Cinnamon Cow Droppings and Brunsli Patties

So I know I told you all I might not say hello this week, but my weekend was just too good not to share.  I'm making today's post extra long as it will need to hold you over until NEXT Monday - we're taking the red-eye to Milwaukee tonight - so indulge accordingly!

Sadly, my boyfriend was in Peru all last week.  I mourned his absence by going to see the new Twilight movie: Breaking Dawn Part 1.  For years, I've avoided these sissy scifi screenplays (vampires, wolves, blood - what could be more UN-enticing), but for some reason Friday afternoon, I decided to roll the dice.  And now, I am 100% OBSESSED.  Post movie, I went home to rent the rest of the series on On Demand, download the full soundtrack, and dream about being injected with vampire venom.

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After picking Stefan up at SFO Saturday morning, I dragged him to my fav SF spot - the Saturday farmers' market - for some free fruit and smoked salmon sandwiches.  In addition to about $30 worth of persimmons, we picked up some Happy Girl Kitchen Pickles, a few beautifully brown pears, a lovely bouquet of flowers for the front hall...

...AND, FINALLY, the best little secret the farmers' market has to offer: the freshly baked apple crumble tarts at Hidden Star Orchards.

  

Hidden Star doesn't actually "sell" these fine treats (apparently, they're only licensed to market apples in the raw), but if you know who to ask, they may have a little something - baked just that morning - hidden away under the counter just for you.

 

We were having two of our favorite friends over for an aperitif that evening, so we thought this divine little dessert could be shared as a special post-snack treat among the bunch.  Since Ward and Dan have UNREAL taste in wine, we agreed to let them bring the beverages while we'd supply the cheese.  We made a quick trip to Cheese Plus for our favorites: Appenzeller Extra, Roquefort Blue, Italian tartufo (oh TRUFFLE!), and then one new guy - some creamy goodness from Vermont whose name I forget.  (While Stefan has a severe affinity for cheese, his taste lies primarily in European creations of the stuff.  Recently, however, he has decided to gain some appreciation for the US cheesemongers among us.  A smart man.)

Dan and Ward did not let us down when it came to the wine.  Last time, we wined with them Stefan described his ideal glass and they nailed it to a tee with their selections on Saturday.  They brought two positively blissful bottles:

A Papapietro Perry 2009 Pinot Noir

for Zinfandel lovers (which we most certainly are) 

and a David Coffaro 2010 Zin

(Oh, how they spoil us.)

After finishing both bottles by 7, Stefan and I had a quick date at Chouquet's and then passed out. 

The next morning, we were up early for brunch at the lovely new home of a former boss of both of ours.  We drolled over their gorgeous house, their two beautiful and extremely well-behaved little girls, and the delicious cheesy mushroom and ham egg souffle we dined on.

You'd think we'd had enough food by the time we were done there, but no, not us.  We decided to embark on an afternoon of traditional Swiss Christmas cookie making.  And since both of us are just a tad bit overachievers, we absolutely couldn't stop with only one variety - we'd have to do four, three of which would fall into the EXTRA challenging category. 

When our $13.99 ($9.99 with the $4 mail-in rebate) Walgreens hand mixer blew out on batch #1, I began to get a bit nervous that we had gotten ourselves in just a bit over our heads.  But we maintained focus and forged ahead strong.  (But only after making a quick trip to the hardware store to upgrade to the Kitchen Aid variety of course.  No, not a stand mixer, although I did beg and plead for one for a good twenty minutes.  Christmas present idea, anyone?) 

Seven hours later, our cookies were complete - only they didn't look exactly like they were supposed to:

Mailanderli

The original:

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Ours:

Spitzbuebe

The original:

1

Ours:

Zimsterne

The original:

1

Ours: 

Brunsli

The original:

Ours: 

Stefan renamed our final two:

Instead of Zimsterne - Zimthuefe (Cinnamon Cow Droppings)

And instead of just plain old Brunsli - Brunsliflaede (Brunsli Patties)

Yummy.

Around these parts, most people don't know what these little guys are supposed to look like, so we'll get away with dishing these out but still avoiding the sharp Swiss scrunity we would have been forced to face had we baked in Zurich.

And it's a good thing - because we made a lot.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Until next week,

xoxo

KK