Insanity

Our week has been good. Very good. The Colorado Fun Kids arrived Wednesday in time for dinner, stayed one night, and then flew from Chicago O'Hare to Vienna, Austria. Grandparents there drove them the one hour to Bratislva, Slovakia--DIL's hometown.

On the drive here from Fort Collins, D+M's Family stopped to see J+M and the Omaha Fun Kids, then drove to the Peoria, IL area to visit GG and my family. A good time was reportedly had by all. 

Omaha 

Eureka

Peoria

My 95-year old Dad's 28th great grandchild, Natalie Ann. 

Their time with us was too short, but our family of 12 will be together by mid- 

August in Fort Collins, CO. And, JE's family will arrive here for a visit mid-July. 

The insanity began when we invited some newly-vegan friends for dinner on our porch. No... back up a bit. Thursday early afternoon I stepped-off the cliff. Willingly. It was my idea. Why not bake cookies for the 16 university students and 4 leaders who are going along with the Fun Kids for 5 weeks in Slovakia--Cru's Slovakia Summer Mission? Why, I have almost 3 hours; I'll just whip-up a batch of Aunt Roxy's Oatmeal Crisps. With walnuts. And raisins. And dried cranberries. And chocolate chips. Oh! I'll top them off with M+M's!

Yep! Right off the I am woman, W-O-M-A-N... cliff. 

Ta-dah! Unfortunately, one such victory inspires grandiose plans for unreachable goals; complex, highly-strategized plans--preparing dinner for vegans. 

I've asked CA to just shoot me if I ever get anywhere near such a cliff again.

I pulled off a highly-edited, reportedly superb version of my original menu... On-the-fly. I made the enchilladas, but discarded plans for the taco entrée and used the oven-roasted sweet potatoes (already prepared) as a side dish. The two planned desserts--melon skewers and fresh berries in a tequila-agave syrup--were likewise abandoned. We were too full after appetizers and the meal. Really, though, there was no way I had energy to chop, assemble, and arrange one more recipe!

glutenfreegoddess.com 

Roasted Red Pepper Hummuus. 

A can of vegan chili and a package of vegan  cream cheese. Nasty tasting, so doctored-up with green chiles, medium-temp red Salsa, a chopped Jalapeño. 

That worked; it was palatable. Served with these:

twohottamales.com Guacamole recipe Also, served with Teader Joe's Sweet Pitato Tortilla Chips

We always use Tortilla Factory's White Corn Tortillas. These are lightly fried and well-drained just prior to assembly. 

Sweet onions+mushrooms+baby spinach=vegan enchillada filling. 

Enchilladas with glutenfreegoddess.com 's Green Chile Enchilada Sauce (add 1/2 cup Medium Salsa and 1/2 cup Sour Cream. 

Oven-roasted Sweet Potato side dish. 

Oh, and some Green Rice--just regularly-prepared rice with green salsa added. 

The kitchen was completely trashed and required a major clean-up before bed, and more today. 

I sat on the couch and ate 1/2 bag of Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Peanut butter Pretzels. Note: It is always advisable to shoot yourself in the foot after falling off a cliff. 

Do you share recipes?

I've always shared recipes, except for my favorite cookie recipes. Those I'd held back from posting online. For a time I worked on a plan to sell to corporate clients, or through a website I had envisioned. The fact is that our family interactions and travel are more important to us than developing a small business.

I'm ready to share my best cookie recipes. Because I only ever use the finest ingredients, these are 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 stars). Am I required to post reviews, or is "scout's honor" good enough?

Aunt Roxy's Oatmeal Crisps
(My MILs Aunt Roxie was a school cook, and bequeathed some killer recipes. )

Preheat oven to 350°

1 cup White sugar
1 cup Light brown sugar 
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 cup Butter
2 medium Eggs
1-1/2 cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
3 cups Quick oatmeal
1cup Nuts, chopped (pecans or walnuts, usually)
1cup White raisins (may substitute partial qty of dried cranberries
(Roxy added 1 cup of Coconut, but I rarely have.)
(My husband CA thinks it's an abomination to add chocolate chips, but they do taste good in these cookies.

1. In large mixing bowl, combine both sugars and butter. Add vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
2. Beat in eggs.
3. Add dry ingredients into mixture in this order: flour, baking soda, salt. Now, stir in; mixing well.
4. Pour in the quick oatmeal, nuts, dried fruit(s), etc. Mix in thoroughly.
5. Scoop cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet 2" apart.
6. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, or until slightly browned. For softer cookies, remove from oven when tops are still moist-looking. Cool slightly on baking pan.
7. Place cookies directly on a cooling rack until they're cooled to room temperature.
8. Store immediately in air-tight container.
WARNING: Oatmeal is quite absorbent, so, for best results do not refrigerate or freeze raw dough. Doing so will result in drier, crunchier cookies.


This is a very special shortbread recipe, discovered by a friend of a friend, but my friend, too--JZ. Posting this is especially poignant right now as JZ was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. I have co-opted this recipe and shared it with appreciative friends for over 25 years.
JZ discovered this recipe in the old Cuisine magazine in December 1983.

This a 5"x5" baking pan=1/4 recipe.

This is an 8" square pan=1/2 recipe.

My Father's Shortbread
Cuisine Magazine, 12/83

1 lb. Butter
1 cup Sugar
3 cups Flour
1. Blend together as you would pie crust; do not knead.
2. Press mixture tightly into 9"x12" baking pan. I prefer a baking pan with squared-off corners rather than rounded. Cuisinart makes a great pan. The 8"x8" is perfect for 1/2 a recipe.
3. With a metal scraper or chef's knife, score the cookie dough into 1"x 2-1/2" rectangles, small squares, or larger squares cut diagonally into triangles.
4. Press the pointy tines of a fork into each cookie to prevent bubbles.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 48 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350°.

6. Bake for approximately one hour--watching carefully as ideally they will be slightly golden. The carmelizing butter makes the cookies darken. These cookies are very rich; the more carmelized they are, the richer they are.
7. Wait just 5 minutes, then re-cut all lines and edges, and poke again with fork tines. Cool to room temperature.
8. Carefully remove cookies from baking pan.
9. Seal immediately in airtight container. These cookies have a high-fat content, so interleave layers with parchment paper or waxed paper.


This next recipe fascinated me as soon as I spotted "sieved egg yolks" in the ingredients list. My Polish girlfriend's mother declared she'd never, ever heard of such a Polish cookie. They're still fun to make and quite tasty, with an interesting texture.

Sarah Leah Chase'sPolish Butter Cookies
Cold Weather Cooking

1 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Almond extract
1 Egg yolk, slightly beaten
2 Hard-cooked egg yolks, cooled and sieved*
2 cups Flour**

1. Beat together softened butter and sugar.
2. Mix together beaten egg yolk and flavorings.
3. Add seived egg yolks.
4. Gradually mix in flour, until forms soft ball.
5. Gather dough into ball, wrap with cling film and refrigerate one hour.
6. Roll dough to thickness. Cut into small shapes 1-1/2 - 2".
7. Bake at for 12 - 15 minutes @350°

*Press chilled yolks through a fine mesh sieve.

I worked for 16 years at a very good corporation, as an executive secretary. Yep! I'm that old. All of the lovely ladies I worked with were excellent cooks. The friend that gave me this recipe is a true southern character. One of my favorite sayings MK would pull-out when a certain co-worker would consistently over-share: "It's like you put a quarter in and she just can't shut-up."

Mary King's
Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup Butter

1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Molasses
1 Egg
2 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground cloves
1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 tsp Salt
Extra granulated sugar for rolling in.

1. Cream together butter and sugar
2. Add molasses and egg: beat well
3. Whisk together dry ingredients in a separate bowl
4. Gradually add dry ingredients to butter mixture
5. When well-blended, cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour
6. Preheat oven to 350°
7. Shape cookies into 1" balls, roll in sugar
8. Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown
9. Cool 5 minutes; remove cookies to cooling rack; store in air-tight container

I sometimes use this recipe to make sandwich cookies--with lemon filling. Just regular icing with a bit of lemon juice and lemon zest added.

Our family calls these Monster Cookies because originally we baked them over-sized. The unbeatable combination of peanut butter and chocolate.

Monster Cookies

1 cup White sugar
1 cup Light brown sugar
1 cup Butter
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla
2/3 cup Peanut butter
2-1/4 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
12 oz. Semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer Ghiradelli)
1-1/2 cups Pecan pieces


1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Beat together butter and sugars.
3. Mix in peanut butter, eggs, vanilla.
4. Add flour and baking soda; stir until well mixed.
5. Add chocolate chips and pecans; blend in completely.
6. Form 1" to 2" balls--I use a cookie scoop.
7. Place 2" apart on ungreased baking sheet.
8. Bake at 350° for approximately 15 minutes.
9. Cool 10 minutes; remove to cooling rack and cool completely. Store in Ziplock or airtight cookie tins.

We usually scoop half the recipe into balls and freeze on a baking sheet. Drop frozen cookie balls into Ziplock bags and store in freezer. Thaw slightly before baking.

Cookies

An Instagram find. I love to bake cookies, and love that someone did this research. Invaluable!

A New Toy

Really loving this photo option I found on our Mac desktop. Makes me feel creative!

Polish Butter Cookies

Although, my friend's Polish mother told me she'd never heard of these, I've never doubted their authenticity. I've made these cookies several times in the past years--intrigued by the sieved egg yolks. The original recipe is from Sarah Leah Chase's Cold Weather Cooking.

Polish Butter Cookies
1 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Almond extract
1 Egg yolk, slightly beaten
2 Hard-cooked Egg yolks, cooled and sieved*
2 cups Flour**

1. Beat together softened butter and sugar.
2. Mix together beaten egg yolk and flavorings.
3. Add seived egg yolks.
4. Gradually mix in flour, until forms soft ball.
5. Gather dough into ball, wrap with cling film and refrigerate one hour.
6. Roll dough to thickness. Cut into small shapes 1-1/2 - 2".
7. Bake at for 12 - 15 minutes @350 degrees.

*Press chilled yolks through a fine mesh sieve.
**I used King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour this time, and added a bit of xanthan gum--something I've picked up from the glutenfreegoddess.com


I originally discovered Sarah Leah Chase through her Pedaling Through Provence and Pedaling Through Burgundy books. I envied her adventures and her lifestyle.

This Mary Engelbreit tin is many times the perfect storage container for my homemade cookies. I was fortunate to find it years ago at a bulk foods store in Barrington, IL.

Baking for Friends and Family

RvH's first selfie.

RvH loves home-baked goodies, so I always try to include a couple of treats at her birthday and at Christmas. Banana bread is a given, and lately giant M+M cookies, ever since she declared then her favorite.

I'm lucky enough to have the world's best banana bread recipe. The original came from one of those spiral-bound women's club cookbooks, where everyone includes their best time-honored recipes. This one came from a local doctor's wife--from when Crystal Lake was a small city and most everyone had some connection to everyone else. That all changed with the 1960s suburban migration, expressways, and the resultant housing boom. We moved to CL in 1975 just when that small northern Illinois city began to be referred to as suburban. 

Anyway, I digress...

EASY BANANA BREAD
(Helen Hillstrom, from the Crystal Lake Collection, 1987)

1/2 cup Butter
1-1/2 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup Bananas, mashed****
4 T. Sour milk* or fresh milk soured by adding 1 T. lemon juice to 1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 cups Flour
1 tsp. Lemon rind, grated**
1/2 cup Nuts, chopped***

Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

What has always set-off this recipe from others is the addition of lemon zest. Who knew?! Over the years, I've incorporated a few changes from the original:

1. Use sour cream rather than buttermilk*
2. Increased the lemon zest from 1 tsp. to @ 2 tsps.**
3. Toast the walnuts before adding to the batter***
4. Dice, rather than mash the bananas **** 
5. Butter and sugar the baking pan(s), rather than butter and flour

M+M COOKIES

For the M+M cookies, I just use a standard recipe--Tollhouse works. This time I used the recipe from the Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips bag. 

My process is to add @ 1/2 cup of the Chocolate Chips to the raw dough, then scoop (@1/3 cup) the dough into 2" balls, and bake according to recipe.

These are 2" in diameter.

Just as soon as the cookies come out of the oven, I quickly press the M+Ms into cookies  Very quickly. Get someone to help you if you are doing more than just a few cookies at a time.

These cookies are @5" in diameter.

CA and my sister JL each enjoyed a sampling tonight. The rest of the cookie balls are frozen in a Hefty zip bag--some to be baked on Monday for the Fun Kids and the final 4-5 I'll bake on the day RvH and I meet to exchange gifts. 

Sometimes I give the frozen cookies as a gift,
along with baking instructions.

The Fun Kids are Coming

The Cincinnati Fun Kids are pink dress,
and the two boys in blue shirts.

Monday is fast approaching. Yes!

When I was in Chicago today picking up JL from her appointment at Rush Presbyterian Hospital, we detoured north to Belmont so that I could pick up some beautiful Christmas cookies for the Cincinnati Fun Kids.

The pastries and baked good at Bittersweet are just beautiful, aren't they?

Tarting-up a Favorite Family Recipe

Molasses Cookies with Creamy-Lemon Frosting

My years at Safety-Kleen brought me together with some wonderful home cooks and bakers. We regularly brought treats and exchanged recipes. This is one such recipe. The best part--other than the spicy molasses flavor--is that these cookies bake-up almost perfectly round, and crackle.

Years ago I bought some Carrs sandwich cookies which reminded me of this recipe. They had a lemon frosting in the middle. That was a light bulb moment. "My Molasses Cookies are much better than theirs and I can adapt my recipe." I use fresh lemon juice and zest with a regular powdered-sugar frosting, and these are to-die-for. And, you know this girl loves her some lemons!


MOLASSES COOKIES
[Mary King, Safety-Kleen]

3/4 Cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Molasses
1 Egg
2 Cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Ground cloves
1/2 tsp. Ground ginger
1/2 tsp. Salt


1. Cream butter and sugar with mixer.
2. Add molasses and egg; beat well.
3. Whisk together flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt in separate bowl.
4. Gradually add to butter mixture.
5. When well blended, cover with plastic wrap and chill in frig at least one hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Shape cookie dough into 1" balls; roll in sugar.
8. Bake on greased cookie sheets for 8 - 10 minutes, or until golden.
9. Cool 5 minutes; remove to wire racks; store in airtight container.

Light colored cookies--still wet on top--will be moist and chewy.
The darker the cookies, the crisper they become after cooling.
The flavor changes with the amount of baking time--always good!