HAS WILL SMITH EATEN MY COOKIES?!

When I have a lot on my mind, I like to eat. It's such a good distraction and I've been lucky to come across some fantastic recipes. Last night, Lauren brought the best potato salad to a BBQ we attended. She said she got it off of the Well Fed blog. I have to say, her's looked more beautiful because she used small purple potatoes in the mix. We should have taken a photo.

Then there's the bourbon, ginger ale, lime cocktails I learned about on KCRW's Good Food. Martha Foose publishes enticing recipes in her new cookbook Screen Doors and Sweet Tea.

The other evening, while at a friend's dinner party, I had fun meeting Lulu who is a chef for some movie stars and I happened to get her ginger cookie recipe, which I baked for yesterday's BBQ. They were a huge hit. Allison kept yelling "Siobhan made these!!" Here are the details:

Lulu's Lucious Ginger Cookies

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. molasses1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 c. finely chopped crystallized ginger

topping: 1/4 c. sugar, 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In medium bowl, mix flour and baking soda and set aside. In large bowl cream butter and sugars. Add egg, molasses, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Mix in the flour/baking soda mixture. Lastly, add the crystallized ginger. Roll into balls, then roll in the topping mixture. Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

PS - Another food blog favorite of mine is Smitten Kitchen.

PSS - I made this pizza recipe a while ago and loved it. Alterations: I used pre-made pizza dough and baked (vs grilled) the pizza as indicated on the dough instructions and then added a bunch of arugula on top. Delicious.

PSSS - This series is pretty interesting: Gourmet's Four Farmers Project