Boy howdy was I ever grumpy when I awoke on this dreary 13th day of the 13th week of the 13th month of this longest. winter. ever. Or so it seems, with the polar vortexing and the winter storms that have people names that I hate. So, always striving towards efficiency, I decided to try the productive anger management therapy known as “hand kneading stiff dough.” And the oven heats the house up nicely, so we got a twofer.
Since Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching, I thought I’d share a story of love with you. It is a short story about love and birth, family and new life, and a couple of pounds of confectioner’s sugar. My little sister is nearing the end of her second pregnancy and will soon be bringing a tiny girl child into the world. Beyond ecstatic at the impending arrival and having the tendency to share love for my family through the food that I cook, I decided to bake a “Welcome to the World” cake for my sister and future-niece.
Wait.. what? Rosemary… cookies? Okay, I gotta try this. So with a function coming up that I needed to provide some nibbles for, I decided these cookies were sufficiently fancy enough to make. I was a little skeptical at first, after all rosemary, my most favorite herb of all time was supposed to be put in savory dishes, not cookies!
Through the use of Chinese Five Spice and fresh cracked pepper, this recipe offers a unique variation to the strawberry rhubarb pie we all grew up eating. The flavor combination of strawberry and black pepper is an age old one – the pepper enhances the sweetness of the strawberry. When used sparingly, Chinese Five Spice adds an additional depth of flavor to this pie.
