Elegant Chopped Vegetable Salad

Similar to the diced salads I enjoyed long ago at El Gaucho in Amsterdam, this elegant chopped salad is a refreshing accompaniment to any meat dish.

Celery, cucumber, and red onion are chopped into small bits and tossed with vinegar and oil for an elegant salad. ©M-J de Mesterton

Elegant Chopped Vegetable Salad

Similar to the diced salads I enjoyed long ago at El Gaucho in Amsterdam, this elegant chopped salad is a refreshing accompaniment to any meat dish.

Celery, cucumber, and red onion are chopped into small bits and tossed with vinegar and oil for an elegant salad. ©M-J de Mesterton

>Elegant Chopped Vegetable Salad

>Similar to the diced salads I enjoyed long ago at El Gaucho in Amsterdam, this elegant chopped salad is a refreshing accompaniment to any meat dish.

Celery, cucumber, and red onion are chopped into small bits and tossed with vinegar and oil for an elegant salad. ©M-J de Mesterton

Courtesy of M-J de Mesterton

M-J’s Elegant Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookie Design ©M-J de Mesterton

Christmas cookies, adapted from a 1950s recipe by Antoinette Pope (The Antoinette Pope School of Cookery). I’ve been enjoying these since I was a child. Here are the ingredients:

One half-pound of butter

Two and a half cups of flour

One cup of powdered sugar

One tablespoon of milk (full-fat, of course)

One teaspoon of vanilla (imitation vanilla is just as good as the real thing)

One egg yolk mixed with two tablespoons of cream (to brush on top, as a base for sprinkles–adds nice flavor, believe it or not)

If you are going to use icing and a piping bag to decorate these Christmas cookies, skip this decorating step.

Method:

The ingredients, except for the egg yolk and cream, are mixed together and rolled out to a quarter (1/4) inch thickness. Then cookie-cutters are employed; the things are brushed with egg yolk/cream and sprinkled with colored sugar. I prefer Swedish pärlsokker, or white pearl sugar. Transfer the cut-out cookies to an upside-down cookie-sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

©2007

M-J de Mesterton

M-J’s Elegant Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookie Design ©M-J de Mesterton

Christmas cookies, adapted from a 1950s recipe by Antoinette Pope (The Antoinette Pope School of Cookery). I’ve been enjoying these since I was a child. Here are the ingredients:

One half-pound of butter

Two and a half cups of flour

One cup of powdered sugar

One tablespoon of milk (full-fat, of course)

One teaspoon of vanilla (imitation vanilla is just as good as the real thing)

One egg yolk mixed with two tablespoons of cream (to brush on top, as a base for sprinkles–adds nice flavor, believe it or not)

If you are going to use icing and a piping bag to decorate these Christmas cookies, skip this decorating step.

Method:

The ingredients, except for the egg yolk and cream, are mixed together and rolled out to a quarter (1/4) inch thickness. Then cookie-cutters are employed; the things are brushed with egg yolk/cream and sprinkled with colored sugar. I prefer Swedish pärlsokker, or white pearl sugar. Transfer the cut-out cookies to an upside-down cookie-sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

©2007

M-J de Mesterton

>M-J’s Elegant Christmas Cookies

>

Christmas Cookie Design ©M-J de Mesterton

Christmas cookies, adapted from a 1950s recipe by Antoinette Pope (The Antoinette Pope School of Cookery). I’ve been enjoying these since I was a child. Here are the ingredients:

One half-pound of butter

Two and a half cups of flour

One cup of powdered sugar

One tablespoon of milk (full-fat, of course)

One teaspoon of vanilla (imitation vanilla is just as good as the real thing)

One egg yolk mixed with two tablespoons of cream (to brush on top, as a base for sprinkles–adds nice flavor, believe it or not)

If you are going to use icing and a piping bag to decorate these Christmas cookies, skip this decorating step.

Method:

The ingredients, except for the egg yolk and cream, are mixed together and rolled out to a quarter (1/4) inch thickness. Then cookie-cutters are employed; the things are brushed with egg yolk/cream and sprinkled with colored sugar. I prefer Swedish pärlsokker, or white pearl sugar. Transfer the cut-out cookies to an upside-down cookie-sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

©2007

M-J de Mesterton

Courtesy of M-J de Mesterton

Elegant Pork Chops with Roasted Pineapple

For more photos, and a pictorial of how to make M-J’s Elegant Pineapple Pork Chops, 

see this previous post.

Elegant Pork Chops with Roasted Pineapple

For more photos, and a pictorial of how to make M-J’s Elegant Pineapple Pork Chops, 

see this previous post.