Coconut and Vanilla Sugar Cookie recipe

February 9th, 2010 in eat, drink, be merry, recipes by Bronwen Tawse

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and we have a sweet treat that everyone will love. Whip up a batch or two of these Coconut and Vanilla Sugar Cookies, cut into hearts, of course, to spread a little love this year. And don’t worry picky eaters; we have a coconut free version as well!

These cookies are a bit more of a challenge then your basic drop cookies, but well worth the effort. If you have kids around, get them to work with the cookie cutter or load them up with sprinkles and sugar for decorating fun. I like the idea of giving some treats to the nice people in my life; like the crew at the coffee shop that knows me (and my drink) by name or the neighbor that picks up the trash and rakes the leaves along the whole street.

I can’t give you any cookies but I will share the secret of Vanilla Infused Baking Sugar. I’ve added instructions for making your own for all your baking needs!

Coconut and Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks of room temperature butter
• 1/2 cup of Vanilla infused baking sugar (see recipe below)
  
• 1/2 cup of coconut powder
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour

(Tip: splurge on King Arthur Baking Flour, it’s a few dollars more but worth it!

Not a coconut fan? This recipe can be easily made without it. Just decrease the butter to 1 1/4 sticks and skip the coconut powder. Presto – delicious vanilla sugar cookies!

Decoration:(optional)
Red sugar sprinkles and coconut powder

Preparation:
- With an electric mixer (if you own a Kitchen Aid mixer, this is a cinch!) beat butter in a large bowl at medium until smooth and creamy. It is very important that the butter be room temperature to get the perfect fluffy consistency.
- Add sugar and salt, blend for another 2 minutes.
- Add egg, mix until blended and add in vanilla.
- Add flour one cup at a time, beat on low just to blend.
-Gather dough into ball and divide in half.
- Roll into another ball and flatten slightly.
- Wrap in wax paper and chill for at least 4 hours.
(Dough can be done up to 2 days in advance but I would recommend either doing it the morning of or night before. When you are ready to use, take out of refrigerator at least a half hour prior to working with the dough.)

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Sprinkle a flat surface with flour so the dough does not stick and roll out with a rolling pin. The thickness depends on what you prefer but I keep them pretty thin for a more traditional sugar cookie.
- Using a heart shaped cookie cutter (you can use any shape you’d like but I recommend always using a metal cutter for a more precise cut), cut out cookies and place on baking sheet.
- Once on the sheet sprinkle coconut powder first then top with red sprinkles.
- Place in oven for about 10-12 minutes (depends on thickness of cookie) or until golden brown along the edges.
-Remove from oven and place cookies on a cooling rack.
-After cooling completely, cookies should be separated between waxed paper and placed in airtight containers.

Vanilla infused baking sugar:
2 cups of baking sugar
1 Vanilla Bean

This can be made way ahead of time. In fact, the longer you let it sit the better. Take two cups of baking sugar and put in either an air tight container or large Ziploc bag. Then, take your vanilla bean and with a sharp knife cut along the seam of the bean to open it up. With your knife scrape out the beans and put into the sugar. They are wet and sticky but try to get as many out as possible. When finished, take the actual bean and turn it inside out, leaving it whole. Drop into the sugar, close bag, getting rid of any excess air, mix with sugar and the beans together. Really mix it in. Store in your closet/pantry and use for all of your baking to add a little extra oomph!

Bronwen (Winnie) lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three dogs. She is an avid volunteer for The Rescue Train and co-owns The Spice Station with husband, Peter.

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How to brine a Turkey

November 18th, 2009 in eat, drink, be merry, how to, recipes by Bronwen Tawse

Our next recipe in our For The Thanksgiving Table series. This one will assure you have a juicy, delicious turkey, courtesy of Winnie (who knows a thing or two about spices, as you’ll soon find out).

Brine, in my opinion, keeps a turkey moist during its long cooking process. Since a turkey is so large, it’s hard to find a place to soak it for 8-10 hours. I use a cooler. If you live in a cold climate, your garage or porch may be cold enough to keep it cool. But for us Californians (or if you have a crazy temperature shift) add ice. The following recipe is for a 20lb turkey.

About 4 gallons of cold water
4 cups kosher or coarse sea salt
2/3 cup natural sugar
3 teaspoons of juniper berries
2 bulbs of peeled, whole garlic or 1 tablespoon of dried minced garlic
3 tablespoons of whole peppercorns (mix of green and black)
5 bay leaves

Mix all the ingredients in the cooler until sugar and salt are dissolved. Rinse the turkey and submerge into the mixture. If turkey is not covered, add more water. Add ice if necessary.

After 8-10 hours (adding ice along the way if it melts), remove the turkey and rinse, discard the brine. Pat dry and place in a shallow roasting pan. If you’re not stuffing the turkey with traditional stuffing, you can stuff it with the following to further develop the flavors of the brine:
1 large onion chopped
2 celery stalks chopped
1 apple cored and chopped
2-3 parsnips chopped
2 carrots chopped
1 tablespoon of dried sage
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons of white peppercorn
1 teaspoon of juniper berries
1/2 teaspoon of celery seed

Cook the turkey according to the directions that come with it. When ready, if you used the above stuffing recipe, remove and discard it. Or, use it to flavor the gravy (but be sure to strain the gravy before serving. Juniper berries do not taste good whole!)

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McBride Beauty - review

November 16th, 2009 in beauty & fashion, green monday, reviews by Bronwen Tawse

We jumped at the chance to review McBride Beauty for so many reasons. Clean, simple and classic packaging that made our resident designer Stef very happy. An ingredients list that was more about what it didn’t have than what it did, made our Green Guru Tyna smile. And the fact that McBride supply the amenities for Robert DeNiro’s Greenwich Hotel made all of us curious to know a little bit more about this Bronx born, American line.

Of course, generously donating their amazing products to our Raffle for Rescues animal charity event only confirmed what we already suspected would happen; they’ve become a favorite with us! We thought former New Yorker Winnie would be perfect to author this review. And, of course, the testing team will drop by in the comments to tell you about a whole slew of other products; including their Anti-aging day cream, Cucumber and Aloe Body Lotion and Rescue Balm. But for now, Winnie will tell you how McBride have succeeded in making her a “big girl” traveler…

You would think that with all the trips I’ve taken over the years I would have my act together concerning travel size (and TSA approved) bathroom essentials. It’s not that I haven’t owned travel sets. It just that every time I buy one, it’s always a trade off. Either the bag is totally cute but the product inside are bad (or include no product at all). Or, the product is good but the bag is useless and/or ugly. Without fail, when I’m going away for a short trip I end up bringing full size everything; shampoos, conditioners, body lotion. By the end of my packing, my products take up more room then my clothes (they’re certainly heavier). And considering you pay for luggage these days, every ounce counts!

So, I was thrilled when I was asked to review the McBride Beauty Travel kit. Finally, I felt like a real adult traveler. The shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion all fit neatly into this cute little eco-friendly tote. And let me just start with that tote. Besides being green, its machine washable. I think that’s genius! When you travel things always open up, spill or leak. Now at the end of your trip you can just throw it in the wash and its as good as new.

The McBride Travel Kit includes four deluxe travel size items. Not tiny bottles that you finish before the end of your trip. But a generous 3 ounces each. All of the products are flip top, making them easy to use anywhere. Best of all? McBride products are all 100% natural, sulfate and Paraben free, contain no harsh chemicals, colors or fragrance and are not tested on animals.

Each kit includes a Moisture Lotion, Body Wash, Daily Conditioner and Shampoo, in the light and clean Grapefruit and Sage scent. Even using all of them at once, you won’t have to worry about smelling like a giant grapefruit! The shampoo left my hair feeling really clean, soft and full. The conditioner absorbed into my hair quickly and rinsed out easily. Not too heavy, just enough to make my hair super manageable. I really wish they had these in full size for my home. The Body Wash gives a great thick lather. And the Body Lotion is the perfect end; absorbing into my skin so quick that I was able to get dressed right away and leaving my skin super smooth.

I have finally found the perfect match; a great travel tote with excellent product inside! The price is perfect, only $38. Making it a great holiday gift for all of your traveling friends and family.

Review team, did your product from McBride Beauty leave you flying high? Let us know your thoughts!

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Poop Bag review

November 2nd, 2009 in green monday, pets & kids, reviews by Bronwen Tawse

Welcome to the latest wht contributor, Winnie, authoring the latest Green Monday review!

Everyone these days is doing their part to be more green. We’ve found that a lot of the animal lovers are especially keen in making changes to be more eco-conscious with their pet products. Our review of Poop Bags is for all the dog owners out there who ever wondered if it’s worth the expense to buy biodegradable bags versus “recycling” the freebies from the supermarket (we’re not “quote crazy” at wht, it’s just that there’s not a whole lot of recycling going on when using plastic bags as makeshift poop trash bags).

About 2 years ago, the state of California legally required grocery stores to recycle plastic shopping bags. Some chains talked about getting rid of them completely, while others decided to charge a small fee to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags. Of course, this was the all the talk of NPR, as I listened, I thought to myself, “I do my part. I bring my own bags and I reuse the plastic ones I do get to pick up after my dogs”. Then the story continued about how it long it takes for these bags to decompose – estimates were anywhere from 500 to 1,000 years, – basically they just never go away.

Then I started thinking, I have three dogs, one of which I’ve had for over 13 years. I started doing the numbers in my head. Calculating for just my oldest dog, Adam, who I adopted in NYC in 1996, using/throwing away at least 2 bags a day, (hmm..times that by 365 = 730, times that by 11 – because I stopped using plastic two years ago) and it comes to 8,030 plastic bags! Adam is just ONE small (and mean) Jack Russell in this big plastic bag-using world and look at the damage he’s done. Contributing over 8,000 bags in his lifetime; they are probably still out there on some garbage barge floating around NJ! I wasn’t doing my part by “recycling” plastic bags; I was a part of the problem. This had to stop.

First I went to my local pet store and they had those blue bags, but they cost so much money. Plus the largest quantity you could buy in one package was only 50. With three dogs, that wasn’t going to work. I would be going back and fourth to the pet store all the time. Then I started doing some online research and that is where I found PoopBags.com!

The name alone is great, there’s certainly no question as to what they’re selling. The more I read about the company and its founder, Paul the more I knew I wanted to give them my business. Not only is their website humorous, especially Paul’s story about how he came about selling poop bags as a full time job (and the reactions he got from his friends and family). Additionally, PoopBags.com gives back to their community (they’re from the great city of Chicago) and they have a fun time with a product that’s really not that funny (we beg to differ – poop is always funny~wht).

On a more serious note, PoopBags.com is also very informative, for instance not all biodegradable bags are made the same. Poop Bags meet all of the highest specifications for biodegradable product claims. Their bags decompose in 60-90 days, roughly the same as an apple core. That sure is a lot better then 500-1,000 years!

Plus, their prices beat all the others and shipping is free! I’ve been buying from PoopBags.com for about 2 years and have never had any problems. They sell a great product, are super friendly and prompt. My shipment gets to me within a few days. I love this company! I buy in bulk (600 at a time but you can buy in smaller quantities) twice a year. My dogs have been holding up their heads higher knowing that they’re green, especially Adam! (That’s him in his snazzy bow-tie).

Thanks to the nice people at Poop Bags for sending some green hued Poop Bags for me to share with the pet owners of the wht review team.

Testers! Has this review encouraged you to make the permanent switch to biodegradable Poop Bags?

Readers – what’s the scoop? How do you handle pet poop?

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Tourbillon - South Coast Plaza

June 13th, 2009 in beauty & fashion by Bronwen Tawse

Usually when you hear the words complicated and expensive together, it’s not a good thing. Or even worse, grand complications and expensive? You just know it’s going to be bad. Unless, of course, you are talking about a watch. Then it is a very, very good thing. And those are the only types of watches you will find at Boutique Tourbillon in the South Coast Plaza.

Before I go into what complicated and Tourbillon mean to us layman, I would like to thank the wonderful and informative Nikki Malek. She showed us a fabulous time, literally. For 30 minutes we forgot about every day life and viewed, even tried on, watches that were on average $100,000 and more (the diamond covered Breguet, shown bottom left being just one of them). Some of these watches make a Rolex look like your first Casio digital watch! While I have to admit my eyes widened quite a bit upon hearing the cost, Nikki pointed out that “wearing a fine timepiece is much more then just telling time. It represents craftsmanship and this is what makes them timeless.” Watches like these are an investment in a legacy.

Tourbillon is not only the name of the boutique that carries the world’s finest watches; it also refers to how the watch is built. Invented in 1795 by French watchmaker, Abraham-Louis Breguet, Tourbillon is an actual mechanism that counters the effects of gravity by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage. The Tourbillon mechanism, usually displayed on the watch’s face, is found on some of the world’s most exclusive timepieces and demonstrates what is often referred to as watchmaking virtuosity. In addition, complicatons refer to the number of functions that a watch has, beyond displaying just the time and date. The more functions, the more complicated the timepiece.

The 7 brands found at Boutique Tourbillon all carry a rich history behind them, as well as more than just a bit of intrigue. Perhaps the most fascinating story of all we tell you with help from the Swatch Group, the world’s largest watchmaking group and owner of all 7 brands carried at the Boutique. It is of a watch made by Brequet, and it is the tale of the n° 160, also known as the Marie-Antoinette Grande Complication Pocket Watch. In 1783, one of her admirers ordered the most complicated, pure gold watch possible as a gift to the queen. Unconstrained by limitations of cost or time, Breguet had free reign to build the most spectacular watch the world had seen. Unfortunately, the queen never had the opportunity to admire the timepiece. It was not completed until 1827, 34 years after her death, 44 years after it was ordered and four years after the death of the founder. But the tale does not end there…

In 1983, what is often referred to as the most famous watch in history was stolen from a Jerusalem museum. In 2005, co-founder of the Swatch Group, Nicolas G. Hayek set himself the challenge of reproducing it identically (the finished piece shown above, bottom right). During this time, Versailles was removing an oak from it’s palace grounds, Marie-Antoinette’s favorite tree. The wood was secured and used in building the presentation case for the watch. Just when the manufacture of the watch reached its end in 2007, the stolen original suddenly and magically appeared again in Jerusalem, some 25 years later. How’s that for intrigue?

Want a modern day love story? Boutique Tourbillon carries the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon that Angelina Jolie bought Brad Pitt as a reverse push present for the twins, Knox & Vivienne.

While we know this isn’t a luxury most of us can afford (including us), do yourself a favor if you have the chance, view these magnificent timepieces in person. You’ll never think of complicated as a bad thing again!

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