Mondays are hard, I know. You had so much fun over the weekend. You relaxed. You watched whatever you wanted on television and hung out with your kids.Now it's Monday and through no fault of its own, this day is totally unloved by you.
Does that seem fair? It's the start of the workweek to be sure, and therefore it is not as pleasant as Sunday. However, I think that Wednesdays are far worse than Mondays. When you wake up on Wednesday, you haven't made much progress through the week. You're dead center, is where you are.
Friday, we can all agree, is terrific, but that's only by virtue of its proximity to Saturday. In fact, some of the most irritating work issues arise on Fridays afternoons. My husband once played golf with an executive who announced that he never returned calls after noon on Friday because nothing good ever comes up on Fridays.
Regardless of what you think about that man's work ethic, you have to agreed that he has a point. Fridays carry their own special burden of being so very close to a day off that when something happens to remind you that Friday is still a work day, you feel particularly put out. At least I do.
Yet Monday is the one that gets no respect. Poor Monday.
Have a cookie to help you get through your case of the Mondays, won't you?
Pine Nut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Geoffrey Zakarian's recipe at Food and Wine
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons pine nuts
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar, anise seeds and salt at medium speed until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour and beat just until the dough begins to come together. The dough will be quite crumbly. Scrape the cookie dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a log about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap and refrigerate the cookie dough until chilled, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the cookie dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Press 3 or 4 pine nuts into the center of each cookie. Bake the cookies for 13 to 14 minutes, or until they are golden brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes: 1 dozen
7 comments:
Those look lovely! A cookie for Monday is a very good idea.
Huh. That's a good point about Mondays and Fridays. I don't mind Mondays as much as some people I think.
What an interesting cookie recipe. I'm not much of a baker, but it never occurred to me to make cookies with pine nuts. I've only ever used 'em for pesto.
although it's now tuesday, i'll take a cookie to make up for my wretched case of the mondays and what looks to be an equally challenging tuesday. :)
Cookies on Mondays, sounds good to me! (and Tuesdays, Wednesdays...)
What a great cookie!! I love it!
It's funny...but I love Mondays. I like the feeling of being productive and starting a new week. But I don't think I started liking them until very recently! I know before I was a stay at home mom I really disliked Mondays!!!
Hi Sarah, thanks for the comment over at Just Cook It, glad you enjoyed the post.
The cookies look great but I have to say that as far as the days go, Tuesday sucks more than any other. Monday is Monday everyone knows that. Wednesday is the hump day - the by the time Wednesday lunchtime comes round you are more than halfway through the week and it's all downhill from there. But Tuesday. Bleurgh. Greta post!
It took me a whole week to respond to your comments! See, that's a big case of the Mondays!
Foodycat: Thank you. Mondays needs all the help they can get.
Melissa: I love the buttery taste of pine nuts so much, I add them to salads, pasta (as pesto or on their own), sandwiches, you name it. Only seemed right to try them in cookies (and once again, they hold their own!)
Grace: I hope that the rest of your week improved. Tuesdays can be as much of a drag as Mondays (or Wednesdays, for that matter)
Pam: I'm with you!
Aggie: Thanks! You are very kind toward Mondays, so I hope that they show some love back.
Alex: Welcome to Fritter! You've got a point about Tuesdays. Tuesdays don't even get the dignity of being despised as much as Mondays; they don't have the optimism of Wednesdays; they just ARE.
Now that it's Monday again, I need another cookie.
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