ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE AND COOKIES
Most years I avoid thinking about
Valentine’s Day due to the images that it can conjure up: painful
loneliness if one is single, or saccharine, mushy, lovey dovey
coupledom (equally painful). Really the most enjoyable V-Days that
I’ve had were when I was a child and it was an excuse to eat lots
of sugar in the form of chocolate and red candy. Nothing makes me
feel more connected and loved than sharing in a binge of red frosted
cupcakes. As such, I’ve decided that adulthood should follow a
similar theme, and this year I plan to make kitschy edibles to
provide to my Lovey Dovey and other sweethearts in my life.
Naturally they should consist of chocolate, and the requisite pinky
red hue of the holiday.
So how to demonstrate my feelings in an
appropriately ostentatious way? Nothing says “I care” more than
homemade baking - even more so if they happen to be homemade Oreos
(oh yeah). A labour of love indeed, as this is quite a process:
first you must make the cookie, whip up the filling, and then
sandwich it all together. The filling can be a soft pastel pink or a
deep garnet red, depending on how crazy you get with the red food
colouring.
The most important ingredient of
course, is L-O-V-E :) Honest! In all seriousness, Ayurveda places
strong emphasis on the quality of one’s mind when you are making
food, because how you feel and think will be imparted on what you
make. A loving mind makes loving food. Who knew that corny
sentimentality and traditional medicine could overlap…
Serve these, and expect to be high on
love and sugar.
Valentine’s Day Oreos
Makes 12-16 cookies.
For the cookie:
3/4 c. unsalted butter, at room
temperature
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/2 c. white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the filling:
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 c. icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
red food colouring
1 c. icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
red food colouring
Mix together all the dry ingredients.
Using your hands (because it’s more sensual), mush in the butter
until the mixture is crumbly. Add the milk and vanilla and continue
mushing the dough with your hands until it starts to stick together
and look cohesive. Shape into a log (2.5” diameter) and wrap in
plastic. Refrigerate for at least an hour until the dough gets firm.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the
oven to 350 F. Unwrap the dough and slice thinly. Place dough
slices on a lightly greased baking tray about 1” apart and bake for
about 10 minutes until the middle of a cookie is dry. Let them cool
on a wire rack.
When you are ready to assemble the
cookies, beat together the ingredients for the filling. Add 1-2
drops of food colouring if you would like a pale pink, more if you
are veering for lush red passion. Smear a teaspoon of filling on a
cooled cookie, and sandwich it with another cookie. Do this quickly
or you will start to eat everything before it is assembled and you’ll
have to make another batch. Serve with love.
If you are interested in learning more
about Ayurveda, Adrienne is hosting her next Ayurvedic
workshop at Moksha Yoga Kildonan on
Saturday February 16th, 6-7:30 pm. Ayurveda, the sister
science of yoga, is the traditional
Indian approach to healing. This workshop will discuss the main
Ayurvedic principles that we will use to set the intentions for a
10-day lifestyle cleanse to detoxify the body and mind. Attendance
of a previous workshop is not required. Please visit Moksha Yoga Kildonan's website or the event's Facebook page for more details.
Comments