Magnificent Memories

I was always really good at remembering childhood memories. My sister is often amazed at how I can remember even the littlest detail in some of my recollections. I enjoy, no, relish in looking back and reminiscing my childhood. I guess I'm quite sentimental that way. They always replay in my mind with a warm hazy glow, kind of like the way movies reel out an old scene.



Three weekends ago, I visited my old town in New Jersey. It was an exciting trip, with my most favourite people in the world – Andrew, my sister Jenn, her husband Kevin, and my dear little niece, Chloe. We set out to adventure out to NYC, a first for Kevin and Chloe! We had a fabulous time in the big city, weather being absolutely flawless and all of our spirits lifted up.

But I think my favourite part was going back to New Jersey. We stayed at my uncle's house, who lives right where I grew up. As we passed by the same streets where I once passed, I was thrilled to relive it once again.



One of my favourite spots in the little town of East Brunswick, New Jersey is Magnifico's. Their soft-serve ice cream and a variety of iced treats make Magnifico's a famous place in this part New Jersey. But it's not just the velvety smooth ice cream or the abundance of sprinkles and toppings that made this place a favourite. It was my family's little retreat of indulgence. We didn't have everything in the world, but when our dad drove into the small shop on Route 18, it meant the world to us! My sister and I would sing "We scream for ice cream!" and my dad would often fool us saying "No scream no ice cream!", but we always seem to come back home with little mouths and fingers covered in vanilla and sprinkles.



Another memorable place in my life is a small bakery on Cranbury Road. It's really not any place remarkable – just a modest neighbourhood bakery. But this is indeed the birthplace of my delight for baked goods! My mom would take us there often, just as a treat or for special occasions. She would let us gaze at the beautiful cakes, mountain-piled cookies and the cupcakes decorated with flowers or fun animals. And each time, she would allow us to pick just one treat for the trip. Now this was a very challenging task. All those cupcakes, all those cookies, how could you possibly pick just one!



But it was a decision that had to be made. After a long deliberation, my sister and I would finally pick the treat that was our all-time favourite: the Florentine cookie. These cookies were perfectly crispy with just enough "give" and "chew". The milk chocolate centres were exquisitely sandwiched between two oatmeal crisps which gave such a unique texture and flavour to each bite. It was cookie heaven in our hands.



Sadly, these cookies didn't last very long. We moved away from our little town in Jersey and moved to Korea, then onto California and finally to Canada and they were long-forgotten. But no good thing is lost forever! On a very special birthday, I received a timely gift of a set of cookbooks. It was perfect because I just started to be interested in baking. And lo and behold – the recipe for Florentine Cookies! To be honest, each time my sister and I went to a bakery, we'd secretly search for the same cookie we once enjoyed, but only to be disappointed with failed imitations.

But this cookie was it. Or at least very close to what we remembered it to be. Reunited at last, we finally basked in Florentine-cookie goodness and was able to share it with the people around us. Not surprisingly, it was a favourite among our friends as well, receiving the impressive title of "best cookie ever" for some.



So here I share it with you, my blog friends! A piece of my childhood, a special little part of me. And as children do, I hope we can all enjoy the little things in life. It really is amazing how it's the small, seemingly insignificant things that can make a child happy. Sure we've got heckuva lot of "life" to deal with as adults, but maybe it's good to stand back for a second and really appreciate everything we have, large or small. Life is so much better when we can find value in it. Let's enjoy it!

Milk Chocolate Florentine Cookies

recipe from Nestle Classic Recipes

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies

ingredients

2/3 cup butter
2 cups quick oats
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light or dark corn syrup
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups Milk Chocolate morsels/chips

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with foil or parchment paper.
2. Melt butter in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level teaspoon, about 3 inches apart, onto prepared baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula.
3. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on baking sheets on wire racks. Remove cookies from foil/parchment paper.
4. Microwave morsels/chips in medium, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM - HIGH power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20- second intervals, stirring until smooth. Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

I also love making new memories...

cookie crazy!!

This weekend was a happy weekend because my whole house smelled like delicious warm cookies! For what occasion? A parting gift for a parting friend! His name is Dan and he visited Toronto for a few weeks from Seoul, Korea. He's originally from here, but he's been living in Seoul for quite some time. He's a great guy. Whenever someone from here goes to visit Seoul, Dan takes them out and treats them quite generously. And I was one of them! Last winter, I went by myself for a few weeks, and being alone in Seoul, he took me out for delicious meals, introduced me to his wonderful church, went to go watch a ballet (forced by me, haha).



He never let me pay a single meal, though. I told him that it wouldn't be fair for him and that I would be in-debt to him! But he replied that he's in-dept to many of his older friends that always took care of him when he was young and struggling. :) So he said he's pleased to be able to treat his younger friends when he gets the chance. Kinna like paying it forward you know?



I thought this was wonderful and vowed myself to pay it forward too. :) But this time, I was able to pay him back..with baked goodies!! He knew that I love baking, so he told me that when he visits Toronto, he would like some of the good stuff. So as a parting gift, I baked him a big box of cookies, three kinds, about 3 dozen of them. I brought it to the farewell dinner we had with a whole lotta friends and it was a hit! But mainly, I'm glad we were all able to share and enjoy good times together. And of course, a bit of chocolatey goodness couldn't hurt anyone!!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

about 2 dozen
adapted from world's best oatmeal chocolate chip cookie

ingredients

3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. About 5 minutes. Add egg and mix until well incorporated. Stir in vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients into creamed batter until incorporated. Mix in oatmeal and stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop dough at least 1.5 inches apart by 2 tablespoons or small ice cream scoop. Ice cream scoops are helpful in keeping the size consistent, as well as easy to use!
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Don't overbake!

This oatmeal cookie is probably the favorite by all. It has a great chewy texture, and the hint of cinnamon brings some depth to the flavor. I added that myself, by the way, cuz the original recipe only called for vanilla. I know there are many spiced cookies, but I wanted to keep this a little more toffee-like and chocolatey. But really, someone told me with big bright eyes "This has got to the BEST cookie EVER. Honestly, I'm not kidding. It's the BEST cookie I've ever tasted!!" So there you go. :)

Jacque Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies

yields 6 5-inch cookies
adapted from jacque torres recipe/

ingredients

8 1/2 oz cake flour
8 1/2oz bread flour (i had to substitute with all purpose)
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
10 oz light brown sugar
8 oz granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4lbs bittersweet chocolate disks/chunks/chips
seat salt

directions

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.
(Okay, here, I made a mistake. I do realize that these jacque torres cookies are known for their ginormous size, but I just wanted to make normal size ones. So i did, and instead of 6 whopping cookies out of the dough, I divided into wayy smaller cookies. But I didn't consider the baking time, so my cookies were quite overbaked and stiff. If I were to bake it again I would probably reduce it to like 10-12 minutes).

As I said the cookies turned out a lot stiffer and harder than I think it's supposed to. So I'm probably going to try it again. I have some dough left over in the fridge, so maybe I'll try it later today. :)



This cookie's recipe is in my archive. So just look up double chocolate chunk cookie and you'll find it! It's a deep, rich chocolatey flavor that I would recommend to a chocolate lover! Not for the average cookie eater! :P



beautifully packed and ready to go!

kOOkOO FOR COOKIES!!

YAY!!

Finally baked today.
ah.. I love it...

Well, I needed to bake some cookies for my bible study class today (they're all expecting a lot from me, since i'm known as "sarah-the-baker-yoon" now. haha!) So I decided to make some oatmeal cookies. And they turned out JUST FAB.

I got the recipe from allrecipes.com called Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. It got like 1500 five stars, so it's a very very good recipe. One thing though, the original recipe calls for ground cloves, but I didn't have any, so I had so substitute it with another spice. Last time I made it, I put ground nutmeg, but I didn't like it so much. This time I put some allspice, and it was WONDERFUL. It really brings out a nice scent. I think I'm just always going to use it.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (this was 1/2 cloves)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins (I use half black raisins, half golden)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening until smooth. Add both sugars. Add one egg at a time, and finally add vanilla and mix until smooth.
   
3. Stir flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.
   
4. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. (I use the handy cookie scoop thingy-- the one that looks like a ice cream scoop)
   
5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.