Cookie-making day, today. Actually, I think I’ll be making cookies for a few days, considering I didn’t start making them until 8pm.

Here is the first recipe – one of my favorite – “Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies” (link), or “Peanut Butter Blossoms” – whatever you call them, I love them. The recipe below is from the Hershey site. They have a decent list of recipes there. Worth checking out.

Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients:

* 48 HERSHEY’S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 3/4 cup REESE’S Creamy Peanut Butter
* 1/3 cup granulated sugar
* 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* Granulated sugar

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

The recipe made about 48 cookies and were very easy to make. The only thing I would change is to let the cookies cool a bit before putting the chocolates on. We had quite a few melted chocolates, and they took a while to firm up. Maybe a half-hour in the fridge for the chocolates would have been helpful. But it’s all aesthetics, because my boys will eat them no matter what, and actually liked it when they were melted. All in all, decent recipe. I might try the chewy version next time.

Just before Thanksgiving I was listening to talk radio (local) and people were calling in on a casual discussion of listener’s Thanksgiving menu choices. I listened, hoping to catch an idea for something new and different to add to our menu. Since I was in the process of driving around town running errands, whatever “new idea” sparked my fancy needed to be something very, very simple that I could retain in my brain until my next stop so I could write it down.

A lady called in and gave a recipe for a family favorite, “Sounds kind of grouse, but everyone loves it,” she said.

Prepared Cranberries
Small carton of Cool Whip
Sleeve of Saltines (crushed, or not)

Layer the three items in a glass dish. Simple, pretty, yummy.

I figured – why not?

I doubled the recipe. I made cranberries by taking 1 bag whole berries, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water (directions were on the bag), boiled, smashed, cooled.

This I layered with the other 2 ingredients, then covered and put it in the fridge overnight (the lady on the radio recommended this).

I did not like it. I think if I had used pound cake or even bread instead of the Saltines, I would have been OK. But the Saltines rendered a texture and taste I wasn’t fond of. I was hoping for the “sweet, salty, cake-like melding” that was spoken of on the radio, but it turned out with a texture of something in a day-old lunch box – to me. Everyone else seemed to like it.

It is a simple base idea, though, that could be used with another fruit (blueberries) or, like I said, a bread or cookie instead of the Saltines. So, though I might not make it exactly like the recipe says (or if I did, I would make it for a potluck or something), I will keep it in my “back pocket” of tricks to use creatively another time.

In reference to the banana bread post and the addition of molasses. I should clarify – it isn’t that there is molasses in the recipe, but that I make my own brown sugar by combining molasses and raw sugar.

MAKE YOUR OWN BROWN SUGAR
1T. Blackstrap Molasses
1C. sugar (I use finely ground raw turbinado sugar, you can use white instead)

Mix, mix, mix until you have – ¡voila! brown sugar.

So that’s my secret, of which it is not, really, a secret.

Of coarse, being the weather teased of fall, it was necessary to make more bread. This time I made pumpkin chocolate chip. I did take pictures, but they were all terrible and my family eats pumpkin bread too fast for me to try and get any others (unless a cakeplate full of pumpkin bread crumbs would suffice). You can make pumpkin bread, with your banana bread recipe. Just sub out the bananas for pumpkin, add some nutmeg & cloves, and there you go. It smells heavenly and tastes like autumn. Throw in a handful or two of chocolate chips and you have a real treat.

Tonight I made meatloaf (beef, breadcrumbs, onions, shredded carrots, chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne), acorn squash (halved, 1T. butter whipped with 1T. maple syrup dash of salt and pepper, smeared on the halves – don’t forget to scoop out the seeds first – put in oven at the same time as my 3-pound meatloaf, cooked on 350 for about 90 minutes), salad and hunks of Italian bread. Very good, relatively simple comfort food. Yum.

I had all intentions of making Stuffed Green Peppers. But, time ran away from me. And the peppers were beginning to give me the now or never look. So I improvised. And it was good. So I wanted to make sure I wrote down what I did so that I could do it again.

“Stuffed” Green Pepper Casserole

A double portion of Hillbilly Housewifes’ Yellow Rice Mix (prepared)
7-8 green (red, too would be pretty) peppers, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces (about the size of a quarter)
1 medium onion chopped into dime-sized pieces
1 pound ground turkey or beef, cooked
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella and/or cheddar cheese (more if you’re a cheese-lover)
1tsp. of garlic powder (couple shakes)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Prepare rice as directed (best would be to prepare the day before and it be cooled, but we’ll take what we can get). Place peppers, onions and tomatoes in a casserole dish, sprinkle with salt & pepper, garlic; stir. Mix in turkey/beef and yellow rice to the vegetables; top with shredded cheese. Cover and bake @ 350 for about 30min. Remove cover and bake until cheese is golden and bubbly. Server with some biscuits.

All the flavor of stuffed peppers, but less of the fuss.

Be warned, this is dangerous… In the instant gratification kind of way. It is probably a good thing I don’t have a microwave. Recipe is from dizzy-dee.com.

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Mug

Instructions:
Mix flour, sugar and cocoa. Mix flour, sugar and cocoa. Spoon in 1 egg. Pour in milk and oil, and mix well. Put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt). Wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug. Tip contents out of mug onto saucer and enjoy!

I’d probably top this sucker off with some whipped cream and call it delish. If anyone tries it, lemme know.

I threw this together last night and it was very tasty. We all weren’t eating, so I don’t know if it would have served our whole family of seven. It possibly could have with 7 1-cup servings.

1.5 pounds of beef (for stew, or some beef cut up), browned
2 carrots
2 stalks of chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 potatoes (I used red ones), cut into bite-sized pieces
pinch of garlic (I used dehydrated)
1 small can of V-8
1 large (32oz. I believe) container of chicken stock
1.5 c. water
salt and pepper to taste
*1T. cornstarch to thicken (optional)

Place browned meat in soup pot on medium heat. Add stock, water and V-8. Stir continue to heat. In separate pan, saute onion and celery; add to soup pot. Cut carrots in bite-sized coins; add to soup pot. Add garlic, salt and pepper. I simmered this for about 1hr, loosely covered (or until vegetables are soft). Serve with a thick slice of yummy bread. *I added 1T flour to mine (preferred cornstarch but couldn’t find), to thicken it a bit.

Easy!!

Such a beautiful weekend. We were outside as much as possible, just soaking in the fresh air. I did a very small bit of yardwork, but found my interest waning rather quickly. My yard isn’t very inspiring. We’d like to plant a garden this year. Something we can feast off of through the summer. Suggestions welcome. Just a note, though: I have blackthumb and plants tend to wither under my care. Even mint, which is supposed to just “overwhelm your yard/garden” has succumbed to the murderous touch of my hand. My pride and glory is chives. For some reason I didn’t kill my chives and they come back every year. I use them, too. They’re a yummy addition to an omelette. Mmm.

Frank planted some garlic last fall; hoping those sprout up. I’d like to grow some tomatoes, maybe some lettuce and peppers. Pumpkins would be cool. Maybe beans? I need a Gardening for Blackthumbs book. Sigh. I so very much love veggies and the idea of growing some delicious foods right in our backyard. Everything is getting so expensive; especially good fruits and vegetables.

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A recipe worth trying:

Ol’ Settler’s Beans
(from Large Family Logistics)

Brown together and drain the fat off:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. chopped bacon
1 onion

Add:
1/2 c catsup
1/2 c honey
1/2 c BBQ sauce
3 t dry mustard
1/2 t chili powder
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
4 quarts of cooked beans (red, butter, navy, pinto, black, etc.)

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or in crockpot on low for 4 hours.

Looks simple and would be right up my families ally. Mmm.

I’ve been on a quest for some delicious cornbread for… well, years. Today’s dinner menu was chili and cornbread (home made). I bought some stone ground cornmeal for the cornbread (my husband said it was Hodgson’s, but I don’t see it on their site), and thought I’d try one of the recipes on the back. I found this one for Old Fashioned Cornbread, but got a bit scared since the recipe called only for the cornmeal and NO flour. I guess I wasn’t ready for old fashioned just yet. Instead I fell back on my ol’ reliable Aunt Jemima Cornbread recipe.

Golden Cornbread

* 1 cup Quaker or Aunt Jemima Enriched Yellow Corn Meal
* 1 cup all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
* 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup milk
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add milk, egg and oil. Beat until fairly smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Bake in greased or sprayed 8-inch square baking pan 20 to 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Yield: About 9 servings

I double this puppy and put it in a hot skillet (oven warmed with some shortening melted and smeared all over the inside). It’s good and the family likes it. But it is crumbly and chunks off when I butter it. Frank and I got to talking, as he thinks the cornbread is very delicious. He said my idea of cornbread is the cake-like corn cakes purchased from Whole Foods and certain restaurants in town. That those kinds of corn breads is not authentic cornbread. Which made sense to me and calmed my feelings of cornbread failure. I’m not sure if he is correct or not about “authentic” cornbread. And I still like the moist, sticky corn…cake, the way it breaks off in a dense chunk of sweet bread. I’ve yet to master that recipe, though.

What do you do with a bag of ‘Tots? Why casserole, of coarse.

I had some ground beef, browned, bagged and frozen. Tater Tots. Hmm. My family loves casseroles. Here’s what I did (didn’t measure).

Sauteed about a cup of onion in some butter/olive oil, added about 1T. of chopped garlic to the mix. Sprinkled about 1/4 cup of flour on top, then added 5 cups of milk, slowly, while stirring the whole time. Heat and stir, added a few shakes of Tabasco, some salt and pepper. Heat until thick and bubbly, stir in about 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Turn off heat and stir until melted. Mix in the ground beef.

In large baking dish empty 1 bag of frozen mixed veggies to cover bottom of dish. Oh, I sprayed the dish with some non-stick spray before I did this. I digress, back to the veggies, sprinkle some salt and pepper on them, and a handful of shredded cheddar cheese. Pour cheesy beefy mixture on top. Take your bag of frozen Tater Tots and spread them evenly over the top of the dish. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes, take it out and top with a cup of cheese (I sprinkled some garlic on top) then return to oven until tots are browned and it is bubbly. Serve with a simple salad. Yum.

Everyone loved it. You can add in some other veggies, too, if you have them. We ate it for a late lunch and then the kids heated more up for a snack later on. I had one kid who claimed he wouldn’t like it and ended up eating those words.

Sausage (chorizo) and eggs – Picasa

Saturday night dinner. Here’s what I did.

The twins had a 7am indoor soccer game (totally NOT a responsible time on a Saturday, I say), and then Lootie had a game at 2pm. After that, we came home, settled in on the snowy evening, and had tacos. Watched a movie.