Category Archives: baking

Feb7

Candy and Cookies

Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2010 by Dianne

Something about being stuck inside makes you want to bake. It may be to pass the time or to even use up ingredients that are in the kitchen. My Facebook friend Angela said yesterday that she was baking chocolate chip cookies. I had bought bulk at BJs Wholesale so that was a perfect thing for me to do today:

This is a no fail chocolate chip cookie recipe that I just found! For years I used the butter Crisco recipe and they were good, but got hard after a week or so. If you want this recipe, let me know as it has only about 8 basic ingredients.
I was reading a December or January magazine and they said to crush up your candy canes and put them on top of melted white chocolate. So Big Lots had a bag of the chocolate for about $2.00 and that’s what I did last night. Very sweet, so a small piece will do once in a while:

I melted the chocolate in the microwave and spread it on lightly greased wax paper. Then I sprinkled the broken candy canes on it and popped the tray in the fridge. I broke it up with a knife when it firmed up again.The hardest part was taking the cellophane off the candy canes.
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Sean went to work today at noon, so that spared him the early morning icy spots. He has to be in there tomorrow at 8:30-ugh! Then it seems his hours will be more part time-4 hours a day.
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I still look out the windows and think of the deer. I am glad he didn’t have to trudge in this deep snow-well he wouldn’t have been able to. I haven’t seen a deer in days!
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Off to eat some spaghetti-that should hit the spot. : )

Jan13

Coping

Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 by Dianne

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Only 12 days into the new year and there is such devastation in the country of Haiti. Just about 38 seconds (and many after shocks), caused the worst earthquake in two centuries. It’s almost unbearable to look at the photos of the wounded people and many buildings laying in ruin. We’ve met some Haitian people in Florida before when my brother took us to a flea market down there. Anyway, all I can say to do is what we did (give up pizza one night) to donate $10 through the Red Cross. You can text it on your phone as we did. Every little bit has to help.
Another thing for us on a more personal level is that my mom has to cope with her failing eyesight. She went to her eye doctor today and there is nothing else they can do to save the sight in her right eye. She sees distorted figures and wavy lines in that eye right now. We are praying that her left eye stays strong. I think she knew that’s what kind of news she was facing. Too bad she went through cataract surgery in 2008 as her path was taking her down this road, which they didn’t know back then. She is still driving, but I rather she not. I guess eventually she’ll have to go to senior daycare or have someone come during the day to help her. I’m hoping that’s a long way off for her sake.
So that’s a lot to digest for us all. Wish us luck.
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I did make some ‘Brooklyn Cheese Puffs’ from the ‘Lost Recipe’ cookbook. They were mainly ricotta cheese with a little flour, butter and cheddar cheese. You had to put them in the freezer for half an hour and then bake them in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. My oven was smoking!
You can see the recipe if you click on the photo and make it as large as possible.

Yum-so tiny and tender, like a biscuit, but they were definitely puffs!
Here’s the link to the cookbook.
Off to the eye doctor for me tomorrow for my 2 yr check up. I have a feeling I’ll need new glasses. All of us have dry eyes right now too.
Sean will probably start in Wally World next week. He just had the ‘drug’ test (the ‘liquid’ in a cup) today which won’t be finished getting evaluated until the end of the week. We are glad he will be bringing some money in for his bills, but it’s only part time right now.

Dec3

Cookie Swap time

Posted on Thursday, December 3, 2009 by Dianne

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Thanks to Scrappy Jessi for hosting her 3rd annual cookie swap. My pal Jen over at Sweet Pea Stitches shared lots of cookie recipes with me last year and I tried a few. We really loved these, melt-in-the-mouth goodies. Jen said I could share, so here goes:
Sour Cream Drops

½ cup shortening (margarine)
1 ½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 ¾ cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

Mix together shortening, sugar and eggs. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Sift together and stir in flour, baking soda, powder and salt. Chill at least one hour. Drop onto greased cookies sheets 2 inches apart. Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes Makes: 5 dozen

Burnt Butter Icing

Melt 4 tbsp butter until golden brown. Blend in 1 cup sifted powdered sugar and ½ tsp vanilla. Stir in 1-2 tbsp hot water until icing spreads smoothly. Icing for 30 cookies.

Jul4

A Booming 4th!

Posted on Saturday, July 4, 2009 by Dianne

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Looks like a gorgeous, though breezy day out today for Independence Day! I haven’t ventured out yet as I was making Italian pasta salad and Strawberry ice cream cone cupcakes for a picnic we were invited too. We haven’t been to a picnic in ages!
~~I want to wish my brother Dave a Happy Birthday!!!!~~~~
Here is a desktop I made a few years ago-we are using it now. Enjoy your day and evening!
4thJulyCol

Here’s the link to Flickr for the full size version.

Mar24

Happy Birthday Brian-Down Memory Lane

Posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 by Dianne

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Happy Birthday Brian-Down Memory Lane, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

It’s hard to believe that three of these photos were taken almost 25 years ago on our honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico. The other was taken 8.5 yrs ago in New Hope, Pa.
We celebrated his birthday in 1983 as an engaged couple. I remember using most of my pay that week to buy him a Walkman. Seems like such an old concept now with the MP3 players and Ipods around now. I wanted to get him a MP3 player this year, but wasn’t sure if he’d use it.
I thought he’d enjoy seeing these photos again. Didn’t he look hunky in those earlier photos? He’s still my hunk. ; )
I baked some yellow cupcakes with dark fudge icing for him and placed them on the ‘special’ plate:

FYI-I didn’t have vegetable oil and read where you can substitute apple sauce for the same amount of oil needed. I did this and they are light and tasty. This will be good for my brother to know as the veggie oil bothers him when mixed in waffles.
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My mom sent Bri a bouquet:

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I also finished this to be made into an egg shape for my niece T as her birthday is the day before Easter:

The Prairie Schooler

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All the Kosher food is on sale at the store, so I bought some toasted coconut marshmallows and potato pancake mix which I made last night:

They were good with meatloaf. I will say I should have used a bigger pan and I had to get the hang out of making sure they were solid and brown before turning. Be sure to check out your Kosher stuff-there’s some good eats there that you may not try that much!
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Sean is enjoying seeing the sights of Vegas-he saw some of the fancy hotels like The Mirage and Treasure Island last night and said they were huge! He is all dressed up in these clothes for the job fair:

FYI, the suit coat is from the Goodwill and only cost $6.50. We bought the shirt and tie in Macy’s to match the jacket. If we had purchased a new suit coat, it would have been approx.-$150-$200. This assemble cost $83.50. So we saved a lot! He may not even have to wear a suit if he works in the field, so this was a wise thing to do in these hard times. He wore a used jacket in his high school portrait too-who knew?

Dec25

Pass the cookies-Merry Christmas!

Posted on Thursday, December 25, 2008 by Dianne

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To all my pals in blogland that I call my friends-Merry Christmas. I have made some newer blog pals that I have enjoyed getting to know. I think back on my second grade teacher who taught use this little song in round-‘make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold’.

Here are my cookies for this Christmas-

7 layers cookies, Russian Tea cakes, Sour Cream Drops, Sugar cookies, Rum Raisin squares, Mini Reese’s cup cookies and peanut brittle.

And one of my favorite gifts from Brian-

Adorable little mushroom salt and pepper shakers from Anthropologie! I thought they were just mushrooms for my collection. : )

I also got a GPS for the van-which will be great if I get into going antiquing in unknown parts along with some books and music CDs. I highly recommend Sarah Brightman’s Christmas CD-it’s beautiful!

Brian and Sean got new watches-Bri a Ford Mustang one and Sean a new Penn State one. Sean got almost everything off his Amazon wishlist-a cool big book on the history of Penn State Football with removable ‘artifacts’ like old banners, etc. He looked at it for a long time.

It was nice to have my mom here this year. We took her to midnight mass at a church in Delaware. We sat off to the side instead of in the middle pews and it took away from hearing the choir as well. I saw her singing quite a few times.

We had shrimp and chicken carbonara last night:

It was good-very rich with maybe a wee bit too much garlic. The recipe wasn’t written well and I skimped on the sauce-but in retrospect, I didn’t use all the milk product it called for. I think I would do a breaded chicken next time and not put the shrimp in with the sauce as it was hard to peel.

Tonight we had ‘Surf and Turf’! I cooked the sirloins from BJ Wholesale and cut them in half as they were huge. I bought two lobster tails and cut them in chunks so we all got some. Also made the green bean casserole with fried onions in the can; Potatoes and sweet potato au gratin and asparagus. It was a great dinner and everyone enjoyed it.

The fellows took Brian’s dad some dinner and his gifts, so mom and I are hanging out relaxing.

Hope everyone had a great day!
The entire song from above:

Make new friends,
but keep the old.
One is silver,
the other is gold.

A circle is round,
it has no end.
That’s how long,
I will be your friend.

A fire burns bright,
it warms the heart.
We’ve been friends,
from the very start.

You have one hand,
I have the other.
Put them together,
We have each other.

Silver is precious,
Gold is too.
I am precious,
and so are you.

You help me,
and I’ll help you
and together
we will see it through.

The sky is blue
The Earth is green
I can help
to keep it clean

Across the land
Across the sea
Friends forever
We will always be

Dec23

Santa’s letter to me!

Posted on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 by Dianne

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Santa’s letter to me!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Wow-I can’t wait! I think what I want is still on back order though!

My baking for today-minus the Rum Raisin bars-Sour Cream Drops-heavenly goodness-thanks for the recipe Jennifer; Microwave Peanut Brittle and Sugar Cookies-these are vintage Tupperware cutters like the ones my mom had. I would suggest not to save sugar cookies for last-too frustrating.

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Congrats to Missy and her family over at A Treehugger’s Wife-she welcomed Seamus 12-18 in a water birth and said it was a great experience. So happy for her.
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Please keep Brian and his fellow employees in your thoughts as the newspaper company where he works is going through hard times. All the papers (7 I think) need to be sold, except the one where he works, or they will be shut down. At Bri’s work there will be employee changes. He’s been there and in the different offices for almost 11 years now. Things will be going on in early January.

Dec21

It’s really almost Christmas now

Posted on Sunday, December 21, 2008 by Dianne

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Yesterday I felt a bit frantic as every cookie recipe I looked at called for something I needed to purchase. Bri and I went on an early evening shopping trip to an almost empty store. They didn’t have unshelled pistachios for a cookie I want to try (recipe from Jennifer) and a few other things. Today I made ‘candy’ (I say that loosely)- Chocolate Cherry Bourbon Balls that my pal Warren said I should try. Brian went for a booze hunt in the basement and came up with a gorgeous bottle of Taylor Kentucky Bourbon. It had a ’68’ on the bottle, and sure enough it was from 1968! Bri did a Google search and found the exact bottle. The little balls are very potent! I don’t know how many anyone will be able to eat without feeling tipsy-lol.

A condensed ‘I recommend’-
What made my day was finding a recipe for Peanut Butter Pinwheels which has to be the exact recipe from one of Peg Bracken’s ‘I hate to cook’ books. I made them as a teen and loved making them, smelling them baking and eating them! I made some and the following are photos of the rolled up peanut butter dough with the melted chocolate inside, to the finished product. I may bake a batch of easy peasy 7 layer cookies when I finish here-all in one pan-and finish up the rest tomorrow.

Recipe for
Peanut Butter Pinwheels-
Taste of Home-Best & Loved Cookies and Bars (there is a new edition every year it seems-I only have last year’s issue which I recommend)
Sent in by Kandy Dick
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons milk
1 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
In a mixing bowl, cream shortening, peanut butter and sugar. Beat in egg, and milk. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture.
Roll out dough between wax paper into a 12″ x 10″ rectangle (I think it could be a wee bit bigger). Melt chocolate chips; cool slightly. Spread over dough to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Roll up tightly, jelly roll style, starting with long side; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or until easy to handle.

Unwrap dough and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield about 4 dozen.

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Brian took some outdoor shots-we need to get the tripod out, but here’s an what it looks like:

The bluish lights are LEDs that I had on the Christmas tree a few years ago. They are very energy efficient.

Dec19

Cookie baking!

Posted on Friday, December 19, 2008 by Dianne

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I finally got around to cookie baking. Not that I am finished by any means. I used the Butter ball (Russian Tea cakes) recipe from The Silver Palate cookbook. Now my oven is only two years old and I have to watch delicate foods like cookies. The recipe called for 35-40 minutes in a 300 oven. They were done in 15 minutes and got a bit too brown on the bottoms. It said it would make 36-no way. This is the recipe that the gourmet take-out place where I worked used all the time. Also made cookies with mini peanut butter cups-they turned out better! The recipe is similar to chocolate chips. Jennifer over at ‘Sweet Pea Stitches’ shared some yummy tried and true recipes, but I need some key ingredients to make them. I’ll do some more baking tomorrow, plus a ton of other things!
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I liked the way this turned out:
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My dear only niece’s most recent school photo next to her great grandmom’s photo. They share the same middle name of Caroline.

Dec5

Scrappy Jessi’s Cookie Swap

Posted on Friday, December 5, 2008 by Dianne

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Jessi is hosting a cookie swap today!

♥♥♥♥Happy Birthday Jessi!!!!♥♥♥♥ (Dec.8th)

This will surely brighten my spirit as I love to bake cookies! I didn’t have a cool oven like Jessi did, but I did have an Easy Bake Oven

I got to use about 1 time before brother #2 shorted it out. (He bought me a new one as a grown-up!). I really started to bake a lot in junior high when I had Home Ec class and learned not to be afraid of baking. I did have the Betty Crocker cookbook for Boys and Girls that really lead the whole thing off!

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Anyway, here are my ‘must bake’ cookies, every year now. Enjoy!

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My array of cookies from a few years back

My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe:
Crisco Butter Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie
Preparation time: 30 to 35 minutes
Baking time: 8 to 13 minutes/baking sheet
About 3 dozen cookies

1-1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup Butter Flavor CRISCO all-vegetable shortening
or 3/4 Butter Flavor Crisco stick
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (6-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pecan pieces (optional)*

Heat oven to 375ºF. Combine brown sugar, Butter Flavor
Crisco Shortening, milk and vanilla in large bowl.
Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat egg into creamed mixture.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda.
Mix into creamed mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if used.
Drop rounded measuring tablespoonfuls of dough 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake one baking sheet at a time at 375ºF for
8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies
(they will look light and moist), or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies.
DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack;
remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

* If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

My son Sean’s favorite bar cookies:

SEVEN LAYER COOKIES

1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups graham crackers
1 can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup butterscotch chips (can be omitted)

Melt butter in a cake pan. Sprinkle crumbs over butter and pour
Eagle brand condensed milk over the crumbs.
Top with remaining ingredients in the order given and press down firmly.
Bake 25 minutes or until lightly brown at 350 degrees.

Bri’s aunt makes these every year-yummy!

Russian tea cakes
Ingredients:

* 1 cup butter
* 1/2 cup powdered sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
* Powdered Sugar

Preparation:
Preheat oven 400°. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla.
Stir in flour and salt and pecans. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Bake for about 9 minutes. Roll warm tea cakes in sifted powdered sugar. Makes 4 dozen tea cakes.

I also make candy too-Microwave Peanut Brittle and Fudge of all kinds.

Update-Dear Readers-Could you keep my mom Jeanne in your thoughts and prayers as her eye doctors want her to have her surgery late this afternoon. They must think her vision is in jeopardy. She asked her neighbor to take her and she is counting on one of my brothers (who live about 4 miles from the hospital) to come get her. I guess I’m on standby for the picking up part. Brian’s car is acting up and he’s going to get it checked out on Monday if it will start up to get it to the station. He’ll have to take my van back to work this afternoon. I’ve shed some sad tears, believe me. Poor mom. She looks so frail and she said she was shaking badly when the doctor’s office called her this morning.