Put a dent into the butter!

Well today was pretty productive! So far today I've baked a little over 14 dozen cookies (3 different types) and a pan of fudge. I think we will wait until they are decorated (fair warning though, we are not the best decorators!) to post how they end up. I plan to get everything done and wrapped up to ship out by about Sunday.

Since Trader Joes discontinued the almond meal I needed to use for a recipe today, I had to make some myself. I did not blanch them as we found we prefer the taste of them with the skin on in the cookies. It was easy enough to do in the food processor, just make sure that you add a little sugar from the recipe to ensure you don't end up with almond butter. The pulse button is your friend! You could even use a spice grinder, but it might take awhile if you need a lot.

The fudge I made today is incredibly easy and is something we have been making for the past few years. It is a little unusal but if you love cinnamon like we do - you have to make this! The result is creamy, melt in your mouth, addictive and Jeff can't keep his hand out of the container. I'll have to make another batch at this rate if we ever get them wrapped to send out.

I purposely chose an easy dinner tonight as I knew I was going to be tired. Warm Salad with Chicken Paillards & Chevre has been in the to-try pile for awhile and was a wind down from a busy day. The chicken is pounded thin so it cooks very quickly in the pan. A light coating of breadcrumbs leaves a crunchy coating on the juicy chicken. A warm and light citrus dressing coats the peppery leaves of the Arugula while the sweet dates give some interesting texture. The orange chunks give an additional punch of sweet citrus flavor, but with adding crumbly and tangy goat cheese, it is not overly sweet. A lot of flavors going on here, but they all meld very well. Little oops though, forgot to add the cheese before taking the photo!

Recipes
Cinnamon Fudge

Warm Salad with Chicken Paillards & Chevre