All winters, in my opinion, have a tendency to feel monochromatic (fifty shades of gray skies and dirty snow) but this one has also felt monotonous. The news cycle was almost universally depressing and often the same—political turmoil, all-too visible manifestations of white supremacy, pandemic—as was lockdown life: work, eat, sleep, repeat. I found myself in a rut, begrudgingly performing the patterns of life. I desperately wanted, needed, some newness but didn’t know how to find it within the confines of quarantine. All of the things I would have done pre-COVID (planned a trip, met up with friends, gone to a museum or art show or film) felt closed off.
Apparently, however, I start to get creative if I get frustrated enough. A few weeks ago, I began to look for ways to make the familiar a little bit unfamiliar, to add something of the unexpected to the expected. It’s small things: walking our puppy a slightly different route, attending a live-streamed play, starting a new workout program. It isn’t much, but it’s been enough to help me shake my gloom, and to consider ways to apply that thinking to this blog. I started here, combining two things—rosemary and shortbread—that are familiar, but not familiarly used together. It’s an unexpected combination, but somehow the herb makes the vanilla in the cookie more vanilla-y, the butter more butter-y; adding something new helped me appreciate what was already there. The experiment paid off: not only was the shortbread delicious and worth sharing, it has me excited to think of other ways I might introduce the unexpected into my life, my food, and my writing.
Rosemary Shortbread
Sources: adapted from my mom’s recipe
Makes one 9-inch pan
Active time: 15 minutes; total time 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 sticks butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2–2 tablespoons finely minced rosemary, depending on how pronounced you’d like the flavor to be
Directions:
- Center a rack in the middle of your oven, then preheat it to 350°F.
- While the oven is preheating, cream together the butter, salt, vanilla, and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add the flour and rosemary, and mix well to combine.
- Tip the dough into a greased 9-inch pan and pat it down firmly, distributing it evenly throughout the pan. The shape of the pan is up to you—use a 9-inch square, a round, or a tart pan—as is material; both glass and metal work fine.
- Prick the shortbread all over with a fork. You can do this as decoratively or haphazardly as you want; you don’t need to make it look like a pin cushion, but get in at least 9 or 10.
- Bake the shortbread for ~30 minutes, or until the edges are light golden brown. Let it cool for about 10 minutes before slicing, and cool fully before eating and enjoying.