Category Archives: Recipes

Cookies, Cookies; Cookie Monster!

05 Wednesday Dec 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Cookies, Epicurean, Festivals, Holidays, New York, Recipes, Travel, Weekend

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As I was saying, there really is a day for everything; apparently, for cookies, it’s an entire week.  Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest are laden with posts about #NationalCookieWeek and the hundred upon hundreds of recipes are mind boggling. 

The Fruit of My Labor

While technically I’m probably done baking, I have this nagging feeling I didn’t make enough cookies. This is a feeling I’m well used to as it occurs most every year.  Last year, that was an unnervingly accurate feeling.  Recovering from an operation, my heart wasn’t really into the whole Christmas season and I thought I could get away making the bear minimum amount of cookies needed.  Big mistake as that was never really enough. Inevitably, every few days, I found myself making more and more cookies.  I wasn’t a happy camper. 

In an effort to alleviate that nagging feeling, this evening I made what should be the last batch of cookies this year — gingersnaps.  Out of the oven, they’re OK; give them a few days and #todiefor! 

Gingersnaps; Not Monster Cookies

In honor of #NationalCookieWeek, I’m sharing that one staple recipe that receives rave reviews and makes quite literally, hundreds of cookies.  I made a 1/2 batch over the weekend and ended up with north of 250 cookies.  I was convinced this was a secret family recipe handed down for at least one generation and something that only us Stifter’s knew about; then I got on Pinterest. Apparently, it’s most everyone’s secret family recipe, sigh.  With that, I give you the coveted Monster Cookie recipe:

  • 12 Eggs 
  • 2 Pounds Brown Sugar 
  • 4 Cups Granulated Sugar 
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla 
  • 8 Teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 1 Pound Margarine (I always use butter and I melt it) 
  • 3 Pounds Peanut Butter (I get the super chunky) 
  • 18 Cups Oatmeal (It doesn’t indicate quick or regular — I use quick)
  • 1 Pound Chocolate Chips 
  • 1 Pound M&Ms (if I use peanut M&Ms then I won’t use the super Chunky peanut butter)
  • 1 Tablespoon Corn Syrup 

Mix the ingredients in order given. Drop by Tablespoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 – 12 minutes.  This makes a large, chewy cookie. If you start lifting weights in September, mixing this in December won’t be so painful…oy. 

 I’m looking forward to the weekend; I’m trying to squeeze in a trip to Sugar Loaf, NY for the town’s annual holiday celebration on Saturday.  Saturday night we’re entertaining friends and on Sunday we’ll be attending a Christmas concert #Fun. 

On that #Yummy note, I wish everyone safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite. 

 

Twice Baked…

02 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by in Cookies, Epicurean, Recipes

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Cappuccino and Biscotti #Yummy

As most cookbooks probably proclaim, biscotti means twice baked.  Yesterday, I was twice baking, all day long.  While it sounds exotic and difficult to make, the thing about biscotti is that it’s pretty easy to produce. On yesterday’s agenda was double chocolate and cranberry pistachio twice baked cookies. 

One might think that minus the special ingredients, i.e the chocolate or the cranberries and pistachio, the recipes would be similar; there is, however, enough of a difference between the recipes that I’m not quite at the stage of having a master recipe that is tweaked per specialty. 

Washing the Biscotti Logs

Take the cranberry pistachio biscotti for instance.  That recipe calls for 3 eggs (plus a fourth for ‘washing’ the biscotti), the chocolate only requires 2 eggs. The dough also has to be kneaded before splitting it in half and creating 2 logs on the baking sheet, that step isn’t called for with the chocolate biscotti.  And, there’s the egg wash; the double chocolate biscotti topping was a dusting of powdered sugar while the cranberry pistachio cookie calls for an egg wash.  There’s also a difference in cooking temperatures — the chocolate was cooked at 350 and the second baking only took 10 minutes; the cranberry cooked at 325 with the second baking taking approximately 20 minutes with a flipping of the cookie in the middle. 

Baked Once…

I’m sure there are very logical explanations for these variances and someone more learned in the culinary arts could explain quite easily.  I’m not yet at that stage in my culinary pursuits and, frankly am not sure if I’ll ever be.  I trust the kitchen elves who have already figured all these things out and will probably keep my trust in them for a while…a long while.  With that, I present a biscotti tip and a couple of hacks from this week’s baking expedition: 

Double Chocolate Biscotti:  I use special dark chocolate vs. unsweetened cocoa to give the cookie a little extra pop. 

Teeny, Tiny Sifter

Teeny, tiny sifter:  I used to have a small sifter, but it’s gone missing (which is no big deal as it was half mangled anyway).  When I have a small sifting job — like dusting the biscotti logs or making a small amount of cookie icing, I use a tea steeper do-hickey thing. 

#AllNatural

Mixing Natural Peanut Butter:  We’re big peanut butter eaters and over the years have moved to natural peanut butter as it only contains peanuts (go figure).  Anyone familiar with natural peanut butter is well aware of the oil that seeps to the top of the container and the perils of trying to mix that oil back into the nutty butter.  My husband saved one of the jar tops and drilled a hole in the center, fitting it with a mixer wand.  When we open a new jar, he gives it a whirl with the hand mixer and blends together the peanut butter and oil, creating a creamy, homogenized end product. 

Exhausted, I must head to bed as another week looms closely on the horizon.  I wish you all safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite! 

Spicy Hot Mustard

29 Thursday Nov 2018

Posted by in Cookies, Epicurean, Holidays, Recipes

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Panic Averted!  I found the mustard recipe (see below) and, it appears I’ll be posting twice today — woo hoo blazing a trail here.  In the process of locating the little sucker, I cleaned out my cookbook/recipe area which was desperately needed. 

Cookie Ingredients

I’m ready.  The kitchen’s been cleaned, cookie supplies have been purchased and I’m poised for a weekend of baking. In between I need to pull decorations, figure out my Christmas card situation (which should be fine as I didn’t send out cards last year — something had to give, last year it was the cards) and attend our first holiday get-together.  It truly is a pretty darn fantastic time of the year. 

Colman’s Big Tin

All of the ingredients for what I’m dubbing to be ‘Paula’s World Famous Mustard’ can be purchased on Amazon, as well as from your local grocery store.  We tend to use Amazon as you can buy larger version of the items.  In general, there’s not a much brand specificity going on here excluding the Colman’s Mustard, partly because Tony loves its flavor and partly because they sell large cans of the stuff.  It’s a quick recipe that makes a lot of mustard.  My one tip when making the mustard is to make sure you have enough containers to store it (it keeps well and the taste improves the longer it is stored). 

Without further ado, I give you Paula’s World Famous Mustard:

  • 1 Tbs water 
  • 1/2 – 3/4 Cup Mustard Flour 
  • 1 – 1.25 Tbs of Mustard Seed (grounded) 
  • 1/2 Cup White Wine Vinegar 

In a small bowl, combine the water, mustard flour and mustard seed and stir until smooth and creamy.  Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes (a step we never take  :)).  Drizzle in the vinegar and stir until smooth and creamy.  Transfer the mustard into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 1 week (another step we never take…). Refrigerate after each use. 

The little, vinegar-stained card says it makes 3/4 of a cup, I think I’m cautioning on storage containers as we tend to make the whole tin of Colman’s in one whack. 

A note of caution, this is a hot mustard, but if that’s your thing, you’ll definitely enjoy.  With that, I’m wishing you safe travels, smooth sailings and, of course, bon appetite!

Shopping and Baking and Decorating…Oh My!

27 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by in Christmas, Cookies, Holidays, Recipes, Very Best Baking

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The Woods of Warren, MA

As I settle back into reality from our week in the woods, I’m beginning to plot out those pesky things that need to be done for Christmas; you know shopping and baking and decorating.   First up is baking, this weekend’s project. 

I absolutely love to bake but don’t do it as much as I would like.  It’s just my husband and myself and baking for two leads to over-indulgence (and, he’s gone Paleo on me).  So to get my fix, I make cookies — hundreds of cookies — for my husband’s students, usually about 400 (which isn’t that many when you start doling them out).

Italian Cookies…Yummy!

On the list are My Italian Grandma’s Cookies, a standard; Biscotti from The Gourmet Cookbook edited by Ruth Reichl, a book stuffed with some of the best recipes that are relatively manageable to make; pumpkin cookies, a recipe ripped from Very Best Baking; and, new to the roster, traditional gingersnaps.  The gingersnaps were added last year and  while I didn’t feel they met proper gingersnap standards — I tasted them right out of the oven — I realized a few days later, the secret to a great gingersnap is to let them rest for a few days.

While not necessarily pertaining to baking, but having everything to do with Christmas, I tripped across a pretty cool website: Eat This, Not That!  A journalist I worked with in a previous life, Laurie Wilson, writes for them and penned a fantastic article, 24 Vintage Christmas Dinner Recipes.  It’s a fun article filled with fantastic bits and intriguing recipes from Christmas’ past.  For the traditionalists among us, check it out. 

That’s it for this evening (I need to take stock of the cupboards and put my cookie shopping list together).  As always, I wish you all safe travels and, of course, bon appetite!

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Random Musings…and Pumpkin Roll

17 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by in Holidays, Massachusetts, New England, Pizza, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Travel, Very Best Baking

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We’re slogging our way through fall and, unfortunately, I can’t remember the last full week we had without rain.  After Thursday’s unexpected, yet beautiful, snow fall it’s apparent that we’re moving full steam ahead into winter. 

Libby’s Pumpkin Roll

I finally did my Thanksgiving baking.  Thankfully, I only had one thing to make, my mom’s famous pumpkin roll, as we’re having a small group for Thanksgiving — my brother and his family.  While he tends to bring a dessert or two, I wanted to make sure my hubby, who has been extremely religious in eating healthy, had the sweet treat of his choosing.  I couldn’t find my mom’s recipe and opted for Libby’s recipe (yes, year’s later, I’m convinced the vast majority of my Mom’s ‘world famous’ recipes came off the back of one can or another…sigh).  Above and beyond the rolling, unrolling and filling, and rolling back up it’s an easy dessert to make and one that is a crowd-pleaser. 

While I’m getting ready for tomorrow’s sojourn up north — going over the Hudson and through the woods of south central Massachusetts, a few random thoughts for this Saturday: 

Let Them Eat Cake!

Tastes of Chicago:  Not the Northeast, but #yummy anyway.  Earlier in the year, a friend sent a 4 pack of Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizzas to my home — some girls from school were coming to visit and it was her way of being with us even though she couldn’t physically be present.  Three have been consumed, I’m saving the fourth to selfishly hoard on when no one’s looking.  These pies are sooo good (and that’s coming from a Jersey girl) and would make a fantastic gift for the holidays.  The company smartly partners with other Chicago-area food purveyors, creating unique gift options above and beyond pizza, including: the Lou’s/Lezza ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ combo, the Ultimate Tastes of Chicago Combo Kit featuring a pie, Vienna beef hot dog kit, and cheesecake among other food stuff, and the Portillo’s Italian Beef Kit.  Check it out for the epicureans on your holiday shopping list.

Kayak’s Thanksgiving Travel Tips:  Kayak recently posted its Thanksgiving Travel Tips; while most are geared toward flying, the fist tip hit close to home as it’s something I struggle with — packing light. Not my forte and rather silly as I inevitably wear the same 2 – 3 outfits when traveling while packing enough clothes for a month long trip.  Lately, however, I’ve been doing a packing reality check eliminating most of the ‘just in case’ items and reducing the amount of stuff I’m toting usually by half.

Baking/Travel Hack:  The pumpkin roll needs to get to its destination and among all my plasticware, I don’t have the perfect container for a roll — who does? A great alternative, that acts as a platter for transporting as well as a platter for serving is to use a piece of cardboard (most box tops are usually a good size).  Simply cut the cardboard to the size of the item and then cover with tinfoil, it’s that simple.   

That’s it for now, I’m running errands today, entertaining friends tonight, and hitting the road in the morning.  Next week posts will be from the Woodland Cabin in lovely Warren, MA (a town with less than 10,000 residents!?!).  Until then, I’m wishing you safe travels and, of course, bon appetite!