We have a sweet little neighbor boy who learned to walk this summer. I’ve watched him progress from timidly taking a few steps while holding onto his mom’s hand to now, where he is practically running trying to keep up with my big boys. He’s tenacious that one, bonking his tender head on the very not-tender pavement, letting out a few cries just before he’s up and going again.

Last week I felt like that eager, wobbly little toddler. I launched the cookie mix business with great excitement, a bit of fear and a lot of unknowns. Moments after launching I felt my first bump but far from my last. There were shipping issues to work through which led us to changing our online storefront just two days after launching. Then we had some rogue flour that resisted staying in its pouch and never had I prayed so hard for chocolate not to melt while being shipped across the country. All of this made for a few bruises, mostly on my ego but each time I got back up again, still wobbling but standing.

I forgot for a moment that even in cookie mix its all about the journey. Getting from point A to point B. Refining, improving and growing without letting the bumps keep you from moving.

No journey is complete without others who are willing to walk the path with you. So many times this past week I reached out for a hand to help pull me up and there were several there to choose from. We’d brush off the dust, iron out the kinks and eagerly watch our little cookie mix get better and better (thank you Julie and Gabe and my mom and aunt who drove several hours to come help restock the mix).

I’m still a bit wobbly and bruised but just like our little neighbor, I won’t let a few bumps keep me from running, in fact I’ll just use them to grow, learn and become better.

So, after all of that we’re celebrating with a cocktail.

This simple cocktail has been our Summer ’14 go-to and as we ease into Fall it’s turning into our Fall ’14 go-to.

It comes together quickly with just a few ingredients but like all things done simply, quality is key. Go for the good bourbon (doesn’t have to be THE best but does have to be good), spring for the good tonic and whatever you do use these Luxardo Maraschino Cherries. I feel a bit badly every time I urge people to try these cherries because once you taste them you are ruined for all other maraschino cherry. So start saving your pennies because a jar of these is a pretty one but oh so worth it.

A few more things to add before we cocktail. Thank you, thank you to all who ordered last week. We sold out of our stock two days! But don’t worry there is plenty more mix where that came from and now it’s new and improved. The flour is staying put, the chocolate resisted melting, shipping has more options and the label is now in color!!

If you want to get your mix shipped this week just be sure to place your order by Tuesday at 12 am (PST). We ship out every Wednesday so even if we sell out this week there will be more by next week.

Thanks again for all the support. I read every single comment on the last post and they were like bandaids to the little bumps.

Congratulations to those who won the mix! And to the rest of you, now you are free to buy your own here!

Now, cocktail. CHEERS!

Bourbon Tonic

Makes 1 cocktail

1 1/2 ounces Bourbon

3 ounces Tonic

Slice of lemon

1 Maraschino Cherry

In a rocks glass with ice add the bourbon and tonic. Give a gentle stir then finish with lemon (I like to squeeze it first, Gabe prefers to just drop it in) and a cherry.

It’s interesting to me how we all respond differently to recipes. For me there’s a physical reaction when I come across a recipe that I can’t wait to try. Something inside me jumps as if to say, “yes!” I’ll respond by creasing the corner of the page to remind myself to head right to that recipe the next time I pick up the book. Sometimes, and I love this when it happens, I’m so inspired by a recipe I’ll tuck the book under my arm and carry it with me right into the kitchen and immediately get started. For this reason butter always sits on the counter at the ready in case a perfectly softened stick is needed and my excitement can’t bear to wait.

Three words, “hot ginger tea” was all it took to get me straight into the kitchen. The other motivator could have been the fact that I immediately imagined this spicy tea with a splash of bourbon to transform the tea to a toddy and with that our evening’s cocktail was made.

The original recipe comes from David Tanis’ new book, One Good Dish. The book is filled with simple, inspiring and beautiful food. This recipe acts more of a guide and has only four ingredients, including the water. It’s tea in its most basic form. Sliced ginger; woody and hot, dance around a pot of boiling water until the water is deeply spiced. A bit of honey swirls in the pot to sweeten the mix and then for me – a lot of lemon. One its own it is the perfect tea for soothing, warming and healing the sickness that is rampant this time of year. With a splash of bourbon it warms more thoroughly, is suddenly festive and becomes the perfect accessory for drinking on the couch right next to the Christmas tree.

Before you head right into the kitchen I have a few things to tell you about. First of all, my husband and I are teaching a 2-day Food Photography workshop at Aran’s (Cannelle et Vanille) beautiful new studio. It’s just a few blocks away from Pike Place so we will spend some time shopping and shooting there. I’ll take you to a few of my favorite places in the market and we’ll gather some supplies for shooting and eating. I will walk you through my process, we’ll talk about editing, lighting (natural and inexpensive ways to shoot with artificial light) and Gabe – who is the tech genius – will be there to explain technical things better than I can. Where I tend to focus on composition and emotion, he balances me with his numbers and ability to explain things without using my Ritz cracker illustration which no one seems to ever get. The perfect team. I’d love to see you there! You can purchase the workshop here.

Next thing. I’m speaking at The Big Traveling Potluck!! I’m so honored to have been asked and I can’t wait to spend the weekend with many of you. Check out the line up – some of my favorite people will be there.

And finally, (this one gives me butterflies) I’m opening up a pop-up shop this Sunday (12/22) from 2-4 pm! The best slice and bake cookies you can imagine (chocolate chip with sea salt and white chocolate peppermint with vanilla salt) will be available. Right now I’m getting pounds and pounds of Valrhona chocolate and enough butter to make me happy for quite a while. Each package of dough will easily make 1 dozen cookies – enough for you AND Santa. If you are still looking for the perfect hostess gift, this is it. Come by early to make sure you snag yours! You’ll find me and my cookie dough at 1405 NW 70th St 98117 on Sunday. For those of you who aren’t in Seattle, be patient. I’m thinking about how I can get dough to you in 2014.

Hot Ginger Toddy

Recipe from, One Good Dish by David Tanis

Serves 4- 6

4 cups water

3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons honey

lemon

bourbon

In a small saucepan bring the water and ginger to a boil. Reduce the heat then simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the honey, taste and add more if you'd like.

Strain out the ginger. Pour 6 ounces or so in a cup, add 1/2 - 1 ounce of bourbon to the cup and finish with a good squeeze of lemon. Taste and add more bourbon or lemon. Garnish with a piece of lemon and enjoy while warm.

The tea keeps covered in the fridge for 2 weeks.

“What do you think it is?” I asked Gabe as we talked about the lack of connection we had both been feeling lately.

“I’m not sure.” He replied solemnly and with an exhausted sigh.

Our marriage had been moving smoothly just a couple weeks before this conversation. In fact we were better than smooth. On a recent trip away I had a moment standing next to my husband where I felt that there was no one else I would rather be with. I squeezed his hand a little tighter, looked up at his face and said, “You’re my favorite person.” “You’re mine too.” He said.

Then we came home and life settled back into a hectic routine. Even though we were only gone two days it seemed like it took us two weeks to get back into a rhythm.

“I’d like to think it’s because we haven’t had a date night in two weeks.” I said sort of jokingly. For one reason or another we pushed our at home date night’s aside. Well, I know the reasons. One of the weeks we went out on an actual go-out-of-the-house-date – to a fundraising dinner with a bit of schmoozing that I’m so terrible at. It was a wonderful evening of great food and wine for a cause that we both feel passionate about. And the other reason I hesitate to even mention because it’s ridiculous and almost a little too honest, even for me. But the truth is that I felt ahead on the book, you know, the one I’m writing about the importance of dating my husband. So I spent that week retesting a few recipes but never had an actual date night. The truth is, the book is keeping me incredibly accountable to actually dating my husband, which is an incredible gift but when I felt ahead on the book as a project, I failed to make our date night the priority it needs to be.

We had been going through our days feeling like the other would rather not have the other around. Little biting comments filled our conversation and pulled us further apart. But that night I was planning a date. A little reluctantly as I didn’t want to continue to face our awkward and at times painful conversations. When we let too much time slip in between the dates it is sometimes hard to establish that routine again but we did it.

Sitting down to dinner our conversation was like starting up an old car. It chugged, sputtered and smoked before the engine revved and purred. We cleared the table of our dishes then settled back onto the couch where we continued to talk until 1 am. It was a great conversation but that’s not really the point. We just talked, connected and felt like best friends again. I chose him over sleep the way I used to when we were dating and staying up way too late just to be near one another.

I fell asleep in his arms feeling hopeful and incredibly connected to him.

“It really does work.” I said to him the next morning.

“What works?”

“Our date nights.”

Of course I know they are good for us and I know that I enjoy indulging in the food that accompanies our date nights at home but to see us go from weeks of frustrating disconnection and feeling distant and against one another then after one night feeling completely connected  – well, it gave me even more passion for the book we’re creating.

So this week, even though our date night falls on the night America will be blowing things up and we’ll be driving 4 hours in a day to celebrate the blowing up of things with my family, and photo shoots, hanging out with friends and all the other stuff that fills up a week, I knew we needed a date. I kept it simple, which I’m not always known to do. We put the kids to bed in our too hot house and made ourselves a drink – well, more like a dessert/drink hybrid.

He plopped a still soft scoop of nectarine sorbet into my glass and splashed the bourbon and lemon juice that pooled in the bottom of the cup onto the table. Immediately the rose colored sorbet began to melt into the drink infusing the bourbon with its fragrant sweetness. Little specks of vanilla bean floated to the top while Gabe twisted a ragged piece of lemon peel over the glass misting it with a citrusy and floral perfume. I quickly snapped a few pictures of our cocktail before I whisked it off the table to enjoy it and my husband while the evening sun, still warm, set behind our neighbor’s house.

When we build the date nights into our weekly routine I find us eager to seize other opportunities to connect. A drink in the evening with my husband becomes a moment to build on intimacy. Even quick conversations throughout the day become easier and help build on our friendship. We send one another texts throughout the day – pictures of the kids, funny things we see, or just checking in on the other. Little things that add up to big things in the course of a lifetime together.

At the root of it all we both desire to be one another’s person. He wants to see me as his best friend and I long for him to be the one that I want to hang out with if given a choice of anyone. And when we both feel that then we are happy in the marriage. If something feels off it’s so often because our friendship is off.

The point is, these nights work. Dating your husband, your wife, whoever you doing life with, really works. I’ve seen it again and again in our marriage and the more I date my husband the more excited and passionate I become to spread this message. I feel like that 90 year-old juice fanatic, “If it works for me it can work for you.” And I guess I’m okay with that because we’re talking about marriages and relationships here – it’s a big deal. Just as we strive to feed our bodies foods that nourish and help our bodies thrive we need to feed the friendship in our marriages.

A relationship is built on friendship and friendship takes time. If you want to have a good friend you have to make the time.. If you want to be a good friend, that takes time too. And if there happens to be a bit a bourbon alongside that friendship building, well, I’m okay with that.

Bourbon Float with Nectarine Sorbet

It turns out Gabe and I have a thing for cocktails. The original plan for the book was to include a few but we just can’t stop ourselves. We are just having too much fun coming up with new ideas and all the “research” that goes along with that. This is one of our current favorites. Seattle is experiencing a bit of a heat wave currently and this grown-up float/slushie-type drink does good work of chasing away the heat. If you prefer peaches you can easily swap those in. I was also thinking plum might be nice.

If bourbon isn’t for you, go ahead and make the sorbet anyway. It’s good one to have around. The presence of alcohol in the sorbet is needed to prevent the sorbet from freezing too firm but you can use something other than bourbon if you prefer.

2 pounds (4-5) nectarines, pitted

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1 vanilla bean, split

2 tablespoons bourbon (or other alcohol)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

pinch salt

In a small saucepan combine the brown sugar, water and vanilla bean and bring to a boil, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Carefully stir in the bourbon and cook for 30 seconds more before removing from the heat. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean (wash it off and set it in your sugar container to flavor your sugar with vanilla).

Puree the nectarines in a food processor. Carefully add the warm sugar syrup, lemon juice, zest and salt.

Strain this mixture and chill.

Process in your ice cream machine according to the instructions.

If this is destined for a cocktail you could just use the puree to flavor it or stick it in a freezer-safe container in the freezer and drag a fork all over the surface every 20 minutes or so. After a few hours you will have a fluffy granita which would make for a great bourbon slushie.

For the cocktail:

Place 1 1/2 ounces of bourbon in your cup along with 1-2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice. Add 1 scoop of sorbet to the cup and finish with a splash of club soda. Twist a piece of lemon peel over the cup before gingerly tossing it in. Enjoy. Preferably outside with someone who you are quite fond of.