Tuesday, January 1, 2008
A lesson learned
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Wanna see my cookies?
The other cookies I made were: Shortbread cookies with Heath bit's and Rice Krispies cookies. While they all came out pretty good, it was the Peanut Butter and Oatmeal with M&M's cookies that really got the raves. Although I really think that I need to come up with a better and/or shorter name for them.
While making the regular M&M cookies, I decided that cookies made with M&M's with Peanuts would be pretty good. After a Google search turned up nothing of greatness, I took a little detour. What better to go with the peanut M&M's, than Peanut Butter cookies? So back to the search. After finding many close but not good enough recipe's, I ended up on this recipe by Michele at allrecipes.com. The only changes I made to the recipe were the additions of Almond extract and Peanut M&M's. They were definitely a hit with everybody that tried them.
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
½ Cup Shortening½ Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup packed Brown Sugar
¾ Cup White Sugar
1 Teaspoon Almond Extract
1 Cup Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
1 ½ Cups All-purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Quick-cooking Oats
1 Cup Peanut M&M's, plus enough to stick onto tops of cookies
Directions:
11. Cool on cookie sheets for a couple minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening, margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, peanut butter and almond extract until smooth.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture.
5. Mix in the oats until just combined.
6. Put M&M's into a baggie. Using a hammer or rolling pin, break up M&M's into irregular pieces. Don't make the pieces too small. Striking each M&M just once or twice should make them the correct size.
7. Gently mix M&M's into cookie dough.
8. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
9. If desired, push 1 or 2 M&M's into the top of each cookie.
10. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Don't over-bake.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Winter is here again Oh lord,
Source: Adapted from recipe at smittenkitchen.com
Ingredients:
Stew:
· 4 Large chicken Leg Quarters
· Salt and Pepper
· 4 Teaspoons Olive Oil
· 4 Teaspoons Butter (1/2 stick)
· 2 Medium Leeks – White and light green parts only – Cut into 1” pieces
· 1 Large Vidalia onion – chopped
· 4 Stalks of Celery – sliced in half lengthwise, then sliced diagonally
· 2 Medium carrots – thinly sliced
· ¼ Teaspoon Salt
· 6 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
· 1 Cup Chardonnay
· 5 Cups Chicken broth
· 1 Cup Buttermilk
· 1 Teaspoon Thyme
· 2 Bay leaves
· ½ Cup Frozen Green Peas
· 1 ½ Tablespoons Tarragon
Dumplings:
· 2 Cups All-Purpose flour
· 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
· 1 Teaspoon Salt
· 1 ½ Cup Buttermilk
· 1 ½ Tablespoons reserved chicken fat or butterDirections:
Pat chicken dry with paper towels
Season with salt and pepper
Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking.
Add 2 chicken leg quarters
Cook until skin on both sides is well browned. Approx. 10 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a plate and remove the browned skin.
Pour off the chicken fat and reserve.
Repeat with second 2 leg quarters.
Add the butter to the Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat.
Add the leeks, onion, celery, carrots and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until softened.
Whisk in the wine, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan.
Stir in chicken broth, buttermilk, thyme, and bay leaves.
Return chicken to pot along with any juices on plate.
Cover pot and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. Approx. 1 hour.
Remove pot from heat.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board
Shred chicken meat from bones and discard bones.
Remove and discard bay leaves.
Skim fat from surface of stew with a large spoon.
Return chicken back into stew.
Bring stew back to a simmer.
Stir in peas and tarragon. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
Microwave buttermilk and chicken fat in a microwave-safe bowl on high until just warm (do not over-heat). Approx. 1 minute.
Stir the warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated and smooth.
Using a soup spoon, drop large spoonfuls of dumpling mixture into stew, about ¼ inch apart.
Cover pot and reduce heat to low.
Simmer about 15 – 20 minutes until dumplings double in size and are cooked through.
Friday, December 7, 2007
The Hanukkah Ham!
While I think it's a tad funny, I'm not surprised. People make mistakes, thing's happen. What does surprise me however, is that the women that initially noticed this. All she did, was take a picture of the ham, and post them on her blog. Really. That's all she did. She didn't get all offended and make a scene in the store. She didn't sue the store owners. She's not boycotting them either. O.k., she answered some reporters questions about it. But that's all! I'm pleasantly surprised.
It's nice to see somebody realize that other people make mistakes. Either they just didn't pay attention, and used the wrong tags, or they just didn't know that Jewish people are not supposed to eat pork. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all be that understanding? Maybe even see the humor in life?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Honey! I didn't drug the kids!
Which brings be to my point. Yes, there is a point! What does most parents do when their sweet little tike becomes a coughing, snot machine? They run for the medicine cabinet and get the little puddle jumper some cough syrup! But as is reported in this article, that just might not be the best option. It seems as that research shows that honey of all things is better for soothing both children's AND their parents coughs better than cough syrups! Its long been known that honey is great for a lot of things. But who would have thought that it can sooth your cough and be yummy at the same time!
That brings me full circle back to the K.I.S.S method. Let's face it, not matter how much cherry flavoring they add, cough syrup still tastes like sweaty armpit. O.K., sweaty armpit with a cherry aftertaste. Trying to get a kid to drink that stuff, is like trying to herd cats. Is it not a lot simpler to get them to eat a little honey. And as a second benefit, honey doesn't go bad. With cough syrup, you almost always end up throwing half a bottle in the trash because its past its expiration date.
And the best part of using honey instead of drugs? No matter what the artificial flavor, cough syrup still taste's like crap on a biscuit.