lulu's Confections

About Lulu's 2011

2011-05-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Way back in 1978, a girl was hungry, and so she made some chocolate chip cookies. From these humble beginnings, a deep love of all things sugary was born. I have always been the gal who brings dessert to the potluck. I read cookbooks like novels, and collect recipes like baseball cards. Nevertheless, all of this was just a fabulous hobby, until fate provided the proverbial kick in the pants, and asked the simple question, “Why not do what you love for a living?”

And so, Lulu’s Confections was born, from the muck and mire of a third-of-a-life-crisis, and the hope to make people happy. I believe that sweets can make many things better, at least temporarily, and that cookies made with love are a good prescription for, well, life. It’s just that simple.

Lulu’s offers a wide range of cookies, from the classic chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin to ginger delights, to homemade oreos, to the strange new world of cookies with cayenne, rosemary, or cornmeal. Our cookies are “normal” sized compared to most of the cookies walking the streets of Portland these days. To us, that means they taste better, allow you to try several different flavors in one happy snack, and maybe even encourage you to share. And sharing is nice. The majority of ingredients are organic, and our butter is rbgh-free from Oregon. While Lulu is an omnivore, we are sensitive to those of you who are not. Flour-alternative, sugar alternative, and vegan cookies are available.

We are mostly a fly-by-night cookie girl business... showing up at your favorite show or event like a cigarette girl, except with cookies. I'm the world's smallest foodie cart (http://extramsg.com/portland-food/eat-mobile-2010/). I am also happy to do a special order for parties, crushes, meetings, weddings, etc. Just get in touch already!

Let it Dough!

2010-12-22T11:32:00.001-08:00

I wish I could say this was my creation, but it is an awfully clever cookie confection:

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/let-it-dough/

Christmas Cookie Boxes

2010-12-06T19:56:00.000-08:00

As I write this, it is the 6th day of Hannukah, and Christmas is only a few weeks away. I don't know much about Hannukah sweets, but for my family, Christmas was the cookie blow-out season. We made ooodles of them, mostly the kinds you could decorate, like sugar cookies and spritz and gingerbread. Some of my fondest memories center around the kitchen table at my house, carefully putting the "proper" number of cinnamon drops on for the Gingerbread man's coat or shaking white sugar around Santa's sugar cookie collar.

As you breeze through December, and all of its parties, gift exchanges, and fun, please consider sharing a box of Lulu's Confections with your friends and loved ones. All cookies are made with love, and a select few can also be made with a bit of Christmas color if you so choose.

Email me at lulusconfections@gmail.com to place an order (2 dozen minimum). Cookies range from $10 - $12/dozen, depending on the type.

In sweetness,

Lisa

Candy Redeemed (well, sort of)

2010-12-02T15:26:00.001-08:00

I thought you might enjoy this blurb from the New York Times...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/dining/27candy.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

Fifteen pounds of butter and counting

2010-09-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

That doesn't seem like ALL that much, does it? But we have the busy weekend ahead. Please come and join us.

While you are there, check out the lovely Distillery Row bar, on the first floor, near the entrance to the auditorium. They are such nice folks, and I hear they pour a mean cocktail to boot. Then, take your drink and step into the Christopher Miner installation (also near the auditorium door and Distillery Row bar). It's mysteriously haunting for me. Finally, of course, find me, and buy a cookie or two to round out the evening. You will be so glad you did!

TBA Butter Count

2010-09-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to track how many pounds of butter y'all eat via cookies over the 10 days of TBA.....

So, as of this morning's bake (having completed night one, and getting ready for night two), I have baked (or whipped into a buttercream frenzy) six pounds of butter.

Nicely done!

Yup, I'll be at The Works at TBA again...

2010-09-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

Indeedy do. For the third year running now... I'll be your cookie girl at the TBA Festival. It's really my favorite gig of the year! So, come to The Works at Washington High School (September 9 - 19), have a drink, see some art, nod your head and wisely talk about the performances you saw that evening, and have some cookies. I'm all a flutter! You should be too. (www.pica.org)

Mobile Cart Event

2010-05-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

http://extramsg.com/portland-food/eat-mobile-2010/

Oh my!

The second year (for me) of the Willamette Week Mobile Cart Event was even more fun than the first... despite the cold cold weather. Contrary to popular belief, fish nets simply do NOT provide adequate wind protection.

Nevertheless, I got to meet fancy chefs from the CIA (that's Culinary Institute of America) in New York City, and even they liked my cookies (though they insisted that they couldn't eat cookies before they had some main course carts first... a thought that I found a bit odd).

Gearing up now for a festival-y spring and summer. If you have a special event that needs a Lulu or two, please let me know!

So many cookies, so little time

2010-04-14T18:40:00.000-07:00

Do join me tonight (Wednesday the 14th) at the Holocene Mini-Golf Invitational. Art-y minature golf! Great live music! Cookies!

http://www.holocene.org/calendar/

It's super fun. All the cool kids are doing it. Why don't you try it? Etc.

Presenting... The Holy Wow

2010-01-09T16:10:00.001-08:00

Friends,

It has been a while since I've really explored a new cookie recipe for you, feeling that we had a pretty killer set of cookies that you were passionate about, and that I thought were pretty swell too.

But, at a certain moment, a cookie mistress looks around at the divine-ness that surrounds her, and thinks.... but is it enough? Couldn't I do more for the people of Portland?

The answer is yes, or, more precisely, the answer is The Holy Wow, the newest addition to the Lulu's Confections line up.

The Holy Wow is my first foray into the sandwich cookie. Two soft dark chocolate cookies lovingly hold some butter cream yumminess in their little cookie arms. The cookie brings new meaning to the phrase "melts in your mouth."

I hope you will have opportunity to try one soon. If you are smart enough to go to the Performance Works benefit tonight (Saturday, January 8), you can taste them for yourself! http://www.performanceworksnw.org/events.html

Many thanks to the hard working tasters who critiqued (and then named) this cookie. Way to take one for the people!

Perfect Pastry Flour!

2009-11-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to report that un-enriched whole wheat pastry flour is a lovely potato free choice for those of us (which will now include YOU, dear cookie eater) who are not eating potato. Moreover, the lovely people at Bob's Red Mill make an organic un-enriched white flour.

Shortbread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Cake.... all come out with the right taste and texture... you wouldn't even know I had changed flours, if I hadn't rambled on about it in previous missives.

Good news! And just in time for the holidays.

Lisa

Dastardly Potatoes!

2009-11-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentleman, I have discovered that I have an intolerance for potato.

What does that have to do with delicious cookies, you may ask? Well, dear reader, it turns out that flour, even my lovely organic unbleached white flour, is enriched with niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin, and these B vitamins are all derived from potato. Who knew?!

Moving on to the delicious rbst-free butter local I've been using, we discover that it has "natural flavoring," which is derived from.... you guessed it... potato.

Many a person has said to me, why don't you just make the cookies without eating them? These people, I suspect, do not know the siren song of a cookie fresh out of the oven, or the coy call of that little bit of dough that didn't make it into the cut cookie. It just also feels weird, on some deep level, to sell something to you that I myself can't enjoy. One of my principles has always been to only make cookies that I like, and so I think adding "and don't poison me" to that principle seems pretty straightforward.

To answer your next question, I'm not really interested in a non-wheat gluten free mix because most mixes contain a lot of potato, are very expensive to blend, and just don't have the texture that I want. And so I begin a search for a wheat flour that is un-enriched (many whole wheat flours are) but also still appropriate for cookies (most whole wheat flours are not).

Today, the boys at Seven Corners Cycle generously volunteered for tasting duty, and so I will be bringing them chocolate chip cookies with four different kinds of flour mixes. They are brave brave boys, doing their part for Portland cookie lovers (as an aside, they also don't mock a girl for wanting tire liners for her road bike... lets hope this stops the endless flats).

I'm not sure how this will all turn out, but it is certainly an eye opening experience. Stay tuned, dear reader. I hope to be returning with a story of the perfect flour soon!

In potato-free sweetness,

Lisa

The Works at Washington High School

2009-09-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just enjoyed my first night at the Works, the after-hours venue for the TBA festival (www.pica.org). There were ALOT of people there... and luckily for me, many of them were hungry. It was kind of like a big reunion... meeting up with folks who haven't had Katherine Hepburn's brownie since last year... poor things.

Do come to Washington High School for the Works (10pm - late) sometime... or many times... between September 4 and the 13th. If you've ever wondered what it looks like in there, now is your chance. Wander around and check out scary old school books, tell your story on wide-ruled paper, find the record player with Harry Belafonte and Ray Charles records at the ready, wander the beer garden and enjoy the beautiful lights, and go to the auditorium for the fabulous performances. And yes, of course, buy a cookie or two from your favorite cookie lady. As you see by the photo, I've been slaving over a hot stove just for you.

ahhh.... love

2009-06-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Omigod...

We did our first wedding and it was todes awesome. For realsies. Lulu's assembled 115 boxes of love as favors for the tables. Here's a picture of the box before closing... what you can't quite see is there is a Dark & Stormy hidden beneath... a little four pack of yum.

Then, the finished product....

Maybe it's just my own motherly love about my cookies, but I think these boxes are quite, err... sweet. Kudos to the bride for actually typing the little tags on a real typewriter .

Look for Lulu at your favorite summer show.... We like the type with music and performers and some crazy dancing.

Lulu in Wonderland

2009-04-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hi kids,

For the next two weekends, I'll be "Cookie Girl-ing" it at:
http://www.bossanovaballroom.com/

The Wonderland Circus! Alice in Wonderland and all her friends in breathtaking displays of grace and wit and wonder. Music by Trashcan Joe and Shoehorn. Fun for everyone.... and... of course... cookies!

Do come and enjoy.

Come to Eat Mobile 2009!

2009-04-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

Cookie lovers one and all,

Here's a place where you can eat dessert, then dinner, then dessert again, and all for the benefit of Mercy Corps (and your tummy):

http://wweek.com/editorial/2009/04/01/eat-mobile-2009/

Hope to see you there. We'll be burning the stoves at both ends to get all the cookies made!

Spring!

2009-03-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hello cookie fanatics,

I am never in touch here, and I'm sorry. I really have no excuse, except that I exist so much in the real world, I tend to forget about this virtual world.

Here are a few highlights of the past few months....
* It was super selling cookies at the TBA Festival's after-hours locale. For 2 weeks, I was a cookie girl, much like a cigarette girl, only with wares that are way more tasty and way less deadly. It was a fabulous success, and ridiculous amounts of fun. A certain Portland art-scene luminary became addicted to the Ginger Cardamom bars, another to Katharine Hepburn's brownie recipe. I was also written up in the Oregonian as part of their celebration of Oregon's 100th birthday. Ooh la la!

* We have our first wedding scheduled! Hurrah. Lulu's will be providing 150 little gift boxes for the place settings. Isn't that a lovely and clever idea? (No, I won't tell you whose wedding. If you are not invited on your own, you can't come just to score some Lulu's.)

* Other special events and activities have included a monthly Supper Club, the Clowns Without Borders fundraiser, a Theory 1: Dance event, a celebration of walking/biking to school at a elementary school, birthday parties, fundraisers, and auctions.

Looking ahead....
* I have dropped my weekly business "drop-ins" in favor of a focus on special events, meetings, and working with restaurants/caterers described above. That means a decreased use of my tricycle (gasp!) and an increased use of my high heels and fish nets (the cigarette girl). Since I really enjoy dress up, and interesting performances, I see this as a good thing.

* In terms of the recipes, I've begun to focus more seriously on bar cookies and shortbread. Mainly because they are so darn pretty (or handsome if you are a guy who is afraid of pretty). I'll still make my homey chocolate chips and oatmeal raisins and such, never fear. But, left to my own devices, you will see more and more shapely cookies.

So, if you have a special event coming up, and need some tasty treats delivered in a clever fashion, please give me a call or email. Thank you for the support.

A mention in the Portland Mercury!

2008-06-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Heaven's to Betsy! We do love this exposure:

http://www.portlandmercury.com/pullout/the_pedal_principle/Content?oid=796669

On a Roll!

2008-05-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

We got this lovely little write up in the Willamette Week....

http://wweek.com/editorial/3426/10945/

How nice!

2008-04-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

how lulu's can serve your sweet tooth

2008-04-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Lulu’s can feed your cookie needs three ways:
1. The Subscription Plan: Spice up your weekly or monthly meeting with a standing order for 2 or more dozen cookies. A variety of deliciousness will arrive at the appointed hour, and successful meetings will ensue.

2. Special Occasions: Whether it be a birthday celebration, honoring board members or volunteers, or just an everyday meeting, Lulu’s can bring the perfect sweet treat.

3. Events: Having an event and need something to go with that wine and cheese? Whether it be a gallery opening, a performance, or party, consider bringing Lulu to your event as a roving cookie girl. Lulu roves the event, much like the cigarette girl of days gone by, only with delicious cookies instead of cigarettes. You can pre-pay for a certain number of cookies, or have your attendees purchase cookies themselves.