I'm addicted to Skyr soothies. This one is banana, fronzen peaches, plain skyr, orange juice, and protein powder.
My friend Alyssa made the most adorable and delicious lemon, lavendar, blueberry cupcakes.
My Tuesday was greatly improved with an afternoon crepe from Boston's Paris Creperie Food Truck. Mmmm, nutella.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I have some exciting personal news in the works, which I will share soon. I also have some exciting knitting projects that are almost ready to post. For now though, I wanted to share some of delicious treats I've enjoyed in the past week. Have you been baking, making, or noshing on anything noteworthy recently? xo anna
I made my grandma's roll out cookies this week - you can get the recipe here.
The secret to these cookies is rolling out the dough super thin. It should be thin enough for you to see your fingers through. Letting the dough rest overnight is also key.
Today my boyfriend comes back from Brussels, where he has been doing an internship for the past two months. To celebrate his arrival, I made a quick Welcome Back banner and cookies. I like the homemade look of the banner, and the rainbow sprinkles on the cookies match nicely.
I cut the letters out free form from construction paper, and then punched holes in the letters. I strung ribbon through the letters to hang them. I didn't have enough ribbon to make a second row, so I tapped the next row of letters to the first row.
Finals. I've been there. It is a stressful time. And while I'm not in college anymore, I thought I'd send a little finals week survival treat to some friends who are.
Homemade cookies are my go-to item for de-stressing during finals. I decided to bake some chocolate chip walnut cookies using the Original NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® recipe.
While the cookies make studying a little bit sweeter, the bubble wrap is there to help relieve some of that finals week induced agression.
And for those of you sitting at your computer feeling stressed, here is some virtual bubble wrap to take the edge off:
I got in the mood to make some madeleines after watching this video from the new BBC show The Little Paris Kitchen.
I read about Rachel Khoo a few years ago and have been dying to go to her in home restaurant -- but alas it is now closed. You can read more about her at her website.
I modified her recipe, found here, for American measurements, and to make it a bit easier. I left out the rasberries and lemon curd, because I didn't have the right ingredients on hand, but I hope to try it soon.
Lemon Honey Madeleines - makes 18 cookies
What you need:
- 3/4 c. unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1.5 tbsp. honey
- 1 tspn. vanilla
- 3 tbsp. milk (I used half-and-half bc I had it on hand)
- 3/4 c. flour
- 1 tspn. baking soda
-1/8 tspn. salt
What you do:
1. Melt the butter and let cool.
2. Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy.
3. Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add the lemon zest.
4. Mix the honey, vanilla, and milk with the cooled butter, then add to the egg mixture.
5. In two batches, fold in the flour.
6. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
7. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven 350F.
8. Heavily butter and flour a 12-shell madeleine tin.
9. Fill the tin with the batter so that each mold is almost filled to the top (you may want to use a pipping bag).
10. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown on top.
11. Transfer to a cooling rack.
~enjoy~
I'm thinking of adding lavender to my next batch, or maybe creating a salted caramel version!
Printable Grandma DeSimone's Butter Cookies Recipe Card Now Available Here!
I made the rest of the Grandma DeSimone's Butter Cookies yesterday for my friend Melissa's birthday. Since the recipe makes so many, I wrapped a few up in these cute heart bags from Martha Stewart, and gave them out to people attending her birthday dinner.
I included a little printout of the custom stickers I ordered from The Paper Source in case people wanted to visit the blog to get the recipe. The stickers are meant to be personalized gift tags for holidays or after weddings, but you can customize the writing with whatever words you want! See the template I used here.
Judging from the amount of time I've spent talking about tea cosies on this blog, you have probably already figured out that I am a huge fan of tea itself. I used to drink a lot of coffee, but in the past few years I have transitioned over to tea.
I love an afternoon of catching up on old magazines, and enjoying a pot of tea. (Notice the butter cookie left over from Easter for which I blogged the recipe here!)
In this blog post I am going to talk about one of my favorite types of tea: Kusmi Tea. I love both the taste and the packaging of this tea brand. I was first introduced to it in Paris, where Kusmi is based. They have stores there filled floor to ceiling with a colorful array of their signature boxes and tins. It is expensive tea, but worth it.
I haven't tried many flavors, but I am particularly found of the Detox blend.
I hope to get some loose tea from Kusmi soon and use the tin for spare change or jewelry.
While on the topic of tea, I love this crocheted pin cushion by Sheepish Knit Crochet.
The weather is still cool enough to enjoy a hot pot of tea here in Boston, but I'm looking forward to transitioning to iced tea for the summer months!
For a special Easter edition of anna knits, etc., I wanted to share my Grandma's butter cookies recipe. These roll outs are great for holidays, because you can cut them into any shape you want. Below is a handwritten copy my Aunt Joanne shared with me for the butter cookies.
Grandma DeSimone's Butter Cookies
- 1 cup butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add vanilla to butter mixture.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture.
4. Add flour and salt to butter mixture. Mix until dough forms.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (overnight preferred).
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
6. Cut the dough into a manageable piece (fourths works well), and roll out the dough until they are pretty thin (a little less than 1/8 inch).
7. Cut dough into desired shape.
8. Place cookies on an un-greased baking sheet.
9. Bake for 10 minutes or until light brown edges form. Icing
- Confectioners sugar
- Milk or cream
- Vanilla
- Sprinkles
1. Warm a few tablespoons of the milk or cream.
2. Add a splash of vanilla to the milk.
3. Slowly add the milk mixture to the confectioners sugar until a paste is formed.
4. Ice cooled cookies and decorate with sprinkles.
Ta-da!
The recipe makes a lot of cookies, so I just baked up a half recipe and put the other half in the freezer for later.
For a more intense look, try covering the cookie in sprinkles. While they are not in keeping with Grandma DeSimone's aesthetic, I think these Valentine's Day butter cookies from The Yvestown Blog came out super cute!
Rainbow dots have also been making their way into the fashion world this season. Check out this felted rainbow bobble bag via the blog a pair and a spare.
Felting wool is something I have never explored, but hope to try it this spring. It is a great way to bring your knitting into the warmer months.
