chocolate chip bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

2 3/4 c flour
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2/3 c butter, melted
2 1/4 c brown sugar
3 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 v chocolate chips (I used mini)
1 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 9x13 pan.
Combine butter and sugar.
Add eggs and vanilla. Mix.
Add flour, baking powder, salt. Mix.
Add chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix.

Smush into 9x13 pan. Bake for 24-26 minutes. Don't overbake! A toothpick in the center will not come out clean. As the cookies cool, they'll set and you will not get gooey bits in the middle. You will get lovely, moist bars.

These were amazing. MAKE THEM!

I keep hearing that my photos haven't been consistently visible! Stink! Hopefully I can get that sorted out soon and sorry for that hiccup! Sooo frustrating! I really hope you can see today's bars. If you can't, just trust me that they are gorgeous, get yourself to the nearest kitchen and make them! Sooooo yummy!

muffin rations

Yesterday I left the guys with freshly baked muffins cooling on the stove. I went into the city for an afternoon of mama time, but before leaving outlined strict instructions on the muffins. Only One Per Person. And, Isaac already had his. So, the only people that can muffins this afternoon are a) Dave and b) Andrew. When I get back, there should only be two missing muffins.

Let's just say I learned this lesson the hard way a couple of weeks ago. I made some fancy muffins (cream cheese filling!) and came to home to almost no muffins at all. Let's just say "We left you one!" was not good enough.

And yesterday, luckily for everyone, the rule was respected. Good thing, because I was this close to looking into a muffin body guard.




Want to make muffins that requiring hiring a guard?
Here's the recipe!

Almond Pear Muffins
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon (or, you know, more than that)
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground cloves (you can also add nutmeg and ginger, but I've been on such a clove kick that I double the cloves and didn't bother with nutmeg and ginger)
2 eggs
1/2 c yogurt (recipe says plain, I used vanilla!)
1/2 c milk
1/2 cup veg oil
1 t almond extract
1 cup chopped, peeled pear
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Mix it all up. Put in a muffin tin. And bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. Makes 15.
Stand guard.

CSA

Every Saturday from July through October, Dave and Andrew show up at our church between 8:30 and 10:30 to pick up our farm share. This year we bought fruit, veggie and egg shares and we are now at the height of the season. Last Saturday Dave brought home tomatoes, basil, green beans, kale, corn, lettuce, cucumbers, apples, peaches, plums, eggs, and potatoes.

Starting in July, I plan our week's meals around the farm share. On Sunday mornings, I sit at the computer with my cookbooks and coffee and order the other groceries we'll need based on the produce we got. Usually the produce only affects what I'll be cooking, but recently it's been seeping into what I bake.

Right now we have so many potatoes. And I know, potatoes can last a little while. There really is no rush to get rid of them, except that I have a small kitchen and the potatoes are taking up more than their fair share of space. Some of them have got to go. And so yesterday, while it rained and the boys' watched an afternoon movie, I made several loaves of potato bread. In the past I've made this bread with chives and garlic scapes. Yesterday I made it with scallions. It smells amazing in the oven and because of it's kick of onion, it's easily a family favorite.

15 potatoes down. About 20 more to go.






Potato Bread

1 1/4 c warm water
5 t yeast
4-6 c flour
1 c warm mashed potatoes
1/4 c milk
2 T butter
1 T sugar
1 T salt
1/2 c minced chives or scallions or garlic scapes or shallots

Make the mashed potatoes. Let them cool. If they are too hot to touch, they will kill the yeast.

Combine warm water and yeast.
In a large bowl put the water, yeast, potatoes, 2 c flour, milk, butter, sugar, salt. Mix it, mix it. Add in the chives. Add enough flour to make a soft dough and knead. Let rise for 45 minutes in a floured bowl. Shape into loaves. Let loaves rise for another 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes...though the time will depend on the size of the loaves. If they sound hollow when you tap them, they are done. ;)

Next up, potato cookies! ok, not really.

lists and recipes

Top 5 Ways to Know Isaac is Sick:

5. He naps during naptime.

4. He has a meltdown at dinner when his banana breaks in half and you cannot get the halves stuck back together (ok, I'll admit, this one usually makes him really upset, but he doesn't always hit meltdown stage over a broken banana. last night however...).

3. He wants to hug and cuddle. A lot. It becomes clear that he loves his mama.

2. He doesn't wrestle diaper changes with every ounce of his energy. He just lays there until you are done.

and the number one reasons you know Isaac is sick:

1. He doesn't try to run away when we go to the playground. In fact, he sits on the bench next to me we both watch Andrew play.

So, Isaac seems to be getting more teeth and I have been vacillating between hating the new teeth and loving them. The meltdowns and night wakings just aren't my style. But the cuddle-a-thon that has been going on around here makes me wish he got a new tooth more often. I suppose I'll just enjoy it while I can. Take the good with the bad and snuggle on.




Yesterday morning I pulled these babies out of the oven just as everyone else was waking up. They are a glorious thing to wake up to. But, better yet, they are wonderful pulled cold from the fridge for an afternoon snack. Especially if you are teething.

Lemon Yogurt Muffins

1 c yogurt (plain, or lemon, or I used vanilla)
6 T butter, melted
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 T lemon peel
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t salt
2 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1 3/4 c flour

Just mix all that stuff together in a bowl. Scoop it into a muffin pan and bake it at 400 for 20-25 minutes. See? Easy!

Glaze

juice from one lemon
confectionar's sugar

Squeeze a lemon over a bowl. Add enough confectionar's sugar until you get a good consistency. I kept adding sugar until the glaze could hold its own a little. Not too thin. Then I put the glaze in a decorator bag to decoratively squirt each muffin, but you could also drizzle with a spoon. Then I also sprinkled a little more lemon zest on top.



Enjoy!

Channeling my Mother

My mother knew how to do summer when I was little. She is from the HOT state of North Carolina and grew up without air conditioning. The heat can't knock her down. It doesn't even try. The heat and my mom stare at each other face to face each summer and the heat immediately backs down. It knows her summer strength.

I grew up just South of DC in Fairfax, Virginia, and although I know it gets hot there, my memories are not hot ones. Every summer day was the same. We woke up and went right to the pool. We had swim lessons at the time of day when the water hasn't had a chance to warm up. Each summer day started with a shock of cold. Then we lingered at the pool for hours. My brother, sister and I swam while my mom read her magazines and fed us snacks. We were home before noon.

I remember surprising my friend next door by telling her we had not only been up for hours, but we'd also been to the pool and back.

The afternoons I would play outside on my bike or I would invite over a friend to play in our large, cool basement. In the evenings I would run around the yard in my nightgown catching lightning bugs and I would be in bed before the sun set.

That is what every summer day looked like. In my memory there is never rain, there is never that groggy "I'm too hot!" feeling and there is always an ample supply of flavored ice.

So, yesterday I decided to channel my mother and make the most of summer. I was up early and the boys and I were out the door just after breakfast. We went to a local park that has lots of sprinklers set up. The kids played in the water for a while, then we came home for lunch. We rested and played inside during the heat of the day. I had no cool basement to offer my kids, and I can't let them run around on our street looking for lightning bugs that are not there, but I feel like I got pretty close to a good summer day.



I made this Coconut Bread yesterday morning.

Here's the recipe:
1/4 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t almond extract
2 c flour
3 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 c milk
3/4 c flaked coconut

Combine butter and sugar. Add egg and extracts. Add salt, baking powder and flour. Mix in milk and coconut. Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

to celebrate

I made this Flourless Chocolate Cake to celebrate our anniversary. I got the recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. It's pretty amazing.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

1/2 cup butter
6 oz semi sweet chocolate
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
8 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t salt

In a saucepan melt the butter and chocolates. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Separate the eggs: whites in one bowl, yolks in a another.
Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
Mix vanilla and salt into the yolks. Add in cooled chocolate. Mix.
Using a rubber spatula, add the whipped egg whites to the chocolate, a little at a time, and mix them together gently.
Pour batter into a greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 275 for an hour or until center is set. Cool in the pan.

Enjoy!

warning

Isaac's birthday party is on Saturday.
Things around here will be party-centric for a few days.
I hope to post sneak peeks of goodies that won't ruin all of the surprises for our guests.
But I just might not be able to help myself, surprises might be ruined. ;)




These rolls have nothing to do with the party. ;) They are Black Pepper Cheddar rolls. And they are good.

1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
4 1/4 - 4 3/4 cups flour
3 T sugar
2 packages yeast (I used instant...the recipe says active dry...you can choose your favorite!)
1 1/2 t salt
lots of ground pepper (how brave are you feeling?)
2 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar (or, you know, more than that.)

In a saucepan heat the milk and butter to a nice bathtub warm. You should want to jump in. In a large bowl combine a cup of the flour, and the sugar, yeast, salt and pepper. Add the warm milk and mix. You should see tiny bubbles popping from the yeast activating. Add the eggs and cheese. Mix in more flour until your spoon is just a big mess. Then, dump it all out on the counter and mix in and knead enough flour with your hands until you have a soft dough.

Put that dough back in the (unwashed) bowl and cover with a cloth. Let it rise for about an hour. Punch it down, divide it into 16 pieces and form each piece into a pretty, little ball of dough. Place them on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Let them rise another 45-60 minutes. Sprinkle them with additional cheese and black pepper if you'd like to (I did!). Then bake them at 375 for about 15 minutes.

Let them cool and enjoy!

Easter Cookies: take two

After making a double batch of these last week for Andrew's class party and the church egg hunt, I decided I needed a batch for keeps. This was a new recipe and it's got a little lemon in it, which made the cookies oh-so-good. So, yesterday while Isaac napped, my assistant (who is on Spring Break this week) and I whipped some up. This time we dipped them in colored glaze AND chocolate glaze and this time I decided that this is indeed a recipe worth sharing.

Lemon Cutouts
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 t vanilla
1/2 t lemon peel
2 t baking powder
3 1/2 c flour

Cream together the butter and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add lemon and powder and mix well. Add flour a cup at a time. The dough will be dry and crumbly. Pour it out on the counter and knead it together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll it out, cut out cookies, put on cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Colored Glazed
confectioner's sugar
water
food coloring

start with about a cup of confectioner's sugar. Add a few tablespoons of water and mix, adding more water or sugar until you get a glaze consistency you like. Add the food coloring and dip the cookies!

Chocolate Glaze recipe found here.

Enjoy!

Deb14's Scones and other heart shaped foods

Yesterday I finally made Deb14's "Original traditional English scone". I had to look up conversions for how many cups of flour is 8 oz (1 cup!) and how much butter is 2 oz (1/4 cup!), and I added my own little heart-shaped touch. These scones have been a huge hit and I had to chase people out of the kitchen yesterday before the whole batch was eaten. Thanks Deb14!

Here's her recipe, in her own words:

8oz Self Raising Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2oz margarine or butter
1 egg
5 tablespoons milk
2oz sultanas (optional)

Now, if you don't have caster sugar in the US it may be called Superfine sugar or you can just grind up normal sugar until it is fine!
Likewise, if you don't have self raising flour it is just plain flour with a raising agent included.
OK so we have our ingredients, now heat your oven to 230 degrees Centigrade or 450 degrees farenheit (HOT!)Put your baking sheet in the oven to get hot while you are preparing the mix.
1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder together then rub in the fat until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2.Sprinkle in the sugar and mix together. If adding fruit, stir it in now!
3. Mix egg and milk together.
4. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and pour egg/milk in and make into a fairly soft dough.
Don't put it all in at once - depending on the size of the egg you may not need it all
5. Knead it gently then roll out to about 1" thick.
6. Enlist the help of two enthusiastic boys to cut out circles with a 2" cutter
7. Place on the hot baking sheet, brush with a little of the leftover egg/milk mix and cook for about 8 - 10 minutes until golden brown.





And a lunchbox update:
I am still loving packing Andrew's lunch in the mornings. I like getting a little creative with the lunches, which does not always go over well with Andrew. Last week, I used little letter stickers to write out "Andrew's Banana!" on his banana peel. I thought he would open his lunchbox and find the little message hilarious. But when I picked him up from school and pestered him about his lunch he told me he couldn't eat his banana because "it had stickers all over it". Stink. So, I've decided to save my letter stickers for better uses and stick to more normal lunchbox contents.



Today's lunch has two heart shaped scones with cream cheese and jam, grapes, grape tomatoes and homemade heart shaped chicken nuggets. I'm curious to see how he does with shaped foods since stickers were such a flop. Here's hoping he loves it. ;)

Slow Start: Recipe Included!

We are having a very slow start to Christmas this year. Yesterday I potted some narcissus bulbs and found our advent numbers that we hang each year. And Andrew and I hung 1 and 2 yesterday and 1 has since fallen down. I don't think we'll get our tree this weekend, but wait until next weekend so it isn't yellow by Christmas. Though, with the heat in our apartment, it very well could be yellow by Christmas. ;)

I am enjoying this slow start. This gradual buildup. This year I don't mind too much that I don't have the holiday all figured out. Like how exactly we are going to hang those advent numbers. And when to plan our trip into Manhattan with the kids to see the hubbub. It will happen. And it will be great.

Little by little Christmas and I will find each other.





I was planning on sharing the recipe for these cookies, which are my all-time favorite Christmas Cookies, but sometime between 6 o'clock last night and 7:30 this morning, I lost the recipe. Which, happens to me all the time with this recipe in particular. So, Mom? Tara? Can you send me the recipe? again? ;)

Good news! I just got this email from my mom! Thanks, Mom!

Pretzel Cookies

3/4 C.butter, softened
1/2 C. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract (sometimes I substitute w/ almond)
1 3/4 C.flour
2 T. milk
1 egg slightly beaten
colored sugar

In mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually add sugar, then vanilla and beat until well blended. Gradually add flour and milk, mixing until well blended. Chill dough for ease in handling, then divide into 4 equal parts. Work w/ one part of dough at a time, refrigerating remainder. Divide each part in 8 pieces and roll piece into a 8" strand. Put on cookie sheet, twisting in a pretzel shape. Brush w/ egg, then sprinkle w/ colored sugar. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven 8-10min. until lightly browned. Cool on racks. makes 32
Woman's Day Best Ideas for Christmas 1974
I now use parchment paper on the cookie sheets.
Enjoy! This never makes enough.
Love, Mom

truancy and recipes

Andrew is home sick. Again. He has another in his first-year-of-school series of colds. Isaac started it all last week and now Andrew has joined in with a fever, cough and drippy nose. I emailed his school again to tell them I would be keeping him home again. And I feel pretty guilty about the whole thing. Missing school is a big deal in my family. I won the perfect attendance award every year from Kindergarten until the sixth grade. Every Year. Every Day. I was there. My mom often tells us that she just wouldn't allow us to get sick. And so we didn't. So keeping Andrew home never settles well with me. But neither does sending him to school to sneeze and cough on his classmates. And so, he's home to sneeze and cough on me.



And now: a recipe!

I know it's practically Thanksgiving and you are probably more in mood for pumpkin pie than Coconut Cake. But this Coconut Cake is soooo good that you might be won over into making this instead of more traditional favorites. I'm sure your families will love it. Unless, of course, you have family members allergic to coconut. Then maybe just stick with Pumpkin Pie.

Coconut Cake It Is So Good

1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup softened, unsalted butter
3 large eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t coconut extract (I didn't have any...so I just left it out)
1/4 t almond extract
2 1/2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup chilled coconut milk
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Mix it together. Put it in a bundt cake pan (that fancy pan with a hole in the middle). Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350. Also makes great cupcakes!!!

Coconut Frosting It Is Also So Good
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 t vanilla
1 t coconut extract (or, you know, leave it out...)
1/4 t almond extract
milk
shredded coconut

Mix together everything but the milk and coconut. Drizzle in the milk a little at a time until you have a thick, but drippy consistency. Drizzle over cake. Sprinkle coconut on the frosting.



And one more thing and then I will leave you alone. Andrew decided to write a list of things we need. He wrote "bell" (backwards), "bananas" (also backwards), "grapes" and "robots". Then he punched holes in the paper, had me a tie a string to it so he could "wear it on his belly". Now everyone will know how desperately we need robots. He told me he added exclamation marks to the items on his list to make it all "more exciting!"


ok. that's it. I promise.

guests and recipes

My mother is coming.

This is a big deal. It's a hard thing to convince her to visit me and for good reason. Driving through New York can make normally even-keeled people fear for their lives. And once she arrives, she either sleeps on the couch or cuddled up with Andrew in his toddler bed. We are presently without coffee maker and are still very much in possession of two lovable but quite rambunctious children. An invitation to visit me makes most people frantically scan their date books hoping for a good excuse not to come. And, unfortunately, my mother could not find one.

My mother's impending visit has put me in cleaning mode. My mother puts June Cleaver to shame in her housekeeping skills. Everything is always immaculate. And one of the many genetic gifts that my mother passed on to me was an obsession for clean.

I've been vacuuming under beds, rescuing toys from under the couch and scrubbing month old puddles of hardened chocolate sauce from the shelf in the refrigerator. The pots and pans are nicely stacked, the toothpaste is standing up straight in the cabinet and the boogers from Andrew's last illness have been removed from the couch.

Now, let me be clear. My mother has never once arrived in white gloves to inspect my apartment. And she would be a-ok with a colony of dust bunnies under the bed and renegade toys under the couch. But, it would drive me nuts. And so, I clean.

Give me a few more hours, Mom and this place will shine.



And...a recipe:
Pumpkin Praline Muffins

3 T brown sugar
1 T sour cream
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 c flour
2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t ground cloves
1 egg
3/4 c buttermilk
3/4 c pumpkin
2/3 c brown sugar
1/3 c butter, melted

Mix together brown sugar, sour cream and pecans. Set aside.

Mix together egg, milk, pumpkin, brown sugar and butter. Mix in flour, powder, spices, and soda.

Fill a sprayed muffin tin with batter. Top with pecan mixture. Bake for 20 minutes at 400.

*note*
For the pumpkin, you can of course used canned pumpkin. I had a pie pumpkin kicking around, so I roasted that for 45 minutes, scooped out the flesh and pureed it. So yummy.

And I made my muffins in a mini muffin tray, so I baked them for less time.

Enjoy!

pie making

We are trying to work through all of the apples we've gathered so far (and I think there are more to come tomorrow from our farm share!). I've added them to salads, made a chunky apple sauce we ate with yogurt, baked an apple cake and this week, a pie.

I've been using a fool-proof pie crust recipe for years and I think it is time to share it. I like this recipe because it whips up quickly and makes a dough that is very easy to handle. And, it tastes amazing. For me, eating pie is a lot about the crust and this is a good one. The recipe is from The Moosewood Restaurant Book Of Desserts.

Here's what you need:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
2 T sugar
1/2 cold butter
4 T cold water

Here's what you do:

Put the flour, salt and sugar into the food processor. Pulse.


Cut up the butter and add that. Pulse. It will look like dry crumbs.


Add water. Pulse until it looks like this:

Then, pour the mixture onto your counter and knead until you have a ball.



Roll it out and lay it into a greased pie plate. Pinch the edges for that "my-mom-made-this!" look.


Now make your filling. I cut up three apples and tossed them with a cup of sugar, a container of sour cream, two beaten eggs, lots of cinnamon and some ground cloves.




And baked it at 375 for 20 minutes. Then I pulled it out and added a crumb topping (4 T butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour) and baked it for about 20 minutes more.


And this will be our dinner tonight.

Quilt update: Quilt making got demoted this week while I made a couple of Halloween costumes. I did very little work on it and don't have much to show. (Sorry, Firefly.) But, hopefully I will be back in action next week with lots of urban cuteness to show off. On the bright side, I made a couple of Halloween costumes and if the weather cooperates we'll have a couple of cuties walking in tomorrow's Ragamuffin Parade.