Chewy-Coconut-Chocolate Pinwheels for the Holidays

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Chocolate and coconut all swirled into one pretty cookie.

Chocolate and coconut all swirled into one pretty cookie.

 

When I was a kid, I remember my Dad buying me a fanciful pinwheel. It spun as you blew on it and its clear plastic rod hid a trove of tiny colorful candy balls inside.

It was truly two treats in one.

Just like these cookies — which are pinwheels of a different sort.

The kind where you get both chocolate and coconut in one delightful bite.

“Chewy Coconut-Chocolate Pinwheels” is by Martha Stewart. With their two-tone design and festive swirl, they a perfect treat at this time of year.

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Join the Food Gal and Madera Chef Peter Rudolph for a Macy’s Cooking Demo

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MacysPeterRudlph

Join me at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 when I host Chef Peter Rudolph of Madera restaurant for a holiday cooking demo at Macy’s Valley Fair in Santa Clara.

You’re in for a treat as Rudolph shows off one of his signature dishes that you’ll get to taste.

The East Bay native is the former executive chef of Campton Place Restaurant in San Francisco. Under his guidance, Madera in the Rosewood Sand Hill resort garnered a coveted Michelin star.

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A Whale of A Gift

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Delicious whale tail-shaped cookies from Honolulu Cookie Company.

Delicious whale tail-shaped cookies from Honolulu Cookie Company.

 

Bypass all the craziness of crowds at the mall today — and still give a whale of gift to friends and family this holiday season.

Honolulu Cookie Company’s newest creation is exactly that — a shortbread cookie shaped like the tail of a Hawaiian Humpback whale.

The Hawaiian Islands boast one of the most important Humpback whale habitats on the planet. The whales migrate to Hawaii each year to reproduce.

The cookie company will be donating a bevy of its whale cookies to fund-raising and educational events hosted by Pacific Marine Life Foundation, a non-profit that supports marine research and conservation in the Pacific basin.

Besides drawing more attention to the whales, the cookies are just plain delicious, as evidenced by the sample I recently had a chance to try.

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Cranberries — But Not For Sauce

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One way I enjoy fresh cranberries at this time of year.

One way I enjoy fresh cranberries at this time of year.

 

The first time I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for my family about a dozen years ago, I made cranberry sauce from scratch.

It was my first time doing so. And my last.

I simmered fresh cranberries with orange zest, sugar and a dash of Cointreau, until the berries started to plump and pop, and the whole mixture thickened nicely.

It was fresher, zingier and more lively tasting than anything out of a can. When I set it on the table, I sat back proudly, waiting for everyone to dig in.

Everyone tried it. Then, everyone asked pretty much in unison, “Uh, where’s the stuff from the can?”

And that is why I have never made it again.

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Bradley Ogden Returns to the Bay Area with Bradley’s Fine Diner

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Lassen trout seafood stew at the new BFD in Menlo Park.

Lassen trout seafood stew at the new BFD in Menlo Park.

 

In the 1980s and 1990s, he elevated the Bay Area dining scene and made a name for himself as executive chef of Campton Place in San Francisco and co-founder of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group.

Since then, Chef Bradley Ogden’s attention had been focused mostly outside of the region, as he opened restaurants in Las Vegas with his son, Chef Bryan Ogden, and one in Solvang.

But now, following a move to the South Bay two years ago, Ogden is back — in a big way.

Three weeks ago after a year of construction, the James Beard Award-winning chef opened the doors to Bradley’s Fine Diner in Menlo Park. He’s also working on opening three restaurants in Houston. They’re all part of his Bradley Ogden Hospitality group, run with son Bryan, and business partner and industry veteran, Tony Angotti. The projects are being financed by investor Chris Kelly, Facebook’s first general consul, who first met Ogden when he asked the chef to cook a dinner he was hosting for then-President Bill Clinton.

Chef Bradley Ogden in the kitchen at his new restaurant.

Chef Bradley Ogden in the kitchen at his new restaurant.

Bradley’s Fine Diner or BFD for short is pure Ogden. Situated across from the Caltrain station, it’s an artsy roadhouse with plenty of natural wood, plus fun and funky touches like silverware chandeliers and a decorative wall with old knives stuck into it as if a knife thrower had just left the building after a practice spree.

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