Traditional Linzer Cookies

These Traditional Linzer Cookies were lovely.  My mom makes wonderful strawberry jam in the summer, and this was a great way to show it off.

The only difficulty I had was in rolling out my dough, not through any fault of the recipe, but because I tried to make these in the middle of a string of 90+ degree days. Our air conditioner struggled, our house was uncomfortably warm, and my dough went from fridge cooled to room temperature very quickly. If I had thought ahead I would have put my rolling pin in the freezer to help keep the dough chilled.  I froze half of my dough for another, more temperate,  day.

Despite some stickiness, I did managed to put together some tasty cookies.   With the powdered sugar on top this recipe really does make a very picturesque treat. Pretty tasty too. 

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Cheesy Bastille Day Beer Bread

This Cheesy Bastille Day Beer Bread was a big hit in our house. My local Trader Joe’s had Comté cheese, but I had no luck with a “Pyrenees Brebis cheese or other semisoft sheep’s-milk cheese.” The only sheep’s milk cheese available was a hard cheese with black olives, which wasn’t all that appealing to me.  So I went with fontina instead, which I think was very tasty. 

I used Mothership Wit by New Belgium, which is a very mild beer great for baking. I would love to make this bread again with different cheeses, like smoked gouda or sharp cheddar. My husband said the bread reminded him of the Cheddar Biscuits they serve at Red Lobster. The texture was very light and probably too crumbly for sandwiches, but we ate it dipped in marinara sauce with sliced pepperoni.