Test Butter Cookies and Bars

What do you consider to be a plain cookie? Or a basic one? I’d say it’s a cookie without additional flavouring, and made with minimal ingredients. So, say, a butter cookie. Shortbread, maybe. I have a thing for formulating my own recipes. I decided to come up with my own butter cookie recipe a while ago. However, my niche lies in bread baking, not cookie baking. I went in a little blind.

During the trip to Japan, I bought a few cookie cutters and decor tools. For this trial, I tested some of them, and I must say, they’re great. Japan has some unique things. To say the least. I picked up a set of tiny cookie stamps which is comprised of the alphabet and a few miscellaneous symbols. They’re adorable. I also got a cookie cutter shaped like a poodle, and another small one shaped like a goldfish.

Going off topic now. Since I like experimenting, I decided to try making some sort of shortbread strawberry bar thing. It turned out well. Above my expectations, actually. I brought it to a family dinner. My younger cousin kept going back for seconds, which was a good sign. Although that was a while ago and I don’t quite remember the exact recipe. The base was similar to shortbread, or was made of shortbread dough. But with vanilla extract added. I topped it with a mixture of mascarpone, greek yogurt, and whipped cream. Then I topped it all off with some chopped up strawberries macerated in sugar and torn mint leaves. It was a good contrast to the rich, buttery crust, and the creamy and tangy topping. Flavours are definitely fun to play with.

One criticism- the dough was underbaked. I baked it until it was barely browned and still rather soft. If you like eating raw dough, then that’s the way to go, but as for me, I’d bake it until firmer next time. I’ll try to remember the recipe. If I do, I’ll give this its own individual post. For now there’ll be no recipe posted here. My apologies.

Oh, and we had giant strawberries then. Or maybe my hands are just small.

Back to the poodle cookies. Once again, no recipe, because that was a trial one. The dough was a little tricky to manage, but I barely chilled it, so it’s no mystery as to why. That resulted in a moderate use of extra flour.

By the way, the poodle cookie on the lower right corner says ‘moo’. Not sure why it wasn’t clear.

Let’s play “find the poodle with the Frankenstein leg”.

So then I placed those in the freezer for a while and preheated the oven. To 180˚C, probably. The default.

They turned out like this.

 

Anning and Kunming- China

China is composed of a fair number of rural areas. It’s not all smog and pollution. If you travel to the right places, you’ll be rewarded with the clear countryside air, and a sense of serenity about the environment. I went to Anning (安宁市) a while ago with my family. It’s located in the Yunnan province (云南) which is far southwest in China. Past the busy city of Kunming, with its roads that stretch out as far as you can see, and nondescript, grim buildings, you’ll get to the main roads flanked by trees and fences. And you’ll see unusual things there. I saw a truck full of pigs. And another full of sheep.

Anning is known for its hot springs. The resort-esque hotel we stayed in had quite the selection of amenities, including a large spa, with natural hot springs. It was a beautiful place. Large and sprawling, made to resemble an area of nature, with the rooms arranged in small buildings scattered about. All interconnected with winding paths and bridges. It gave off a Thai vibe and an air of romance.

I went to walk around. It was wonderful.

Since they provided massage services there, we went to enjoy them, which means foot massages and facials.

I was awed when I walked into the room.

The facial felt okay. I can see how some people find it relaxing, since you’d be lying down with your eyes shut, while someone massages your face and spreads creams over it. Okay, maybe that doesn’t sound great. It wasn’t relaxing for me. Did you know that they don’t avoid your eyes? At least there they didn’t. They went over my eyelids with all the products, and when I opened them later, it burned a little. And why is it that your body randomly itches in some places when you can’t move? How inconvenient.

On the other hand, the foot massage was bliss. They also served some food after it. A small set of snacks.

 They served a porridge of grains, but I couldn’t identify what sort of grains. Rice, for sure. It was mildly salty. Although the flavour was mild, comprised of only grains and water, it was delicious. It was clean tasting and balanced. The saltiness made you want to eat more. We’ve been there a couple of times, so I’ve tried their other porridge variation, which was nearly the same but with beans. It was sweet instead of savoury. I preferred the sweet one. Inside the pot was some warm milk. On the small green plate, there’s a meat dumpling and a little purple sweet potato cake. The dumpling was okay. Nothing too special about it. But the cake… dense, velvety, sweet, but not too much. With notes of sweet potato.

We visited Kunming for a day. To be specific, a tea shop and a bakery. The bakery had some of the best baked goods I’ve ever eaten. The egg tarts they sold were phenomenal. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of the tarts.

Chinese is a very literal language.

It’s actually a Korean style beef toast. Close enough. I didn’t try it, though.

What an adorable name. It’s pretty accurate, since it’s a large loaf thing composed of little buns stuffed with cheese. So huge cheese. It’s soft, fluffy, savoury, and delicious.

We might be returning soon.