First of all, I have some good news. I get lots of emails from readers asking me where they should eat when they visit Chicago. While I’m not in the business of restaurant reviews, I am always happy to suggest some of my favorite places. I have finally gotten around to creating a guide to Lottie + Doof approved sources for good food in Chicago. You can find it HERE or through the menu on the left. I’ll add to the guide as I remember favorite places or find new ones. The page also links to a very useful Google map with the same information. Thanks to Bryan for his help getting this up. It is just the beginning of a bunch of exciting improvements around here. Next up- that recipe index which is woefully incomplete and out of date.

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I wonder what it means that the first two recipes of 2010 are breakfast treats? I am guessing that getting out of bed on these dark, cold, winter mornings requires something more tempting than my usual bowl of cereal or piece of fruit. These Apple Cider muffins will do the trick and have had me looking forward to breakfast for the past couple of days. And lunch. And whenever else I manage to fit them in. They are simple and lovely and keep well. The texture is best on the day you make them but the flavor is best the next day, which I think is a good thing—they evolve.

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I fall in love with Los Angeles a little more each time I visit. This time we were lucky enough to have some really amazing meals. Many of them were at Bryan’s parents’ house—his mom is a wonderful cook and his dad an excellent sommelier. I came home with great family recipes (and some excellent wine) which I will undoubtedly be sharing with all of you as the year progresses. But we also managed to get out for dinner. Rustic Canyon Wine Bar in Santa Monica blew my mind early in the trip. The meal was pretty close to perfect and included a beet salad that may be the best salad I have ever eaten in my life. The pear tart and cinnamon sugar donuts were equally exceptional. I also really loved Church & State in downtown Los Angeles, which some friends recommended. Really outstanding bistro cooking and such a charming atmosphere. If I lived in Los Angeles I would be a regular at both places. If you live in Los Angeles—go!

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After all of those cookies, I need a break. I’m going to take a little time to relax, visit some friends and family in Los Angeles and get my kitchen in order for another year of fun here on Lottie + Doof. Thanks to everyone who has been writing to say they are baking cookies, I love hearing that. If anyone is looking for another delicious edible gift to make for their friends or family, I highly recommend the caramel corn recipe over at Orangette. I am kind of obsessed with it. I have made it 3 times in the last week and ate my fair share of the stuff. It is pretty perfect. And if you’re looking for a last minute gift or a way to spend some cash from Grandma, check out the L + D Gift Guide.

I hope everyone is enjoying time with friends and family and looking forward to 2010! Be back in a week or so with some good food. xo

I hope you guys have enjoyed the 12 Days of Cookies as much as I did. It has been a blast! I think I will be putting my cookie sheets away for a little while—we both need a rest.
For the final cookie I chose one of my favorites, and a holiday classic, a shaped and decorated butter/sugar cookie. My problem with these types of cookies is that they are too sweet and kind of one note. What is great about this recipe is that the addition of cream cheese into both the dough and the glaze provides a little bit of sourness to counter the sugar. The dough is so easy to make and roll out that there is no excuse not to try these. If you are short on time or just feeling lazy, you can certainly form the dough into a log and slice and bake the cookies as needed.

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Next stop: design*sponge! Not only will you get another cookie recipe, you will also get to see some photos of the spread of cookies I prepared for a 12 Days of Cookies Party we hosted in our new home last weekend!  You’ll even get to see a dorky photo of me.  It is fun to see many of the cookies together in the same space and it was really great to have our friends over to sample some of the cookies! read more+++

Hanukkah is here! Christmas and the New Year are right around the corner! Here are some suggestions for kitchen-related things you might like to give or receive! 10 things I love. I hope you do too! Check in later today for the 11th cookie!

These salt & pepper shakers from Heath Ceramics are one of my favorite things—beautiful and really nice to use. They have a good weight to them.

Fennel pollen! Peggy Knickerbocker wrote, “If angels sprinkled a spice from their wings, this would be it.” read more+++

I’m a little surprised that there aren’t more recipes with orange. Sure, a little zest gets thrown in now and then. But I am talking about desserts that really feature orange as the primary flavor. They are rare. I love oranges and I am always on the lookout for recipes that go beyond that bit of orange zest to brighten them up. Orange was what attracted me to these cookies initially, but I am also developing a little bit of a thing for meringues. This recipe combines the two and made it onto the list of 12 cookies from the very start. As Nancy Silverton promises, they are seriously addictive. They also offer a nice change of texture from the usual cookie tray offerings. They are bright and fruity with a nice satisfying crunch. They are one of my personal favorites from this collection of cookies. One more thing that needs to be said about these—and I hope this doesn’t turn some of you off—they taste like FRUIT LOOPS! Seriously. In the very best way possible. Like the fanciest Fruit Loops in the world.

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I was hoping to find another slice and bake cookies for this collection. Something that could be made in advance and stored in the freezer or fridge until you were ready to bake. Because, let’s face it, this is a crazy time of year and we don’t always get to bake when we want to. Cook’s Illustrated seems to be the king of slice and bake cookie recipes and when I saw this recipe for Toasted Coconut Cables, I fell in love. Yes, I fell in love even before I tried them. They seemed easy to make, could be made in advance and were full of toasted coconut. I really do not enjoy sweetened shredded coconut, but when you toast it—entirely different story. It is transformed. read more+++

By now you know that I don’t care much for chocolate. Unfortunately, most of my friends do and so I thought I would try to selflessly include one chocolate recipe in this cookie carnival. My goal was to find a recipe I might actually like, which means there needed to be lots of butter and other distractions. These Mexican Chocolate Cookies are the perfect compromise. They are a rich chocolate-flavored butter cookie spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper. They are tasty and were a big hit with my friends. They are especially nice with a cup of coffee. And because they are slice and bake, you can have freshly baked cookies whenever you like which makes them perfect for the holiday season.

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