high-bar baking

Have you read East of Eden? I’ve been in the middle of rereading it for over a year now, because I got past my favourite part and then my enthusiasm fizzled. I thought, “That was the good part, and now it’s behind me.” But they’re all good. I don’t know I how always forget that. 

You don’t need a fully stocked repertoire in order to give good book recommendations. It can help sometimes. Sometimes people are particularly reticent or have niche interests. It can be nice to have a wide range of books to counteract complaints or placate preferences. But you don’t need them, not really. I just have three. 

Beartown, by Fredrick Backman. Don’t look it up, just read it. You can trust me. The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay. Ostensibly because I was a boxer; actually just because I am human. And East of Eden. “The first book,” according to Steinbeck. A book worthy of the lofty and overused honorific “great American novel.”

I don’t think you can grow limes in Salinas Valley, but I had some anyway. After being responsible with the juice of the last few, I just had some fun with the zest of these. The recipe’s a variation of Sarah’s Lemon Sugar Cookies (the salt is 3/4tsp, not 1/4tsp), where you add in lime zest with the lemon. The green zest speckles are very fun, and the flavour is great. Citrus all the way down!

I always forget to flatten the balls with a glass before they go in, but I honestly think the first tray when I forgot turned out prettier. They were definitely less flat, though, so it depends on what you want. Mine seemed to take longer than I remember; I banged the tray to get the flatness and the set edge a couple of separate times instead of the once she recommends. And then they cool on the tray, so you’ll have to have your dish ducks in a row before you start. 

I had a soft, ball-shaped, delicate little lemon cookie I was fond of in college, but this has supplanted that. Crisp, chewy, oh-so-lemony. Or limey. Go to town!

For those who’ve already visited Steinbeck’s Salinas, don’t forget: thou mayest.