My Favorite Oatmeal Cookies

This is a wonderful chewy oatmeal cookie recipe which came from my mom. I had not used it for so long that I didn't even realize I had the recipe! My California sister, Karla came to visit with a box of the most delicious Oatmeal Cookies. She seemed a bit astonished that I didn't have Mom's recipe and she shared it with me. Lo and behold, the very last recipe in the cookie section of my box was the same exact recipe, complete with "MOM" written in the corner. It has been one of my cookie regulars ever since.

Mom's Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 c. flour

3 c. quick oats

Thoroughly cream together the sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.

Sift together the dry ingredients and add to the mixture. Add the oats and stir in.

Form into balls and roll in sugar before placing on baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until cookies are set around the edges, but still soft in the center. Cool on baking sheets until cookies are firm. Remove and cool thoroughly before stacking.

Make Them Even Better . . .

A friend gave me a bag of Caramel Bits. I had never seen these and neither had she until she found them listed in a recipe. She got to investigating and found them online when they were not to be found locally. She ordered a case and I reaped the benefit of a bag. I added them to the cookies pictured above and oh, boy, they were a winner. I may have to order my own case of Caramel Bits!

Another of my favorite add ins is Cinnamon Chips. They are not always available either, but I usually buy them locally in the fall and this year all the way through the holiday season. I often add a teaspoon of cinnamon along with the dry ingredients, too.

My sister Karla makes them with dried blueberries and they are incredibly good with some of the hickory nuts that our Dad used to pick up in the timber and shell out in his spare time in the winter. I wonder if he knows how much we miss his hickory nuts. I still have one box in the freezer and I eat one or two pieces every now and then. They are way too precious to even put in cookies. 

If you add in any of these items or your own favorites, just stir them in with the oats.

I usually don't roll in balls, I use my medium cookie scoop. That is close enough to a ball for me. I roll the rounded side in sugar and plop down the flat side.

I Always Use These

My nearly ancient sifter and parchment paper are my friends! I believe in the benefits of thoroughly combining the dry ingredients, but sifting also adds air to the mix. So, if you don't have a sifter at least whisk or stir your dry ingredients in a bowl before adding. Also, measure those dry ingredients carefully! Spoon the flour into the cup and level it off. Please don't scoop the cup into the flour and fill it up. It puts more flour into the cup than the recipe is formulated to use. Cookies will be softer, chewier, and more moist if everything is measured carefully. 

Lining the baking sheets with parchment paper keeps the cookies soft and golden. It also makes clean up a breeze. Tear off a piece of parchment for each cookie sheet, just the size of the sheet. 

Completely Unrelated But I Just Can't Help Myself . . .

My other sister, Pam and her husband Jim gave me these sweet Bear Paw Meat Handling Forks for Christmas. They look a bit dangerous and I think that is why they work so well! They do damage in a similar manner as the real deal might work. I shredded these 6 chicken breasts in just a few minutes. It would have taken a LOT longer to use a fork, trust me! I think they got them at Cabella's, but I bet you can find a nifty pair online while you are looking for the Caramel Bits!

Happy hunting and as always, I wish you good food!

 

 

  

 

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables! I can't really think of one I don't like and I am always looking for new ways to prepare them. This squash shreds apart into spaghetti like strands once it is baked, hence the name. I have always found it tasty when served with pasta sauce and parmesan cheese. The taste and texture are different than pasta, but it is delicious none the less.

A while back a friend shared a recipe for a Spaghetti Squash Casserole and you can find that recipe if you click on this link

http://recipes.prevention.com/Recipe/spaghetti-squash-casserole.aspx

I was had my squash ready . . .

. . . but I found myself without an item, so here's my version of that recipe.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeds removed

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. water

1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, divided

1 cup lowfat 1% cottage cheese

1/2 cup lowfat shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the squash cut side down on parchment and bake for 30 minutes or until tender when pierced with a sharp knife. With a fork, scrape the squash strands into a large bowl.

Meanwhile, place the onion, garlic, basil and water in a small bowl and cover with wax paper. Microwave for 2-3 minutes or until tender.

To the bowl with the squash, add 3/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce, the cottage cheese, mozzarella, parsley, salt and the onion mixture. Stir to mix. Transfer into baking dish. spread with remaining spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly and heated through. Yield: 6 servings.

I Can't Leave Well Enough Alone

The hardest part of cooking spaghetti squash is cutting it in half. So, I usually poke it a few times with a fork; just get the fork through the hard skin. Put it in the microwave for 5 minutes to start the cooking and slightly soften the squash. Then I can more easily cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and continue the oven baking process. If your squash is large it will take longer than 30 minutes to bake. Bake it until a sharp knife goes in easily or until it yields to pressure when you poke on it.

This recipe turned out cheesy and satisfying. I really like the crunch on top. I served it with a piece of tilapia which I cooked on the George Foreman and I added a big salad, even more vegetables. Delicious dinner on a chilly winter night. 

More Food Fun . . .

Yesterday evening I had a fun experience of making some tamales to celebrate a young friend's 13th birthday. His Mom and I seem to think we can do about anything and we drag her children willingly into the fray. We had 5 kids of varying ages and 2 adults with their hands in the dough and wrapping the corn husk packages. The birthday celebration included our tamales with Mexican Rice and green salad. Dessert happened to be brownies and ice cream. Look forward to my next post which might just be the recipe for the brownies. 

Recipes As Requested

I tried to cheat yesterday. I just posted photos, and a few people called me out and requested recipes so, since you asked, here you go!

Letha's

I have no idea why these are called Letha's. I do have a wonderful Aunt Letha, but these cookies have nothing to do with her. I was given this recipe 20+ years ago by a friend here in Newton, though I am not positive now just which friend. These are the soft chewy lightly spiced cookie from yesterday's post.

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

pinch of ground cloves

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream together the sugars and shortening till light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each. Sift together the dry ingredients and stir them in. Drop onto parchment lined cookie sheets with small scoop. Bake 6-7 minutes at 350 degrees until cookies begin to firm up around the edges but are still soft in the center. Remove from oven and let set on pans till cookies begin to cool and are firm. These cookies freeze well.

White Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies

This is the reverse of the chocolate chip cookie. It is a rich dark chocolate cookie that is good with any flavor of chips. I have made them with white, mint, butterscotch, peanut butter chips. Yesterday's photo had mint chips and I have also used Andes Mint bits. They are really good no matter how you make them!

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda 

2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. (I always use parchment paper.)

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Combine the cocoa, flour, and baking soda and gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, fold in white chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. (I use my medium cookie scoop.)

Bake for 8 minutes until puffy but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. (I actually remove to sheets of wax paper on the counter.)

Cream Wafers

I found this recipe over 30 years ago and have been making it at Christmas time ever since. It is two little pastry like wafers with a layer of rich frosting in between. This is a VERY labor intensive cookie, but oh, so worth it! It is always easier to do with a buddy. This year my cream wafer helper was my niece Hannah. We had a ton of fun and made two batches.

2 cups flour

1 cup softened butter

1/3 cup whipping cream

sugar for coating

Measure flour into large mixing bowl. Add butter and gently mix to break up the butter. Begin gradually adding in cream while continuing to mix until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Chill for about 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Roll small amounts of dough to about 1/8 inch thick and cut into circles with small round cutter. (I use the removable center of a doughnut cutter, which is about an inch in diameter.) Put some sugar into a shallow bowl or a shallow pan like a pie plate. Place cut circles in the sugar and shake a bit to coat. (Some sugar will stick but they won't exactly be coated.) Place on ungreased baking sheet and prick with a fork. Bake 7-8 minutes, till puffed, but not brown. Remove from cookie sheets after a few minutes, then cool completely before frosting the flat side of one cookie and topping it with another.

Cream Filling

1/4 cup softened butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. milk

Thoroughly mix the butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla and milk and mix well. (I always tint this frosting pink. I don't know why, but I always have and it is pretty.)

I often roll out a bit more dough than pictured, but you
 can see the cutter is little and the dough is thinly rolled.
I like to use a floured pastry cloth.

Strawberry Santas

Do your best to find nice red strawberries in December. I would say we got lucky! 

I mixed 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese with 1/3 cup powdered sugar then folded in about 1/2 carton of Cool Whip (that's what I had leftover from something else). Slice off the tip of the strawberry after it has been washed, dried and stemmed. Cut out a bit of the strawberry.

Put the filling in a pastry bag and pipe into the berry and put the top back on!

We planned to use a small tip and add a white pom on the top of the "hat" and some white buttons, but I forgot to bring the small tip. I also bought some little chocolate sprinkles for "eyes", but we decided they were just fine the way they were. Delicious little Christmas goodness! We will certainly make those again.

Santa Bread

I saw this on a Facebook page called "Slice Of Life" and thought it was really cute. I made five of them this year to share with friends and family. Maybe next year I will abandon the cookies and just make Santa Bread! Ha! That will never happen. I tried to find the link, but couldn't. I will look deeper and post it when I find it.

Mom's Caramels

This will have to be a post of its own along with stories about Mom. Some day.

Soup

I made this using what I had at the time, which I often do. Hence, no two batches are alike. This one had chicken broth and tomatoes which I had in my freezer. I added chopped celery, leaves and all, chopped onion, a grated zucchini, strips of mini peppers of every color, parsley, oregano, basil, and let this all cook for a while, till the veggies were all softened. I then added a little handful of skinny noodles and a couple of leaves of kale cut into ribbons. 

I probably would have added some corn or a can of beans but didn't have any on hand. Use whatever you have and you will have some yummy soup.

I almost forgot, I had a dab of leftover pizza sauce (maybe 1/3 cup). It went in the soup, too.

More To Come

As we approach Valentine's Day I will post the recipe for Sugar Cookies and Chocolate Cut Out Cookies. I really like sugar cookies and I am toying with playing around with Royal Icing, so I will share what I come up with. I need a few weeks to de-Christmas my body before I start baking for another holiday! 

Psalms 34:8 ~ Oh taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.

Long Time No Post

Our family has had a New Year's tradition longer than we have had some of our family members. Our girls have grown up with this tradition, which includes food and fun with some special friends. As the evening wears on we begin rehashing the year before we eventually set some goals for the next year. A couple of years ago we feared the day would come when none of us would recall our dreams, goals, and plans for the year so we began writing them down and putting them in an envelop to open the following year. 

This year we had a huge loss and some really big joys to discuss, but we did get around to  our plans for 2013. This is such a special time and I always learn something new about these people I love so much! 

One of my specific goals pertains to this page so here we go!

The Pertinent Plan

Since I have ignored writing for a bit too long, I spoke out loud and put in writing my plan to blog more often. I wanted to say once a week, but I don't want to fail, so I lowered my standards to twice a month (in writing) through 2013. 

Easing Back In

A few photos from the past few weeks or so will have to suffice for now.

One of my all time favorite Christmas cookies.

Festive veggie plate, this one made by some young friends.

Soft chewy lightly spiced cookies

Deep dark chocolate cookies with mint chocolate chips

I made lots of these caramels from my mother's recipe,
just carrying on her tradition.

Tiny cream wafers are sandwiched together
with a delicious rich pink frosting.

Rachel and I had fun making peppermint marshmallows
 to adorn a cup of hot chocolate.

A tiny herd of strawberry Santas

I love sugar cookies!

My new cookie cutter.  Did I say I love sugar cookies?

One of my favorite new creations, Santa bread.
This one has really red cheeks!

Another festive tree.

One of our many Christmas feasts. The ham isn't on the table
yet and the cast iron kettle is filled with my
brother's Parmesan Potatoes.

Some yummy soup that kept me warm this week!

What next?

I'm not sure, but stay tuned. It won't be long!