Category: Duxbridge mysteries

Life with Willow: Always an Adventure

All you need to know about Willow’s personality is what happened this morning. I was cleaning the litterbox (around the same time every morning) and she jumped in, looked at me, and proceeded to do her business.

Like, never mind what I was doing.

Most cats wait until AFTER you clean it to go mess it up again. Not this one.

Willow just barges in wherever and whenever she wants. It’s her world, we just reside in it.

I know I’ve been MIA for quite a while. We’ve been doing a bit of remodeling. Between that and getting the gardens ready for summer is about all the time I have each day. Not to mention editing the latest novel.

I have a ton of photos of how the front yard has evolved this spring. I’m really pleased with it and how low maintenance it has been. My small rock garden is causing me more headaches than the entire front yard.

Bonus muddy ducks (I do adore it when they get all mud covered). They’ve been enjoying the rainy weather.

 

As we are in the editing stage of Duxbridge Mysteries: Recipe for Murder, I expect to have a release date to share soon.

Stay tuned…

 

Happy Spring!

I spent yesterday cleaning up the yard in anticipation of Spring Equinox. Taking stock of what survived the winter and what will need to be replaced. While there is no sign of an Iris or Pussy Willow after this harsh winter, I was happy to see it looks like only one bunch of daisies will need to be replaced.

I think we’ll have to wait a few more weeks before bulbs start to pop. But a few warm days and I think the Pussy Willows with “poof!” Can’t wait.

I do have a nice corned beef recipe to post later…in case you stashed away an extra or want to bookmark it for next year. I took it up a notch and glazed it while the veggies were steaming.

I’m also hard at work drilling down on the last few chapters of Duxbridge Mysteries: Recipe for Murder, and I think it’s time to share another excerpt.

Until then…

French Butter Cookies From Scratch

I recently had to get a Costco membership – long, boring story – but it’s already paying off.  When I came home from Paris four years ago, my suitcase contained 10 packages of St. Michel Butter Cookies (Galettes). I was besotted.  Super buttery, flakey, not terribly sweet with just a touch of salt. Costco sells them by the very large tin.

I’ve been trying to recreate them ever since, but it’s difficult from memory. Now I have a tin of them, I stand a better chance. These come very, very close.

French Butter Cookies

  • 1/2 cup French Butter**
  • 1/4 cup +1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 cup flour, plus extra for rolling
  • 1/4 cup skim milk POWDER
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • dash of lemon zest

Topping:

  • 1 egg yolk, dash of water
  • Mix together 2:1 sugar and salt

These need a mixer to create the flaky texture. Whip butter until fluffy, add sugar and salt. Mix again until fluffy. Add egg yolk and mix well. Finally, add flour and skim milk 1/4 cup at a time, combining before adding more.  Finish with lemon zest.

**If you can’t find French butter add 1/2 tsp salt to the batter. French butter contains more salt per serving than regular butter. It also has a very distinct flavor that I’ve never been able to recreate, so without it, cookies are delicious, but they aren’t quite St. Michel’s.

Remove to a floured surface and roll out to less than 1/4 inch thickness. The thinner, the crisper the cookie. The dough is super crumbly, so it’s easiest between two silpats or on a marble surface with plastic wrap covering the top. It’s very dry here now, so brushed a tiny bit of water over the dough before rolling thin.

Cut with a cookie cutter. Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle lightly with sugar/salt mixture.

Bake at 350 degree F for about 8 minutes. I set my timer for 4 minutes and then added 2 minutes until they were done.

I decided to up my game with some raspberry jam added before baking

If you want the traditional criss/cross pattern, it’s a bit more complicated. The dough is too delicate to use the fork method for each cookie. Instead, you’ll need to roll them out completely, refrigerate or freeze until firm. Then run a fork diagonally across the sheet of dough in one direction, and then again in the other direction. Only after the marks are made can you cut with a cookie cutter.

I used leftover dough for makeshift tarts filled with strawberry jam

You gotta know, unless I was baking for a super special crowd, that’s a bit too much work for a cookie that tastes just as good without those marks. Like, are Prince Harry and Meghan coming over? VP Harris?  Then, nope.  ;-)

Besides, I made such pretty heart shapes.