This just in… January 29, 2008

The BEST Lemon Cookies of all time!

I made these tonight also just for Betty!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
………………
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 lemon

Preparation
 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
 Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
 Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes.
 Beat in egg and zest from one lemon. Add juice of 1/2 of same lemon.
 Drop by teaspoon into granulated sugar and roll into balls.
 Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
 Bake 12 minutes.
Dust with powdered sugar.

Biscuit – and I don’t mean my dog January 29, 2008

Tonight I made Biscuits which actually resemble and taste like their name. Yay!

Simple and Yummy (of course)

2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
…………..
3/4 stick butter (cut into small bits)
3/4 cup cold whole milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
In large bowl, whisk together the first four ingredients.
Add in butter bits and, with your fingertips, coat, rub and massage butter into dry ingredients.
Working quickly, add milk and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms.
Reach in and kneed dough 3-4 times.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust dough and hands with flour and pat down to 1/2″.
Do not worry to make dough smooth…less working is better.
Cut with sharp 2″ round cutter and place on cookie sheet.
Bake 14-16 minutes and serve immediately.

Zucca’s January 28, 2008

My honey and I were invited to Jessy’s house for comé and conversation yesterday. We had a great time which was only accented by the awesome pizza they brought in for us to try. It was from a restaurant called Zucca’s, which we’d never heard of…but is now on my top 5. We had a 1/2 mushroom, 1/2 pineapple (my fav). The hue was golden over the entire pie, lending to the notion that the cheese was cheddar. Interestingly tangy and sweet on my half, fully satifying on the whole.

PS: the companionship was better than the pie – and I loved the pie.

Thanks guys!

Cinnamon Nut Poundcake January 27, 2008

This one is still on the oven. We’ll see how it turns out. In the meantime, here’s a little picture of the recipe, along with one of the ingredients.

**Updated**
This turned out very yummy! It’s rich, heavy, golden in color and satisfying. A little crumbly (more so than usual poundcake) but it’s burst of buttery flavor at the end makes up for the mess.

Oops January 27, 2008

First casualty – Oatmeal Breakfast Cake.

Okay, this thing was dense, and I do not mean the funny laugh-at-it kind of dense. I mean thick, heavy and spicy. It was pretty good tasting, but it fell apart completely. When removing it from the pan, it fell into a few very large chunks. The best part was the nut topping, which we ate off with our fingers. The rest is still a sleepy lump on the plate.

Not again.

Just breath, relax, and…bake January 25, 2008

Tonight was super great as far as cooking and, more importantly, baking! I made two recipes, both of which turned out yummy.

The first was, ironically, No Bake Cookies. This is the recipe from a friend at work (my first time making it):

2 c sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 c milk
3 T cocoa
…………
3c cooking oats
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c nuts
1/2 c peanut butter

Heat first four ingredients in a sauce pan until it boils.
Time for two minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in last four ingredients.
Cool a bit to firm, then drop by teaspoons onto waxed paper.
Cool completely and store for up to one week in an airtight container.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2nd recipe was my Nearly Famous Brownie Cookies

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
1/2 c cocoa
1 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
……………
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 oz chocolate chips
Powdered sugar in a small bowl

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Blend butter, cocoa and sugar until smooth but grainy.
Whisk in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, powder, soda and salt.
Add dry to wet ingredients and stir well.
Add chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonful into powdered sugar and roll into a ball.
Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet covered in foil.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Cool on pan for 5 minutes, then move to cooling racks.
Will keep in airtight container for up to 5 days. Best within 3 days.

Happy baking, y’all!

Jessy Hearts Me! January 24, 2008

After much talk, my friend Jessica P. found the mini loaf pan I was looking for…and was sweet enough to invest in the Mominy Baking Project.  I promise to use it well, and share what’s made. 

 Thank you, Jessy!

Thank you January 23, 2008

Before I go any further, I want to thank my mother for the love of cooking, and for my brother who also shares my intimacy with food.  Thank you, also, to all those whose recipes I’ve begged, borrowed, stolen or downright slaughtered.  I am happy, and sorry!

 Lastly, thank you to the few of us who still think working with an old hand mixer, a wooden spoon, and good-old fingers is just fine.  Whew, what a relief!

Newbie! January 23, 2008

Well, I’m pretty new at this blog thing, so forgive me if I seem a little confused.  The intention of this site is to remind myself of recipes NOT to try again, and possibly share the ones that we loved.  With warm oven I begin…