If the Easter Bunny doesn’t leave you some of these babies, don’t despair.
You can get them on your own from San Francisco’s premier chocolatier, Recchiuti Confections.
Malted Dark Revolutions (how’s that for a snazzy name) have turned the classic malt ball on its head. Bite into these glossy orbs and you’ll discover a crunchy malted cookie covered in a proprietary blend of dark milk chocolate.
When visiting Hawaii, don’t forget to pack your swimsuit, flip-flops, sunscreen — and Costco card.
Seriously.
The cavernous membership warehouse store has some of the best — and best priced — Hawaiian souvenirs you can find. I’m talkin’ surf T-shirts, bags of taro chips, lilikoi cookies, Kona blend coffee, and of course, macadamia nuts. My husband had to buy another tote bag for the plane for all the goodies he brought back home on our trip to the islands last year.
Me? I was content with a big bag of macadamias for a steal.
After all, it’s always good to have a ready supply for when the baking mood hits.
And it did big-time with this recipe for “Macadamia and White Chocolate Chunk Cookies” from Alice Medrich’s “Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy: Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies” (Artisan), of which I received a review copy. Only, I changed it up, substituting dark chocolate for white — TCHO Dark Chocolate Disks 68 Percent ($7.98 for 8 ounces) to be exact, of which I also received a sample. With macadamias one of the richest tasting nuts around, I prefer them with the slight bitter-earthiness of dark chocolate rather than the often cloyingly saccharine white chocolate.
The cookie dough needs to be refrigerated for at least two hours or overnight, so plan accordingly.
Leave it to Williams-Sonoma to save us the plane trip of flying to New York for Momofuku Milk Bar’s famous, whimsical cookies.
The retailer has introduced three cookie mixes for the iconic “Compost,” “Corn” and “Blueberry & Cream” cookies.
Of course, convenience does come at a price. The mixes are $16 each, and make nine to 12 cookies, depending upon the variety. You need to add an egg and butter; and in the case of the “Compost” cookies, also your own potato chips and pretzels.
Recently, I had a chance to try samples of the mixes. They’re all quite straightforward to make. You do need to chill the resulting cookie dough for at least an hour before baking so the cookies don’t bake up flat.You also need to resist sampling one right out of the oven. The palm-size cookies need to cool so they set up properly. Otherwise, if you bite into one when it’s still quite warm, you might think it underdone.
Someone very, very smart, that’s who.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Patrón Spirits has introduced a new tequila sure to make anyone swoon.
Patrón XO Cafe Dark Cocoa is Patrón Silver tequila combined with coffee from Vercruz and Chiapas, and chocolate from criollo cocoa beans, the rarest and most expensive grown.
The result is a 60-proof tequila that’s the color of hot fudge sauce.
Seasons Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco is hosting the ultimate girly pre-Valentine’s Day outing 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 12.
Enjoy a delicious two- or three-course brunch while taking in a fashion show of Tory Burch’s spring 2012 collection, inspired by the seaside town of Deauville in the ’20s.
You’ll also enjoy access to the bottomless Bloody Mary Bar or endless mimosas.
Enjoy dishes such as grilled organic salmon with pear, toybox tomatoes, Marcona almonds and arugula salad; and brioche French toast with fresh strawberries, bourbon anglaise and Vermont maple syrup.