Here's a Treat for You!

While blog hopping a few days ago, I found this recipe.  For the life of me, I can't remember whose blog it was on!  So, if you are reading this and are that blogger, or if you saw it yourself and know which blog it was, please let me know!  These Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies are so easy and so cute, I wanted to share them with you.  If you need a quick treat for Halloween this weekend, this is my suggestion. (I say quick, but the recipe says three hours - that's including the chill time in the fridge.  You could probably speed that up a bit in the freezer.)  You can click on the link to get the recipe.  Enjoy!! (We did!)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Mother's Day Pie

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! 

I never see a coconut cream pie without thinking of you! 

So today I baked one, from scratch,  then enjoyed a big, gooey, still warm, delicious piece just minutes ago.  It was worth every calorie and every memory!  Wish you were here to share it with me.

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Last week, Anna over at Thimbleanna blogged about making Snickerdoodles.  The very same day, I had made Oatmeal Crispies and baked a portion of the dough and froze the rest.  Anna and I have something in common.  When a recipe calls for butter, we use half butter and half Crisco.  I think the cookies turn out with  just the right crispie-ness this way.  Anna had experimented with the difference in using the Silpat or parchment paper so today when I was ready to bake the remaining dough I took the Silpat vs Parchment Paper challenge!   Who would have thought it would make a difference?  Granted, only a slight one, but the cookies on the left were baked on parchment paper and the ones on the right on the Silpat.  I don't think there's any difference in taste, but the parchment paper ones seemed to be a little crispier.  I still like the Silpat though, especially for sugar cookies but the parchment paper cookies look a little more "homemade" and in my book, that's a good thing!  So now Anna and I have something else in common.  (Thanks Anna, for the cookie blog inspiration!) 

Here's Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Cookie recipe with my variations.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup Crisco (butter flavor preferred)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 whole eggs

1 teas. vanilla

1  cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teas. salt

1 teas. baking soda

3 cups quick oats

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

(B's favorite option - 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips)

Cream sugars with butter and shortening, add eggs and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients and add gradually to creamed mixture.  Add oats and pecans.  Place dough on waxed paper and roll into log.  Refrigerate or freeze then slice (1/2 - 3/4") and bake.  350 for 11 minutes.  Cool on pan slightly before moving to cooking rack.  Enjoy!

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This is not my Mother's Day present.   It is D's birthday, Father's Day, Christmas and Valentines day gift all rolled together in one.  It should be able to do magic to just about any piece of wood!  I'll post more about it when he gets it set up.  For now, all you need to know is that no middle aged men (it took four of them!) were injured in the moving or installation of this machine!  Thank goodness!  (edit - I guess there was one minor injury and blood was lost, but he survived! They just didn't tell me!)

Christmas Baking Ideas

If you're like me, the procrastinator, you are still shopping, wrapping, baking and maybe even sewing! I think the shopping is done and I'm making progress on the rest of the list. Christmas will get here whether we're ready or not.

Here's the result of some of my baking. Marcia over at cutestuffinside is hosting a virtual cookie swap. Even though I didn't sign up to participate, I'll post the recipe for Johnny Appleseed Filled Cookies. D's grandma used to make these and it seemed like she always had a container of them in the freezer when we'd go to visit. So if there's still some holiday baking in your future, maybe you'd like to try these. Though not especially a Christmas cookie, they do bring back memories and they're also pretty tasty!

Johnny Appleseed Filled Cookies
1/2 cups shortening
1 cup Sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp cream
1 tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
apple butter

Mix shortening, sugar and eggs; stir in cream and vanilla.
Stir flour, soda and salt together until well blended; stir into egg mixture. Chill at least 1 hour.
Roll dough about 1/8-inch thick on lightly floured cloth-covered board; cut into 2 1/2-inch rounds. Place half the rounds on lightly greased cookie sheet; top each with a rounded teaspoon of apple butter. Make slits in remaining rounds; place over filled rounds and press edges together. Bake filled cookies 8 to 10 minutes at 400-degrees. This recipe will make about 2 Dz. cookies. These freeze well. Enjoy!

I was beginning to think my blogging days were over a few days ago. My computer was attacked by a worm that invaded my Internet Explorer even though I was running Firefox. There were also several other major problems hiding in the depths. But, thanks again to my talented husband (along with help from his friend) I'm back up and running. My computer is all nice and clean (on the inside, anyway!) and humming along smoothly!

This is all for tonight. Back to the kitchen to put away another batch of cookies - Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles. Maybe another recipe post is in the future. Take care!