Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

Since Easter is upon us and the current most popular search here is “Easter Cookies” and it’s looking like we’re not going to be decorating new ones this year, we post an Easter Cookie Drive By linking photos of Easter Cookies gone by — Baked naked and amateurly dressed.

Final decorated Easter Cookies are linked here.

And more decorating ideas can be found here.

This post is probably more like an Easter Cookie drop off than drive by. 😉

All I have to say is good thing Girl Scout Cookies are only sold once a year, as I can’t stop eating their Samoas now known as Caramel deLites.  They are more like mini Candy Bars, than Cookies.  I’m limiting myself to (2) boxes this year, until I run out and pass another Girl Scout on the street offering more.  Do you have a favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

It’s Taco Tuesday again and time for a Lucky Taco.

It’s a Mexican Fortune Cookie and today my fortune reads — Get your sunglasses on, your world is about to get a lot brighter.  Sounds good to me!  And I also learned the Spanish word for shark: tiburon.  Important stuff, but where are the lottery numbers?

Lucky Taco’s taste good too — Red is Strawberry flavor.  Check out their website to learn more about the different shapes and flavors they offer. 🙂

We broke in and stole everything.

I’ve always wanted to do this.

This Gingerbread House tasted good too — Learn more about it here.

Bûche de Noël is a traditional French Yule Cake and the pictured is from Gelsons.  We received a lot of tasty deliveries at the office this week and I tried my first Bûche de Noël — YUM!  It’s now on my “To Make” list to be displayed during a future Christmas post.  Perhaps next year.

And with respect to the Gingerbread House from Torrance Bakery (and Sarnoff), we love it and can’t wait to dig in with a swift karate chop to the snow covered roof — We’re admiring it for now, but once Christmas passes, it’s scheduled to be devoured, if not too dry.  The Gingerbread man is already missing.  Who ate it?

Merry Christmas to YOU and your family!

It seems that more and more good things are coming from trucks.  Not only did Sarnoff’s Summer Splash include a couple Kogi BBQ trucks as previously reported, but also Coolhaus, a gourmet Ice Cream Sandwich truck.

Coolhaus Ice Cream is all natural and handmade.  As you can see, the Ice Cream Sandwiches are gigantic too — And the paper wrapped around ’em is edible.  How fun is that!

They’re happily served from converted chromed-out postal trucks with pink tops.  The flavors are cool too — Dirty Mint Chip on Chocolate, Vanilla Bean on Chocolate Chip, Meyer Lemon on Ginger Cookie, Chocolate on Snickerdoodle, Brown Butter with Caramelized Bacon on Chocolate Chip, plus other varying flavor combinations.

Believe it or not, several reported that they ‘really liked the Brown Butter with Caramelized Bacon on Chocolate Chip’ Ice Cream Sandwich — They said it didn’t taste much like Bacon, but more like Butter Pecan Ice Cream.  That’s a good thing.  Coolhaus is a cool house.

* We’re not sure what’s up with the serious looking photos on the side of the truck!?  It looked a little trippy. 🙂

Cost Plus is so worldly.  It’s been one of my favorite stores for over 20 years.  I recently took a trip to England, Australia, Thailand, India, Italy, Japan, Sweden, China and a few other stops along the way at Cost Plus World Market.  Did you know that it’s a food lover’s paradise?  It truly is!  Many travel far and wide for the Wine deals at Cost Plus, which are impressive alone, but you’ve got to check out the large food section.  It offers hundreds of sought after treats from all around the world.  If you’re looking for something in particular and haven’t found it elsewhere, give Cost Plus a call.  If they don’t have it and there’s a demand, they may consider offering it in the future — They strive to satisfy their customer’s needs.

Since there is so much FOOD to try and report about at Cost Plus, Nibbles of Tidbits will be posting a series of articles highlighting many of them.  We’ll be calling it our Cost Plus World Series.  For starters, we are planning a Chip Taste-Off, whereas we’ll be sampling several of the numerous bags of Chips available.  After that, we’ll be going on a Gourmet Picnic bringing only Cost Plus goodies (it can easily be done), and then we’ll be touring several regions for dinner, etc.  The possibilities are literally endless.

Note:  The first honorable mention goes to Nyakers Gingersnap Cookies from Sweden (above).  They’re Sweden’s Best Cookie and Cost Plus built a facility to have them made especially for you.  They are phenomenally crispy, thin and tasty.  We’re hooked.  Be sure to follow our Cost Plus World Series to learn a lot more.

For a school project, Chef Lexi from Kids in the Kitchen made a State Cookie.  How fun is that!  The kids loved shaping the Cookies into their chosen states.  Lexi picked South Dakota, since she traveled there in a motorhome for vacation last year.  It’s a little hard to tell, but Mount Rushmore is made of a mound of Frosting with 4 Marshmallows on top.  She drew on the faces with a marker.  Too funny — I love it.

Note:  Enlarge photo to see the South Dakota Cookie details better.

As you may or may not know, the Nibbles of Tidbits’ Cookie Crew decorates Cookies every major holiday.  Happy Easter!  This year our lovely host, Loretta single-handedly made Cupcakes, Chocolate Dipped Oreos, Chocolate Dipped Graham Crackers and White Chocolate Bunny Lollipops.  The rest of us decorated Sugar Cookies, after toasting with a glass of Champagne and Chambord.

Decorating Cookies (and other goodies) is a fun way to spend time with friends and family, then you (and related lucky recipients) get to eat ’em.  Prior to preparation, we had Fish Tacos, a Wedge Salad, Hummus, Bruschetta and Pita Chips — Creative expression flows with a full stomach.

To provide the latest decorating ideas (although somewhat amateur), we post photos after every gathering.  And now all is on Nibbles of Tidbits as a handy reference to be utilized each year.

Happy Easter from the Nibbles of Tibdits’ Cookie Crew (below), two (Nora and Patty aka Tricia) are not shown in the photo — Pictured (l-r) are Loretta, Kim, Michelle and Shelly (me).

Jesus is the reason for the season!

There’s a lot of people searching for — cookie decorating ideas, valentines day cookies, valentines treats and related.  We’ve posted about them before, but couldn’t fit ’em in this year.  Instead we provide a quick link to our best Valentine’s Day Cookie posts thus far.  Have a great one!

* Instead of decorating Valentine’s Day Cookies this year, we’ll be decorating St. Patrick’s Day Cookies, so come back to see them around March 17th.

A few of us recently gathered to sample goodies from a couple local bakeries.  We were compelled to do it in honor of Valentine’s Day of course, and for extra enjoyment while watching The Bachelor (btw, I know who Jake is going to pick — If you want to know too, read here).  Back to the sweets.  To prepare for this tasting event we picked up a variety of goodies from two different bakeries we often pass by, but have yet to stop in until now.  Both bakeries are on 17th Street in Costa Mesa near Newport.

The large box of yummies was transferred to the red plate above — They’re from Champagne French Bakery Cafe.  And the smaller box of varied Cookies spread out below are from French’s Cupcake Bakery.  The main similarity between the two is the word “French” and they’re both offering beautiful heart shaped Sugar Cookies for Valentine’s Day.

There are other differences between the two, thus we can’t pick one over the other.  We’ll just mention that we liked French’s Cupcake Bakery more than we expected to.  Champagne French Bakery Cafe had always looked aesthetically better to us.  We preferred the Sugar Cookie from French’s Cupcake Bakery, who appears to sell hundreds of baked goods.  CFBC serves “quality French cuisine.”  They prepare sweet and savory items.

* Unfortunately we don’t know the official names of all, but our favorites included the Lemon Tart — We just loved the look of the charred Lemon on top.  And honorable mentions go to the square Coconut Cookie directly above and the mound Nut Cookie two over on the left.  Sorry, that’s the best we can currently do with description.

** For more Valentine’s Day Cookie photos and how to decorate them, click here.  We made ’em last year and will soon be decorating again.

Update 04/28/10: Champagne French Bakery Cafe has closed its 17th Street/Irvine (Newport Beach) location.

Nibbles of Tidbits gets to decorate a lot of Cookies — Our Christmas Cookies this year seem to look a little better than those decorated last Christmas.  The Cookies don’t need to look perfect, because the most fun is had decorating them with friends.

The Sugar Cookies start out naked as you can see, but gave permission to be posted here.  🙂

When starting with a blank canvas it’s hard to envision how to decorate some Cookie shapes, thus it’s helpful to view others’ Christmas Cookies for ideas.  We post our Cookies each year to remind ourselves of the possibilities and to assist you with the same.

Our family, friends and co-workers appreciate the Cookies of our labor — We like hand delivering the decorated Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Dipped Oreos & Graham Crackers, and molded White Chocolate Peppermint Cottages to awaiting smiles.

Our holiday Cookie decorating tradition is always a great time — We suggest you do the same with your friends.  The Nibbles of Tidbits ‘Official Cookie Crew’ includes all pictured below l-r, Michelle, Loretta, Kim, Nora, Patty (aka Tricia) and Shelly (aka Me).  Merry Christmas ALL!

As a fairly new tradition, a group of us get together to decorate Halloween Cookies.  These photos are from our 2nd annual gathering.  Above the Wicked Witch of the West is melting into several Cupcakes — They’re made with green frosting, a upside-down Fudge Striped Cookie, a Hershey’s Kiss and orange piped icing.  And the other is what the Wicked Witch of the East must have looked like after the house landed on her.

All the professional looking goodies in this post were prepared by our host, Loretta Shaw (a Personal Trainer by day and Creative Baker by night).  She seamlessly prepared the Chocolate Dipped Oreos and Graham Crackers, the White Chocolate Tangerine Bark and the Eyeball, Finger, Hand and Gummy Worm Cupcakes, while the rest of us decorated the Cookies she baked.

As noted in previous posts, decorating holiday Cookies, Cupcakes and Candies is a fun way to spend time with friends.  We have a blast, then get to take home the goodies to our awaiting families, who are much appreciative.  Enjoy the ideas and have your own Cookie party.

Be sure to check back every year, because we 5 Cookies (and another BFF missing from the photo) plan to keep decorating edible Cookies for many years to come.  Loretta (middle) is located in Orange County — If interested in having professional looking (and tasting) goodies prepared for your holiday party, please leave a detailed comment here and we’ll get back to you.  Happy Halloween!

The sacrifices of our American Soldiers past and present is tremendous, and it’s the reason I’m free here today to make homemade Biscotti.  Let’s honor, respect and support all who fought and fight for continued freedom and liberation.

This is the first time I’ve made Biscotti — Since it’s pretty dry, I’m generally not a fan.  I added Powdered Sugar and drizzled Chocolate for sweetness and excitement.  Overall it was fun learning how it’s made, but I like Cupcakes, Pies, Cookies and other goodies a lot more.

Recipe: http://tiny.cc/5Qqwq
(The recipe calls for “2 Egg Equivalents” but I used 3 medium Eggs.  I also added chopped Almonds and Orange Extract).

What is Biscotti?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscotti

What is Memorial Day?: http://www.usmemorialday.org/

Did you know these Circus Animal Cookies ceased production last year?  They did, but Kellogg Company acquired the trademarks and original recipes to ensure they continue.  That’s pretty cool.  I truly haven’t had them since I was a kid, but the flavor is just how I remember it.  I brought them to the office and all said the same.  The taste transports many back in time.

The aesthetics of the Cookie was also commented on.  Some think the Frosting could be a little thicker, since you can see the Cookie on several White Circus Animals.  Others commented that the animal shapes could be more defined, and all should have more nonpareils.  It’s like the Cookie assembly line runs a little too fast, HA.  I agree with the observations, but does it really matter since it tastes the same?  Some think so, and some think not.  I’m still eating them — They’re good.

Happy 95th Anniversary Mother’s Brand.  That’s a good thing.  My favorite Mother’s Cookie is the Oatmeal. 🙂

http://motherscookies.com/

Easter Cookies appear to be the most colorful of Holiday Cookies — It’s all the bright pastels, which may make them the most fun to decorate.  Here we decorated Bunnies, Ducks, Easter Eggs, Tulips, Sunflowers, Carrots, Butterflies and Sheep.

As previously reported on Nibbles of Tidbits (See ‘Cookies’ Category), I get together with my BFF’s to decorate Sugar Cookies most holidays.  It’s a fun way to spend time together and we get to take home yummy cookies for our families.

A special thanks goes to Loretta for baking all the Cookies and making all the Icings, whereas the rest of us just show up with FOOD, Wine & Coffee, plus the intangible — jokes, political debates, funny stories, concerns, questions, irritations, and gratitude for the time spent together.

Chocolate Dipped Oreo Cookies matching the season are always a part of our Cookie Decorating gatherings.  This time the Oreos were dipped in White Chocolate and then swirled with a hot pink colored Chocolate — They’re so good each time.  Happy Easter!

See more Cookie Decorating Ideas here.

These Valentine’s Day Cookies are the masterpieces (if you will) of five fabulous friends together again decorating Sugar Cookies made by Loretta, the intrinsic Orange County Baker.  We’re decorating our way through the 2009 holidays.  It’s a fun way to spend time and our families love it when we bring home trays of yummy Cookies — And Candies, to be posted HERE soon.

More Valentines: http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=2273

Christmas Cookies: http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1551

Halloween Cookies: http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1214

The Best Chocolate Dipped Oreo Cookies are made by Princess Loretta.  She’s the one in the middle with the floating Cookie Tiara.  Her baked goods are much appreciated by her friends, family, clients, and expanding outward.  And her Cookies are magically better than any we’ve purchased.  She uses the best Chocolate for her Oreos.  That’s just one reason why I’m lucky to be one of her best friends.  And since Valentine’s Day is coming up, she made White Chocolate Dipped Oreos with red stripes.  Everything she makes somehow tastes extra good.  Cookies, Cakes and Candies are her forté, after training clients in her Huntington Beach Pilate’s Studio. 

This day a group of us happily got together to decorate Valentine’s Cookies, and take home pretty boxes of Chocolate Dipped Oreo Cookies, White Chocolate Cherry Kisses and more.  The decorated Cookies will be posted and linked soon.  Gracias Loretta – It’s always a great time!

SPECIAL NOTE:  If you’re local (Orange County) and want your own Chocolate Dipped Oreos by Loretta, please tell Nibbles of Tidbits HERE in a comment.  More Chocolate Dipped Oreos: http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1247

The preparation of these Orange and Chocolate Cookies was inspired by a monthly food photography contest (DMBLGIT) submission, my love of all things Orange flavored, and the lack of ingredients to make the same Cookie. 

Since I had to make them immediately, I used Brown Sugar instead of White Sugar, and Grand Marnier in place of the Orange Extract.  Aside from those substitutions, I prepared the recipe that’s linked below.  This variation worked well too, but I may add a little less salt next time.  These Orange and Chocolate Cookies tasted good, though the photos don’t measure up to those posted by the ‘What’s Cooking?’ recipe developer.

Recipe Link to What’s Cooking’s Orange and Chocolate Cookies:
http://whatscooking.us/2008/12/04/orange-and-chocolate-cookies/

January’s (DMBLGIT) Food Photography Contest:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kochtopf/DMBLGITJanuary2009#

Decorating Christmas Cookies is one of our new traditions, thanks to my great friend, Loretta, who makes all the goods.  As previously reported, the rest of us simply show up to decorate, eat and take home our works of art.

Not only do we get to take home our Cookies, but on this occasion we enjoyed, White, Milk and Dark Chocolate dipped Oreo Cookies, Milk Chocolate dipped Graham Crackers, and White Chocolate Peppermint Bark and molded cottages.  As you can see, all look so professional.

The cellophane bags magically turn our labors into gifts.  My office enjoyed much of the above.  Thanks to my wonderful friends for the laughs and goodies.  And Merry Christmas to ALL!

Be sure to check out the related links for more Cookie ideas and to read the story behind the messy apron (above).

Related Links:

http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1214

http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1548

The recipe is real, but the story behind it isn’t.  You must have heard the story about the lady who paid $250 for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe from Neiman Marcus?!  When I heard about it, the amount was $2,500 — You know how stories get exaggerated.  Either way, Snopes reports it to be false.  The full interesting story is linked here.

http://www.snopes.com/business/consumer/cookie.asp

Aside from that, an old friend recently reminded me how “freaking good” they are.  I used to make the recipe a lot and do think they’re possibly the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the world — The blended Oatmeal and grated Chocolate certainly contribute to it.  I usually add Walnuts, Pecans or Macadamia Nuts.  The recipe is linked above and below on an album page I created over ten years ago.  It’s not fancy but includes four bonus recipes if interested.

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

They’re so easy to make.  Just dip Oreo Cookies in melted Milk Chocolate and vuala.  To add the contrasting stripes, melt orange Chocolate pieces and drizzle over the Cookies.  We got ours from Michaels — They offer various colors.  The Pumpkin and BOO Cookies were made with Chocolate molds.  If you’ve never tried a Chocolate Dipped Oreo Cookie, you’re missing out.  It’s a simple tasty treat.  Happy Halloween to you!

Related Links:

http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1214

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home

Decorating Halloween Treats is now a super fun tradition with my best friends.  One friend makes all the basics and the rest of us just get to show up and decorate them.  I’m one of the lucky decorators. 🙂

The Cupcake topping in the main photo is made from ground Oreo Cookies and the goodies in the bags above are Milk Chocolate dipped Oreo Cookies.  The Halloween Cookies are homemade with my friend’s favorite Sugar Cookie recipe, then cut into pumpkins, bats, witches, cats, ghosts, Frankenstein and more.  The Cupcakes are Chocolate.  All are fresh baked and yummy.

Above are just a few of the tools and below is just some of the fun.  After all, we each get to take home trays of Cookies, Cupcakes and Chocolates.  It’s a lot of laughs too, especially with this crazy bunch. 🙂

I rarely post people pictures on this blog, since it’s all about the food, but I’m wearing my Foodbuzz Apron, so I’d thought I’d let them know.  Thanks Foodbuzz!  And a big THANKS to Loretta for doing all the hard work so we can just show up and have fun.

Related Link:

http://www.foodbuzz.com/