all of my dreams right now are filled with mayonnaise and salami sandwiches on brioche and pizza corner pizza at judy’s tavern and chicken pot pies, and no amount of butter fried matzo and gruyere sandwiches will fix this. what are the rules about it being sundown *somewhere*? can i have chametz if it’s sundown in australia right now? can i crawl into a bed made of steamed bun and donut???

*googles images of bagels*

on the bright side, i have fallen in major wuv with this matzo chilaquiles recipe and am planning to make it with flour tortillas after today. also fargo passover was a great success and i got down with some serious shakshuka this weekend because my friends san fermin stopped by on the way from their show in minneapolis to their show in winnipeg. it was so silly and great seeing them romp around on the farm and i feel like such a mom but they’ve definitely all gotten taller, or i’ve shrank. they gave me a cassette (a cassette!) of their side project, stereo trash, which according to them is supposed to be pretty bad, but eggboy and i listened to it in our buick on the way to drink cider with sheila and dave and it brought us both back to an alternate high school reality where we’re kind of punk-ish and too cool to care about anything, i dunno, i was into it.

speaking of eggboy, he’s really been smelling like spring lately (sweat + dirt) so spring planting should begin here any day now. it was supposed to begin yesterday but there’s rain in the forecast so he’s been putzing around the shop and driving tractors around the yard and coming in for chilaquiles and jelly beans every few hours. maybe we’ll get to see beauty and the beast before planting starts, that or donnie darko. we meant to watch donnie darko on easter because of the easter bunny appearance in it but it turns out it's not on netflix or amazon prime or anywhere (?) can someone loan me the dvd?

not only will i be ending passover tonight with salami, brioche, pizza, pie, banh mi, bagels, and/or donuts, but i’ll also be engaging in these fresh mint infused chocolate chip cookies from andrea’s delightful new book, dishing up the dirt. i love this book! it has this great approach to seasonal cooking that is refreshingly honest, unfussy, and down-to-earth, and andrea’s descriptions of farm life are so beautiful and timeless that they make me want to actually get in the fields and get all dirty and stuff. bonus: so many of the recipes are heavy on the tahini, yay!

these cookies are basically a really fantastic soft chewy chocolate chip cookie that remind me of the cookies from my junior high cafeteria (which is a really good thing), and they’ve been infused with mint! you know how i feel about chocolate and mint. the extra step of infusing butter with mint makes your kitchen smell sooo good and it eliminates the need to wait for your butter to soften so it is a big win in the world of chocolate chip cookies. they’re the type of thing that you can scoop into balls, freeze, and bake one-by-one as needed. and next time i think i’m going to try infusing them rosemary! that would be good, right??

mint chocolate chip cookies

makes about 12 large cookies

from dishing up the dirt by andrea bemis

ingredients

1/2 c (1 stick) good-quallity unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces

1/2 c firmly packed fresh mint, roughly chopped

1/2 c firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

1 egg, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

heaping 1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips, plus additional for topping cookies

clues

place the butter and mint in a small saucepan over medium heat. melt the butter, swirling the pan occasionally. the butter will foam and froth, then crackle a bit as it cooks. a few brown bits may form, and that's totally fine. once the mint is fragrant (after 2 to 3 minutes), set the mixture aside to cool for 30 minutes (you don't want it to solidify, just to cool down and let the mint infuse the butter). strain the butter through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to press into the mint leaves to extract any juices.

in a large bowl, beat together the butter and both sugar until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes. add the egg and vanilla, beat for 1 minute longer.

in another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, scraping down the bowl as needed. fold in the chocolate chips and continue to mix until well incorporated.

scoop the dough into a ball; place it on a piece of parchment paper, wax paper, or plastic wrap; and flatten it slightly into a thick disk. cover and refrigerate it for 1 hour. about 15 minutes before you're ready to begin baking, place racks in the center and upper third of your oven. preheat the oven to 350ºf and line two baking sheets with parchment.

use a scant 1/4-cup size scoop to form the dough into mounds on the prepared baking sheets, placing no more than 4 cookies per sheet. leave about 3 inches between each cookie; they'll spread while they bake.

top each cookie with a few extra chocolate chips and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until they're golden and lightly brown on the bottom. let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. let one baking sheet cool to room temperature before reloading with the remainder of the dough.

store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze them for up to a couple of months.

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-yeh!