I probably say this about every new product, but seriously, this is my favorite cookie right now and we’re excited to introduce them in the shops here and here.

On a different note, since so many of you have asked about my photo setup in the past, I use a Canon G7 which is a point and shoot, but is much more substantial than the tiny models and has many nice manual settings which is what I only use. I don’t have any lighting equipment and just rely on natural light. This has worked well for the most part, but I am seeing the limitations of my beloved little camera and also with the lack of proper lighting equipment. I’ve always enjoyed taking photos and took classes in art school, but never took it seriously until this past year when I started this blog. Taking photos just might be my favorite thing to do these days. So what am I dreaming of? Yes, a digital SLR, a good flash and a lightbox. sigh.

You know, they’re like an adult version of an oreo with a white chocolate filling. As soon as we tasted the earl grey hearts that went into our Valentine’s Day box, we knew that we had to try them as a sandwich cookie. They made their debut at the Pop-up Flea in Dumbo last Sunday and sold out with quite a few people coming back to purchase more. We’ve been dragging our feet with getting them into our shops, and I still would like to get better photos of them, but thought we’d put up a sneak peek. Look for them this week!

Almost forgot! Our feature as Snack of the Day airs on the Rachael Ray show tomorrow, March 3rd.

We’ve put together a small gift box of cookies for Valentine’s Day, in addition to our rosy vanilla marshmallow hearts. The linzer cookies are subtly peppered with pink peppercorns and feature a tart, red currant jam center, but we’re most excited about our Chocolate Earl Grey Hearts! They are small, bite-sized chocolate cookies with an infusion of Earl Grey tea - so elegant and so delicious. We like them so much that we’re thinking of making them one of our year-round regulars, and may even try sandwiching them with our white chocolate filling that is currently in our pumpkin cookies.

And not because I want to, but because it’s fast approaching and we have to. Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that I never really thought about. It’s pretty cute when you have kids, I guess, but when you’re in high school and your school has this thing where you can purchase a flower for somebody and then it gets publicly delivered to all the recipients during homeroom on Valentine’s Day for all to see, whether you get 1 flower or 5 or 10 or NONE, then yeah, it kinda sucks. In any case, here we are, thinking about hearts and flowers and flavors that are red and pink. This is a pink peppercorn linzer cookie that we’re experimenting on with different jams and Mark’s been trying out marshmallows in the shape of a heart. I also really want to get this idea going that I have for our etsy shop. Now that we sell across 3 different venues online, I’d like to experiment with our etsy store and try listing some non-food things (but still food-related), but it’s just a matter of finding the time. We’ve gotten quite busy again, and this week has unfolded much drama that we are mulling over and still trying to figure out. Can’t say much more about it here except to say, we just want to sell cookies, why does it have to be more complicated than that?

Our chocolate gingersnaps were the cookies that got Martha all excited. We’ll have full packages of them tomorrow at the Brooklyn Flea/Time out NY holiday fair, “Gifted”. We almost forgot that we had holiday events lined up for the next three weekends and it’s putting us over the edge to have to make even more packages of cookies, but ironically will be the first chance Mark will get to sit down and have a moment that’s not spent baking or packing. So it’s all good. I planned on helping the table out tomorrow, but we’ve decided that a better use of my time would be to work. Our mode of operation is to tackle and focus on a few tasks a day, so today, for example, I trimmed 175 strips of 3 inch decorative paper that wraps around our boxes. Whatever it takes…

These cute little mini gingermen are being delivered tomorrow morning for a photoshoot for OXO. Made from our Brown Sugar Gingerspice recipe, they may make an appearance at our shop closer to the holidays.

Our fall pumpkin ginger sandwich cookies are at our etsy shop now and I have to say, I am in love with this cookie. It’s just so seasonal for fall, what with the pumpkin and spices. The cookie is slightly crisp on the outside and softer throughout, paired with a pretty great white chocolate filling that is spiked with white pepper to undercut the sweetness that white chocolate can sometimes have. Our friend Christy who was over yesterday was the first person to try it and judging by her reaction, she enjoyed them too. Mark will also have some at the Brooklyn Flea today if you are around the Fort Greene area - looks a bit misty out there, but hopefully it won’t be a complete wash.

I’ve been way too busy these past few weeks as many of you may have guessed. I haven’t posted any recipes for a while, that’s for sure. What have I been doing? Here’s what I did Friday, as an example. In the morning I woke up and got breakfast for the kids before taking them out to the playground. Then it was back home to get them some lunch and print my invoices for the day’s deliveries. I dropped Mia off at school before driving to Carroll Gardens for delivery #1. Delivery #2 was in Manhattan (with heavy traffic on the FDR Drive). Then up to the Bronx to pick up a month’s worth of flour, chocolate and the like. The drive back to Brooklyn took an hour and finding a parking space took 15 minutes. Next stop - the kitchen to bake a few dozen more cookies to be shipped the next day. Back at home I needed to print shipping labels, assemble nine gift boxes and six etsy orders, and pack it all to be taken to the post office. Somewhere in there I had to make dinner - frozen cheese tortellini (I am not ashamed!). And, to top it all off, we got the kids in their pajamas, loaded up the car and drove out to Jenna’s parents for a weekend of shopping and apple picking. The kids went straight to bed from the car where they both fell asleep and I did the same soon after.

OK, that may have been one of my busier days, but you get the idea. I actually had a few hours with nothing to do last Tuesday so I took the opportunity to try out two new recipes. The first is a Spiced Pumpkin Sandwich Cookie. I took my favorite gingersnap recipe, added pumpkin, and sandwiched them with white chocolate. The cookies are actually quite cakey, not unlike a whoopie pie. Jenna is particularly fond of this cookie and we may start selling it online soon - it is almost October, after all. The second cookie I tried is a chocolate drop cookie with toasted cumin. Sometimes I feel like I’m running out of spices to incorporate into my products, but nothing as of yet has any cumin. I thought it would pair well with dark chocolate, a combination which sounds unlikely but is actually not totally unheard of. The texture might need a little work, but I absolutely loved the flavor. I even topped them off with some cocoa nibs for a little extra crunch. My only hesitation is whether or not anyone will actually buy a Chocolate Cookie with Toasted Cumin. Would you?