Of late, Pinterest has been my go-to source for fun food and craft ideas. Looking at all the pretty pictures helps me decide if a recipe is worth tackling (the exact reason why I don't care for cookbooks without pictures in them). I found this yummy pin entitled "Laura Bush's Texas Governor's Mansion Cowboy Cookies." It was quite a mouthful and I had no idea what it was referring to. What caught my attention was the description - the BEST cookie you will ever eat! Since I already have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, I was excited to try this so-called best cookie ever.

The recipe is part of the Family Circle magazine's traditional First Lady Cookie contest, stemming from Hilary Clinton and Barbara Bush during the 1992 presidential elections.

2401 St Ann St  

New Orleans, LA 70119

http://www.yelp.com/biz/willie-maes-scotch-house-new-orleans

Our version of the "holy grail" of food is to find and eat the "best" version of a dish. While in our experience, the question of "what is the best...?" is subjective and can never be answered, the quest to find the answer is not a fruitless one. We've been lucky enough to find the answer for ourselves a few times, partaking in what is widely considered the world's best hot dog and steak.

Nothing brings back more childhood memories for me than an english muffin. From my elementary school's white cheese filled-one to the butter & apple mint jelly topped muffins we ate in Mr. Robles's high school classroom during class council meetings, nothing beats the comfort of a chewy, toasted english muffin with each nook and cranny collecting pools of cheese, butter or jam.

My first taste of sea urchin or uni was a rather blah experience. Maybe it was the weird, creamy texture or the briny-sweet-salty flavor combination but I just couldn't get myself to like it. Ray teasingly likes to refer to my first uni tasting as a BR or "before Ray" experience, indicating that it was my immature palate that couldn't appreciate how yummy uni was. Needless to say, since I've met Ray, my appreciation for uni has grown exponentially.

This is one of my favorite go-to weekday recipes for a yummy meal. Lemon and kale go hand and hand, like peanut butter and jelly. The tart acid breaks down the tough fibers and masks the bitterness of the kale. Throw in some sausage and you have yourself a satisfying meal. For healthier alternatives, opt for quinoa or whole wheat pasta and turkey sausage or Soyrizo.

During our recent NYE trip up to the Bay, we made a last-minute decision to go to Town Hall for dinner, where we had the most deliciously addicting jalepeno cornbread, baked in a corn ear-shaped iron skillet. The bread was sweet, fluffy and moist (almost cake-like) - a far cry from the dense, drier cornbreads we normally find in restaurants.

I was super excited to see the cornbread recipe in the Town Hall cookbook, Cooking My Way Back Home by Mitchell Rosenthal.

We've recently developed a love for polenta, an Italian dish made from cornmeal and served up in various shapes and forms. The most basic is the "mush", which is basically cornmeal cooked in water/broth and served in place of rice, pasta or mashed potatoes. Polenta mush can also be packed into a dish, refrigerated until firm, sliced and then grilled or fried. Toppings like honey and ricotta or caramelized onions and goat cheese are then sprinkled on top for a yummy appetizer.

With the Chinese New Year around the corner, fortune cookies are a fun and yummy way to ring in the new year with some hand-written well wishes for prosperity, good health, luck and wealth. I found this recipe on Food and Wine magazine, courtesy of Joanne Chang of Boston's Flour Bakery. It serves as a great butter cookie base and lends to different variations. I'm thinking chocolate or coffee fortune cookies by swapping out the green tea powder for unsweetened cocoa powder or espresso power.

We had our first taste of homemade risotto during a recent Mammoth trip - Drunken Risotto to be exact, courtesy of Rachel Ray. It was delicious and I was super excited to try the recipe at home. After a lot of research, I settled on a popular Giada recipe from the Food Network.

My favorite thing to eat at Fogo de Chao is their cheesy bread, or Pão de Queijo. The bread is crunchy on the outside and chewy in the center. The texture is similar to mochi, thanks to the use of tapioca flour in place of all-purpose flour in the dough. Both Korean and Japanese bakeries have a similar version of this bread, replacing the cheese with black sesame seeds. 

This recipe comes close in taste and texture to the version served at FdC.
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