Butter obsession

I tried an experiment the other day, I made the same batch of cookies three times and only changed one ingredient- the butter. Sounds crazy I know, and I'm not even going to tell you how much I paid for some of the butter.

First a little background to explain all this craziness- (and sorry, it's a bit long)

For starters last summer John and I had the opportunity to go to Europe because of his work, we took total advantage of the opportunity for a reduced-price vacation (work only paid for his plane ticket, and the stuff in Germany). Because we had this opportunity to go over there, we wanted to make the most of it. When were we ever going to get a chance like that again? We spent a day in London, and a day in Paris, and then headed off to Germany for his training class. I was prepared to love London (although I didn't know how much), but I didn't have high expectations for Paris- "woo-hoo, a bunch of rude people, the Eiffel tower, and some art." I was going to have a good attitude and enjoy myself, but my expectation level on the whole experience was pretty low.

Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised. I loved it. The people we came in contact with were very nice, the art and history was amazing, the Segway tour was the funnest thing ever- and wow the food was divine. I mean holy cow. Even John couldn't get enough. He couldn't get enough croissants, and I couldn't get enough pastries. Why? I wondered. Why is it soooo much better here? Is it the atmosphere? Is it the ambiance? Is it the fact that I am half way across the world enjoying the vacation of a lifetime with just my beloved? I couldn't answer that.

And this relates I promise- I mentioned before that I do this food blog for myself and my kids, and anyone else who wants to check it out, is more than welcome. I love sharing these things with others, but it's not the 'why'. However, during these past few months, I would check out other "food blogs" and I started noticing certain things about other blogs- People would get involved in things like a "daring bakers challenge" where once a month someone would pick a recipe and everyone on the blog roll would do their best to make their version, and report about it on their blog and everyone can see what you did, and check out other people's. Ok. sounds fun. Maybe someday.

Then there was this other one- "Tuesdays with Dorie". Who? Dorie Greenspan- she has a cookbook. Never heard of her. Do I live under a rock or something? Is she on the food network? It's pretty much the same thing as the daring bakers only someone picks a recipe from Dorie's cookbook and everyone does that recipe. The recipe isn't posted on line, because you are encouraged to go and buy the book. Um. Ok. Maybe someday. However, my interest is peaked- and so one day as I was perusing my local bookstore I naturally found myself in the cookbook section. "What was that one lady's name again? Sounds like she might be related to that guy who was in charge of the economy and the interest rates and stuff? Starts with a G I think..." I never found that particular book - From my home to yours or something like that, but I found another one - Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan . Hello, lover. It came home with me. I'm totally excited about that book. I sat down on the couch to read it, and totally got all excited. Apparently Dorie spends 6 months out of the year living in Paris, and she has collected these recipes from her favorite bakeries all over Paris. Some of these recipes have never even been written down before.

And then she starts talking about butter. A whole page just dedicated to the discussion of butter. Why French butter is superior. How the butter here in the good 'ol US of A is only by law 80% butterfat, which means 20% water. But French butter has stricter guidelines- it's 82% butterfat "and believe me, every percentage point counts" she says. And then- that's just for regular butter- there's even a special designation "AOC" for some butter and those butters tend to be anywhere from 84% to 86% butterfat. And then she mentions some other butter she likes to use when she can get it- Vermont Butter and Cheese company brand butter.

So now- my curiosity is totally peaked. Is this why? Is this one of the reasons why I would happily eat myself into a coma in Paris? I had to know. And on a whim one day I happened to be passing an AJ's fine foods grocery store, and my car steered itself into the parking lot, and before I knew it, I was in the dairy section examining their impressive selections of butter. Much to my delight- they had BOTH the Vermont butter, and some imported French AOC butter. I bought them both.

I decided on a plan to make the same recipe three times and only change one thing- the butter. I would use the two different butters I bought today, and make one batch with the regular butter I buy from Costco in bulk because it tends to be cheapest. It had to be simple though- no chocolate chips or fancy flavors to detract from the butter. I had the perfect recipe. One of the traditional Swedish cookie recipes I picked up from John's aunt Nancy. This one only has 4 ingredients- Butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla. Perfect.

I made three batches and have stored them in the fridge to age for a couple days in three different tins marked only with A, B, or C. Nobody knows which cookies are in which tin, and I am asking several different people to taste test them for me to tell me which one they like the best. Or if they all taste the same. Or if I am nuts. Or whatever. I need to know.

One little tid-bit of info here though- European food items are weighed according to grams, not ounces. So the French butter was slightly over the 1 cup the recipe called for. I got out my scale and carefully cut off the extra butter and saved it for later. I ended up smearing it on a piece of fresh bread, and holey moley. I totally had a flashback of something so inconsequential I didn't even remember it until I put that piece of bread in my mouth- We were sitting in some street side cafe in Paris, enjoying the view and just being happy to be there and be alive and waiting for our food, and I remember smearing some butter on a piece of bread and wondering "how come this butter is just better? Is it because I can see the Eiffel tower from my table? Is it because I am sitting in a street side cafe in Paris having the time of my life? Is it the atmosphere, the ambiance, what?" Now I know.

Bryssel (Icebox) Cookies

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

Cream together butter and sugar, add vanilla, mix well. Work in flour and form into a ball. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a long roll, about 2 " thick.

Take waxed paper longer than roll of dough, sprinkle with a little sugar, wrap waxed paper around the dough, and secure at the ends. Repeat with other half. Refrigerate overnight. Bake as needed.

Slice into 1/4 inch thickness. Bake at 350 for 14-15 minutes until just slightly browned.

Store in wax lined tin in fridge. (they get better as they age in the fridge)