Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Let's Jam.

OR: How Siri, Rowan and Cassie Got Their Grooves Back.

Siri Thorson grew up on an island. Ask me and I will tell you all about it. Don't ask me and I will still tell you all about it. Aside from cool things like having a hose-filled bathtub in a room into which a peach tree grows, no modern electrical facilities, and a yurt (maybe I made that up), Siri also has a farm. On this farm grows fruit, and out of this fruit Siri's parents make jar after jar after jar of thick and gooey homemade jams. Really. There is so much jam arriving in care packages to our apartment every week that we're at a complete loss as to what to do with it all. As far as I know, there are no jam-based donation drives and, even though I want to, I can't eat toast with jam and tea three square meals a day.

So what do we do? Make thumbprints and pawn them off on other people as thank-you gifts! Excellent.

Disclaimer: I did not really pawn these off as a thank-you gift. They were a very-well-deserved thank you gift.

You Will Need:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 egg, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
jam or jelly
1 teaspoon cinnamon (essential!)

To Make:

Preheat over to 350°. Cream butter and sugar together. Add water, the egg yolk from the separated egg and the vanilla. Blend well. Sift together the flour, cinnamon and baking powder in a separate bowl, then add to creamed mixture bit by bit, blending as you go to keep the mixture moist. Shape into small balls and set them, about one inch apart, on a baking sheet. Press your thumb delicately into the center of each, creating an indentation. Using the egg-white to coat each slightly-indented cookie (trust me, this will be worth it in the end. purely aesthetics, of course). Finally, spoon a bit of your wild-island-made jam into each indentation, making sure to slop and spill and ooze it over the side of each cookie, your hands, the jar, and the counter. Pop into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the crust of each cookie begins to turn a lovely golden brown (thank you egg white). Remove and let cool for as long as you feel like. I waited approximately five minutes.