Finally!!! ... I made my escape out to sea to find sand colored inspiration for this week’s recipe!!!
Last Friday came, and happily I had another random day off work to do with as I pleased. The fact that it was sunny and hot as opposed to a grey day full of rain (like my previous vacation days) pleased me to no end. I decided to take a journey out to the Jersey Shore to a park preserve known as Sandy Hook Beach.
When scouring the web for beaches near New York City, Sandy Hook came up as one of the most pristine and least likely to be overrun on a given weekday. Several other beaches were listed as being closer in proximity to my house, but it’s been a long time since I got in the car and went for an extended drive all by myself. It was just over two hours away to be exact…just far enough to feel like I really went somewhere for the day.
What I found to be great about Sandy Hook was the number of beaches all along the park’s coast. It’s a giant preserve with protected land full of sand and grasses, a military and coast guard base and about 7 or 8 different beaches to go to. I thought it would be fun to try out a couple of spots to get the vibe and see as much as I could. Armed with my trusty beach towel, SPF 30 and some sunglasses I was ready to bake in the sun and let my cares float away on the saltwater breeze.
The ocean was cold. I was surprised considering how hot it’s been, but the water was brisk and refreshing after a few minutes of exposure to the blazing afternoon sun. What I normally find when I go to the beach is I’m interested in floating about in the water and letting the rhythm really get into my bloodstream, soothing and comforting waves carrying me away for the time being...pardon me if I sound like a Calgon commercial. This time, though, I found myself mesmerized by the sandy beach and grasses protecting the dunes from windy obliteration.
Maybe it was the link back to the dunes we saw when we were on vacation in Ptown, but I’m fascinated by the contrast of vivid yellow-green grass against the bleached caramel colored sand. The fact that anything like a grass grows in sand seems somehow miraculous, and watching the blades flow back and forth across the white-hot landscape was strangely touching.
As I laid around attempting to read, constantly drifting off or staring into the blue sky full of fluffy clouds I kept listening to the waves beat against the shore. There were other people around, but not too many and I was able to listen to the sounds of nature and my own thoughts instead of hearing the usual jabber I’m so accustom to on a daily basis. I’ll take towel neighbors on the beach as opposed to noisy train people any day. I’d like to say I lay there thinking very important thoughts or felt tiny like a grain of sand or some other precious nonsense, but I didn’t. I was really there to think about nothing, to get away and be with myself for a little while. The quiet desolation of a windy beach is somber and peaceful and perfect for clearing your head.
The trip out to the beach and back was a little harrowing because of the highways, freeways and rush hour traffic I had to contend with, but I would go back again, or to some other New York beach close at hand. It’s good to test yourself every now and again (at least it is for me) and see if you have the gumption to hop in the car, pick a new place and go. I think it’s a healthy endeavor.
With that said, onto the less than healthy endeavor…this week’s recipe. I shouldn’t really say it’s unhealthy, I mean the main ingredient is peanut butter for goodness sake (good fats and protein…sure I tell myself that), but there is a certain naughty and rich quality to these cookies. Once again stealing a page out of Everyday Food (one of Martha’s magazines) I made Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies.
I was looking back through the blog to see if I had made these cookies before. They somehow seemed familiar to me, and I discovered in a January entry how I’d planned to make these very same peanut butter cookies. Apparently I was derailed at the time by a delicious grapefruit sandwich cookie, but no more! There were two things that really inspired them. “One” was the sand from the beach (though that really just tied into my color story), and “two” (the main inspiration) was our friend Jack’s birthday.
Saturday afternoon, the day after I went to the beach, I started looking for something to bring to the birthday party on Sunday. It’s always a bit difficult to bring just a “little something” to a party and not go overboard with a giant cake. I knew that supporting food elements were the order of the day, so I started looking through several cookbooks. Everything that stuck out to me was either something a little difficult to serve and transport to a casual party or something I couldn’t accomplish in the following morning’s time constraints. Brian suggested that David, a fellow actor at the theatre and Jack’s partner, really liked Nutter Butters when they had them at rehearsal. That’s when it clicked and I remembered the long lost peanut butter cookies.
Reviewing the recipe I found them extremely easy to make, all that was required (as with most things in life) was a little time. These cookies are “freezer cookies” like many of my favorites. The cookie dough is straightforward like most, but then you shape it into two 8-inch long logs and put in the freezer for an hour. This allows you to make uniform cookie slices when it comes time to bake. Many recipes call for “rolling a log”, but I wanted to give it a small, extra and somewhat more professional touch so I shaped the dough into rectangles. After the hour was up they sliced beautifully (but you do have to work fast in the current heat and humidity we are experiencing) and baked in about 12 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the cookies cool, you make a filling out of flour, milk, sugar and more peanut butter. The flour and milk cook together to make a roux, and once it cools is added to the peanut butter and sugar. The filling quickly comes together and is easily spread onto the peanut butter cookies. The sandwiches look quite a bit like Nutter Butters, but the taste is far, far superior. The cookies are moist and crisp, while the filling is rich and luscious. You won’t find any dry, choke-inducing cookies here! Everyone at the party seemed to love them and kept guiltily confessing to me the number they had eaten. I’d call that a success.
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