The Grand Hotel

Last week I was able to go on a mini vacation with Lara up north to Mackinac Island. It has been a while since I've been up there so it was nice to be back. We both had a glorious time, the weather was perfect and the experience was just wonderful. Our lodging for the night we were there was at the Grand Hotel. The Grand Hotel is a beautiful, historic hotel that was built in the 1880s and claims to have the world's longest porch.

The Grand Hotel, from the ferry

The overnight package that Lara and I got including a night at the hotel, as well as dinner the night we arrived, and breakfast and lunch the next day. The Grand Hotel has a dress code at night; after 6:30 all men must be dressed in a coat and necktie, and all women must wear a dress, skirt and top, or suit. Some people might find this weird and stuffy, but I enjoyed it! It was fun to see everyone dressed up for dinner, no blue jeans in sight.

Dressed up for dinner

One of the best parts of our whole experience at the hotel was the food (of course). They did a superb job with each meal we enjoyed. I couldn't help but take lots of pictures of everything I ate so I could post them here. Our first meal was dinner the night we arrived:

Dinner:
Appetizers:

Goose Liver Pate en Croute, Sauterne Aspic and Fennel Slaw

Smoked Mackinac Trout, Eggplant-Heirloom Tomato Tartare

Soups:

 Chilled Strawberry and Banana Soup, Vanilla Syrup

Grilled Sweet Onion and Truffle Soup, Gruyere Crostini

Salad:

Mackinac Wedge: 
Iceberg lettuce, roasted beets, Crispy Serrano Ham and Blue Cheese Herb-Ranch Dressing

Entrees 

Cornish Game Hen Breast and Leg Confit, Mushroom Ragout, Nueska Bacon Jus

Lava Lake Ranch Lamb Tenderloin Vegetable Bolognese, Red Wine Shallot Sauce

Desserts:

 Warm White Chocolate Bread Pudding Crystallized Ginger Sauce

Strawberry Shortbread Parfait Vanilla Sabayon 

Breakfast:

 My Caramel Peach Cream Cheese Brioche French Toast with Sausage Links

 Lara and her Nutella Crepes with Strawberries and Cured Bacon

We got a yummy bread basket too, and I got mango juice which was delicious

Lunch:

Lunch was an awesome buffet that would have been a lot nicer had we not been seated at the same time as a very large school group. There were kids everywhere, making the lines super long, and the food run out before I could get to it. It was still very delicious, but a little stressful too. 

 A few pictures of the food: Fruit, deviled eggs, oysters, marinated veggies, chilled seafood salad, smoked salmon...

 Lara's first ever oyster!

Second plate: mixed veggies, roasted potatoes, cheese platter rice, and a creamy hot seafood salad

This was probably the favorite at lunch, scallops and shrimp in a cream sauce, absolutely delicious!

 Can't forget dessert! Bread pudding, cannoli, chocolate dipped strawberries...

...tirimisu, cream puff, chocolate cake, to name a few!

The whole experience was just wonderful. If you ever have the chance to go to the Grand Hotel, or just to Mackinac Island, be sure to do it. Cars are not allowed on the island, so make sure you take your bikes along if you can, so you can bike around the island. 

Trying to work off a little of all of the food!

Ladies Slipper

Bleeding Hearts

Beautiful!

Roasted Vegetable Pizza

Just a quick post today, but it has to do with one of my favorite topics, pizza! I've said it before, but I love pizza and I love making homemade pizza. It is fun to try all different toppings and flavors that you might not be able to get at your local pizza place. Recently I've discovered that one of my favorite ways to top a pizza is with delicious roasted vegetables. This particular pizza has red, orange and yellow peppers along with zucchini and onions. If you are thinking that a pizza with just vegetables sounds boring, think again. Roasting them brings out all their natural sweetness; add a sprinkling of red pepper flakes for some heat and you have a delicious combination of sweet and heat. I can't wait to try different combinations of veggies as the growing season gets under way.

For the pizza dough, I used my go-to pizza crust. Just top with a quick tomato sauce, the vegetables, and a sprinkling of cheese and you will be good to go. I just love roasting vegetables! Just toss together whatever veggies you like with enough olive oil to coat, pepper and plenty of salt. Spread them out on a baking sheet that is covered in foil and sprayed with cooking oil, and pop them into a hot oven, 425 or 450 degrees. Keep on eye on them, flipping them over if needed, and roast until charred and tender. The time will vary depending on the vegetable and the size you cut them into.

This really is the best way to eat vegetables in my opinion. If I make too much to fit on the pizza it never lasts long. I just snack on it the whole time I'm putting the pizza together. It is so good I don't even care that I'm not even hungry anymore!

Ready for the oven

Cheesy and sweet

Dig in!

Grilled Steak and Homemade Steak Sauce

It's finally starting to get warm around here. Summer is right around the corner, and I am so ready for it. What says summer better then steaks on the grill? Not much in my book. My dad chose the meal last week Sunday which usually means New York strip, this week was no different. He came home from the meat market with two gorgeous strip steaks. I grilled them up on Sunday afternoon, and made a quick and easy steak sauce to go with them. The only thing else that was needed was a fresh salad and dinner was served. Sometimes simple is the best.

I love sauces on basically everything. I just like having a little something more to top things off. I have made this steak sauce recipe before. It is so easy, and uses ingredients I almost always have in the house. You can whip it together in just a couple of minutes, and it really adds some nice flavor to steaks, or even vegetables, or burgers, or anything else you can think of! The recipe starts with raisins, but don't worry, you can't tell they are in there once you are done. I don't like raisins at all, but once everything is blended together they disappear.

Plump some raisins in warm water

Let them get nice and big

Meanwhile, grab ketchup...

...Worcestershire, dijon and vinegar

Throw everything into a blender, including the raisins

Ready to mix

Blend it all up

Then it's time for the steaks; season with plenty of salt and pepper

And grill them up!

Pretty and pink, they were a little too done for me, (I'm a rare girl!) but I'll adjust the grilling time next time

Grab a salad and spoon on some sauce and you are good to go!

Classic Steak Sauce
From: The Best of America's Test Kitchen, 2011
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• salt and pepper

Directions: 
Combine the water and raisins in a bowl and let sit, covered, until the raisins are plump, about 5 minutes. Puree the raisin mixture, ketchup, Worcestershire, mustard and vinegar in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a favorite chocolate chip cookie, recipe, but that doesn't mean I've stopped looking at new recipes. You never know when you'll find something new and amazing. Chocolate chip cookies are one of my all time favorites, who doesn't like them? My mom didn't do tons and tons of baking when I was growing up, but she always made the absolute best chocolate chip cookies. I don't even try to make her recipe anymore, they always taste better when she bakes them. She has her recipe, and I have mine.

When I saw the recipe for these soft and fluffy CC cookies though, I knew I wanted to try them. I usually prefer a super chewy, slightly crispy CC cookie, but there are times when I crave something soft and light. These cookies did the trick. They were so super soft and pillowy, not a bit of crispness, light and airy and delicious. The flavor was very mild and subdued, a gentle cookie. If you are looking for a chocolate chip cookie that just melts in your mouth, look no further.

These cookies are very simple, just a basic chocolate chip cookie. You start by creaming the butter and sugars, throw in the pudding mix, then add the eggs, and finish with the flour mixture. Nothing to it. You can whip a batch together in just a few minutes and have freshly baked cookies in less than half and hour. Just make sure you have some instant pudding in your pantry and you are good to go!

Cream the butter and sugars

Nice and fluffy

Add the pudding mix

Next it's the eggs and vanilla

Creamy!

Time for the flour

Mix until almost completely combined

Add the chocolate chips

Mix it all together

Scoop onto a baking sheet

Ready to eat

Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from: Kirbie's Cravings
Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups (11.25 ounces) flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ( 1.75 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 3.4-ounce package instant vanilla pudding
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix until almost completely incorporated, then add the chocolate chips, folding them in by hand until evenly incorporated. 

Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheet (I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop) and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. 

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

For my cousins bridal shower that I threw a few weeks ago, I knew I wanted to serve quiche. It seemed like the perfect savory option for the brunch, a savory pastry to go along with all of the sweets! One possible problem with this was the fact that I haven't actually made quiche that often, if at all, I honestly can't remember. Although I am confident in my baking abilities and wasn't too concerned that they wouldn't turn out, I did want to give the quiche a test run before serving it to a large group of people. This broccoli cheddar quiche was my first attempt. It turned out delicious, and even though there were a few things I wanted to tweak before the big day, I definitely could have served this at the shower.

I really loved the custard filling in this quiche. It was silky and creamy, and not too eggy, perfect for filling the flaky and buttery crust. The crust however, didn't turn out quite like I wanted which I think was mostly my fault. To begin with, I think I probably added too much liquid to the dough, it wasn't as delicate as I wanted. I also didn't end up rolling the dough out thin enough so it was quite thick and didn't get a chance to cook all the way through. Despite these small problems, it still tasted buttery and yummy.

Another thing I learned on this trial was that I want to put the cheese in the crust first and not last. I didn't like how the cheddar formed a orange shell on top of the custard. I don't think it looks bad, but I just didn't like how it turned out. For the shower I went ahead and put the cheese on the crust first and it turned out much better.

For a first attempt I thought this turned out quite well. It gave me the confidence I needed to serve quiche at the shower. I ended up using a different crust recipe, one that had good reviews and sounded foolproof. I didn't want to worry about this crust turning out exactly like I wanted it to. I plan on trying this recipe again, but for myself first. I think it has the potential to be quite wonderful.

 Get your filling ready, I used lightly steamed brocoli and sautéed onions

And cheese of course!

Buttery, chilled dough, ready to be transformed

Start a rolling

Use those muscles

Grab a tart pan, or a pie plate (that's what I used

at the shower)

Gently lay your pastry dough on the pan

Lightly press the dough into the pan making

sure not to stretch it out

Cut off the excess dough

Ready for blind baking

Grab your pie weights, or beans, or rice, whatever

Bake it up until golden

Time to start filling,

onions first

Then broccoli

And top it off with the cheddar

Baked! 

Piping hot, it's still bubbling away

Remove from pan

Cut yourself a slice, yum!

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
From: The Sweeter SIde of Amy's Bread

***I didn't actually measure the broccoli, onion or cheese when I made this quiche. The measurements below are a rough estimate of how much I used. Feel free to alter the amounts of these ingredients when making the quiche to fit your taste buds. 

Ingredients
Crust

• 7/8 cup (200 grams) butter, cut into 1/2 inch dice and very cold
• 2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 3 large egg yolks
• 4 tablespoons (52 grams) ice water

Custard Filling

• 1 cup (240 grams) half and half
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 3/4 cup lightly steamed broccoli
• 1/2 medium onion, sautéed
• 3/4 cup cheddar cheese

Directions
To form the crust, mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Rub the very cold, but not frozen, butter into the flour with your fingers or a pastry blender until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. If the butter starts to feel soft, freeze the mixture for 10 minutes before continuing. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and ice water. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid. Use a fork to stir the ingredients together until they form a rough ball.

As the mass become more define, use you hands to press it gently together into a single mass of dough. There should not be any pockets of dry crumbs remaining. If needed, sprinkle with an additional 1 to 2 teaspoons of ice water. Place the dough on a large piece of plastic wrap. Seal the wrap around the dough and flatten to make a round 3/4 inch thick disk. Refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out.

Remove the child pastry from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll out eh dough to 1/8 of an inch thick. Remove the bottom of your tart pan and place the ring of the tart pan on a parchment lined sheet pan. Lay the pastry round on the pan and gently push it down into the pan, pressing the pastry firmly to the sides, making sure the bottom sits flat in the pan, with no curve where the sides and bottom meet. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, and up to overnight.

Line the tart with parchment paper and spread the paper with pie weights, beans or rice, pressing down gently to be sure the paper is weighted firmly against the sides of the pastry shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the top edges of the pastry just begin to brown. Remove the paper and the weights, and return the tart to the oven. Continue baking for 5 minutes more, or until the shells are lightly browned and the bottoms begin to look a little dry instead of doughy. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes, before adding the quiche filling.

While the crust bakes, make the custard filling. In a large measuring cup or a large container with a pour spout, whisk together the half and half, eggs, salt, and cayenne pepper until well combined and set aside. When you are ready to assemble the quiche, layer the onions, cheese and broccoli in the bottom of the tart shell. Place the baking sheet that is holding the tart into the oven. Stir the custard and pour it over the quiche mixture, fill in the pan to within 1/8 inch of the top of the pastry. Don't overfill, or the custard will run out of the crust during baking.

Bake the quiche for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the edges of the filing begin to puff up and the center still jiggles slightly when you shake the pan. Place the sheet pan on a wire rack to cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the quiche from the pan. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Leftover may be refrigerated or frozen and reheated in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through. 

Bridal Brunch

I love parties, especially parties that involve good food, so when I had the opportunity to throw a bridal shower for my cousin, I knew that I would be spending a lot of time in the kitchen to prepare for it. Since I absolutely love baking and eating baked goods, I knew I wanted the shower to include brunch, because at what other time of day can you stuff yourself with baked goods and not feel guilty about it? I did manage to throw a few (slightly) more healthy options into the mix, but my the baked goods are still my favorite! Lara and I started preparing the food several days in advance, so on the morning of the shower all that was really left to do was bake up a few goodies. In the end, the shower went super well and I had a lot of fun with it, both preparing and hosting. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food (thank goodness!) and there was plenty for everyone. All in all, it turned out great; I can't wait to do it again!

Bridal Brunch Menu
Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
Sausage Gouda Quiche
Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
Mini Coffee Break Muffins
Vanilla Cream Scones
Chocolate Chip Scones
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Homemade Yogurt
Granola Bites
Fresh Fruit: Strawberries, Cantaloupe, Grapes
Drinks: Coffee, Water, Orange Juice

Favors:
Frosted Sugar Cookies

Here are just a few pictures of the shower and the shower prep

 Preparing the favors well in advance, the first day of decorating

 Monogrammed cookies for Bailey and Chris

 And some flowers, because I like flowers

Finished them off with a cute border

 Some close ups of the foods, here are the quiche

 This was my favorite, it was very cheesy, sorry if anyone doesn't like cheese as much as me!

 This was yummy too!

 Gotta have the homemade cinnamon rolls

 Mini muffins, for a quick bite

Yogurt and fruit

The whole spread

 With the bakers

The beautiful bride to be with a 

homemade cookbook from her favorite cousins :)

And don't forget a cookie when you leave!

Soft Wrap Bread

Sandwiches are near the top of my list of favorite things to eat. I could eat one at every meal and never get tired of them because the possibilities are endless. There are so many different kinds of breads, meats, cheeses, spreads, toppings etc., you never have to eat the same sandwich twice! I love a sandwich built with some freshly baked bread as the base, but sometimes all I want is a thin, soft sheet of flatbread to roll up my sandwich within, that is where this wrap bread comes in.

Over the years I've used a lot of flour tortillas to make wraps for lunch, and although they are okay, they have never been exactly what I wanted. They are usually kind of dry and stale and just don't have that much flavor. I tried making my own once, but the recipe I used just didn't impress me. When I found this recipe though, I was hopeful that it was what I was looking for. Boy was it ever. These wrap breads are the most delicious thing since, well, sliced bread! They are soft, tender and absolutely delicious. I have yet to be disappointed when these wonderful wraps are the base for my sandwich.

The recipe for this soft wrap bread is a little odd, it starts with pouring boiling water over top of flour and letting it sit for about 30 minutes. King Arthur Flour says that this process basically "cooks" the starch in the flour, making the flatbread easy to roll out, and removes any "starchy" taste in the finished bread. Whatever it is doing chemically, I like it. The bread is wonderful to roll out and the flavor in the finished product is super yummy.

After this initial starch cooking, the dough is put together like most breads I've made. However, the dough you are left with after the kneading is finished is very odd. The texture is very different from most doughs. It may not seem quite right, I was kind of doubtful the first time I made it, but have no fear, it will all work out in the end. After letting the dough sit for an hour (it didn't really rise much for me), all that is left is to cut it up, roll it out, and dry fry it in a skillet. The recipe tells you to roll out each piece of dough into a 7-8 inch circle, but I decided I wanted mine a little bigger and thinner (more like a tortilla) and didn't seem to have any problem with the finished product.

Frying up each piece of dough can take a little bit of time, but trust me, it is so worth it. This wrap bread is on its way to becoming a staple in my house. I don't think I'll ever buy a tortilla again!

 Shaped dough, read to fry

 Make sure you have lots of flour

 Start rolling

 Keep going!

 Perfect, ready to cook

 Into the fairly hot pan

 When it starts to brown, flip it over

 Stack them up as you go

(I made a double batch this time)

Fill them up and dinner is served!

Soft Wrap Bread
Adapted From King Arthur Flour
Ingredients

• 3 1/4-3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast*

*This recipe works best with instant yeast because it dissolves during the kneading process, so you don't have to knead liquid into the dough. If you really prefer to use active dry yeast, use only 1 cup boiling water for the initial dough, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water, and add this mixture to the dough along with the remaining flour mixture. It'll be somewhat "slippery" at first, but will knead in and eventually become smooth.

Directions
Making the Dough: Place 2 cups of the flour into a bowl or the bucket of a bread machine. Pour the boiling water over the flour, and stir till smooth. Cover the bowl or bucket and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining flour with the salt, oil and yeast. Add this to the cooled flour/water mixture, stir, then knead for several minutes (by hand, mixer or bread machine) to form a soft dough. The dough should form a ball, but will remain somewhat sticky. Add additional flour only if necessary; if kneading by hand, keep your hands and work surface lightly oiled. Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour.

Shaping: Divide the dough into 8 or 10 pieces, cover, and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll each piece into a 7- to 8-inch circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) over medium heat for about 1 minute per side, until they're puffed and flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly; cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out. Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft. Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag. Yield: 8 breads.

Graham Crackers

In my mind, graham crackers seem to take a place somewhere between cracker and cookie. They seem to be too thin and crunchy to be a cookie, but they are so sweet that it's hard to place them in the same category as a normal, savory cracker like a Wheat Thin or Ritz. Regardless of where graham crackers are categorized they are delicious and perfect for snacking on when you just want a bite of something sweet. Homemade graham crackers are even better than the store bought kind, and they don't seem to go stale as fast. Whenever I buy graham crackers they seen to go soft and stale before I can eat them all, but that is no problem here. These crackers are salty and sweet, fully flavored with honey and vanilla, baked to a deep amber crunch, perfection in a bite.

The dough for these graham crackers is pretty simple to put together. It is a bit sticky and crumbly after mixing it up, but after resting in the fridge for a few hours it is much easier to work with. To roll out the crackers, I found it easiest to split the dough into four pieces and roll out each piece separately while keeping the rest of the dough in the fridge. I like to roll my crackers pretty thin so they are nice and crisp after baking, but you can roll them a little thicker if you prefer, you just might have to adjust the baking time.

The first time I made these I tried using a cookie cutter to make nice, even shapes, but the dough became so sticky as it warmed up that it became really difficult to use the cookie cutter well. After that I just used a knife to cut the crackers into little squares or diamonds and that seemed to work a lot better. They may not be as uniform in size or shape which makes it a little more difficult to bake them evenly, but I didn't have too much trouble. I kind of like the rustic look that cutting out the crackers free hand gives.

These puppies can over bake in mere seconds, so watch them carefully toward the end of baking, especially if they are quite thin. Right after pulling them out of the oven they will still be slightly soft, but don't worry, as they cool they will crisp up right away.

I can't wait until summer when I can make a big batch of these homemade graham crackers to have ready by the campfire, just waiting to create the perfect smore!

Some all purpose flour and some whole wheat flour,

the base for my graham crackers

Add in the brown sugar

Measure out the honey and the milk

Then in goes the vanilla

Cold butter, ready to go

Into the mixing bowl

Mix until nice and crumbly

Add in the liquid

And mix it up until it almost comes together, it will

still be quite crumbly

Dump it all on top of some greased plastic, and place in the refrigerator for a few hours

Cut off about a fourth of the dough and get ready to roll

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

All done

Nice and thin

Start cutting out your shapes

Place on a baking sheet and dock with the 

tines of a fork

Baked!

Perfect for snacking

Graham Crackers
From Smitten Kitchen
Ingredients
Crackers

• 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (375 grams) flour (I used about 2/3 all purpose and 1/3 whole wheat)
• 1 cup (176 grams) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt (4 grams)
• 7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
• 1/3 cup (114 grams) mild-flavored honey, such as clover
• 5 tablespoons (77 grams) milk, full-fat is best
• 2 tablespoons (27 grams) pure vanilla extract

Topping (optional)

• 3 tablespoons (43 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 grams) ground cinnamon

Directions
Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pulse or mix on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off on and off, or mix on low, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. (If you don't have a food processor or electric mixer, you can cut the ingredients together with a pastry blender. Just make sure they're very well incorporated.)

Add the honey, milk and vanilla to the flour mixture and pulse on and off a few times or mix on low until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft, sticky and crumbly. Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and dust it lightly with flour, then turn the dough out onto it and pat it into a rectangle about 1-inch thick. Wrap it, then chill it until firm, about 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, prepare the topping, if using, by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and setting aside.

Divide the dough for rolling (I cut mine into fourths), take one piece and return the rest of the dough to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut the dough into crackers of your desired shape and size, (you can square off the edges if you want to make the crackers nice and neat, or just leave the ragged edges for a rustic touch.) I like small squares or diamonds, perfect for snacking on.

Place the crackers on parchment-lined baking sheets and sprinkle with the topping if using. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes in the fridge or 15 to 20 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Adjust the oven rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat the oven to 350°F. Use a fork, toothpick or skewer to prick the dough if desired.

Bake for 11-15 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Watch them carefully toward the end of baking, they can over cook quickly if you aren't paying attention, and nobody likes a burned cracker.