Lavender and Rosemary Lemon Cookies

My Oma just celebrated her 90th birthday. In case you don't remember, my Oma—or grandma—is this awesome woman, of paprikash fame. And now she's 90. Ninety!! What a crazy life she's led, and what an amazing family she's built. 

We spent the night of her birthday party dancing the polka, and taking shots. Lots of shots. That European side of the fam sure can drink! Evan went with me, and met Oma, and the rest of my dad's family, for the first time ever. They loved him, of course. Especially after he wore Uncle Ernie's lederhosen. The whole thing was totally crazy, and totally wonderful. 

Oma lives in Southern California, so we also got to soak up some sun. We drove through citrus orchards, and picked a million meyer lemons and kumquats from her back yard. Seriously, the woman had an insane amount of citrus just weighing down her trees. And now I have an insane amount of citrus in my home, here in dreary Seattle. I really have a million lemons, or at least 30. My bag got searched at the airport because of it. Don't worry, they didn't confiscate my lemons. Or my kumquats. Close call. 

There's nothing like a bowl full of bright yellow lemons to brighten up a cold, dark winter!

Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cookies with Lavender or Rosemary

Adapted from Cooking Light

These cookies seriously summer in every bite. They're sweet, tangy and herbaceous, and they really hold up to a bold cup of Earl Grey (or a bowl of vanilla ice cream). The lemons and rosemary for these came from Oma's yard, and the lavender came from my parents' yard.  

1 cup all-purpose flour 

1/3 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt 

3/4 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter, softened 

2 tablespoons honey

1 large egg 

1 tablespoon meyer lemon zest

1 tablespoon meyer lemon juice

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon finely chopped lavender buds 

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

fresh meyer lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Whisk to combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl/stand mixer, and beat about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add honey, and beat until combined. Add egg, beat well. Mix in lemon zest and juice. Add dry ingredients to wet, and mix until just blended.

Separate dough in half, and mix lavender  into one half, and rosemary into the other. Spoon small rounds of dough onto baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Cool until firm enough to move from pan, and then cool completely on rack. 

For glaze, stir together powdered sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Add more juice until desired consistency. Once cool, dip tops of cookies into glaze, and let sit until glaze dries. Then eat, preferably with tea. 

The Sun and the Moon

Amanda and I took advantage of the sunny hot Memorial weekend with an all-day Seattle leather-tramping (hoofin' it on foot) adventure. We first hit up the Ballard farmer's market, where we filled up on delicious samples of local goodies, including goat in mole and cow's-milk feta... both delish! From there we walked along the Burke-Gilman to Fremont, where we had a few more tasty samplings at the Fremont Sunday market, and a light lunch at the Nickerson St. Saloon. Our journey then took us to the ultimate in sunny day Seattle culinary destinations- Molly Moon's Ice Cream in Wallingford.

From friends and a recent shout-out in Bon Appetit magazine, I had heard amazing things about Molly Moon's homemade creations. Molly Moon's combines "creamy dairy from happy, healthy, hormone-free Western Washington cows with sweet and savory local ingredients. Attention is focused on seasonal fruits and herbs in combinations that are both familiar and surprising producing all kinds of flavors from childhood favorites to avant-garde adult-only fare." Familiar and surprising, indeed!

The line, while long, was well worth the wait, and gave us a chance to admire the fully sustainable decor and agonize over what flavor we wanted to fill our bellies with (how can one possibly choose when faced with such options!?). When the moment of truth finally arrived, Amanda and I sampled Honey-Lavender, Salted Caramel, Balsamic Strawberry, and Birthday Cake ice cream flavors. I chose Balsamic Strawberry, Amanda chose the Honey-Lavender...both scooped into sweet, sugary, crunchy and chewy homemade waffle cones. My ice cream was the perfect strawberry treat... sweet and fruity, but tangy and 'grown-up' with swirls of vinegary balsamic. Amanda's was herbal, summery, and floral, with a strong hints of lavender and the occasional surprise swirl of sweet, delicious honey. Both were creamy and cold and exactly what we needed in the mid-afternoon heat.

Cones in hand and ice cream dripping down our chins, we continued on our trek. From Wallingford we headed to Greenlake, where we caught a Little League game, strolled around the lake (which provided us the pleasure of duckling, turtle, and bunny sightings), and hiked up the 'big hill' through Phinney and back to Ballard. Hopefully our trails will lead us back to Molly Moon's in the near future, where our new favorites and unknown temptations await.

Thank you for a delicious Memorial weekend, Molly Moon!