Happy New Year!

Last week, the Advertiser's food section ran an article on almond cookies. They're a local favorite here, especially around this time as many folks bake batches for their Chinese New Year celebrations. They looked easy and fun, so I made some. They're OK; although I did get the thumbs-up from Noel, if I were to make them again, I'd try a few tweaks. First, they call for a tablespoon of almond extract (for a relatively small number of cookies). I had the cheap, imitation stuff, and too much of it is not a good thing. I think the flavor would be better with almond paste and a hint of extract. Just my humble opinion. ;) Also, they're too biscuit-y for me. Way too crunchy. I like a softer cookie, so I'd do a little experimenting there, too. But for festive, they get high marks. If only I had a small tiger stencil. Instead of a simple red dot of food coloring, I would have liked to go all out with an image on top. Maybe next year.