Black and White Cookies

So this week we made black and white cookies

(I should not have a) taken the pic so soon after frosting, they looked better after setting up for a bit and b) taken the pic so close up, they looked great from across the room. What a perfect week for me to figure out why my pics used to be soooo tiny)

Anyhow, my fam was way excited to try these, they looked very fun in the book. Initially, they were not at all a hit. My mom said that Costco's are better. My dad and sister's boyf liked them quite well enough (though sometimes I'm not sure if I can trust them as they do not seem overly picky). However, I came home from work today and they were all eaten up. My little sister said "the first one was weird but by the 8th they were rather good" My mom told me they were great today. I wonder if they were just not what people initially expected but after they knew what they were, they seemed to like them fine. The infamous O (who normally does not go near my stuff) asked if he could have one (he had no idea I had made them, that is why I'm sure) and said "they were sort of good, thanks for making them". So, in the end, I am completely baffled by the reviews. I suppose you should not eat them straight out of the oven but wait instead for the next day. Alternatively, boys seem to like them rather well at any moment. They were nice looking. For what its worth, check out the recipe and other reviews.
ps:
The frosting was super weird, I had to leave out 1 c of powdered sugar and get out my electric mixer to mix it up with a few tsp of water bc it was such a bizarre consistency. I hate dark chocolate and so the chocolate frosting was wretched and the white tasted like pure powdered sugar. On the other hand, the cookie itself, more like a cake, was interestingly (in a nice way) lemon (bc I love lemon and so I doubled the amount) and had some potential. I could have spent more time on the frosting of them and they would have looked  a bit more impressive then. I must say though-the batter was the best thing I have ever eaten!

until Japan day 4-

B

Cornbread

Cornbread, a little late.





So last week we made cornbread. This worked out nicely timing-wise because we were having a bbq for Father's day, complete with pulled pork and baked beans. I volunteered to bring the cornbread and managed to finish my baking days in advance! (and then due to some crazy events did not get it posted on time!)

And now for my review
(which I will preface by saying)
1-I have had a great time trying lots of new recipes in this baking club
2-I have not liked plenty of the recipes, but still glad we tried them out :)
3- I am always so sad and depressed when people don't love the recipe I choose, then I realize I did not invent it so that is absurd)
4-I LOVE cornbread-I always use the recipe on the back of the cornmeal box and its great
5-the night before this project I tried the cornbread at Famous Daves-fantastic! (it was the only thing I ate there it was so good)

that all being said, this cornbread was terrible, though it had a nice crisp top :) Basically, it tasted like straight cornmeal.
I think it comes down to me liking Northern-style cornbread (the only kind I have ever had) and apparently not loving the Southern-style cornbread.

Southern-style cornbread is not sweet (different than what I am used to) and is supposed to be very good with saucy things like baked beans. I thought that this lacked flavor (and I had secretly added 1/2 c of sugar to the recipe). The most often repeated comment was "Oh the cornbread is OK with lots of honey" Not high praise. In the end I served it at a party with 26 people (it is supposed to serve 12) and ended up throwing away more than half (and we all like cornbread).
I think I will try the Northern Style cornbread recipe (also in the book) and see if it is more of what I am used to.

-one side note-several people had a hard time getting it out of the pan-mine slipped right out so I guess I lucked out there.