Cowboy Hat and Horseshoe Cookies

I made these cookies for my friend Briana’s food tasting for the restaurant concept she is developing. It’s called Comal (www.eatatcomal.com) and will be an Austin-inspired restaurant in Los Angeles. Her logo is the cowboy hat and the Comal is spelled out with a horseshoe for the “C.”
The cowboy hats were pecan brown sugar shortbreads from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours (my favorite cookbook) and the horseshoes were Mexican chocolate butter cookies from www.cooksillustrated.com.
I created the nails in the horseshoes from upside-down mini chocolate chips pressed into the cookies when they were hot out of the oven. The tarnished metal look was achieved by an uneven dusting of gold luster dust.
I like the idea of making cut-out cookies without icing because it is more natural than using artificial food coloring. I’m not a strict purist (last week I made a color wheel out of cookies using every food color in the box), but Briana has developed a savory menu that focuses on natural, local, organic ingredients. I wanted to create cookies that reflected that same approach to ingredients--and why not when there are so many ways of achieving great design without artificial ingredients?
For her next tasting, I plan on doing a sugar cookie with the cowboy hat cutter. Again rather than using food coloring, I will tint the icing with sweat tea. I think this will create a great “aged leather” effect for a cookie with a true Texan look and flavor.

Review: Native Shoes...So Much Cuter Than Clogs

After reading this article in the NYT about Sam Talbot, I checked out the Native Shoe line. He is outfitting his entire kitchen staff of the restaurant, Imperial No. 9 in these. I have a feeling he didn’t pick the pink ones, but I did!

Review: Glass Beverage Dispensers

 

My friend Briana of Comal (www.eatatcomal.com) is looking for beverage dispensers for the sweet tea and aguas frescas that she will be serving at her Texan Frito pie, breakfast taco and shaved ice place. Comal is still in development, so for now these don’t need to be commercial brewing machines but rather just pretty items for serving fifteen or so guests at her weekly menu development brunches.
I took a look at all the usual suspects (Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Sur la Table, Cost Plus). For the look Briana is going for (cowboy chic?), my favorite is Pottery’ Barn’s Mason Jar Drink Dispenser (below), but it is expensive at $69.00. (Pottery Barn also has several other styles that are gorgeous but again a bit pricey.) A close second in looks, and ultimately the winner because of price, is Cost Plus’ Mason Jar Water Tank (above). It lacks the detailing of and is a bit stockier than PB’s, but at $14.99 for the same 1.5 gallon size, it is a lot less precious.
Part of the appeal of these dispensers will be to have them lined up with several different drinks in varying gorgeous hues. The ability to purchase several of CP’s’ and achieve a beautiful display is ultimately a better option than purchasing a single one from PB.