-top deliciousness, right? One of our favorite New York-based bakeries, Tate’s Bake Shop, is here to share this recipe for Linzer heart cookies from their cookbook, Baking for Friends.

Anyone who has picked up Tate’s crazy-crispy chocolate chips at a store around NYC understands that these folks know how to do cookies right. And, if you’re in need of a V-day gift, hop over to Tate’s website and get 20 percent off any cookie-centric just for being an ES-er. Use the code BLOG213 at checkout.

Tate’s Bake Shop Linzer Heart Cookies

A Kitchen Carry-On

More often than not, when I cook it isn’t in my own kitchen. I cook with friends; it’s something I enjoy most. One of the biggest problems when cooking in a kitchen other than my own is the lack of equipment and supplies — not everyone has the counter space or the means to have a KitchenAid or Cuisinart at their disposal, or a cabinet full of spices. But who wants to spend $7 on a bottle of garam masala for a one-time use? I know I wouldn’t, but it is something I use and I’d never expect a host to buy a bottle for a one-off dinner party. Solution: over the past few years I’ve built up a kitchen travel bag of sorts, my own goodie bag of kitchen supplies that I don’t expect any of my friends to stock themselves, but I simply can’t cook without.

Keep reading for my must-have list of kitchen items to carry when cooking away from home.

Friday Fuck Ups: Not-So-Easy Mac

So I know you all have this idealized foodie image of yours truly that starts with me waking up each day and whipping up a perfect batch of eggs florentine with a side of thick-cut pork belly and a few slices of passion fruit. No? OK, maybe just an idealized version of myself. But believe it or not, there was a time in my life when I cooked way less and drank way more. That time was called college. Well, and a few years after college, to be honest.

Back in those days, my favorite-favorite hungover 11 a.m. breakfast was Easy Mac. Actually I always say Easy Mac but I should clarify that I was never pathetic enough to use the microwave kind; just the stovetop Kraft kind where you pour milk, butter and a scary orange cheese powder over macaroni. It’s disgusting. And amazing. There’s just something about fake cheese flavor that I can’t get enough of.

Moving on, a few Fridays back I awoke around nine to discover I was massively hungover after drinking something pathetic like four beers. WTF! Getting old sucks. I didn’t have much food around, but it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d had an extra batch of white truffle-hazelnut ravioli, because the only damn thing I wanted was easy mac…