Milk - Milk & cookies: 89 heirloom recipes from New Yorks Milk & Cookies Bakery

To my father, Norman, who loved good food as much as I do. Not a day goes by that his influence is not beside me. No experience or education can compare to the experience and education I gained as I grew up working with him; with my father, my strong foundations were built. I wouldnt be baking or running a business today nor, especially, writing a cookbook had he not taught me so well.

To my mother, Marilyn, for instilling the importance of family and keeping tradition in me. She always believed I could do whatever I put my mind to; I still find courage in that. I thank her also for having the patience and forethought to sit with our grandmothershers and minetranscribing all of their recipes as they prepared them so the recipes would be passed down accurately. She neatly typed them and created a book of family recipes for me that I still have and use. Her thoughtfulness made writing the family chapter of this book a breeze.

To my brother, Phil, for always watching out for me. Having our businesses so close to each other has been a blessing; knowing he is just around the corner makes me feel secure. Watching him operate his business so flawlessly helped me believe I could do it, too. I especially thank him for providing lunch each day during the photo shoot for this book.

To my staff at Milk & Cookies Bakery, without whom there would be no Milk & Cookies Bakery. I especially thank Jennifer Tan, my pastry chef, who helped produce all the products needed for the photos in this book while never falling behind on any of the daily bakery production, and for dealing with my craziness and then laughing with me at the end of the day. Also to Jose Jerez, for bringing sunshine into our lives every day he walks through the bakery door!

To my friends Vicki Wells and Christopher Papagni, who understand when I dont have time to even grab a quick bite to eat with them, but who never stop asking.

Lisbeth Rawl, I thank you for our endless phone calls that always help me keep things in perspective.

To Sabena Singh, who has been another blessing in my life. There is no one like Sabena! My number-one fan, her encouragement and belief in me has helped me keep going.

To my friends and colleagues at The French Culinary Institute for their endless support and encouragement.

I am especially grateful to Judie Choate; she brought my idea from a thought to a reality. She makes it all seem so easy. There is no one better with whom one could write a book.

I am also grateful for my agent, Mickey Choate, who was the first to recognize the potential of this project and expertly guided me through the steps toward publication.

I would also like to thank my editors, Bill LeBlond and Sarah Billingsley, at Chronicle Books, for undertaking this project and offering their encouragement and wise words to make it the best it could possibly be. Also to Doug Ogan, Vanessa Dina, Tera Killip, Peter Perez, David Hawk, and all of the staff at Chronicle Books who deserve a huge thank you. You do a remarkable job and produce beautiful books.

My gratitude also goes out to Antonis Achilleos and Pam Morris for creating beautiful photos and never complaining as customers stepped over props and camera equipment during the entire photo shoot. You both have unbelievable patience and amazing talent.

A very special thank-you to Dave and Sue Pacelli and Bob Borreggine for the multiple weekends they spent driving down from Rochester, NY, sleeping on my apartment floor, and working all day and sometimes overnight to help me transform the bakery.

And finally, I would like to thank the many members of my extended family and my lifetime friends for their unconditional love and continuing support. Each of you has been with me all the way and, even though I dont mention you by name, I hope that you know who you are.

In France, there is no such thing as milk and cookies. A pot of tea, perhaps, and, of course, a dark espresso or warm caf au lait each served with small biscuits or madeleines in the afternoon would be as close as you could get to the favorite American snack. In fact, I had never tasted a chocolate chip cookie until I came to the United States and now, not only do I make my own, you can frequently find me biking over to Milk & Cookies Bakery for one of Tinas just-like-homemade cookies for a midday pick-me-up.

I find that the extraordinary thing about all of the goodies at Milk & Cookies Bakery is that your childhood favorites taste even better than you remember! Tina Casaceli has taken all of her professional knowledge and pastry skills and combined them with the finest ingredients available to produce baked goods that are not only delicious but somehow also say made with love, just like mom does at home. This is not easy to do!

I think that home cooks will appreciate Tinas skill in translating her years in the professional pastry world to creating simple recipes that will always work in the home kitchen. How marvelous to have all of the base recipes to perfect and then add so many appealing variations to the mix. Im so happy that Milk & Cookies Bakery is a neighbor and I can pop in anytime I need my cookie fix. And for those of you who dont live close by, Tina has given you a wonderfully enticing batch of recipes from which to bake your own.

One of my first memories is of a kitchen table surrounded by women. Their loving, capable hands shaped, rolled, sugared, and cut cookie dough. As a tiny child, I wasnt even as tall as the table but I wanted to be part of this ritual. I knew they were preparing for a wedding, holiday, or family gathering. These women came together to bake cookies for a celebration.

At first I simply watched as they wrapped almond paste in little pockets of dough. So quick! So neat! Nimble fingers shaped tiny bows of dough, then placed one on each cookie. As I grew bigger, this became my job; my little fingers were the ideal size for twisting the dough into bows. This was my first kitchen task, and I was so proud to be part of the group. I tried to form each bow perfectly so the women I loved would be proud of me.

These ladiesmy mother, grandmother, aunts, and great-auntsall came together to bake. It usually started early Sunday afternoon, with a break for a huge pasta dinner. Even now, I close my eyes and feel the closeness and comfort of these women as they worked, chatting and laughing, and created perfect cookies that they shared with family, friends, and neighbors.

Some of these ladies became identified with one special cookie. There were were perfectly rolled into logs and coated with sesame seeds.