Wine-Soaked Berries with Cream and Hermit Cookies

Do not panic. Yes, I am eating lactose-free this week. No I did not consume this recently.

As for eating lactose-free, it has been going quite well so far. I did choose to try this diet first since I thought it would be the easiest of the four--lactose-free, gluten-free, vegan, and diabetic. The hardest part is eating out or eating with others when they invite you over. You don't want to be a burden, yet you have to eat that way. I've had to ask a restaurant to hold the feta on a Greek salad, denied a slice of Mary Porter pie offered by my family, restrained myself from the goat cheese log that was out yesterday, and was cut off from cereal until I could stop by the grocery store for soymilk and applesauce. But overall, it hasn't been that hard.

Back to this dessert. The recipe came from Cooking Light, but I altered it a tad. Here's my version:

Wine-Soaked Berries with Whipped Cream
1/3 cup white wine
3 tbsp club soda
1 tsp grated orange rind
3 tbsp agave nectar, divided
1 pint blueberries
1 package raspberries
1 package blackberries
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Combine wine, club soda, rind, and 2 tbsp agave nectar in a large bowl. Add berries and toss gently to combine. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Pour cream into a medium bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in remaining tbsp agave.

As for the cookies...I found the recipe in a cookbook called nothing other than The Ultimate Cookie Book (Better Homes and Gardens), given to me by my mother-in-law. And since I had brewed coffee earlier that morning, this recipe caught my eye.

Hermit Cookies
3/4 cup butter (I used 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used 1/2 unpacked)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves (I didn't have this)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
1 1/2 cups AP flour (I did half whole wheat)
2 cups raisins (I substituted 1 cup chocolate chips.)*
1 cup chopped pecans (I omitted this and topped each cookie with one pecan instead.)

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium high for about 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, spices, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and coffee until combined. Beat in the flour. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough onto cookie sheet. Top each with a pecan. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool (or taste and make sure they're good!).

*Ryan and I hate raisins. This is actually one food we both extremely dislike. Ryan doesn't care for onions, chives, ginger-flavored baked goods, celery, pumpkin...I'm sure there's others but I can't remember. I, on the other hand, can't stand mayonnaise and pretty much avoid fruit juices, hot dogs, sausage, fried food, that sort of thing. But we both love many of the same things! Sweet potatoes, dark chocolate, mushrooms (I influenced him there), sauces of any kind, salmon, and steak...just to name a few.

Part of my CSA share allows me to go to the farm once a week and pick whatever is growing there. Last week they had sweet peas!

It was so relaxing...kneeling in the middle of a big windy field just picking beans. Or, excuse me, peas.