Category Archives: Desserts

Organized Chaos

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I’m good at many things. Wrapping gifts is not one of them.

I’m not being modest. Look at that picture and you’ll know I speak the truth. I was never happier than when gift bags became popular. If I get some wrap around a gift with about a foot of scotch tape and slap a sticker on, I’m good. I used to do bows, but they looked so sad. I’m really being serious. It’s the worst thing about Christmas for me. But I turn on Christmas music really loud and that makes it bearable. This year I wrapped to Christmas music from Glee, and I got it all done yesterday afternoon.

 

One of the best things about Christmas is holiday baking and cooking. And I’m never happier than on my annual Grandchildren-Sugar-Cookie-Decorating Day. It is organized chaos at its best. There is colored sugar and pieces of dough everywhere. For days I find drips and drops of colored icing hidden in places where icing doesn’t belong. The cookies invariably turn out garishly but lovingly decorated, heavy on the colored sugar. This year I allowed the use of M&Ms, marshmallows, and chocolate chips.

The decorating was done in two shifts. The two little granddaughters came over early because they weren’t in school. Mylee is much more interested in eating the icing than in decorating the cookies, but she managed to complete a couple. Hers are the ones with the sugar only dumped in the middle. Kaiya, on the other hand, carefully arranged her chocolate chips. She insisted on using my heart cookie cutter as well. You can’t, after all, have too many pink hearts, no matter the season.

Later, the three older McLains came by (the little one had a dance lesson) to decorate.

 

Kaiya and Mylee watched. Addie led the show, or tried to. Her suggestions generally fell on deaf ears, particularly when it came to 7-year-old Dagny, who has a mind of her own. Even 8-year-old Alastair joined in, again ignoring Addie’s advice. “You can’t make a Christmas tree red,” she tells him. Wanna bet? I just stand back and make sure no one gets hurt.

 

At the tail end, while the others had moved on to hide-and-seek, Dagny carefully took her last Christmas tree shaped cookie, and poured all of the remaining icing over the entire cookie, decorated it with every last remaining M&M and chocolate chip, and grinned her little missing-teeth grin in total satisfaction.

I know there are a million sugar cookie recipes, and they’re all pretty much the same. But this is one I have used for years. I got the book, Better Homes and Gardens Cookies and Candies, in 1972. I know this because I put my name and the date inside the cover. That means it has been assisting me in making cookies for over 30 years. Way to go Better Homes and Gardens.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
2/3 c. shortening
¾ c. granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
4 t. milk
2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt

Process
Thoroughly cream shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Add egg; beat till light and fluffy. Stir in milk. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; blend into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Chill 1 hour.

On lightly floured surface, roll to 1/8 in. thickness. Cut in desired shapes with cutters. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 about 6 to 8 min. Cool slightly; remove from pan. Cool on rack. Makes about 2 doz. cookies.

Nana’s Notes: At the bakery, my dad would sprinkle colored sugar on the cookies before he would bake them. That’s the easiest thing to do, but not nearly as much fun. The kids simply love cutting out the cookies, patiently waiting the 6 minutes or so for them to bake and the 5 minutes or so for them to cool, and then look out! No holds barred! Close your eyes and know that the mess will be cleaned up soon enough.

I Feel Like a Real Turkey!

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Tick tock, tick tock. Christmas is getting nearer by the day. It’s time to start my holiday baking and candy making.

And I want to try something fun – a virtual cookie exchange. Each day I will post a different recipe for a holiday treat. I encourage all of you to either comment below or send me an email at the address provided in the upper right hand corner of my home page with a favorite holiday recipe. I will post them along with mine.

But first, I have a couple of stories.

It was a spectacular Saturday, despite the cold weather, simply because it was filled with family and friends. My Saturday began with an annual gathering of friends that has been taking place for over 12 years. Not only is this annual holiday event a chance to catch up on everyone’s life (since many of us don’t see each other but once a year), but the gathering goes beyond that. We come together in memory of a very dear friend who passed away almost 11 years ago at a much too young age, after a long illness. Our friend Paulette LOVED Christmas. She and I worked together for many years, and it was no secret that Christmas was her favorite time of year. She was in charge of decorating the Christmas tree in the lobby of our building, and I didn’t know a tree could hold so many lights. When I thought that another string of lights simply couldn’t fit on the tree, she would open another box. Needless to say, the trees were always spectacular.

Her friends and family gathered with her at Christmas while she was alive, and we continue the tradition in her memory. Her mother and sister are present, and this year her nieces also joined us. What a treat. Merry Christmas friends.

Later that evening, my son dropped off their two daughters for a sleepover at Nana and Papa’s house. I am trying to absorb all of their sweetness and funniness and love that I can before we leave for Arizona.

Yesterday morning, I asked the girls what they wanted for breakfast. Kaiya, the 5-year-old, thought carefully (as she is prone to do) and chose Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Three-year-old Mylee didn’t have to think twice. Her answer, “A turkey sandwich.” Well, the look of disdain on her face when I admitted to her that I didn’t have any turkey meat in the house was sobering. “Cinnamon toast?” I asked. Nope. A turkey sandwich. “How about yogurt?” Nope. A turkey sandwich. She finally settled on pretzels. That’s one of the things I like best about being a grandmother. Pretzels can actually be a food group in Nanaworld when you’re desperate.

But here’s the thing. Later on I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients for my delicious Almond Roca that is featured below. I bought butter, almonds, and sugar. When I got home, I knew there wasn’t anything that was terribly perishable, and the Broncos were on TV, so I set the bags down until halftime.

When I began putting my ingredients away, what should I find in my bag but turkey lunch meat. I swear on a stack of bibles that I didn’t put that in my cart, but somehow, someway, Mylee saw to it that there will be turkey meat next time she’s here.

True story.

Yesterday I made my personal favorite Christmas treat, Almond Roca. It really is the only candy I ever make, and it is delicious.

Holiday Almond Roca

Ingredients
1 lb. real butter (no substitutes)
3 c. granulated white sugar
1 lb. whole shelled almonds (unsalted)
1 giant Hershey milk chocolate bar

Process
Place butter and sugar in large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven .Blend sugar and butter over medium heat, stirring continually. When mixture begins to bubble increase heat, time for 5 min., stir constantly. Mixture will begin to brown. Add whole almonds and continue cooking on high heat, stirring constantly for 7 to 10 min. Mixture should be smooth and resemble a brown, thick syrup. Quickly pour onto a large, sided cookie sheet. Mixture is extremely hot. Set aside to cool. Melt Hershey bar in a saucepan. Spread on one side of candy block. Allow to harden. Turn and frost other side of block. Break into small pieces.

Nana’s Notes: I never use a candy thermometer, but I think the mixture should reach 300 degrees. I have always cooked it the original 5 min., and then 7 minutes more, no longer. Keep stirring, or it will begin to separate. I have seen where some people pour out the mixture, and then lay the chocolate bars right onto the candy to melt. I use a double boiler. The candy mixture really is like molten lava, so I never do it when the kids are around.

Kids’ Whimsical Cooking: Flourless Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

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Hey everyone, this is Addie. I just made deep dark chocolate cookies. These are a great snack and dessert for everyone. They also are gluten free. Actually the reason I made these cookies is because my aunts from Vermont are coming for Thanksgiving and one of them is gluten free. The last part is fun and messy when you roll the sticky dough into balls. The only ingredient you may not have is chocolate chips. I hope you will try making these as well as some of my other recipes.

 

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies adapted from the Divine Baker

Ingredients
cooking spray
1-1/2 c. bittersweet chocolate chips
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar, divided (plus 1/2 c. for cookie coating)
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt

Process
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Melt 1 c. chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring frequently, about 2 min. Set aside and let it cool slightly.

Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 c. powdered sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow cream.

Whisk 1 c. sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Then, on a low speed, add these dry ingredients into the marshmallow cream mixture.

Next, add remaining 1/2 c. chocolate chips to lukewarm chocolate mixture (dough will become very stiff).

Add chocolate mixture to cream mixture and blend well. Place remaining 1/2 c. powdered sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 min. Cool on sheets 10 minutes, then transfer to rack.

Nana’s Notes: The cookies really are very good, light and chewy. I didn’t have bittersweet chocolate chips on hand, so we used semisweet, and they were delicious. This particular recipe required a bit more adult supervision because of the egg whites. Still, easy enough!

Recipe Memory Box

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As I was going through my mom’s recipe box last week, it occurred to me that today’s young cooks probably seldom use recipe cards and probably don’t own a recipe box. In this day and age of food blogs and cooking web sites and electronic cookbooks, recipe boxes probably went the way of the cookie jar.

I’m not judging. I have recipes stored on the websites of Food Network, Allrecipes, Weight Watchers, and probably others I don’t even remember. And don’t even get me started on Pinterest. But still, it was fun to see those recipe cards in familiar handwriting with notes written on the back and splotches of food all over the cards. I spent considerable time trying to figure out the various handwriting so that I could see from whom a recipe originated.

Many of my mother’s recipes are named after the contributor: Jen’s Party Pork Chops, Beckie’s Wonderful Pie Crust, Leona’s Refrigerator Pickles, Grammie’s Apple Pie. Many of the recipes were copied in one of her grandchildren’s handwriting.

It’s kind of sad that our grandchildren and great grandchildren won’t have the same opportunity to look at our recipes and try to read our handwriting and wonder if we ever actually made the Coquilles St. Jacques recipe that’s in our box. As for handwriting, do kids even learn cursive anymore?

After perusing Mom’s recipe box, I moved to mine, where I found a recipe card from my mother-in-law for “My Mother’s Cream Pie.” She gave me that recipe some 20 years ago, and I have never made the pie. I asked Bill if he remembered the pie. “Candy Pie!” he immediately said, which is what he and his siblings apparently called it. “I didn’t know you had that recipe. Can you make it?”

So I did. As it was baking, I went on the internet to see if anyone had ever heard of a Cream Pie. After some sleuthing, I found what others call Sugar Cream Pie (a sensible name since the recipe basically consists of sugar and cream). It originated in Indiana, which is where my mother-in-law, Wilma, was born and grew up. It all fell into place.

Bill took one bite of the pie, smiled, and said, “Wow, this takes me back to my childhood.”

That’s the way I felt all last week. Food memories.

Wilma’s Mother’s Cream Pie

Ingredients
1 c. sugar
4 T. flour
1 c. cream
1 T. butter

Process
Mix sugar and flour together; stir in cream. Pour into unbaked pie shell and dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes until you can insert a knife and it comes out clean.

Nana’s Notes: As I researched the pie, I noticed some people added vanilla and/or sprinkled nutmeg or cinnamon on top before baking. I wanted this to be just like Wilma’s pie, so I didn’t do that. Next time I might add vanilla and a little cinnamon. The pie was sweet and very good. And simple — four ingredients!

Do you have any food memories from your family? Did your mom have a recipe box? Do You?

Cookie Home

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Posting my cookie recipes this past week made me think about cookie jars.

One of my sisters pointed out to me that I have always had a cookie jar. So did my mother, which is surprising in that I don’t have memories of my mom making homemade cookies very often. My father, as I have mentioned, was a baker, and made, among many delicious baked items, cookies. It wasn’t surprising then that my mother was an infrequent cookie maker. Still, she had the cookie jar. Doesn’t everybody, I wondered?

I began to survey friends and family about whether or not they have, or grew up with, a cookie jar. To my surprise, neither of my sisters had cookie jars. “Where did you keep your cookies?” I asked one of them. Tupperware or plastic bags was her answer. The lack of a cookie jar doesn’t seem to have impacted her children negatively. My other sister said she rarely made homemade cookies because she worked full time. Still, cookies don’t have to be homemade to deserve a cookie jar. However, her children also seem to be normal citizens who contribute to society.

One of my best childhood memories involves a cookie jar. At the home of one of my best friends there was a cookie jar that always – 100 percent of the time – was full of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Now, to be fair, that family, which included seven children, had a housekeeper whose job duties apparently included keeping that cookie jar full of chocolate chip cookies. She was very good at her job. Or at least the chocolate-chip-cookie-making part of her job. I can’t vouch for anything else.

That cookie jar full of chocolate chip cookies led me to promise myself that when I was grown up and had children, my cookie jar would always be full of chocolate chip cookies. Foolish childhood dreams.

I must admit that what my cookie jar is almost always filled with is Oreos. That’s because my husband, and ALL of my grandchildren, love Oreos. (As a side note, it’s interesting to see how each of them eats an Oreo. One eats it just like me – pulls it apart, eats the filling, then eats the cookies. Another eats it as a whole, in several bites. Two of them pull them apart, eat the filling, then attempt to simply throw away the cookie part. I say attempt, because that’s a no-go if I see them considering it. As for Bill, one bite and it’s gone!)

From my very limited survey, I have had to admit that more of my friends and family didn’t/don’t have a cookie jar than did/do. Thank goodness cookie jar manufacturers don’t’ have to rely on these folks for their living.

So I’m curious to know, did you grow up with a cookie jar? Do you have one now? Am I the only house with a cookie jar?

Kids’ Whimsical Cooking: Snickerdoodles

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Hello, this is Addie and I just made snickerdoodle cookies. They are a great snack to enjoy. The only ingredient that may not be in your pantry is cream of tartar. Everyone that has tasted my snickerdoodles has to have another.

I have used these delicious treats for fundraisers, dinner parties, and more. They are fairly inexpensive and take less than an hour to make from start to finish. Also, it is a fun activity to pass the time you would otherwise be using sitting in front of a screen.

I hope you get a chance to make these wonderful cookies. Have fun cooking.

Snickerdoodles from Betty Crocker

Ingredients
1-1/2 c. sugar
½ c. butter, softened
½ c. shortening
2 eggs
2-3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
¼ c. sugar
2 t. ground cinnamon

Process
Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix 1-1/2 c. sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

Shape dough into 1-1/4 in. balls. Mix ¼ c. sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 in. apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 – 10 min. or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool.

Nana’s Notes: You might laugh when you read that Addie serves snickerdoodles at dinner parties, but she has, in fact, hosted two formal dinner parties. She invites all the kids in her fifth grade class to her house. They dress up — boys in ties; girls in pretty dresses. Addie’s brother and two sisters act as wait staff and Addie (with the help of her mom and dad) has prepared dinner. This time she made steak (which her dad grilled), pasta, a fruit salad, potatoes, and pumpkin pie and snickerdoodles for dessert. Last Friday’s dinner party included 20, mostly boys!

Also, a note about snickerdoodles. My brother is a professional baker. Even he is getting excited about my blog! He phoned me earlier this week when he heard I was presenting cookie recipes and gave me this suggestion for snickerdoodles. Add a little cinnamon to the batter to give the cookie a bit of a surprise cinnamon taste. He also suggested making a buttercream, to which you would add a bit of cinnamon, and use it as a filling between two cookies. Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookies. Yum.

Frightening Fridge

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#itstimetocleanmyrefridgerator

Pretty soon I’ll grow tired of hashtags. But I’m on a roll right now. By the way, only two people responded to my plea for help in understanding the concept around hashtags – both of my sisters. One sister told me she thinks they are a way to simply emphasize the meaning of a Twitter or Facebook post. My other sister told me I’m overthinking the whole idea and I should just enjoy them as they are frequently very amusing. Okay then.

I’m addicted to cooking programs. I probably watch more Food Network shows than anything else on television. I’m not so nuts about the competition programs they seem to be moving towards. I like the pure cooking shows. Ina Garten. Ree Drummond. Bobby Flay.

Here’s the thing — no matter who the cook is, when they open their refrigerator door, whatever it is they are looking for is right there in front of them.

No digging through containers of leftover food from three weeks ago. No half-full cartons of half-and-half with expired pull dates. Several of them. No sippy cups containing an inch of Peach-Mango juice or filmy chocolate milk. No sticky ketchup bottles. No fuzzy strawberries.

Not that my refrigerator has any of those things. Ahem.

It just seems like I’m always in a hurry when I am putting things away in my refrigerator. I’m also apparently in a hurry when I make my grocery lists because I don’t take the time to see if there is half-and-half in the fridge, and simply buy more for a given recipe. Bad planning. Don’t do it, Kids.

To be fair, I don’t have a staff that arranges my refrigerator with fake products, and then makes sure that the eggs for my cake recipe are right in front. In a pretty egg holder. What’s more, Ina Garten doesn’t have grandkids that pour themselves a glass of milk and put the empty carton back in the fridge. Nor is her husband Jeffrey experimenting with a new Soda Stream, resulting in 27 different bottles of unknown flavor filling up her fridge.

Once every two or three weeks, I go through my refrigerator and toss anything that looks like a science project gone wrong. And judging from the looks of my fridge currently, it’s about that time.

Now, on to cookies….

Before determining which cookie recipes I was going to use this week, I asked my sisters if they had a particular cookie recipe that their kids liked when they were growing up. One sister immediately told me her kids always asked for chocolate chip cookies. And let’s face it, there is nothing better than chocolate chip cookies. They’re good warm. They’re good cooled. They’re good for several days, though they never last that long. But I didn’t want to use that recipe because I’m guessing everyone has a chocolate chip cookie recipe (and probably 98 percent of us use the Toll House recipe).

She also said her kids liked candy cane cookies, which she would make every Christmas. I will wait until nearer to Christmas to post that recipe, but I must admit I was duly impressed by the fact that making candy cane cookies involves weaving together two pieces of dough. That requires more work than plopping dough onto a cookie sheet. Impressive.

My other sister responded with a certainty that her kids would say it was the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies from the Quaker Oats oatmeal box. Again, no argument here. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are delicious. But I was looking for something a bit different. “But those are my kids favorite cookies,” she said. “They would tell you that too.” It amused me to learn that later that day, when she asked her thirty-something son what his favorite cookie was growing up, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies weren’t even mentioned. “Those peanut butter cookies with the chocolate kisses,” he said without hesitation.

Voila!

Peanut Butter Cookies with the Chocolate Kisses (courtesy, Hershey’s)

Ingredients
48 Hersey’s kisses
½ c. shortening
¾ c. creamy peanut butter
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
Additional granulated sugar

Process
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 c. granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough into 1-in balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Cool completely.

Makes about 48 cookies.

Nana’s Note: I’m pretty sure if I ask my son what his favorite childhood cookie recipe was, he will also say peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses. He wasn’t denied peanut butter as a child as I was.

#carrymekickingandscreamingintotwentyfirstcentury

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Recently, sitting around the table after dinner with our son and daughter-in-law and their kids, we got to talking about men and women who dress too young for their age. I mentioned that I was really cognizant of this phenomenon when I shop for clothes (which is almost never). I’m not ready for pink polyester slacks, but I also don’t want to look like an aged Barbie doll. My daughter-in-law assured me I dressed appropriately, and, in fact, she said she thought I was kind of “hip.” I looked down at my dirty black turtleneck sweater that is at least 15 years old and my crocs and laughed out loud. “But,” she pointed out, “you’re on Facebook.”

This was on top of recent conversation I had with another daughter-in-law, who relayed a conversation she overheard recently as she was driving all four of her kids somewhere or other. She said they were talking about their grandparents (they have three grandmothers and one grandfather). Apparently Bill and I were voted “Best Backyard to Play In” (not surprising since our yard is very large and we have a play set) and “Most Modern House.” Now that one made me laugh too, seeings as my appliances are all 20 years old and I haven’t bought furniture or new carpeting since the Eisenhower Administration. Aha. But I do have an Ipad. With kids’ games on it. And Netflix. And Wii. Boom. Most Modern.

I will admit to owning an Ipad, an Ipod, and a laptop computer. Bill and I are about to finally spring for Iphones. It’s true I regularly check and post on Facebook and Pinterest. I even have a Twitter account, but never post and rarely remember to check my twitter feeds. And, for crying out loud, I blog.

But, for the life of me, I can’t figure out what hashtags are about. All of the sudden, every one of my Facebook friends under the age of 50 includes hashtags: #Ilovebeingpregnant; #mygardenisinfullbloom; #mydaughterdidthecutestthing; and so forth. Why? I’m not complaining; I simply don’t know what they mean. And no one I’ve asked can adequately get through to my pea-sized brain. Of course, I have made the mistake of asking only people who are over 50.

So please, I beg anyone who thinks they can make me understand to please, please, please give it a whirl. Send me an email, leave me a comment, call me on my antiquated cell phone. Tell me the purpose of hashtags.

Now on to cookies….

One of my favorite store-bought cookies are those hard little oatmeal cookies with the sweet powder sugar frosting – I think they are called Mother’s. I never get them because Bill would think I had lost my mind if I bought a ready-made cookie that wasn’t an Oreo. And I don’t need to have an entire bag of cookies lying around that only I will eat. But I found this recipe on Pinterest, and they really are very good.

By the way, at the same dinner about which I spoke at the beginning of this post, I brought out cookies afterwards – the double chocolate cookies and these oatmeal cookies. My 3-year-old granddaughter eagerly took three or four of the oatmeal cookies and, before we knew it, had licked the frosting off the top and set the icingless cookie back on the plate. Photo of her work here:

Old-fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
2 c. old-fashioned oats
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
1 t. salt
1 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 c. granulated sugar
½ c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs

Icing
2 c. powdered sugar
3-5 T milk

Process
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease cookie sheet.

In a food process or blender, pulse/blend oats until partly ground. Oats should be coarse, not a fine powder. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix until combined.

In a large bowl beat melted butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 14-16 min until lightly browned.

Once cookies have completely cooled, whisk together powdered sugar and milk until smooth and desired consistency. Frost each cookie and allow glaze to set before storing.

Nana’s Note: It was while making this cookie that I discovered my food processor was no longer working. So much for being modern. Instead of frosting the cookies, I simply dipped them in the frosting. I had about a quarter cup of frosting left after I had frosted the cookies, which I threw away. I wish I had saved it and given it to my granddaughter in lieu of licking the tops off the cookies!

Guilty Groceries

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I enjoy shopping at my neighborhood Whole Foods. The produce is lovely and often locally grown. The seafood looks and tastes fresh and the fishmongers can always answer my questions. The meat is delicious and the butchers are happy to cut up a chicken for me or slice one of their enormous steaks in half so that Bill and I can share. They may groan internally but they always smile. Best of all, it’s only a few blocks from my house, so it is a nice walk. I frequently put two of my younger grandchildren in my double stroller and walk over.

However, in my quick trip yesterday afternoon to buy a loaf of bread, I noticed that I was inundated by guilt producers.

It started even before I got in the door as I was greeted with a large sign that read Our turkeys were responsibly raised. I immediately began thinking about all of the Butterballs and Jennie-O’s that I have bought over the past 40 years, and I have no idea what their upbringing was like. I’ve never even given it a thought. Should I have? Those turkeys could very well have been irresponsibly raised. I’m really not making light of this notion (well, not too much anyway). I am opposed to animal cruelty. Still, I don’t want to have to worry that much about my Thanksgiving turkey. Thankfully (pun intended), my daughter-in-law will be purchasing the turkey this year so it will be her worry. I’ll try not to think about it as I enjoy my turkey leg.

Then, on my way to the bakery, I passed their small clothing line, which sits under a sign that boasts All of our clothes are eco-friendly and sustainable. Oh my word. I’m pretty sure none of my clothes are sustainable. I don’t even know what that means. I’ve never seen the word sustainable on any signage at Kohls. More to worry about.

I finally reached the bakery, selected a nice loaf of ciabatta bread, and handed it to the cheerful bakery worker to be sliced. Suddenly her smile is gone. “This loaf is organic and I can’t promise you that the crumbs on the slicer are organic. Will that be okay?” she asks me somberly.

Seriously?

I assured her it would be fine, as I am sure the pork sausages we had for breakfast weren’t organic, nor were the Taco Bell burritos we had for lunch. And I don’t even want to talk about all of the leftover Halloween candy.

And then there was the inevitable question at the cashier stand, “Would you like to donate a dollar to (fill in the blank). I think today’s donation had something to do with Ghana, which I’m not certain is even still a country. It probably is. I have nothing against donating to causes, but I really do have a hard time keeping them all straight. Still, if I say no, well, more guilt.

I assume that I feel guilty mostly because I’m a second-born and, therefore, a people-pleaser. But I must admit I yearn for the days when my most serious concern while grocery shopping was making sure I was getting the carton of milk with the most distant pull date.

This week I am featuring cookies. There are nearly a million cookie recipes available, but I was looking for recipes that were a favorite of members of our family. I started with Bill since he was sitting closest to me when I got the idea. He would always choose chocolate chip cookies. Seriously, who wouldn’t? But I asked him to think outside the box, and he recalled cookies that my niece’s 85-year-old neighbor made for her several years ago. Chocolate cookies with chocolate chips. In his mind, it couldn’t possibly get better than that.

Double Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients
½ c. butter, room temperature
½ c. granulated sugar
½ c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. unsweetened cocoa
½ t. baking soda
½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
½ c. milk chocolate chips
½ c. semisweet chocolate chips

Process
Preheat oven to 350.

Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Lower to medium, and add the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. On low speed, add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Beat until combined. Add chocolate chips.

Form the dough into 1-1/2 in. balls. Bake on parchment paper or aluminum foil-lined baking sheet 2 inches apart until centers are set, about 12 min.

Nana’s Note: I used the chocolate chips I had on hand, which happened to be semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. The mini chips completely melted into the rest of the chocolate. Next time I would use regular sized chips. Still very yummy.

Kids’ Whimsical Cooking: Banana Bread

Posted in Desserts, Kids' Cooking, Recipes by

Hi this is Addie and I wanted to tell you about my latest recipe… BANANA BREAD. Banana bread is a great snack especially during this time of year. Banana bread is a fun snack to make and I always enjoy taste testing to make sure my work is not poison. Banana bread is not expensive to make and tastes delicious.

 

 

 

I enjoy giving people my work of art as gifts. This time a few slices will be going to my teacher and maybe I will get a good grade out of it.

Hope you like my recipe.

Easy Banana Bread

Ingredients
1 yellow cake mix
2 eggs
3-4 overripe bananas
½ – 1 c. chococlate chips

Process
Smash bananas in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a loaf pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 350 for 40 min. to an hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

From artsyfartsymama.com, via Pinterest

Nana’s note: This recipe cries out to be made by kids, but is also a simple way for adults to use bananas without having to go to the trouble of making a scratch recipe. The recipe calls for 1/2 – 1 c. of chocolate chips. I suggested a half a cup, and Addie looked at me like I had grown a second head. Her quote: “If it were up to me, I would put in a cup-and-a-half.” Personally, I would put in a half a cup so that the banana flavor isn’t overwhelmed, but it’s up to your individual tastes. The recipe is so easy, with only the four ingredients. It makes a great dessert for the kids’ lunchbags.