Living in the land of Starbucks often brings you to one. Last year they were having a holiday open house and I happened to stop by that day. They were giving out free drinks and free cookies. I fell in love with these little peppermint cookies they had and immediately went home and tried to replicate it. The peppermint definitely came from candy canes, so that is what I used….in both the cookie and the powdered sugar “icing”. The best part is smashing the heck out of the candy canes…gets rid of any aggravation you might have. They aren’t exact, but they are close enough for me. I will be bringing these to my cookie exchange because they say Christmas to me. Although almost anything candy cane, egg nog or gingerbread says Christmas to me.

Candy Cane Meltaways

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup finely crushed candy canes

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup crushed candy canes

Preheat oven to 325F.
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together, about 3 minutes.
Add flour, salt and candy canes. Mix well.
Roll into balls about the size of a walnut.
Bake about 20 minutes, but do NOT brown.
Mix powdered sugar and 1/4 candy canes together.
Roll cookies into powdered sugar mixture when slightly cool.
Make 3 dozen.

Best when accompanied by peppermint hot chocolate!!!!

I am no stranger to the Purple Cafe and Wine bar, I can recite to you most of the menu…and it’s a big menu. However, we always go to the one in Kirkland and Woodenville. So when one opened up in Seattle I thought nothing of it, until I saw they had a tasting menu. I am such a sucker for tasting menus….I love to get to sample lots of different types of food. So I had to go and check it out. Luckily my Newleywed Girlie Group that I hang out with had organized a get together there. It was my first venture out since being sick so unfortunately I did not get to have any wine, since wine and codeine don’t mix well. But if you go to Purple you must have the wine, I especailly love their wine flights where they offer 4 samplings of wine…that all in all only equal about 1 1/2 glasses of wine. It is a great way to discover new wines though. Since no wine, I had to solely concentrate on food. I could have ordered almost everything on that menu but I had to realize that though small, at some point I would get full. I started with 3 items and worked my way up from there. I started with an Artichoke Parmesan spread that me and my friend A decided to split. I was happily surprised that it had way more artichoke flavor than cheese, it had a great, fresh taste…I wont share it next time:)

One of my absolute favorites was the Stuffed Dates, Blue Cheese, Coppa, Pine Nuts(pictured above). The sweetness of the date with the tang of the blue cheese was really nice and I was crying for a glass of wine at this point but no

I tried all three of the open faced grilled cheeses, I am a sucker for grilled cheese. The Mahon and Quince grilled cheese was my favorite but really all three were wonderful. My friend A really loved the Drunken Goat and Olive Fig Tapanade Grilled Cheese and we both enjoyed the Cambert and Apple Butter Grilled Cheese(pictured above).

Along with the wine flights, Purple also offers cheese flights. My friend B ordered  the If Willy Wonka had a Cheese Factory cheese flight and A and I got to sample since her eyes were bigger than her tummy. The flight comes with Balarina-goats whole milk-Netherlands( a gouda with a good punch…my favorite), Saint Paulin-cows milk-France(which I would love them to make a grilled cheese with), Asiago Pressato-cows milk-Italy(the only one I didn’t get to sample) and Drunken Goat-goats milk-Spain(which came on my grilled cheese with the olive fig tapanade).

Receiving the most mixed reviews of the night was this Dungeness Crab, Green Apple, Piquillo Pepper. It seemed to be either loved or hated and not much in between. I only had a bite and I would say that it wasn’t bad but did nothing for me and when I go back I would not order it. We also had a wonderful soup, Kabocha Squash and Caramelized Pear Soup. I loved it but A thought it to be a tad too sweet and she was happy it was only shot glass size.

Last of course was dessert. I ordered the Key Lime Meringue Tarts(above). I could have eaten about 20 of these babies. Ideally, I really should have ordered more but since I had no wine in me I was quite aware of what a pig I was making of myself and decided to pass. I did however break down and ordered the Brown Butter Cake with Quince and Red Wine Compote(below) which I also enjoyed and would order again.

One last note about our Purple experience, our waiter. He was fantastic and for the life of me I can not remember his name. He was friendly, funny and did a great job of keeping 9 ladies happy, which is hard for a guy to do So if you are in the downtown area and in the mood for some wine and good noshing then head on over to Purple for a wonderful dining experience.

Purple Cafe and Wine Bar

1225 4th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98101
206-829-2280
F 206-829-2295

To say that my diet is currently out the window is an understatement. I have a feeling it will stay that way until after Thanksgiving, sigh. So since I have not be dieting while sick I thought I would throw caution to the wind and make potato cheese soup that no doubt clogged my arteries by just inhaling it. I also made the rolls(something to do when I am up at 3am coughing) but I will highlight those another day. For now I will just focus on my soup.

I like texture to my soup, so instead of cubing all the potatoes I reserve one cup of potato to be shredded(like if you were making hash browns). I boil those separately and reserve them to add to the soup after it has been pureed. This soup is pretty simple with just the flavors of the potato, onion and cheese coming through. I know some people are not fans of parsley but I like what it adds to the color of the soup, feel free to just ignore it if you want.

Thanks again for all the well wishing. I feel much better, though I fear my cough, like an unwanted relative, will be extending it’s stay.   I braved civilization today on this a rare sunny day in the Seattle area, so I know I am feeling better when I allow the public to see me.

Potato Cheese Soup

7 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
1 cup peeled and shredded potatoes
2 cups peeled and chopped onions
4 cups chopped celery
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups half and half
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup asiago cheese
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Place cubed potatoes, onions, celery and salt in water to cover in a large pot. Simmer until tender, about 15 minutes up to an hour depending on how mushy you like things. Place shredded potatoes in a separate pot and boil till tender.

Put in blender or food processor fitted with the metal blade and puree until smooth.

Return to soup pot; add half-and-half, butter. shredded potatoes, parsley and cheese. Stirring, simmer until piping hot. (Do not boil.)

…my food blog is running my life. Here I am sicker than sick laying in bed and I’ll I can obsess about is that I am not going to meet my goal of 3 new things a week on my blog. If you are old like me you might remember the “Time to Make the Dough Nuts” commerical that Dunkin Dounuts had many years back. That is what I felt like. Getting out of bed with my head in the clouds trying to read the recipe “Must Make Something For Blog.” A little harder than I thought since I have not been grocery shopping in a few. I had apples though and I have not done much apples except for my caramel apple cake. I ran across a recipe on Canadian Living for apple and almond bars. I didn’t have a 9 X 13 inch pan since I had made brownies for my hubby and the pan was still occupied with those, so I had to make them in a 9 inch round. There was nothing bar like about these…they are definitely more cake than bar…..but tasty none the less. It also calls for almonds, since it is called apple and almond bars, but I chose to use walnuts(the rebel that I am). Since being sick my diet has gone down the drain. I happily ate my subject today.

Apple and Almond Bars(but mine were walnut)

2/3 cup  Raisins  
2/3 cup  Water 
1/3 cup  Butter 
1 cup  Firmly packed dark brown sugar 
1 tsp  Vanilla 
1 Egg 
1-1/2 cups  All-purpose flour 
1/2 tsp Each baking powder and soda 
1/2 tsp  Cinnamon 
1/4 tsp  Nutmeg 
1/4 tsp  Salt 
1-1/4 cups  Peeled, cored finely chopped apples 
1/2 cup  Chopped unblanched almonds 
 
BROWN SUGAR ICING:
 
1/4 cup  Firmly packed dark brown sugar 
3 tbsp  Butter 
2 tbsp  Milk 
1/2 tsp  Vanilla 
1-1/2 cups  Icing sugar 
 
 
Preparation
 
 
Grease a 13- x 9-inch  cake pan and dust with flour.

BARS: In small saucepan, combine raisins and water and bring to boil, uncovered. Remove from heat and, stirring periodically, let cool while preparing batter.

Cream butter with brown sugar until well blended; beat in vanilla and egg.

Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, spices and salt. Mix into creamed batter alternately with raisins and water, making 3 additions of dry and 2 of liquid. Stir in apples and nuts (batter will be thick). Spread evenly into pan.

Bake in 350°F  oven for 25 minutes or until firm to touch.

BROWN SUGAR ICING: In small heavy saucepan, bring brown sugar, butter and milk to boil; remove from heat and beat in vanilla and icing sugar, adding about 1/2 cup at a time. Let cool slightly and spread over cooled cake.

Alternatively, sieve 1/4 cup  icing sugar over cake.

Store in airtight container. 

Source: Canadian Living.com

I can go back to bed now, knowing that I met my posting quota for the week