I. AM. SO. FULL. Of love! Just kidding. Sort of. Love ya, Reuben! Seriously, though... I'm so full, I feel like I'm going to pop. It has been a very big weekend of eating for us. What else is new?? We attended our 3rd annual Dim Sum Beer Brunch on Saturday. It's not a fancy beer pairing where each course has a beer perfectly selected to sip on. It is more like a giant feast where dumplings and peking duck is coming out every minute and everyone is crushing beers like they are college freshman. It's a lot of fun. The beer was provided by Fort Point Beer Company and the event was held at Hong Kong Lounge, which made things pretty convenient for us. It was a 10 minute walk from our apartment, so we were able to burn off like 2 dumplings. That's something! I love this event so much. It combines Reuben's love of beer and my love of dim sum. Plus we get to enjoy it with our friends and meet some kind new strangers too! I think bonding over dumplings is the best way to make new friends : )

On Sunday we feasted again. Where are my stretchy pants?? Our friend, Will, generously prepared for us and about a dozen of his other friends an enormous southern feast. I helped out in the kitchen by doing what I do best... frying balls. Balls of boudin, fried and breaded balls of pork sausage and rice. And I tried turducken for the first time! The concept of turducken sort of disgust me. The idea of an animal being stuffed inside of another animal... and then another animal. I but I tried it for the sake of food research! I liked it! It was an interesting medley of flavors and textures. The meal was big, porky, beany, turduckeny, and pudding-y. There was banana pudding and I almost died. I don't think I have told you this before, but I LOVE BANANA PUDDING. I find it so odd that I love it, because I am not a huge fan of soft desserts. I love me some crunch and crispy bits. But banana pudding is where I make an exception. I love the sweet spot where the custard has just softened the vanilla wafers. The best texture! I've never made banana pudding for myself before, due to fear of me sitting alone all night eating the entire thing until I puke. That's a real fear. So I was super excited when Will told me there would be banana pudding. I scooped myself a big glop of pudding, blissfully enjoyed every bite, and then realized that my stomach had reached it's limit. I'll wait another year to more banana pudding. Too dangerous. 

So this next week will be full of vegetables, low on carbs, and maybe some running. I have I told you I started running?? It's sort of awful but I sort of like it. Valentine's day is this Wednesday though, so we will probably have carbs and a few select vegetables that day. Reuben is making pizza! I'm sort of hopping that he makes it heart shaped, but I think that's too cheesy for him. Did you see what I did there??? hehehehe

Valentine's Day is not a huge event for us. Instead of buying each other presents, we normally make something edible for each other. Reuben makes pizza typically. But for our first Valentine's Day he brought me dim sum in bed and I was like "oh, damn. he's the one." In years past, I've made him crappy gluten free bacon scones, mediocre everything bagels, and a delicious lamb dinner. I've getting a little better with my gifts each year obviously. I'm not exactly sure what I'll make this year... but inspiration can strike at any second! Since we feel so stuffed at the moment, I'm sure he'd be happy if I just made him a salad for Valentines Day.

Cookies! These are a V-Day twist on my Marbled Tahini Sugar Cookies! Instead of regular and black tahini, I kept these as plain old sugar cookies with the added pink color from beet powder. Crushed freeze dried strawberries work as well! That's what I was originally going to use, but my strawberries got a little stale and weren't crushing properly. Food coloring is totally acceptable too, if you don't have random pink powders in your pantry. They are classic cookies, not too sweet, slightly buttery, and soft with a subtle crisp edge. The perfect cookie for an easy stress free Valentines Day! Or Galentines!!

Valentine's Day Marbled Sugar Cookies

makes 28 cookies

steps:

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of your standmixer or with an electric beater, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in egg and almond extract until combined.

Slowly add in the flour mixture and beat at low speed until dough is evenly mixed. 

Scoop out half to two thirds of the dough into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in the fridge.

Add in beet powder or pink food coloring into the remaining dough and beat until incorporated. Place in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to chill for at least one hour. Chilling the dough helps the cookies keep their shape.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide both doughs into 3 equal parts. Arrange the dough balls in a 2x3 arrangement, alternating colors. Give it a quick knead to get the marbled affect. Try not to over knead so the color doesn't get too muddy.

Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4" thick. Lightly dust the dough with flour if the dough is sticking. You can divide the dough in half if it is easier for you to work with that way. Lightly flour your cookie cutter and cut out your cookies.

Arrange cookies on parchment lined baking sheets, about 1" apart from each other. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Bake for less time if your cookies are smaller.

Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

materials:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks (16 Tbsp) butter - softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp beet powder or crushed freeze dried strawberries
(or pink food coloring works too)