A Cookie For Every Occasion

Cookies make any event or party even more special. They add fun and color, especially if they are themed.. What's best is that you can make them in your kitchen, thanks to a new cookie cookbook, You can create professional themed cookies like the pro bakers.

A Cookie To Celebrate (Mango Publishing 2018) was written by Jana Douglass, founder of Jana Lee's Bake Shop in Columbus Ohio.,Ms. Douglass has a famed cookie shop featuring baskets of themed sugar cookies. To buy a basket is a whopping sixty dollars, however  thanks to her new book, a home baker can create a festive basket of cookies, whether for a birthday, holiday , event or shower. They'll be perfect for this Instagram age, in which Ms. Douglass is a star.She has designed all sorts of cookies, from a salute of the famed children's literature heroine Eloise, to a nod to Meghan and Harry's Royal Wedding. Her Christmas cookies are whimsical, . There's one decorated as a baking sheet with little dots of unbaked cookies. The book features the basics and gives good advice. along what brands of dye and cutters to use. There is also a basic sugar cookie recipe that is easy to follow and perfect for cutting into shapes.Ms. Douglass even recommends variations with flavor, such as subbing in almond extract for vanilla. What's surprising is that she doesn't include a chocolate cookie recipe for those who want to bake a variety of treats.

Of course this book is all about the icing and decorating. She gives the recipe for royal icing which is a mix of powdered sugar, meringue powder, water and vanilla, This creates the best "paint" for the job. Another use for it? Homemade sprinkles!! Yes! They are very easy to whip up and you can make them in matching colors to the cookie designs. Home bakers will enjoy the how to chapters.. She'll teach you about outlining the cookies and flooding spaces with icing. There are recommendations on when to use decorating tips and when to graduate from them. It's then onto different and fun designs, that also involve sanding sugars and edible gold dust. Another plus is that Ms. Douglass gives a lot of tips. She believes in practice makes perfect, especially when writing on the cookies. There is the recommendation of practicing on parchment paper first. Since these cookies would be perfect for bake sales, there is a chapter on how to package  them. - wait eight to twelve hours -  before putting them in sandwich bags. Ms. Douglass encourages fellow bakers to put their creations on Instagram and a few proud bakers will.

A Cookie To Celebrate is the perfect how to book in this Instagram age. Create a phenomenal batch of  iced treats , celebrating everything from a new baby to a holiday cookie party.It's  easy and best of all, it's fun!

Sancruary Restaurants

In this day and age we have to do all we can to help and protect others. Now the concept is going from towns and the cities to the restaurants in them. Should this be?Or should our eateries stay out of politics.

This was the dilemma posed in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Food regular, Kim Severson wrote about this movement that happened after Donald  J. Trump became president.This current leader has brought about a nasty and pervasive climate of xenophobia, racism and misogyny. It sadly affects everyone from the farmers that provide the ingredients to the restaurant help who make those ingredients into delicious dishes. Yet at any moment those people can be snatched up by ICE and sent back to their countries of origin.Families will be split up. One restaurant owner arranged to take guardianship of thirteen employees' children if the parents get deported.Another restaurant, Double Comfort in Columbus, Ohio has declared itself a "sanctuary restaurant" meaning that all are welcome, from the LGBT community to immigrants to all races and religions. This was a no brainer for owner , Mary Lyski who already donates all of the restaurant's profits to local food pantries.She even invites Trump voters and supporters in,

Is it good to bring politics into food? Many social media followers have shown their dismay at celebrity chef, Mario Batali for his views, saying he should just stick to cooking and not policies. Yet some policies are connected to our appetites.Chef Edward Lee, who owns restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky and Washington DC feels that politics has always been a means to an end to improving their communities.He uses his restaurant as a tool to do just that.For those who want to get involved there is what is known as James Beard Foundation Boot Camps which trains chefs to shape food policy,Interest in these have grown since the election. There's a waiting list of eight hundred for this five year old service. Issues are dissected at them, Politics are forbidden as is the president's name.Luckily for the industry there is a new generation of  chefs that have grown up on creating fundraisers and giving back to the community along with creating food drives. They will need that determination when they deal with various policies regarding nutrition and GMOs.

Do politics need to be in our restaurants? Should chefs be outspoken about our politicians? Yes on all acccounts. They too , are voters, and Americans too. They need to be heard. They need to be  a strong universal voice.