December 11,
2009Not just another sugar cookie, Mürbteigplätzchen are sweet like a sugar cookie, but richer, more like a shortbread. Renate, who gave me the recipe, makes a small, thick cookie, and usually makes a triple batch.
I'm old enough to remember seeing Bing Crosby and David Bowie singing their Christmas duet when it first aired on Crosby's Christmas special. My father loved Crosby and his generation of crooners and we must have watched Crosby's special every year, but I remember nothing else from them. I searched for the song desperately for years. Of course, after I found it on a lone album, it was on every compilation the next year.
Most cooks and bakers, even if they aren't very good, can at least say they've never poisoned anyone. I can only say I've never killed anyone.
One of my standby dinners is salmon teriyaki with rice and broccoli. I use a recipe from Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat that's very quick and requires only three ingredients: soy, sake, and mirin. It's a dish that features regularly on our table. The way I decide what to make for dinner is to write out a menu for the week. Then it's easy to see what needs to be defrosted. However, things come up like exhaustion, and the menu schedule can get pushed back. Usually the fridge is so cold it takes two days to fully defrost anything, and I don't worry that the chicken is served a day late. It turns out, you can't do that with salmon.
The salmon had been in the fridge only a bit extra long, or so I thought. Fortunately, my husband wasn't home for dinner that night. More fortunately, my son had recently decided he no longer like salmon (fish sticks were fine).
It was an unpleasant night for me, and probably six months before I could face salmon teriyaki again.
As I said, I've never killed anyone.
Copyright 2009 Susan J. Talbutt; all rights reserved.
Last updated December 7, 2009