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Kellie:
We are a family who love to cook. We have family recipes from our grand and great grandmother. I read about this book in another book. So I decided to check it out. This cookbook is not for the novices out there. Alice B. Toklas writes like she is having a conversation with you. The recipes are not separated, they are just written into the instructions. The recipes also do not hold your hand and walk you through every step except the ones that do. Some hold your hand all the way through. It reads like a person who has cooked for many years and thinks everybody would know how to do this and then there are some recipes she has just learned so she walks you through every step. Having stated that I loved the book. But I have been in a kitchen for a very long time and have had professional training so I have a comfort level not everyone will have.
Alice B. Tolkas was a fascinating woman. She was Gertude Stein’s partner. Stein wrote an autobiography about Alice in 1933. So when people were pressing Alice to write one about herself she intertwined it in this cookbook insead of fight Stein’s work. Tolkas breaks her life down into times, places and dishes created by or for other people. She was a fascinating person! She lived in Paris with Stein and cooked for the likes of Hemmingway, Mattis, Picasso, and Wilder. This book is fascinating to read and the recipes are good. I think Duckie should try making the fudge since she lives in California.
I decided to make Nameless cookies two ways. One gluten free and one regular.
1 Cup butter
¼ cup powder sugar
2 cups Namaste flour
I did not add the alcohol but used vanilla instead.
Full recipe is in “Alice B. Tolkas Cook Book”
I thought they turned out really well. My roommate Franc said we could not keep them in the house because she would eat them all. Each batch made about 25 cookies.
Mom thought that they could have been baked a little longer. She likes her shortbread to have brown edges.
This is a recipe that works well with both regular and gluten free flour. I look forward to creating more of these recipes in the future!