Soundtrack du jour: Salad – "Motorbike to Heaven"

I had not heard this song in a long while, but while mentally compiling my 2011 Halloween mix (yeah, I know it's early — the mix comes together over the course of the year), I realized that I would love to hear this song.

The motorbike idea came up recently because I have been meaning to ask a new friend about her motorcycle riding activities. And there's always a line or two from Salad's underappreciated music popping up in my head. Strange mix of sadness: "I don't know why/but I've got a good idea that we'll meet again someday/it makes me cry/the memory of you standing in the woods…".

Enough to make a girl cry. But there are a lot of things like that. I left work this evening, finally feeling that I needed to throw in the towel, so to speak.

Meanwhile, the experimental maple sandwich cookies I brought to work earlier this week were well-received. One colleague, Anna, was effusive in her praise. My baked goods this week, despite being abundant, were consumed more rapidly than I have ever seen. People were like vultures (I mean that in a good way). I also mailed some to people in other parts of Sweden and in France.

The maple sandwiches appear in the middle (flanked by Anzac biscuits).

Maple sandwich cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup butter, room temperature, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons maple extract or pure maple syrup (preferably grade B)(I used maple syrup — usually do not like extracts)

Filling:
4 tablespoons softened butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup (can use more to achieve desired flavor)

Sift dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder) in a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and maple extract or syrup until combined.

Beat in flour in several additions, until just blended. Divide dough in half, flatten each half into round discs, wrap in plastic and chill (at least one hour).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out one disk of dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/3-inch thickness. Cut out cookies and place on prepared sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake until edges just start to brown, 8-10 minutes. Watch them carefully.

Cool cookies on sheets for a few minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

For the filling, cream butter and add powdered sugar and maple syrup and beat until combined and smooth to the consistency you desire.

Spread the backside of one cookie with a small amount of filling. Top with another cookie, and repeat until all cookies are matched up.

Bon appetit.