Dinner and Dessert

Sometimes I'm at a loss about what to make for dinner, but I found this recipe and it's a keeper. I made it for John and I and we liked it enough that I made it the next week to take to Justin's. Now that I'm writing about it, I might just make it again this weekend.

I could eat lots of things with a garlic cream sauce.

I used a pound of pasta, half a pound of bacon, half and half in place of heavy cream, and an extra tablespoon or two of ranch seasoning, and it still all fit into a 9 x 13 pan. 

Since this dinner was a good one, a delicious but not too sweet dessert made it even better. I had almost a full five-pound bag of self-rising flour in the cupboard and King Arthur was kind enough to provide a peanut butter cookie recipe when I decided I needed to use it up. This recipe only uses one cup of flour but I will certainly make it again in the future.

It's quick and easy to mix and make and I got 18 cookies when I baked them. This is probably still more cookies than two people need, but we managed to eat them in short order. 

I'm a selfish baker; the big cookie is for me!

Whatever you're having for dinner and dessert this weekend, I hope it's tasty!

Cookie Report

Last week I showed you this picture of Apple Butter Snickerdoodles from Ryan's food-truck friend and mentioned that we were going to try them sometime. 

And we did last Friday. I mixed up a batch of dough and took it over to Ryan's to bake. He is cooking with gas for the first time, and while he's used the stove a lot, he hadn't tried the oven yet.

We both thought they were good, but different from regular snickerdoodles, in both taste and consistency. My regular snickerdoodles spread a little bit in the oven but these did not, at all. I used butter like the recipe called for and thought maybe I would see what they were like with margarine. These tasted like a soft ginger cookie, which was not bad, but there isn't any ginger in them. 

I brought a few cookies home from Ryan's and luckily for me, Justin ate them all. So on Sunday I mixed up another batch, using margarine this time. 

And they turned out exactly the same - chewy and tasting like a soft ginger cookie. I didn't put the extra cinnamon and sugar on top, so that might change the taste a bit. Justin says these cookies taste good if you eat them sitting in a tree stand hunting for deer, and you don't want to get extra sugar or cinnamon on your bow.

My thoughts on these cookies are that they are good, but possibly mis-named. They don't taste much like snickerdoodles to me, but the apple butter does give them an interesting flavor. They might be a little better with cinnamon and sugar on top (or at least more like snickerdoodles), but they are quite tasty whether you enjoy them with tea or sitting in a tree. 

It's Not My Fault

I've been enjoying the new season of the Great British Baking Show recently. I'm not a big fan of having just one episode released each week, but Paul and Prue forgot to ask for my opinion. After the new episode is over, old episodes keep playing until I intervene. All of this means that I have watched bits and pieces of lots of baking.

Last Tuesday we were having leftovers for dinner, and I thought we also needed something good to look forward to with the leftovers. I felt like an apple cake, but didn't have any apples, so I made the next best thing - an applesauce cake. It was delicious, and I was glad that it came out of the pan so nicely. We ate about half, and put the rest in the freezer when we left MD.

On Friday in NJ, it was leftovers for dinner again, and once again I felt like baking something. The first thing I saw when I looked in the freezer was some cranberries, so I chopped them and had a cranberry pie in the oven in just a few minutes. I don't know why it's called cranberry pie, since it's more like a cake, but my grandmother called it cranberry pie and always baked it in a pie dish, so I do the same. I like this way too much, and can't make it again too soon or I'll eat too much of it again. I do have lots more frozen cranberries, though ...

It didn't dawn on me until after I had made the cranberry pie that my urge to bake was probably due to watching too much GBBS. I do enjoy baking but don't do it nearly as often as I used to because it's usually just John and I, and neither of us needs the calories. 

But it's not just the fault of GBBS. Derek (Ryan's food-truck friend) sent him a picture of these cookies and of course, he had to send it to me. 

Two of my favorite things, apple butter and snickerdoodles, combined into one cookie. I'll be trying these soon and will let you know how they taste. 

I hope your week is off to a good start, and has some cake, cookies, or something delicious in it!

Scenes From the Weekend

We had our family Cookie Day on Saturday, and I think it was a rousing success. We each bring  a couple kinds of dough or baked cookies, and after everything is done, we split them up and go home with a large variety of cookies. The first year we met at my SiL's house, we did all the baking there. That took us over twelve hours, and honestly wasn't much fun. Now, ten years later, some of us bake our cookies ahead of time, others bake them at whoever's house we are gathered at, we have soup, chili, and sandwiches for lunch, and lots more people come. We've added spouses, significant others, and kids. I invited Justin's girlfriend (he had to work), and she brought 160 cut-out cookies! This is kind of a big deal because nobody else likes to make them, so we are going to try and keep her around. Best of all, my niece moved into a new house and she has a double oven! Now we have plenty of time for baking, visiting, and even eating a few cookies.

I hope you had a sweet weekend, too!

Weekending

This past weekend was all about staying warm and cozy indoors.

There was knitting (accompanied by a delightfully relaxing hot toddy).

There was cookie baking.

Because I had promised to make these for him back in November, Pickle Egg Rolls were finally prepared and fried for Justin. The verdict: a little weird, but still tasty. I would make them again.

And lastly, I was fascinated again by the sun-lit, sparkly frost on the windows. After more snow and ice today, I think this beautiful frost may start melting towards the end of the week.

I hope your weekend was a good one, too!

Gluten-free and Great!

We had a cookie exchange over the weekend, and since my sister-in-law has found that eating gluten-free is better for her family's health, she brought gluten-free cookies. I was a little unsure about gluten-free baking (especially cookies!) but she made some that are my new favorites.

I've never been a big fan of biscotti, but I think that may be because the ones I've had before were rock hard. These do have a crisp snap, are perfect for dunking in tea or coffee, all without the danger of chipping a tooth. And the flavor is really wonderful because of the almond flour (which I was surprised and happy to find at Walmart along with arrowroot flour). It never dawned on me that I could control the hardness of biscotti by baking them myself, but an old dog can learn new tricks.

My sil also made some chocolate biscotti that were delicious. She was wary of using xanthan gum, as it can have some unpleasant digestive and other side effects, but her family hasn't had any issues with it in small amounts like the teaspoon in this recipe. She also told me about GF flour. Gluten-free all-purpose flour is a mixture of various GF flours, but she found that each producer makes their own blends and you have to find what works best for you in your recipes. King Arthur GF flour is a mixture of white and brown rice flours, tapioca and potato starch and has worked well for my sil. Pillsbury GF flour is a different blend of rice flour, pea fiber, potato and tapioca starch, and xanthan gum, but when my sil tried it, she ended up with biscotti that were "a pile of glop" (your mileage may vary). 

I don't know that I'll make the switch to only GF baking, but I do know that I can barely resist the cranberry-almond biscotti. They are gluten-free and simply great!

Scenes from the Weekend

I hope your weekend was a good one, and your week is off to a stellar start!

Thursdays Are For Cookies

Or they are when you have a son who has moved back home and is able to help out around the house by eating cookies. I do love to bake, but don't do it as often as I would like to because neither John nor I need extra calories from home-baked bread, cake, cookies ... all the things I love to eat best.

Last weekend Justin was able to get the prized, semi-secret recipe for "Grandmom's Cereal Cookies" from my mother-in-law. There's nothing like sending a favored grandchild to do your dirty work! I have asked her for the recipe several times, and while she's too kind to refuse me outright, she has usually just changed the subject and the recipe has stayed locked inside her recipe box.

This isn't really a secret cookie; some of you may know them as Ranger Cookies. I've found lots of different recipes for those, but I wanted the official, original, Grandmom-certified recipe. Now that I've got it, it's time to make the cookies!

Whenever I try a recipe for the first time I always make it as written, but this dough was so thick that I only added 2 cups of flour instead of the 2 1/4 that the recipe says. My mother-in-law has also made these with raisins or used corn flakes instead of Rice Krispies, but we are definitely no-raisin, Rice Krispie purists here.

The scent of fresh-baked cookies and full cookie jars has the power
 to make me feel that all is right with the world!

Thursdays Are For Cookies

Or they are when you have a son who has moved back home and is able to help out around the house by eating cookies. I do love to bake, but don't do it as often as I would like to because neither John nor I need extra calories from home-baked bread, cake, cookies ... all the things I love to eat best.

Last weekend Justin was able to get the prized, semi-secret recipe for "Grandmom's Cereal Cookies" from my mother-in-law. There's nothing like sending a favored grandchild to do your dirty work! I have asked her for the recipe several times, and while she's too kind to refuse me outright, she has usually just changed the subject and the recipe has stayed locked inside her recipe box.

This isn't really a secret cookie; some of you may know them as Ranger Cookies. I've found lots of different recipes for those, but I wanted the official, original, Grandmom-certified recipe. Now that I've got it, it's time to make the cookies!

Whenever I try a recipe for the first time I always make it as written, but this dough was so thick that I only added 2 cups of flour instead of the 2 1/4 that the recipe says. My mother-in-law has also made these with raisins or used corn flakes instead of Rice Krispies, but we are definitely no-raisin, Rice Krispie purists here.

The scent of fresh-baked cookies and full cookie jars has the power
 to make me feel that all is right with the world!