A Still Life

As I mentioned recently, I am not spending as much time on meals lately. The last really good cooking/baking day I had was our Black Friday Thanksgiving meal. Otherwise, we’re eating very simple meals that take under 30 minutes from start-to-finish. Today, I’ve moved my stack of three years of November/December Southern Living, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and Martha Stewart LIVING magazines to the side table in our living room in hopes of actually thumbing through for daily inspiration as well as party food ideas.

But on a day like to day, our first generous snow flurry of the season, I find myself drawn to recipes that don’t build a meal at all. My growing list does not require a trip to our favorite shop for local veggies and eggs, though last night’s viewing of How To Cook Your Life did help restore some cooking energy. No, my list is all in the baking category:

This gingerbread has been on my list for a couple of weeks, and the ingredients have been in the house for almost as long. Perhaps today is the day.

Then there’s this dreamy apple-rosemary tart that knocked my socks off at a fantastic celebration just over a week ago. I almost made it last night, but the darling dear and I decided to watch other people cook instead. And The Boy just walked through the living room eating one of my honeycrisps…so this one waits.

And finally, we have the molasses cookies I’ve been eyeing. At that same celebration, our hostess made button-sized molasses cookies, and I keep thinking about those great flavors. I like the large cookies by Framed, and it’s one of the only recipes I’ve come across that doesn’t call for shortening. They won’t be the soft little bites I tasted last week, but I suspect they will be delightful.

Where should I begin?