{"id":1071,"date":"2008-12-09T06:05:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-09T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elitemporaryblog.wordpress.com\/2008\/12\/09\/for-that-very-reason"},"modified":"2015-12-24T23:21:39","modified_gmt":"2015-12-25T04:21:39","slug":"for-that-very-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangette.net\/2008\/12\/for-that-very-reason\/","title":{"rendered":"For that very reason"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t know where to begin. You people spoil me. Do you know that? Brandon and I cannot even dream<\/span> of how to adequately thank you for the immensely kind and utterly galvanizing comments you left in response to The Big Restaurant Announcement. Some of you even sent e-mails, offering advice, encouragement, and hands-on(!) help(!). I\u2019m still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor. Thank you. Or rather, I mean, THANK YOU. If I could hire a plane to write it in the sky, I would, because that would best capture the magnitude of the sentiment. But we have a budget to stay within, you understand.<\/p>\n

So, onward we go, right? I will keep you posted, I promise, as the process moves along. This week, Brandon\u2019s main project is to design the layout of the kitchen, which is a rather fraught endeavor, as you can imagine. And soon I\u2019ll be spending some time over there with my cameras, documenting the construction process, which I\u2019m pretty excited about. I like taking pictures of messes – it\u2019s the neatnik in me, I think, trying perversely to impose order – and what we\u2019ve got right now definitely qualifies as a mess.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nAs does, conveniently, this photograph. These Danish butter cookies are not only one of the most wonderful things I have eaten lately, but they are also among the most difficult items I have ever, ever, tried to photograph. For one thing, they\u2019re plain and monochromatic, as butter cookies generally are. They\u2019re lovely to eat, but sort of boring to look at. Also, I\u2019m almost positive that while I was washing the dishes, they held a secret meeting on the cooling rack and decided, just for fun, to wiggle a little bit each time I tried to take their picture. I think they also got the sun in on the game, because the light today was awful. Don\u2019t even ask about the close-up shots. If I had a dime for every time I cussed at these blurry naughties, I would have, well, like, a dollar. That may not seem like much, but it could buy me a first-rate bagel at Absolute Bagels<\/a>. To punish the cookies for their disobedience, Brandon and I ate about a half dozen of them, and then, take that<\/span>, I put the rest in the freezer. Something tells me they won\u2019t act up again.<\/p>\n

This weekend, and these cookies, marked the beginning of my annual holiday baking ritual. Those of you who have been reading for a while may remember that a cloud of powdered sugar generally hovers over this site each December, and this one is no exception. For the third year in a row, I\u2019ve decided to give handmade gifts<\/a> for the holidays. Mainly because it makes me feel good, but also because it keeps me out of the mall, which is good for everyone, I assure you. I\u2019m making a number of candies and cookies, like this<\/a> and this<\/a> and this<\/a> and the recalcitrant specimens above, and I\u2019m also making a few non-food things that I won\u2019t reveal here, because their recipients might be reading. And because handmade doesn\u2019t necessarily mean home<\/span>made, I also bought a few things from this beautiful shop<\/a>, and from this one<\/a> too. If money were no object, I would also buy a ban.do<\/a> for my cousin Sarah, who loves to wear tiaras, because ban.dos are sort of like tiaras, only better. Sadly, I think she will have to settle for something a little less impressive, but it\u2019s the thought that counts, I hear.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nBut about the butter cookies. I hope I didn\u2019t make them sound too maddening, because the truth is, so long as you don\u2019t come after them with a camera, they are completely docile. And they\u2019re very, very delicious, which is all that matters. They may be modest little ladies – yes, somehow, they seem female to me; I can\u2019t explain it – but they\u2019re beguiling: delicate and not too sweet, rich with the flavor of pure butter and tender enough to melt the second they meet your tongue. The first one I tasted made my eyes roll back in my head, and that doesn\u2019t usually happen unless there is chocolate involved. I found the recipe in this month\u2019s Gourmet<\/span>, and it sounded so perfectly simple that I had to try it. It was sent to the magazine by a reader in New Jersey, who explained that it was a fifth-generation family recipe from Denmark. Having now tried it, I can well understand its longevity. It is, without a doubt, a keeper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nIt begins with a pound of butter. The key, I think, is that it calls for Lurpak<\/a> butter, a particularly delicious – if pricey – brand produced, of course, in Denmark. I know that sounds fussy, but it\u2019s worth the trouble to seek it out and pay the extra pennies, because it really is a wonderful butter, and these cookies are all<\/span> about the butter. If you\u2019ve ever eaten store-bought Danish butter cookies<\/a>, you will recognize the concept, only the homemade version is worlds – entire universes, even – more delicious. To make it, you start by creaming the butter in a mixer, and then you add flour, baking soda, and sugar. Like I said, perfectly simple. You roll out the dough between sheets of plastic wrap, and then you chill it briefly, until it feels firm to the touch. Then you cut it into rectangles, brush it with egg and sprinkle it with coarse sugar, and bake until the edges go barely golden.<\/p>\n

The finished cookies are dainty as sand dollars, with the familiar, irresistible, and profoundly reassuring fragrance of warm butter. If these cookies wore clothes, I\u2019m pretty sure they would wear roomy blouses and long, full skirts with pastel flowers and, underneath, flesh-colored pantyhose and white satin slips with fine lace trim. Actually, now that I\u2019ve typed that, I notice that I have just, in essence, described my grandmother. But it fits, and it\u2019s how I feel about these cookies. They\u2019re not hip or flashy or even photogenic, but I sort of love them anyway, and maybe even for that very reason.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\n
Recipe<\/div>\n

Real Danish Butter Cookies<\/h2>\n

Adapted from Gourmet, December 2008<\/h3> \n \n <\/header>\n\n
\n <\/figure>\n \n
\n