Puffy And Delicious

I couldn’t be happier with the weather right now. It’s perfect. Well maybe I could be happier if I was close to a beautiful beach. Some people are born to be close to water I’m one of them. But for now that’s where I live, and I try to make the most of it. At least I have the east river view which is not so bad. Most of Manhattan people have just another building to look at. I was very lucky when I found this apartment, it’s in the middle of a park and we have all sorts of amenities. And believe it or not it was the same price as a lot of other places which were falling apart, so I can’t complain. This weekend at the farmer’s Market I saw the most colorful and amazing flowers. For weeks I have being going to the Market, just to find Apples and cheeses, no veggies in sight, now they are starting to show up slowly. We had a long… loooooooong winter. Last year I bought some herbs and they lasted the whole summer.  It was kind of a miracle considering how I’m known to have killed even a cactus plant (they’re not supposed to die, right?). So I’m really looking forward to plant a new ‘li’l garden’. It’s nice to get the herbs fresh from a pot and cook them right away, and they smell wonderful in the house. Yesterday afternoon, I baked some cookies and when I picked inside the oven and saw they were puffy, I started to jump up and down, because so far, every single attempt I made to bake cookies fell flat, literally. And I tried many… many times only to end up with flat, flabby, cookies. But not this time, so we packed a little basket and went to the park, on the elevator my neighbor tried to make small talk about the weather and the conversation Was:

Her- Hi, beautiful weather today.

Me- yes, finally, by the way I just baked perfect puffy cookies.

Her- …….. (Looking at me trying to find out if I’m a crazy person).

Then she said: Good for you girl.

Me- I know they are so puffy. Would you like one?

Then my husband and me laughed all the way to the park calling each other puffy and delicious. And I’m sure my neighbor still thinks I’m crazy. Anyway, crazy or not I had fun. I got this recipe from Giada, and it is delicious.

Almond and Blueberry Cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/2-teaspoon salt
  
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
  
• 1-cup sugar
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup whole milk
  
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
  
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest, about 1 lemon
  
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted
  
• 1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and drained

 In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In another medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using a hand mixer. Add egg and beat to incorporate. Add milk, almond extract, and lemon zest. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the almonds, then the blueberries. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees  Using two small spoons, dollop mix onto cookie sheets. Bake until  golden brown around the edges, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.  

Here are some of the flowers and my View from the East Hudson River

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