Entries Tagged as 'emily'

Martha Stewart’s Butter Pecan Cookies

November 6th, 2010 · 2 Comments

I love this butter pecan cookie recipe because there are only 6 ingredients and they are common things that I probably have in the pantry at any given time.

I made butter pecan cookies for Emily’s dinner party. I wasn’t sure how many people would be there so I decided to make them mini. To do this, I just used a smaller cookie scoop. I also rolled the cookies in Sugar in the Raw before baking. This gave them a nice crisp texture on the outside and also made them look pretty and sparkly. I love Sugar in the Raw for baking.

By making the cookies mini, I was able to get about 3 dozen cookies from this recipe.

Now the important part: How did they taste? They were a big hit at the party. There were maybe 10 people in attendance and my cookies were all gone by the end of the night. Always a good feeling when something you made is completely devoured.

Butter Pecan Cookies
From: MarthaStewart.com

These delicate, buttery cookies, which get their crunchy texture from toasted pecans and a sugar coating, practically melt in your mouth. Makes 12.

3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for coating
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a baking sheet, toast pecans until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Let cool completely; finely chop.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until light, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla, salt, and flour, scraping down sides of bowl, just until dough comes together. Fold in pecans.

Separate dough into 12 pieces; squeeze dough to shape into balls. Roll in sugar. Place, 3 inches apart, on a baking sheet. Gently flatten with the bottom of a glass (reshape sides if necessary). Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until golden brown, rotating sheet halfway through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with more sugar. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

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…. and that’s when something weird happened ….

September 29th, 2010 · 3 Comments

Apple Fest and an Apple-themed dinner party.

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Paul Baker’s Birthday

February 9th, 2010 · 4 Comments

Last Thursday was Paul Baker’s birthday. We were all going out for dinner in Chinatown but not until 7:30 p.m., so Jess, Alden, Emily and I decided to kill a few hours after work by going for drinks in the South Loop, not too far from Chinatown. We decided to go to a bar called Kasey’s Tavern and I really liked it. It had a really warm feeling inside and had a pretty good beer menu. I had two Smithwicks.

At about 7 we left to head over to Chinatown to meet with everyone else. When we arrived? We realized, “Oh shit! It’s a BYO restaurant! Where can we get liquor?” We thought maybe Walgreens and headed over that way.

After going into the store and looking around we realized Walgreens doesn’t sell alcohol. So, I don’t know. SOL? We head into Chinatown Square.

This is an outdoor mall that looks like a pagoda and has a bunch of restaurants and stores. This mall is the largest Chinese mall in the United States east of San Francisco and west of New York City.

I’ve been to Chicago’s Chinatown a few times before, but I’d never been in Chinatown Square, so I thought it was pretty interesting. I’ve been to Chinatown in New York, SF and Chicago and I like Chicago’s the least, but I would like to come back and check out this mall during the day when more places are open.

So we walked through the mall and finally came up on the restaurant we were looking for, Spring World.

Oh, and looky, what’s this next to Spring World? China Place Liquor City.

There was such a huge selection in here. Emily wanted to get this bottle of mystery spirits for Paul Baker as a gift. Isn’t the bottle cute!?

The sales clerk made it seem like this wasn’t something we could just open up next door and drink, though. She helped us pick a 3 pack of mini sakes for Paul to try. We also got a 12-pack of Tsing Tao.

Paul and his friends were waiting patiently inside Spring World for us. Our search for booze was making us a bit late, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

Finally, seated and enjoying some drinks and appetizers. Paul Baker immediately busted out the sake. We added our Tsing Tao to the inventory someone else had already purchased. There was also a bottle of plum wine on the table. Yum!

And then we ordered food.

And more food.

And even more food.

We may have over ordered, but at least we got to try a lot of things. All of the entrees were on a large lazy susan so we could just rotate the center of the table. I must have tried 10 different dishes!

Paul Baker had a work event at Spring World last summer. He enjoyed it so much that that very day he told Kate that’s where he wanted his next birthday dinner. So, he waited 6 months to come back and he looked like the happiest guy! Happy birthday, Paul Baker!

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Renegade Craft Fair

September 14th, 2009 · 3 Comments

Jess and Emily and I walked from Logan Square down to Wicker Park to check out the Renegade Craft Fair. If you’ve never been, this is not your grandma’s craft fair. It’s cool and hip and everything is hand made. I’d call all these guys artists, not crafters. There are over 300 different vendors selling everything from clothing to baby items to jewelry to paintings. Tons of stuff.

I ended up getting a necklace by Lauren Wimmer that was made with hand-dyed silk. I also got a replacement typewriter key pendent (“R”) from The Weekend Store because I bought one at Renegade a few years ago and lost it somehow. I used to wear it all the time! At that same stand, Emily was looking at these Time Flies necklaces and they were just so cool, I had to get one myself. So, 3 necklaces! I also got something from Kersplash, but I can’t say what because I think it’s going to be a Christmas gift for someone!

One of the most unique items we saw for sale were Junk Drawers, handmade men’s underwear! We talked with the lady that makes them about how she gets new material that’s headed for the landfill to make them and how she went through designing them using her husband as her guinea pig. Fun idea.

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Emily (on the right) checking out Junk Drawers :: Renegade Craft Fair, Wicker Park, Chicago

junk_drawers
Junk Drawers :: Renegade Craft Fair, Wicker Park, Chicago

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Rob and Colleen’s After Party

September 3rd, 2008 · No Comments


Chatting in the sunset.


Kids playing on the lawn.


Lounging on the lawn.


One of the Jonas Brothers. Just kidding. I think this was one of Colleen’s cousins.


Playing guitar along the river.


Mingling in the yard and on the deck.


Talking in the driveway.


Emily, Ging, Billy, Dallas and Phil playing frisbee game.

After Rob and Colleen’s wedding reception everyone headed back to Colleen’s parent’s house. The kids played out on the lawn all night, we drank the beer that Rob made, and there were lots of smores. I think this was the first wedding that featured frisbee game!

Billy, Ging, Killian, Liz, Dallas and I were all staying at the same hotel in Harpswell. When we got back we hit the free nacho bar and then ordered some late-night pizza from Papa John’s. Man, I hadn’t had Papa John’s for about a decade. It was good. We gorged on it while watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies.

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