Shopping List over 1/2 Done!

After choosing which cookie recipes to make each year, the challenge is finding the ingredients. Now flour, sugars, and butter is always easier to find than say oblates (for lebkuchen).

Some of the shopping problem is finding quality ingredients at a decent enough price. We all know this challenge.There are many choices for vanilla but few are really good. A few are too expensive. And only one really fits my "standard". So finding the right price on the right vanilla is the challenge here.

I found flour was a strange one to buy a couple of years ago. In bag, from a brand I normally do not buy, there was a lot of grit. Thankfully I tend to sift all flour before using it. Lesson learned. After this experience I now sift flour without exception even though I don't buy the other brand any more.

2011 Christmas Cookies - The Shopping Loot!

Other items like oblates and citrus peel can be the biggest challenge. Citrus peel at the grocery store tends to be mostly flavoured rutabega (a turnip!) - not in my Lekuchen!! Oblates (the thin paper-like backing on Lebkuchen) are nearly impossible to find locally. I did find some oblates in the city for the first time in years at a specialty store. The oblates I am using this year are from a grocery store purchase in Cologne Germany when I was in vacation earlier this year.

One item I am having trouble locating is coco butter. I only need about 75 grams or so (2.5 ounces) meaning the one pound bag is just way to much.

So now after a few trips to a few stores my shopping is over 1/2 done! The rest I will finish this coming weekend. Wish me luck with the coco butter.



Special Thanks to Starbucks for the great coffee and Bell for the internet connection this morning while my power was out.