Lemon & Cranberry Cookies

I am sure as summer approaches the last thing on many of your minds is the perfect cookie recipe, but I promise these beauties are so incredibly light that you will feel limited guilt indulging in these treats. The ingredient that makes these guys so light and fluffy might seem a little old school (pudding!) but trust us, it is absolutely worth it. You can feel free to use sugar free mix or regular, the taste won’t fluctuate. Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter softened

¾ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding

2 eggs

1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Measure the flour and baking soda and set aside in a bowl. Cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar, and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Add the pudding mix making sure it is well mixed in before you add both eggs while continuously beating. Once a smooth mixture is formed, slowly add in the flour and baking soda mixture by hand. Stir with a spatula to combine, adding a little more mixture each time. This is the hardest part of the recipe due to how soft the batter is, you will get a real arm work out in and don’t be worried if you think the mixture won’t hold together, it will, you just have to keep stirring and keep mixing. Now that your arms feel like they are about to fall off, slowly fold in the cranberries. After adding in the cranberries you can scoop the mixture onto cookie sheets and get cooking! Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. After removing from the oven let the cookies stand for a few minutes to firm up, then enjoy (unless you are like myself and spent the last 15 minutes spooning raw batter into your mouth!).

Here our two of our favorite bloggers, My Style Pill & Eat Sleep Wear rocking their Clare Vivier clutches. It is always inspiring to see how other women style our clutches.

Heather Taylor, a dear friend of Clare Vivier, recently traveled to San Francisco and brought along one of our totes! Heather’s style is amazing and her fearless combination of colors, prints, and patterns maker her a true sartorial inspiration! A gallery owner and blogger extraordinaire, we love the way Heather reps the CV brand!

 What’s In My Clare Vivier Bag:

Saehee Cho works at CLARE VIVIER as head of wholesale accounts and pretty good with a tape gun and carrying heavy boxes in unreasonably tall heels.  She is also a writer of short stories.  Her work has been featured in Sidebrow, Pank, Bap Quarterly Review, decomP, and is forthcoming in Eleven Eleven. 

What Clare Vivier bag is currently in your wardrobe rotation?

Neon Pink Stripe Simple Tote

What is your favorite style of Clare Vivier Bag?

This is not a fair question for someone who works at Clare Vivier but right now I have a crush on the cartable tote in nude

Empty that bag. What’s inside?

•A tiny notebook for tiny observations

•A big notebook for big observations

•Hand cream

•A million bobby pins (this is true of all the pockets in all my clothes, every drawer in my house, every corner of my life)

• Leopard print pochette wallet

• Moleskine Daily Organizer

• Bluets by Maggie Nelson, which I’ve been reading on loop

• Humanimal by Bhanu Kapil

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I have some pretty remarkable co-workers and I am enormously grateful for them. 

Where is your favorite place in Los Angeles to grab a drink?

Last week I was at TAIX with some of my dearest friends for a late night drink. We had whiskey and a comically large basket of fries and the whole thing was perfect.

What are your top three favorite stores in Los Angeles to shop?

Vivier & Bentley, Mohawk General Store, and Surfas in Culver City.

If you could hop on a plane tomorrow and go anywhere, where would you go?

A far away forest with very tall redwoods. 

What would your perfect weekend consist of?

Sitting in my mother’s garden, writing, drinking milky iced coffee and eating a sliver of carrot cake. 

What one beauty product is critical to your survival?

Korean body scrubbing cloths. 

 What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?

I don’t even feel that guilty about it but every now and then I need to eat Chicken McNuggets.

What are you most looking forward to this summer?

Figs and other Summer fruits

What do you do to unwind when you are not working?

Nothing undoes my wrinkles quite like cooking an impractical meal.  Anything that requires braising or roasting or slow stirring feels magical to me at the end of a long day. 

Describe your everyday look

High Heels.

 Sweet or savory?

Both. At the same time.  And then sweet.  And then savory.  And then sweet again.

What’s In My Clare Vivier Bag?        

Casey Mouton recently joined the Clare Vivier team as the great executor of all things social media. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA but recently moved back after living in Santa Cruz, Chicago, San Francisco, and then Chicago again. She loves art, fashion, reading & any nut in its butter form.

What Clare Vivier bag is currently in your wardrobe rotation?

The fold over clutch in blush. It is neutral enough to go with a lot of things in my wardrobe.

What is your favorite style of Clare Vivier Bag?

I love the messenger bags and the fold over pebbled clutches.

 Empty that bag. What’s inside?

The standard wallet, keys, phone, and sunglasses. I also have a plethora of “trash” made up of gum wrappers, movie ticket stubs, receipts, and dry cleaning tickets! I also always have a small notebook, chapstick and GUM!

Where is your favorite place in Los Angeles to grab a drink?

I just moved back to LA from Chicago after being away for 8 years so I am still trying to figure out the best places to go. I am staying in Studio City with my parents (right on) currently and I like going to Laurel Tavern for a beer and Black Market or The Six for a drink.

If you could hop on a plane tomorrow and go anywhere, where would you go?

I would go to Croatia. I have only heard amazing things about the country. It is supposedly exceptionally beautiful, full of friendly people, amazing food, and the sights are said to be breath taking.

What would your perfect weekend consist of?

Sleep! After that would come the perfect cup of coffee, hiking or bike riding, followed by poolside book/magazine reading, followed by a cocktail with family or friends, and then finished off with more sleep! Also lots of guacamole would be consumed.

What is your ultimate guilty pleasure?

Peanut butter, wine, and bad TV. Not necessarily all at the same time but that might not be a bad combination.

What are you most looking forward to this summer?

I am looking forward to exploring Los Angeles and getting reunited with the city I grew up in. I am also looking forward to spending time with family, friends, and my boyfriend. I plan on spending a lot of time at the beach, outdoors, and grilling anything and everything. Lots of fro yo also, there is a lack of fro yo in the Midwest.

What do you do to unwind when you are not working?

Being outside always helps me relax, whether it is running, walking, reading, or sippin on something. Fresh air does it for me.

You would not expect it but I….

Am going to run a half marathon in July!

What song is currently your jam?

Well no matter what time of day, I worship at the altar of Beyonce. Seriously. I am also really liking Beach House’s new album.

What is one blog you can’t stop reading?

I really love reading Sous Style. It is a combination of cooking, fashion, and home design, all written with a cheeky tone.

Sweet or savory?

I need both, at all times, always.

Where do you do the best online shopping damage?

I love the classics like net a porter and Shopbop, often times though for me that is more fashion fantasy than reality. I also enjoy seeing what Bona Drag and Need Supply are currently carrying, they always have really great jewelry as well. And of course ZARA. Zara is killing it.