COCOBEAT

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Blog text about recipe with images” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] One of the best things to do at home to keep warm in winter is bake cookies. It is an annual ritual that I enjoy every year at this time. When I was young I was a cookie monster – loving and eating so many cookies – but they were made by my sisters’ or lady friends’ hands. One day when I was a kid, my father brought home cookies similar to these Sablés. I still remember the sweet and buttery richness. My father was not a particularly educated person, but when it came to food he was very gourmet, and he wasn’t frugal about it at all. He is the one responsible for me inheriting the addictive habit of eating cookies while sipping French brandy or Scotch whisky in a hand warming glass on cold nights (a habit I still cannot s

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Blog text about recipe with images” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] Yet another day of frost this winter. The air is chilled in the morning, but the sky is a brilliant blue with no clouds. Apples are in season and plenty can be found, neatly displayed in stores. They look pretty, but have no aroma; plus I really do not care to see a mountain of apples, each wearing a plastic sticker/barcode. Of course, it is not only apples, but bananas, pears… almost everything. It makes it seem that there are no more natural products, just manufactured food. I live in the heart of Silicon Valley, so I take advantage of a lot of today’s advanced technology. I have an iPhone, even though I really don’t need it. But people think there is something wrong with me if I do not have one. I work in or near my h

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Blog text about recipe with images” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] Even in sunny California we get winter. The air has started getting cold in the morning, and in my backyard most of the leaves are down. There are no more tomatoes or eggplants, but the rosemary and jasmine never stop growing and are now as green as they get. My backyard has two different kinds of rosemary. They are so vigorous that I need to trim them constantly, otherwise my entire tiny backyard would be buried under rosemary. Winter means more baking to enjoy, particularly now during the holidays. It makes the house warm and smell sweet. Where I grew up, winter was much colder than here (except for time in Hawaii), so it was a big joy when I was home from school. My sisters were busy baking all kinds of sweets, and I