These our one of our new favorites.  I love shortbread, it’s quick and easy to make and needs very few ingredients.  And no cookie can compete with it’s tender, butteryness.

I named these cookies California Sunshine for the orange zest that came from our tree and poppy seeds that come from our state flower.

California Sunshine Shortbread
1 stick butter (room temp.)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
zest of one orange
1 tbsp. poppy seeds
1 cup flour

Cream butter, add zest and poppy seeds.  Add powered sugar and beat well.  Finally add the flour and mix until dough is smooth.

I used a shortbread pan (made by Brown Bag Cookie Art).  Spray the pan lightly with oil.  Press the dough into the pan and then poke it all over with a fork.  If you don’t have a pan, you can just roll out the dough to 1/4 inch, cut out desired shape, and bake on parchment paper.  To remove the cookies from the pan, let it cool 10 mins.  Then slide a knife around the edges of the pan and turn it upside down on a cutting board.  Cut into wedges while it is still warm.

Bake in a 325 F oven for about 30-35 mins if you are baking in a cookie mold or if you cut out individual cookies about 10-12 mins.

Recipe adapted from the recipe that came with the shortbread pan.

This one of the recipes that really has morphed from other recipes over the years.  I’ve been making it this way for at least 12 or more years.  Now I’m not sure where it began, but here’s my take on fried rice.  It’s got some ingredients that you might not be familiar with (like Maggi Seasoning and Chinese Five Spice), but it’s pretty low in fat, quite healthy, and definitely tastey.

Chicken Fried Rice
4 cups of uncooked brown rice
2 eggs
1 chicken breast or 1 pork chop (cubed into small pieces)
5 slices of bacon (cut into 1/2″ pieces)
4 large cloves of garlic (minced)
2 inch piece of ginger (pealed and finely grated)
1 tbsp. veg. oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
a few splashes of Maggi Seasoning
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. Chinese five spice
4 spring onions (finely chopped)
1/2 of a red pepper (finely chopped)

Cook your brown rice however you wish, I use a rice cooker.  When it is done, lay it out on a cookie sheet and place in the fridge for a couple hours. This dries out the rice and makes for a better finished product.  Often I just make extra rice earlier in the week when I make a curry or something else.

In a wok or deep fry pan, cook the bacon and chicken.  During the last couple of minutes of cooking the meat add the garlic and ginger.  Remove the meat from the pan, and add the veg. oil.  Beat the 2 eggs in a bowl and season them with salt and pepper.  Pour the eggs into the hot pan.  Cook until the eggs are quite set, then flip the eggs over like a pancake and cook the other side.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Put the meat, garlic and ginger back in the pan and add the rice.  Add the soy sauce, Maggi and Chinese five spice.  Stir the rice, making sure to get to the bottom of the pan.  If the rice is sticking, add a little more veg. oil.  When the rice is heated completely through add the spring onions, red pepper, and the fried egg that has now been sliced into thin strips.  Cook the rice for another 4-5 mins.  We just eat it as a complete meal, no sides necessary.