Christmas Cookies 2020

I went a little overboard baking this year - perhaps too much COVID time.   At least my neighbors are enjoying them.     Thought I would share some recipes here (and so I don't lose them).   To keep this photography-related - This is a reminder I should practice my food photography - the iPhone can only get me so far.

For the 5 cookies, I made dough each day of the week and put it in the fridge.   That was the easy part.    Baking them all on a Saturday was the exhausting part.   Lessons learned - start baking earlier in the day, and let the dough warm up a bit before trying to scoop it out.

Starting with the diamonds at the bottom and going clockwise

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👉Grannie's shortbread 

Those golden diamonds are not in any book, but an old family recipe that I've decided to share.   

Check out the recipe on my other blog post here

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👉Red Velvet white chocolate chip

Recipe here - kind of.  

The website had an 'original' recipe and a 'new' recipe.   Since then (all of 2 weeks ago) the original has disappeared, so the cookie made here can't be made again.  :)

These were a bit of a challenge.  I scooped them while they were still cold, so some baked into weird shapes.   Next time I'll let them thaw a little, then make them into proper balls.   

Next problem were the (vanilla) chocolate chips.   The recipe said coca butter chips are the best to use.  What a mistake.  :)   the chips near the bottom of the cookie just melted and candied the bottom of the cookies.   The rest just turned into puddles.  You can see some of the white globs above.   You can also see some burned chips.   No fun.   Next time I'll try Ghiradelli and see if they last better.

That being said - these were very tasty nonetheless.   

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👉M&M Cookies

Recipe here  Photo at top of page

Every year I try a different M&M recipe.   They're usually good, but not great.    I have now found great.

I'm not sure if it's a good recipe, or if it is because this recipe calls for more M&Ms than usual, plus it has you add chocolate chips for good measure.  These are amazing.   My search is over!

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👉Italian Lemon Ricotta

Recipe here

I tried this on a lark.  I like lemon, and these reminded me of childhood cookie.  Ironically, I thought these were good, just not great.   Maybe the other high sugar cookies have me spoiled.  But they were good and the neighbors loved them.   I tried drizzling the topping on, but dipping the top of the cookie in the glaze worked best, and was actually less messy.

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👉Chocolate Chip

Recipe here  Photo at top of page

Well, who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie.   But like M&M cookies, there's no shortage of recipes out there.  And there are a LOT.     I randomly picked one of the many 'this is the best' from a FB cookie group, and I struck gold.   I think they are literally the perfect chocolate chip cookie for me!  Lots of chips, great texture, and lots of chips.   I definitely need to make these again.

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👉Chocolate Crinkles

Recipe here   Photo above

I got this from a cookie book, but there are a million crinkle recipes out there.  The one above is closest so what my book has.   These are a fun cookie - nice and chocolaty.   You can make these nice and small so they are bite-size.  And they're a fun cookie to make with kids - roll balls like play dough and sugaring them up.    My only tip is to really coat them with powdered sugar.  It melts a little when they bake, so if you have a light coating, you won't have white powder on the cookies when done.   (if you have a cookie like that, you can sprinkle powdered sugar on them afterward.   They'll look different but are still tasty)

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I hope some of these inspire you!!

Enjoy!

Grannie's Shortbread

It's time to share

I've been making my grandmother's shortbread forever - the 'secret' family recipe.  The time has come to share the recipe, with both the family and all the great bakers I'm meeting on FB.   Grannie used to make this in round cake pans, but I find doing it on a cookie sheet gets me some nice crisp shortbread.

Recipe

• 1lb butter (salted)
• 1 cup granulated sugar, plus a handful or two
• 4 cups flour (all purpose)

350 degrees, 30-40 minutes or until golden brown

Directions

Bring butter to room temperature

Using your hands, mix the butter and sugar until well combined

Add the flour a bit at a time (a cup-ish) , hand mixing until well combined before adding the next bit of flour.  You're basically giving time for the flour to absorb the butter.   You could add it all at once, but it would take forever to mix.   Once mixed, let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes to continue to absorb and mix with the butter.

Line a baking sheet with a brown paper bag.  You can cut the bag down to size before baking.   

Form the dough into a long log and place in the center of the sheet.   Using hands (or rolling pin if you like) to spread the dough until it fills the pan,   Do your best to make it even throughout the pan.

Using a fork, make a lot of holes in the dough.  This will help in the baking process and ensure the center is nice and crisp.

Cut any excess bag off and place in center rack int he oven.   Back for 3-040 minutes or until they look golden.

Once out of the oven sprinkle the top liberally with sugar.   Then cut the shortbread into pieces while it is still warm from the oven.   (As it cools the shortbread will crisp up and be impossible to cut without it falling apart).  

Enjoy!!

Details

Once mixed and allowed to rest, it will have a consistency like play-doh.

I work the dough into the try by hand - the uneven look makes the shortbread more interesting.  

You can also roll out with a rolling pin.  Might be interesting to try going over with a patterned roller.

Here I've already cut the bag down - I wait until all rolled out in case things shift on the pan while I'm spreading the dough

The brown paper will absorb a lot of the oil - I never tried using regular parchment paper, that would prevent sticking but wouldn't absorb anything.

The recipe calls for poking holes throughout - I do so with a fork

I assume this is to ensure consistent baking throughout, so I've never tried not doing this.  If you make this in 2 smaller pans you might not need the holes, but they do make the shortbread interesting.

Since you will cut into smaller pieces, you can poke holes freehand.

Shortbread right out of the oven.

I let bake it a little longer to make a bit crisper, (and my friend loves the crispy ends)

You can tell by the color variations that my oven isn't quite consistent, but it all tastes good.

Grab a handful (or two) of sugar and sprinkle it all over the shortbread.

You don't have to be perfect.

Make sure you cut this right out of the oven, before the shortbread starts to crisp up

I make the second cut on the diagonal to be more interesting than plain old squares

I also like small, bite-size pieces.  

These manage to be a nice 2 bite snack

Let cool in the pan an hour or two and then put in a container, or serve!

Will keep in an airtight container for a few weeks

These also freeze well - just allow to come back to room temperature on their own

I hope you enjoy the family recipe!   Leave a comment if you try it and it works out well!

Fan Pier Remnants

The Last Days of the Northern Avenue Bridge

I posted a photo of an old railroad diamond to an Abandoned Railroads group on Facebook.    Well, the post got so many "likes" I figured I would take some more photos of the area, which turned into a blog post...     So here is the history of that diamond.

The diamond that started it all

The area of Boston now known at the Searport District was once, well, a seaport.   Lots of industry.  Plenty of shipping.   And railroads.   Lots of railroads.   Railroads before there was land.  The New York and New England Railroad ran through the Dorchester mudflats, as they were called,  on its way into Boston, terminating close to where the current South Station is located.   

Of all the yard trackage that used to fill the Fort Point area, there are only two remnants left in place.  One is a semi-active yard track that goes by the Convention center, with abandoned tracks continuing to the Design Center.  This is the track that runs next to the South Boston Bypass Road.   The other remnant is some rusted rails near the old Northern Avenue Bridge.   

Seaport area in its heyday

Fan Pier on the left

Northern Avenue Bridge in the center

More New Haven yards in the background

(Photo from internet)

The first track of the diamond has to do with the waterfront end of the yard.

Left in the photograph above (and below) is a stub-end yard.   The yard fans out to a set of team tracks -  This fan track layout gave this particular area the name Fan Pier.  A Federal courthouse now stands on this location. 

(Thanks to Paul Cutler on the History of Boston FB group:   "The Fan Pier (A.K.A. Pier 1) was mostly for team tracks. A "team track" was a railroad term used when setting out freight cars for customers that didn't have dedicated railroad sidings of their own but still needed boxcar-sized shipments. The customer would load or unload the boxcar with a wagon hauled by a "team" of horses, thus the term. In the above pic, note that the tracks fan out to allow extra paved space between pairs of tracks to allow wagons and later trucks to load or unload the cars.")

A better view of the Fan of Fan pier.

The boxcar next to the barge  is the track that is half of our diamond

(Internet photo)

In addition to the fan tracks, another siding followed the water's edge around Fan Pier.  I can only assume this track was used to load/unload freight directly from ships into freight cars.   I have not read any history about that area, but in the image above we can not only see a freight car right next to a barge, but the tracks themselves are on piers.     

The first track of our diamond is this track, as it went between the dock area to the yards, passing right in front of the Northern Avenue Bridge.

Below is a map snapshot showing our waterfront trackage crossing the bridge trackage (circled in red)  For the full map, please follow the link to my friends at WardMaps.   Complete map if the Fan Pier area, from 1919

Fan Pier and Northern Ave diamond (upper left)

The second track of the diamond sent freight from the yards, down the center of Northern Avenue itself, across the Northern Ave Bridge, and directly into downtown Boston.   

Built in 1908, the Northern Avenue Bridge is a "Pratt-type through-truss bridge with a rim-bearing center span that swung open to allow for water traffic".  It is one of three bridges crossing Boston's Fort Point Channel.    (Once an active shipping channel, each of the three bridges used a different method to open.)  The Northern Avenue Bridge was built to have three 'lanes' - one each for North and South automobile traffic, and a center lane containing a railroad track.    

Once over the bridge, this track ran down the center of Atlantic Avenue - servicing all of the warehouses and businesses on Boston's waterfront.   The railroad continued around Atlantic to Commercial street, finally crossing the Charles River to connect to B&M Railroad in the North Station area.   This operation is detailed in the book The Railroad That Came Out At Night - a great read if you are interested in inner-city railroading.   

A sample of the Union Freight Railroad on Atlantic Avenue, and the docks it served, can be seen in this WardMaps map from 1928.  

But time moves on, leaving the heyday of railroading behind.  Freight moved to trucks, and the New Haven Railroad was soon no more.  The old railyards turned into parking lots, which, in the last 5 years, have given way to office buildings, expensive condos, and a rebranding of the area as The Seaport District.     

The Northern Avenue Bridge itself has succumbed to time as well.  It was closed to cars in 1997 due to structural deficiencies, and in 2014 was closed to Pedestrians for the same reason.  (1 block away, the fixed-span  Moakley Bridge now carries vehicle traffic over the Channel.)   In 2015 the coast guard ordered the Northern Avenue Bridge to be locked in the open position, never to carry traffic again, Railroad or otherwise.  (There was fear the bridge would literally collapse, falling into and blocking navigation of the Channel.)

The diamond that started this blog post, and a short pavement-covered track area, are all that is left of this hub of railroad activity.  And even those remnants are living on borrowed time.   In 2020 a final design of a new Northern Avenue bridge (mostly pedestrian-only) bridge was presented, with construction not too far in the future.   

Below are some images of what remains of this once busy junction.

View looking north over the old bridge

Above is your best view.   The pavement is old enough you can see the impressions of the old rails, apparently just paved over rather than removed.     Going from left to right are the tracks that went from the yard to Fan Pier itself.    The tracks going away from you go over the bridge into Boston.

Some additional views

The bridge is to our left

These tracks would continue on and follow the curve of Fan Pier

Close-up of tracks to fan pier.

The rails have become exposed as the asphalt wears away

This is the diamond joint in my original image

A close up of the rails

The bridge is to our right

No yard anymore - now a seafood restaurant The Barking Crab

Grab some lunch if you are railfanning!

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With the bridge at our back, tracks cross the diamond and would have continued down Northern Avenue.  As we can see modern development has taken over the old railyards

Looking over the bridge
Pavement tracks give way to grass-tracks beyond the fence

Thanks for visiting.    Hopefully you've found this interesting, and learned a bit of Boston history.

If you'd like to 'railfan',  you can stop by Northern Ave and Sleeper Street.   Close to South Station (Red Line) and Courthouse Station (Silver Line bus), as well as plenty of parking in the area.   Restaurants and the harbor walk give you plenty of stuff to do.    

If you like to railfan and don't mind walking, these aren't too far away.   (Perhaps future blog posts?)

• West Second street - you can see the other rail line, currently re-purposed to test new subway cars
• Rolling Bridge Park - a view of the tracks out of South Station and the Red Line yards
• Broadway Bridge - Overhead view of Cabor yards and MBTA's South Side traffic
• Ink Under park - view of the channel and MBTA/Amtrak southbound traffic.   Under the highway, so shady and plenty of seating.

Northern Avenue Bridge, with old tracks, and city skyscrapers in the background

This blog entry wouldn't be complete without giving credit to WardMaps (at wardmapsgifts.com).  They have scanned in old maps of Boston, and offer them as prints at a reasonable price.   If you live in the Boston area, they have a physical store just outside of Porter Square.    (Boston used to publish large books of city maps by Ward (Election/representative area), hence Ward Maps).  Over time they have expanded and carry maps of cities all over the world.  Please consider visiting and get a railroad or neighborhood print for your home!

See more of my photography on my Flickr pages

Early Season Birding in Franklin Park

I went birding in mid-march, hoping to catch the warblers coming through.    Unfortunately, I was too early for the warblers, but there were plenty of other birds filling the air.


First off, the location.   I've become very fond of Franklin Park.  The park is a short walk from the subway.  has an open field, some 'wild' forest.   And a pond.   Scarboro pond is where many of the birds like hanging out - close to ware and meadow, a walk around the pond will find you many birds.

Bridge over Scarboro pond

New growth coming from the shallow end of the pond

New pine tree brings green to the leaf-less forest

Trees aren't the only place to find birds - many forage not he ground, or hang out in brush near the pond and meadow.

Dark-Eyed Junko scavenging in the ground

Song Sparrow among the brush

Red-Bellied Woordpecker

Tifted Titmouse

Nuthatches were everywhere - they're usually rare to see, but they were on half the trees in the forst.

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Red-Winged Blackbird, singing a morning song

Black-capped chickadees were always everywhere as well.   The state bird of Massachusetts, these are fun little birds - never resting on a branch (or a feeder) for more than a moment before flying off again.  They have a nice little color scheme, and a nice variety of calls.  

This Chickadee was apparently hollowing out a nest area.  It would scrape out a mouthful then fly off somewhere else to deposit the debris, then come back for more.

The park also had its share of Red-Tailed hawks.   Unfortunately, I was often in the first when they were overhead, and the camera focused on tree branches more than the birds.   Frustrating, as some were great sights - one was circling quite low, while another seemed to be a pair flying off to their nesting area.

When I was in the open I did catch yet another one circling about.   I just raised the camera up and snapped away, not thinking I had caught anything well.  Once I got home and was able to crop and process the photos, turns out I had gotten some amazing shots!







I'll finish up with the bridge again, done in Black & White





Enjoy all my other photos on my Flickr page.

Neighborhood Predator II

A neighborhood predator has finally made his way to my neck of the woods.

Starting in Fall, we've been spotting a Coopers Hawk near the community garden.   We hope he's taking care of the local rabbit problem, but it seems squirrels are also high on the menu.

Hawk in a community garden tree

photo courtesy Sarah Hutt via cell phone camera

All Fall we've been watching in various trees and parks in the area.   I myself witnessed a dinner attempt: As I walked to through the park I saw a white streak out of the corner of my eye.  The hawk had swooped down to catch a squirrel on the ground - but to no avail.   The squirrel scampered up the tree too quick for the hawk, who then flew across the park to lament his next move.

A few weeks late I was on my back porch and noticed something out of place on a building the next block over.   The binoculars showed it to be the hawk hanging out...

A block away - thanks to the birding lens

Having this better photo I finally identified it as a Coopers Hawk.   Birding friends also told me that the lump in the upper chest is apparently 'lunch' being digested.   :)

These occasional sightings were apparently it until early January.   I was surprised there were no birds at the feeder, but as I went to go out I saw on the tree in front of me!!

I snapped a bunch of photos through the door.   When I went out with the camera he flew off to an adjacent tree.    Got a bunch of photos that day, then a few the next when he came back.   Haven't seen him since those two days, but here's hoping he stays in the neighborhood!!!

Enjoy the photos!

See all my photos in my Flickr Photo Stream.