If it's working, keep it going

View from our back window.

The start of the year had me feeling restless. People around us are doing stuff. Buying houses. Moving across country. Having babies. Changing jobs.  I started to feel like we should be doing something new. I guess as independent as I am, there's a little of the lemming in me.

One day while fussing to myself about this, I was reminded of a waiter we met in Kauai a few years ago. We'd stopped in at his sushi bar for a drink and snack after a good long day at our favorite beach, with the intention of moving on to another place for dinner. But the longer we stayed, watching the sun set over a misty waterfall, we decided we were content where we were. (Though truthfully, only an imbecile wouldn't be content sitting with their true love, drinking cocktails and looking at a waterfall.)

We informed our waiter, Chase, that we'd opted to stay. He nodded. "If it's working, keep it going," he said and handed us the dinner menus.

Chase dropped some wisdom on us that day and we often invoke this phrase in our house, applying it, only sometimes tongue-in-cheek, to both the mundane and the significant. I have to admit, we've got a pretty good set up here. Someday, of course, we'll move. At least out of this apartment, and possibly out the city or state (or country, if the French will have us!). We won't always have these same jobs. But for now, this is good.

So, these shrimp tacos are a nod to Chase, Kauai, and the total lack of restlessness I feel whenever I'm there. Although a little restlessness can be a good thing (it's driven me to travel, start my own business,  and one time, visit a faraway friend where I met my future husband), it's not a feeling you want to linger too long.

While tacos may originate in South America, they are also very common in Hawaii. Usually we get fish tacos at Tropical Taco, but I've eaten a shrimp taco or two in my time on the islands. I can't really post a recipe because there isn't one. I cooked the shrimp quickly in a pan (grilling would be ideal) in some olive oil, then, after taking them off the heat, squeezed some lime juice over. I put a few shrimp in a warmed corn tortilla, then topped them with shredded red cabbage, tomatoes, radishes, avocado, and some crumbled cortija cheese, which, if you haven't had it, is sort of like ricotta salata or a super dry feta.

You could serve it with a refried beans or chips, but I opted for Mexican rice. I've made it many times before and it's always a bestseller. As they say, if it's working...

Welcome, 2013!

Wishing you all the best for 2013! I hope your year is full of everything you're wishing for, as well as some (wonderful) unexpected surprises. I'm hoping mine is full of travel, interesting work, and more sunny days like this one I just spent at Ocean Beach with the husband and Soph.

Taking a little blogging break...as an old friend used to say, I'll see you when I see you!

Chocolate and vanilla sandwich cookies

Who doesn't love the sandwich cookie? I've always been nuts for them, from the humble Oreo to its gourmet version a la Thomas Keller.  (On our last trip to Yountville and the Bouchon Bakery, I put away a small and expensive bagful of his "oreos" and "nutter butters" in under five minutes.)  But let's be honest, even when the cookie is dry and the filling is chalky, I'll choke it down. Perhaps it's because I love both sandwiches and cookies? All I know is my tiny brain gets excited when I hear the words. And, have you noticed that the phrase sounds inviting, no matter what the word order? Sandwich cookies or cookie sandwiches--either promises pure happiness, something a bit trickier to come by the older you get.

Always in search of pure happiness, particularly the kind I can eat or drink, I was thrilled to come across Sue's post about vanilla-on-vanilla sandwich cookies. I knew immediately I wanted to make them. I mean, vanilla bean cookies with vanilla buttercream frosting filling?  What's not to love?

But at the last minute, as my cookies cooled, I decided to go the chocolate route on the filling. And as you can imagine, it was no mistake.

These sandwich cookies are particularly awesome because they do not require rolling out dough (which is my primary fear in the kitchen, second only to anything involving yeast). Instead, you get a scoop and drop 'em out. Easy  as...cookies.  I used too big a scoop, though (about 1.5", which is all I had at the time), and so mine looked more like whoopie pies.  I've since remedied this and purchased a very small scoop, so next time my sandwich cookies will be nice and little.

The cookie part is rather soft, which is good, because then the filling doesn't go shooting out the sides and down your shirt when you bite in. We like to keep it classy, you know. Nope, these stayed intact from first bite to last. And, their softness makes them a discrete cookie, so you can chomp one quietly while your partner is in the other room scrolling through the DVR recordings or doing something equally clueless. I busted the husband doing just this, while I bumbled about to see if there had been a new "Homeland" on the night before. There he was, silently and crumblessly wolfing one down.

So if you have someone to impress or distract--a partner, a boss, Santa?--these should be at the top of your to-do list.

And since this may well be my last post for a week or so, merry and happy everything. A little campari and prosecco toast to you all.