MeMaw's Cookies

These are the most universal cookie I know of.  Chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal rolled into one.  Delicious!  I usually have a cookie marathon and bake all of the above cookies and put them in the freezer but sometimes one batch of cookies is all you have time for and this cookie fits the bill perfectly. 

Actually, we call these MeMaw Cookies because my mother-in-law baked them.  She was the head of the Holland Hall Primary School and they made these in the cafeteria for special occassions.  This is the only cookie I ever remember her baking so they had to be MeMaw's Cookies.  It makes a lot of cookies so they are great for taking to a cookout or housewarming or cookie exchange.

Here are the ingredients.  As you can see, there is no flour.  They come together very quickly.  Of course you start by creaming the butter, adding the sugar and eggs, then add the peanut butter and baking soda. 

Yes, that is an empty jar!  You use the entire 18 oz jar of peanut butter.

You add the oatneal and the chocolate chips and then you sample the cookie dough.  Nothing better than cookie dough.  If it looks too soft, feel free to add 1/4 cup or more of oatmeal. 

 

As you can see, 1 1/2 dozen small cookies fit nicely with plenty of room to spread.  The larger cookie you can fit 13 cookies with plenty of room.

This pic best demonstrates the difference in size.  My husband takes cookies for dessert and I                                                       make the bigger ones for him. 

Of course, I wish I had someone to help clean up the mess. But when all is said and done it is well worth making the mess because the cookies are so delicious!

Happy Eating!

Wedding Presents

Friends of my son married, finally, in their own words.  So, when couples have been together almost 9 years you want something they didn't already have or would get at the wedding shower.  So, I fired up the sewing machine and made personalized aprons.  I usually like to do colors related to the kitchen but in this case, the bride is a big OSU, Oklahoma State University, fan and the groom has the bluest eyes so I chose orange and blue for their aprons.  So here is what I do...

I start out printing their names out on the computer.  I enlarge the font as much as possible and then use the copier to enlarge it to the size I need.  This is where tracing paper is your best friend.  Trace the names and trim. 

Next you turn the names over and use a transfer

pencil on the backwards names.  This will allow

you to use this as an iron on transfer. 

Transfer pencils can be found at local fabric stores.  Sometimes they are permanent so you should use a piece of test fabric first.

I have marked the center of both the apron and the transfer and placed the transfer where I wanted it to be and ironed it on.

Sometimes, as in this case, it is hard to see the transfer so the alternative is to secure the tracing paper and place your embroidery hoop where you catch the paper.  In machine embroidery, unlike hand embroidery, you hoop the fabric on the underside of the hoop so that it lays flat on the sewing machine bed.  I do this freehand.  Sounds hard but you lower the feed dogs on the machine and set the zigzag to the width you want.  Then you sew!  You follow the transfer and sew fast as you move the hoop slower so you get a solid line.  The zigzag is the ink and the fabric in the hoop is the paper. 

Here is the finished product!  Contrasting thread is usually what you want to use and in this case I just used opposite colors.

And the Happy Bride at the shower.

I think the project was a success!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend (5/19 &5/20) was a busy food weekend.  On Saturday I made another batch of Fudgy Brownies.  Didn't get my fill with the first batch.  Please note that I did share with my kids for dessert on Mother's Day.  Wouldn't be a very good mother if I didn't share, now would I? 

I made a recipe I got from Pinterest for Balsamic Pork Tenderloin.  It was easy and very tasty and here is the link:  http://kitchenconfidante.com/if-you-cant-stand-the-heat-part-ii  Made roasted baby carrots and baby yellow squash, also with balsamic vinegar and Sauted fresh spinach.  Fresh veggies came from the Cherry Street Farmers Market on 15th.  I will be going back there soon.

Then on Sunday...Pioneer Woman is my hero!  Or should I say Heroine! After all she is a woman.  Made her BBQ Chicken, but ate it in pieces first, then shredded it for later.  If you haven't seen the recipe for Crash Hot Potatoes, you need to look it up.  Here, I will save you some time and give you the link:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/.  Again, very tasty and easy.

Crash Hot Potatoes!  Yummy!

It was a very good weekend for food as are most of my weekends.  Safe to say I love to cook.  We will have to see what Memorial Day weekend will bring!

Fudgy Brownies

Tonite I was going to make brownies after dinner only to discover that I did not have a box of my favorite mix.  So, I did what any good baker would do, I got out a cookbook.  Not just any cookbook but my first cookbook.  I think I was 15 or 16 when my Aunt Velma sent me a copy of The Progressive Farmers Desserts Cookbook.  My favorite recipe was Fudgy Brownies.  Just as good as I remember.  Funny, how we make a recipe over and over and something happens and you don't make it for a long time and suddenly you remember how many times you made it and enjoyed it.  And that is what happened tonite.   

Here is what I started with.  Butter, of course, and unsweetened chocolate.  I chopped the chocolate and added it to the butter.  Then at 30 second intervals I zapped it in the microwave.  Stir it together as it melts and it may only take another 15 seconds to be completely melted.  Do not overheat it or it will seize up on you and you have to start over.  After this is all melted, leave it to cool a bit and start to make the rest of the batter with eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla.  When this is well blended, add the chocolae mixture and chopped pecans.

This is when you grease and flour your baking dish. I always disliked (hated) to grease and flour the baking dish and was excited when I discovered Bakers Joy.  If you haven't tried it or something similar, you need to find it and try it.  The oil and flour are already mixed together and all you have to do is shake it up and spray it on.  Easy!  Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake. 

This is what you get.  Yummy brownies. 

And this is how you eat it when it is hot and fresh out of the oven.  Brownie Fudge Sundaes.  Add BlueBell's Homemade Vanilla and Hershey's Chocolate Syrup and you have something so scrumptious you may think you have died and gone to heaven.  Soooooo Good!

This was a blast from the past.  Check out the recipe page and get to baking.  Or better yet, find you a copy of the cookbook. 

Hummus!

It has been a good week. Looking forward to Mothers Day. The hubby and kids are fixing dinner on Sunday. Steak and Garlic mashed potatoes are on the menu. Yum! I had a food success this week! I made my own hummus! Tried to make it before without much success but I got a different kind of Tahini and this was good and garlicky. Just had hummus and crackers for dinner. Bill would have had to eat some just for self defense with there being so much garlic. Here is what I did: 1 16oz can of Garbanzo Beans - rinsed 1/2 to 2/3 cup Tahini 1 large garlic clove 2 to 3 tablespoons Lemon Juice 1 cup Olive Oil (EVOO) Put in everything but the olive oil in a food processor and pulse it til you get a feel for how thick it will be and it will be thick. Now drizzle the olive oil in or just pour it in 1/4 cu at a time til you get the consistency you like. If you think there is too much olive oil add about 1/4 cup water. Depending on what you like, you could add sun dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers or add a touch of heat with chipotle peppers or adobo sauce. ENJOY! Hope everyone has a great Mother's Day.

Roasted chicken

Tonite I made Roasted Chicken for dinner.  It only took me 35+ years to make it.  I always thought it was hard but DUH! it is one of the easiest things I ever made.  All you have to do is take a whole chicken, stuff its insides with a cut-up lemon, a whole head of garlic, cut in half, stems of rosemary and thyme, bake at 425 degrees for 1 1/2 hrs and you have one of the tastiest things you have ever eaten.  Serve it first with mashed potatoes and a veggie and then you have wonderful leftovers.  I am going to make Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie.  Yummy!  The only thing I like to add is I cut potatoes in 1/4 inch pieces and boil them a bit and add to the filling.  Makes it a bit hardier and makes it go a little further.  All this is assuming you have leftovers from the beginning.

Cakes!

As I said in my last post, I was honored to bake the cakes for Philip's birthday.  However, there is a story behind the decorated cake.  I rarely have a recipe that is a complete flop but I had a complete flop of one cake and the decorated cake was the 3rd cake I had baked.  Thank goodness it turned out fine!  Actually better than fine, one guest at the party said he had had cake from a famous bakery and this was better than theirs!  Don't remember the name of the bakery, ( how bad is that!) but was very pleased with the compliment.

Now, the cake that failed was beautiful when I took it out of the oven.  Nicely browned, tested done and was perfect.  I turned away to clean up my mess and when I turned around, oh my goodness!, I was aghast when I saw it had fallen!  Flatter than a flitter!  What was 2" high when I took it out of the oven was now 1/2" high and about an inch away from the sides of the pan.  I have no idea what happened.  It was a recipe I use for cheater Italian Creme Cake only I did not put the coconut or pecans in it.  Should have been a very tasty cake but it has been reduced to a very tasty fallen cake that has a creamy texture and will be good with strawberries. 

One more thing about cake I decorated...it was a mix!  I love Duncan Hines cake mixes!  This one was French Vanilla.  It is so good I can't describe it.  I have a white cake I make from scratch called "Silver White Cake" from Betty Crocker but this is just as good if not better.  My family has a hard time telling the difference and that says a lot.  I will publish the Cheater Italian Creme Cake recipe and the Silver White Cake too.  Soon!