a life update + almond and thyme thumbprint cookies with mandarinquat compote

plus early access to galentine's supper club!

Life update…

We’re moving!

To San Diego, California!

Exciting and happy news if you’re a Southern California resident, sad news if you’re a Seattle pal. I, personally, feel both emotions equally.

This very bittersweet decision came to be at the start of last year, 2023. Zach had gotten a new job at the end of 2022 that allowed him to be 100% remote, giving us the opportunity to dream of an alternative place to live or move since we could. San Diego has always been a thought because it’s my hometown, where, not only some of my family is, but Zach’s dad has been working as well. But. We had just renewed the lease on our house, so we at least knew we’d be in Seattle till February 2024. So we played around with the idea…but… if you’re feel surprised by this news, it’s probably because you’re thinking the same— what about supper club?!

My supper club took off even more after it’s first year anni last May 2023. So we told ourselves we would keep San Diego on the table, but if an opportunity arose or my work kept going in the direction that needed us to stay, we’d put a pin on the move. Sure enough, the summer looked just like that. Many opportunities, supper club after supper club, started private chef gigs, new relationships and connections.. everything came in like a flood. I was also in the midst of filming the profile by Humano Studios that released in December (if you haven’t seen it, go now!!) which had me both in the state of mind of reflection on all that supper club has grown too, and where and what this profile could lead too. Towards the end of the summer I began looking into studios and commercial spaces to allow supper club to expand. I had a space I loved, a business plan submitted, and was very close to signing a Letter Of Intent on a studio-loft space in Columbia City. But around this time, as you may know, my family’s world came to a halt when my grandfather suddenly passed. Coming back to Seattle after that, I had lost a lot of momentum and energy, especially mentally. Trying to balance grieving and making a big career direction decision (not to mention big financial decision)—especially as a business team of just me, myself, and I, no business partner to at least help share business planning weight— felt impossible, so I let the space go.

A few weeks later my dear friend had her second baby, and my other dear friend told me she was pregnant with her first. Death and new life. The duality. All of it was like the world was screeeeaming, shouting, move to Southern California! Life. Was. Happening. Life I didn’t want to miss out on. But with the craze of the holidays and the quiet of a new year, everything felt like a whirlwind. So we took things day by day. Zach and I knew we were spending Christmas in San Diego, so we decided to have it feel like a vibe check. We’d then come back, give ourselves a week to settle, and then come up with a decision after the new year. So, now, here we are.

This decision has weighed on me. Given me restless nights. Many tears.
No decision has felt greater than choosing between two places my heart is equally and deeply attached to. I’ve lived in Seattle since 2014. I’ve found myself in this city. I had break ups and met Zach, my husband, in this city. I’ve done years of deep therapy work in this city. I’ve broken myself down and built who I am today in this city. Zach and I have built our ‘chosen family’/ rich community in this city. I’ve built my brain/heart baby, my supper club, in this city. That alone has led to even more beautiful friendships, for myself, and guests. Allowed me to see so much further into and develop relationship in the Food and Bev industry of Seattle and the greater Pacific Northwest, than any of my baker/industry roles before. My insides hurt knowing that I’ll soon be saying, “see you later,” to this city and the people in it. Seattle/Western Washington is our special place, and we still have some family here, too, so we know it won’t be goodbye forever.

BUT ! I’m not moving until sometime in April. I’m telling you this now as nudge to get into a supper club if you’ve been meaning too! Or to come back to another, if you’ve already been! It isn’t a goodbye to Seattle, though. I’ll certainly be continuing to do a pop-up from time-to-time when I come into town, so keep your eyes open for that!

My hope is to continue supper clubs in San Diego, so if you’re a Southern California resident keep your eyes open for that!! I’m not sure yet exactly how supper clubs will look like down there… might be popping up in anyone’s space that allows, or maybe one day finding my own. We’ll find out together. So I am also soaking up these next few months left in Seattle the supper club that currently is before an inevitable slow down of them in the move.

I’m excited for sunshine. I’m excited to watch my friends be parents in “real life” vs Facetime catch ups or yearly visits. I’m excited to be closer to family, and to text my mom to see if she wants to meet up at happy hour after work. I’m excited for friend and family dinners at whatever our new place will be. I’m excited our little herald pup gets to go for more sunshine walks and swims. I’m excited to hang out with my little sister. I’m looking forward to helping walk my grandma through her grief and miss my grandfather together. I’m excited to do crafts with her. I’m excited to own a bike again, and to bike to coffee shops with Zach that we haven’t done since we lived in Berlin! I’m suuper excited to be an outlet for Seattle friends to come get some sunshine, and to host them, and show them around San Diego.

Till then.. I’m romanticizing Seattle more, getting all the hangs in with the ones we love, soaking up time with our chickens, and eating my way through my Seattle food bucket list that friends are so generously dedicated to making sure it gets accomplished. I hope to see you at the February supper club (early access below recipe!)

Other supper club dates:

• March 9th with Little Thing Wine

• TBD weekend of March 23rd or 30th supper club “see you later” party/early celebration of 2nd birthday of dining with friends supper club ♥️

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Now to the recipe!

I’ve been taking citrus season really seriously. Normally I just get my hands on meyer lemons, some blood oranges or cara cara, and some grapefruit. But this year I’ve been dedicated to try every single form of citrus my PCC market as to offer. Because of this I got to play around with buddha’s hand in a recipe (posted on my IG this week) for the first time ever, and how I discovered that mandarinquats are a thing. Even if you don’t make the cookies, and just make the compote, you’ll be happy. Buuuut the cookies are next level. The almond flour brings warmth and nuttiness and is a classic flavoring pairing to mandarin, but the thyme helps bring a slight savory edge to the almond, and pull out the floralness to the citrus. With just the perfect amount of salt, it’s my ideal balance of savory-nutty-buttery-sandy-floral-tangy-sweet. The perfect lil treat to make for your valentine!!

Whatcha Need!

Makes about 24 cookies.

Tools:

Compote:

• Small sauce pot

• Spatula

• Cutting board

• Small knife or paring knife

• Container for storing

Cookies:

• Baking Sheet (a half sheet to place the shaped cookies on to freeze and bake; or a quarter sheet if you only bake off a few at a time)

• Parchment paper

• Stand Mixer with paddle attachment OR medium bowl with hand mixer or whisk

• Spatula

• Medium bowl

• Scale or measuring cups

• Round bottomed measuring spoon / edge of a rolling pin / your thumb / any round tool to press into cookie dough

• Small spoon

• Cooling rack

Pantry and Fridge:

Compote:

• 10 mandarinquats, or kumquats

• 1/2 cup or 100 grams sugar or to taste, depending on how tart you like your compote

• Water

• Small pinch of kosher salt (1/4 tsp)

Cookies:

• 1.5 cups or 185 grams all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup or 55 grams almond flour

• 1/2 cup or 50 grams of powdered sugar

• 2 sticks or 226 grams of unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 2 egg yolks, at room temperature

• 2 tablespoons thyme leaves

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, roughly chopped

• Optional: turbinado sugar or “Sugar In The Raw” for tossing

Let’s Prep!

Compote | NOTE: since this is in the thumbprint cookies, we’ll make it all now in prep. I like to make the compote a day in advance, or up to 5 days. Leftovers are also great on toast, scones, or yogurt!

• Wash the mandarinquat, then slice into 1/4” thin slices. Remove the seeds.

• Into a small sauce pot, add the sliced mandarinquats, sugar, pinch of salt, and enough water (about a 1/2 cup) to come up halfway on the sides of the citrus (not enough to cover).

• Place the pot on medium-high heat and bring to a bowl, then reduce heat, leaving the mixture to a simmer. Stir occasionally, and cook until the mandarinquats have softened and the mixture has thickened. If the mixture has thickened to a jam like consistency before your mandarinquats have softened, add a 1/4 cup of water to continue cooking.

• Once the compote is done, carefully pour into a container to store. If continuing to use in the thumbprint cookies, let the compote cool and set further.

Cookies:

• In a medium bowl, add the flours and salt. Mix to combine. I prefer to whisk these together to remove any clumps.

• In the bowl of your stand mixer, or bowl for hand mixer/hand mixing, add the butter, sugar, and thyme. Cream on medium speed for 3 minutes, or hand mix until the mixture has become light and fluffy, and there are no visible chunks of butter. Then add the egg yolks and mix until thoroughly combined and smooth.

• Use a spatula to scrape the sides of your bowl, then add the flour mixture. Mix on a slow speed, or mix slowly, and stop until just combined. If using a stand mixer, give it one final mix with a spatula to make sure everything is combined.

• Remove the dough from the bowl and place unto some cling wrap, enough to completely cover the dough. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Store the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. If you freeze, let the dough thaw before continuing the rest of the recipe.

Let’s get cookin’!

• Remove the dough from the fridge. If it has sat for longer than a few hours, take it out about 30 minutes early to get bit softer.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. If baking the whole batch, like 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or using the appropriate size for the amount of cookies you’re baking off, if smaller.

• In a small bowl, pour in at least a 1/2 cup of the turbinado sugar. Set aside. Pinch off enough dough to make a 2 inch dough ball, or about 30 grams of dough per cookie. Once you have shaped all the cookies, roll each ball into the bowl with the turbinado sugar and toss until the cookie is coated. Place onto a baking sheet about 2 inches apart from each other.

• Using a round bottomed measuring spoon / edge of a rolling pin / your thumb / any round tool gently press and indent in the center of each cookie. Spoon the compote into each indent, filling to the brim.

• Place into preheated oven, and bake for 13 minutes or until the cookies are set to the touch, the compote has set, and there is some light browning on the edges.

• Remove from oven and gently transfer onto a cooling rack. Cookies spread and become an odd shape? Before transfering to a cooling rack, get a cup/a round cookie cutter/ any other circle tool and swirl it around the cookie until the cookie is nice shaped again. Definitely optional, but if you wanna be extra!

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Early Access Supper Club Link!