Easy Cinnamon Almond Wafers and A Food Gal Giveaway

These super simple cookies are showered with almonds and cinnamon sugar. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)

The upside to working from home?

The fact that you can do a load of laundry, braise a pot of lamb shanks in the oven, and crank out a lengthy magazine story simultaneously.

The downside?

The temptation to snack. After all, food is just too darn convenient when you work just steps from  your kitchen.

Fortunately, one of the things I most find myself noshing on are almonds. I often grab a handful to munch just before I hit the computer or the gym. High in fiber and protein, they actually make for a nutritious snack so my pangs of guilt are at least lessened.

That’s what I tell myself, too, when I find myself reaching for another “Cinnamon Almond Wafer.” They’re strewn with almonds, so they must be good for me, even if they’re cookies, right? Uh, huh.

The recipe is from “The Gourmet Cookie Book” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), of which I received a copy when it debuted in 2010. These cookies couldn’t be easier to make. They have the tender texture of a rolled-out sugar cookie. But they’re far easier to make because you pat out the dough (no rolling pin needed) and bake it in one big rectangle (no cookie cutters necessary). After pulling the pan out of the oven, you cut the rectangle into wafer-size pieces while still warm.

The cookies are covered in sliced almonds and a profusion of cinnamon sugar. There’s so much cinnamon and almond going on that my husband’s Persian-American colleague said they reminded him of Middle Eastern pastries. I upped the almond factor, too, by adding a dash of almond extract.

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New TCHO Chocolates

The Artisan Confections collection from TCHO.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, San Francisco’s TCHO chocolate factory has come up with some goodies sure to make any chocoholic swoon.

The company, which sources, roasts and makes its own chocolate, is famous for its distinctive bars that highlight various flavor notes inherent in chocolate: “Fruity,” “Nutty,” “Citrus” and “Chocolatey,” for instance.

But TCHO also makes chocolate confections. Its Artisan Confections are chocolate bonbons that come packaged in boxes of four ($12.95), 16 ($44.95) and 25 ($64.95) pieces.

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Valentine’s Day Treats, Chocolate Dinner & More

Make Valentine's Day especially sweet with these boxed macarons. (Photo courtesy of La Boulange)

La Boulange’s Valentine’s Days Offerings

From now through Feb. 15, your neighborhood La Boulange is offering three sweet treats especially for Valentine’s Day.

Choose from a box of raspberry and vanilla macarons for $12.50; a box of chocolate and raspberry macarons for $12.50; or a gorgeous heart-shaped raspberry fruit tart ($9.95).

Find them at any of the Bay Area La Boulange locations.

Chocolate hearts filled with raspberries and strawberries. (Photo courtesy of La Boulange)

Sent Sovi’s Savory Chocolate Dinner

Who says chocolate is only for dessert?

Not at Sent Sovi in Saratoga, where Chef-Proprietor Josiah Slone will be hosting his third annual “Savory Chocolate Dinner” at 7 p.m. Feb. 28.

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Jamie Oliver’s Quick Portuguese Custard Tarts for the Lunar New Year

Eggy, warm custard tar.ts are perfect for the Lunar New Year or any other occasion.

There are many symbolic dishes that will grace the table when folks celebrate Chinese New Year on Feb. 10.

A whole fish and whole chicken for family togetherness. Candied melon seeds as a wish for a sweet new year. And long-life noodles to foster many more years to come of such celebrations.

For me, though, it’s all about the custard tarts.

OK, custard tarts may be more associated with dim sum outings, rather than necessarily any Chinese New Year festivities.

But can you blame me for hankering for them? Who doesn’t love a warm, eggy custard tart with a crust so flaky that shards of pastry cascade all over your clothes when you bite into one?

Leave it to an Englishman to come up with a brilliant version, too.

That would be Jamie Oliver, whose cookbook, “Meals in Minutes” (Hyperion), I received a review copy of last year. The book is set up in a unique style: Recipes are grouped into complete menus that are designed to be cooked and on the table in about 30 minutes. As such, the ingredients are listed all together for all four dishes that make up each menu. And cooking directions have you moving back and forth from one dish to another, just like you would in your own kitchen when preparing a holiday meal made up of many dishes.

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A Michelin-Starred-Chef Chocolate Box, New Kara’s Cupcakes Locale & More

The Constellation Chocolate Collection. (Photo courtesy of IfOnly.com)

For the Discriminating Chocoholic

IfOnly.com may have created the ultimate chocolate box for big-time foodies.

The e-commerce site asked 10 Bay Area Michelin-starred chefs to create a chocolate bonbon for this special box just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Take a gander at the stellar chefs and their pastry chefs who contributed to the Constellation Chocolate Collection:

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