Panko-Crusted Mashed Potato Patties

These are simple to make and quite a nice change from regular mashed potatoes.

All you need are seasoned left over mashed potatoes (not too whipped and creamy or they will fall apart--the lumpy ones work best for this),

 a beaten egg to dip the potato patty in and some bread crumbs (I used Panko). I also did not have leftover potatoes, so I just made some earlier in the day and refrigerated.












Fry them in a butter/oil mixtuer until golden on both sides.  YUM!

A nice crunchy celerytini with a little cream cheese herb dip was the vegetable.

I also finished my metallic runner project.  This is the block I ended up making:

I made 12 similar blocks. You can click here to go to my sewing/quilting blog to see the project I finished Saturday morning.

We ended up going out of town Saturday and did not get back until Sunday at 1:00 p.m.  It is so wonderful to be empty nesters and able to get away whenever we feel like it.  Once the work week is over, the next two days are ours to do whatever we please.  So when I got an 8:00 a.m. call from a friend who wanted us to hang out with her that night, we took one look at the cold wet day and decided to get away for the whole night.

After getting home Sunday, I cooked for two hours  making advance meals for the week--grilled chicken breasts, chicken noodle soup, pasta salad and egg salad.  By then I had no time or energy to go outside and cut down the Sedum. So that project is still hanging over my head. I am hoping to get to it after work this week.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies w/Browned Butter Glaze

Last weekend I also baked some cookies. I was not kidding, when I said I spent most of the weekend cooking/baking!

I made an oatmeal/apple cookie that I have not made in a long time.  With the oatmeal and fresh apple, this cookie is so full of fiber that it almost seems healthy.

On the recipe I noted that DH likes these.  He can be a little picky regarding cookies, so I always note if the recipe appealed to him.

He has quite a sweet tooth and I know he loves frosting, so I added some browned butter glaze to the recipe. He must have loved them because I made a double batch and when I went to get one four days later, they were gone! A quick mental calculation  says he ate a dozen a day!

 Apple Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup diced apple without peel
1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt & nutmeg; set aside. Using a mixer, mix the shortening and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time. Slowly pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture until combined. Fold in the oats, apples and walnuts. Use a 1/8 cup measuring cup and drop dough about 3 inches apart onto parchment- lined cookie sheets. If you don’t have parchment paper, just grease the cookie sheets.
3. Bake until lightly browned (15 –20 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie). Let cool on wire racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.


For the glaze:

Brown 1/2 cup of butter over a medium heat.  Keep stirring the butter until it is a light golden color:

Add 1.25 cups powdered sugar. If too thick, add enough water  to make a glaze. Then spoon the glaze over a warm cookie so it spreads and turns transparent.

If you make these, I hope you enjoy them as much as DH did.

A perfect Snowy Sunday

I had Mary France's Cherry Snowball cookies done by 8:00 a.m. this morning.

 The beauty of these little melt-in-your-mouth morsels, is what's inside.

 What a perfect cookie for the holidays. Imagine if you made half with green cherries and half with red cherries.

I got 24 cookies from the recipe, so I must have made them bigger than I should have. I would not suggest making them as big as I did. I think Mary-Frances said she gets 36 cookies. That would be a better cherry-to-dough ratio.

I will most definitely make these again. It was fun knowing I was making the same cookies one of my blogging friends had made yesterday. Thanks again for sharing, Mary-Frances.

I also baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies while DH was out shoveling the driveway.  When he came in I cooked a big breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen (for the third time), then turned on the family channel and watched a sappy Christmas movie while I tried to figure out how to make this gift wrapped in dull gold paper look nice.

I will show you how it turned out tomorrow.  I can't believe it's only noon! There is still a lot of the day left and I don't intend to waste a second of it!

The Beginning of a Wonderful Weekend at Home

I did some sewing early this morning. Then I went to Joanne's and  bought some fabric for the patterns I ordered earlier in the week. I also did some Christmas shopping--bought both of the gifts I need for the exchange at the Christmas Eve gathering which will be at my sister's this year. I was home by noon and shortly thereafter, I started cooking.

I roasted squash and carrots in a 500-degree oven and browned a pot roast on top of the stove.

While the veggies were roasting, I prepared an apple crisp.

I baked it once the veggies were finished and I could lower the oven temp to 350 degrees. It is now cooling on the counter top as the roast finishes cooking.

Look how beautiful these cherries are!

Are you wondering what these cherries are doing in a strainer?

I was visiting Mary-Frances blog today and she posted a cookie recipe with maraschino cherries. It sound like a recipe I and  my husband would like, so I am drying out the cherries so I can bake the cookies tomorrow.   Mary-Frances shared the recipe on this post.  I will post pictures tomorrow when the cookies are finished.  We are supposed to get a lot of snow tonight and tomorrow, so it will be a perfect day to bake cookies. I love baking Christmas cookies as the snow falls outside the kitchen window.

Shortbread Cookies

I love to take the time to appreciate the little things in life. Last week I ordered a necklace and when it arrived it was a perfect match to this jacket that I bought about a year ago. That made me quite happy this morning. :)

Now, on to the cookies....

DH has been wanting some cookies with maraschino cherries in them.

I was skimming a magazine and came across some shortbread cookies that sounded like they would work with the cherries, so I jumped right up to make them. I am a spontaneous baker--rarely plan any of it--just do it when the moods strikes.
I was worried that I did not have two cups of flour in that jar.

But luck was on my side -- this is what I had leftover.


These cookies are very easy to make.
You shape them into two logs

I used waxed paper to shape them because I lean toward germ-a-phobia, and I don't like hands playing with food unless it's absolutely necessary (as in bread baking).

Once they are good and cold, you slice them.


I rolled the edges in red/white sugar crystals before putting them on the
parchment-covered baking sheet.


When done, they have a nice buttery crunch. You don't have to use cherries. You can put nuts, other dried fruits, or nothing at all.



You can also freeze those logs and just slice and bake whenever guests drop in, or you have the urge for a warm shortbread cookie. Do any of you have guests who just drop in? That never seems to happen any more. It's a nice warm nostalgic vision, but really, I like to know in advance if someone is coming over.

If you want the recipe, just click to enlarge this photo.

Fatally Flaky Cookies

Yesterday I finished reading Diane Mott Davidson's latest culinary whodunit book. I think this is her 15th book and I have read them all.

She always publishes recipes that were made throughout the storyline.

When I got home from work this afternoon, I decided to make the Fatally Flaky Cookies.
I figured that any recipe that starts by melting butter and brown sugar must be good!

Here is the recipe (click it to make bigger).


I was quite surprised that there is just one tablespoon of flour in this recipe. I read it three times to make sure.

The recipe also calls for a good quality cocoa. I had plain old Hershey's and I think it worked just fine. (I also used salted butter, Kosher salt instead of sea salt and light brown sugar instead of dark brown...I guess it's not really her recipe after I got done with it!)
The finished batter will look like this:
Yes, that's all the batter. The recipe only makes 12 cookies.

After the cookies have completely cooled, you put softened ice cream between two of them. So really you only get a total of 6 ice cream sandwich cookies (This is half of what she says it makes, so I made mine bigger than she does).

The cookie portion is very, very delicate. They break easily so this is not something you would feed children. It is more of an adult indulgence.

I liked them and will probably make them again this summer.

It's Been a June Cleaver Kind of Morning

It's Saturday morning, 7:00 a.m. and I have just finished baking two batches of cookies.

After the first batch I looked at the mess I had created.

I counted the cookies.

26.

That's it. 26 cookies. I had to clean up this mess for just 26 cookies.

I do most things by determining if the outcome is worth the effort. I decided it wasn't. I had way too much of a mess for just 26 cookies.

So I made a second batch.

I used all the same equipment, so now I got double the outcome from just about the same effort. I feel much better.

The cookies are good, too. They are Cinnamon Snaps--sort of like gingersnaps, except there is no ginger. :) They are a bit crispy.


Here's the easy recipe:

Cinnamon Snaps

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar (I used light, but either light or dark would be fine)
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional Sugar


In a large bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in another bowl; slowly add to creamed mixture. Roll into 1-in. balls, then roll in additional sugar.
Place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set and tops are cracked. Remove to wire rack to cool. Yield: 26 cookies.

These weren't the only cookies I made. I visited a new blog last week called Twirl and Taste.

Libby posted a recipe for peanut butter sandwich cookies. I made them last night and they are big, soft, full of peanut butter and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The recipe is here.

This recipe takes a lot more effort. I froze all of the cookies to use later for a light dessert. I believe Libby served them for a lunch dessert. They are a large cookie and would make a dandy dessert for peanut butter lovers.

Off now to change the bed linen.

I hope you all enjoy your Saturday. I plan to fully enjoy my low key weekend.

Carrot Cookies

I am still trying to use up the 4 lbs. of carrots I bought two weeks ago. I spent most of today baking and one of the things I made were these carrot cookies. They are a big soft cake like cookie. I took a plate over to my neighbor as a thanks for snow blowing my driveway. I hope he likes them because we are having another storm and the driveway is filling up fast today. It would be wonderful if I didn't have to shovel it all tomorrow!

One of the ingredients I used was crystallized ginger.

Crystallized Ginger is dried ginger root preserved with a heavy sugar coating. Eaten on its own it has a strong spicy sweet flavor. I would never toss a whole piece in my mouth. A teeny tiny piece is enough. So I chopped it quite finely to go in my cookies. I only used a 1/4 cup. Next time I will use twice that much because I can't really taste it in the cookies.

Crystallized ginger proponents claim it does everything from reducing hot flashes to curing indigestion. So who knows, these cookies may be just what the doctor ordered!

Here is my recipe:

Carrot Cookies

1.5 cups quick-cooking Quaker oatmeal
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar

2 cups grated carrot
1/4 to 1/2 cup crystallized ginger
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

8 oz. crushed pineapple UN DRAINED
walnuts, if desired. I used about a 1/2 cup and only put them in the last half of the batter because my husband does not like nuts.

Mix the first 9 ingredients in a large mixer bowl. Blend on low for 30 seconds.

Cut the butter in small pieces and toss into the mixing bowl. Mix for about one minute on low, scraping sides as needed. It will look like a crumble topping.

Add the eggs, one at at time,and the vanilla. Mix on low just until blended. Batter will be quite stiff.

Toss in the grated carrots, ginger and pineapple with juice. Mix on low just until combined. Don't over mix. Throw in the walnuts if you are using them and combine by hand.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a lightly greased baking sheet. I only put six cookies per 1/4 sheet pan baking sheet. They spread a lot. Bake about 12 minutes. I start to check at 10 minutes. When the edges are just slightly browned, remove from oven. Let cool one minute before removing from pan. Makes about 2.5 dozen cookies

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
approx. 2 tsp water.
Combine to make a drizzling consistency. Use just one tsp. of water at a time so you don't get it too loose.

Cookies weren't all I baked today. Look at these beautiful blueberries I froze last summer.I made three blueberry coffee cakes. I took one over to my father-in-law.
Right now I have two loaves of English Muffin Bread rising. They are just about ready to go into the oven.


Early this morning I went grocery shopping, so I am all set to stay inside the remainder of the weekend. I have BBQ pork ribs and twice baked potatoes in the oven right now. All I have to do is make the tossed salad.

After all this cooking and eating, I NEED to shovel tomorrow!

My Weekend to Relax and Read.......Wasn't

You know you always hear your life can change in an instant?

Well, my weekend did.

I was planning to be a couch potato and read for most of the weekend. But the only time I saw the couch was to help DH sit down on it.

My poor husband fell off a ladder while removing snow from the roof on Saturday morning. After two hours in the ER, I brought him home with a diagnosis of a fractured rib and a separation of something in the shoulder....I don't know much about medical things...all I know is the poor man is in a lot of pain and can't do much of anything.

So I am his nurse for the next few weeks. I have no idea for how long. I have to take him to an orthopedic doctor within the next three days.

The moment he fell, my weekend plans changed. It's amazing how much help he was. Now I have to do EVERYTHING.......even shop for groceries! :) Most of you know that he usually does that.

So I have been to 3 grocery stores in just over 24 hours, bundled up and took two bags of garbage outside, carted the evil ladder back to the garage, filled little cups with pain pills, prepared the lazy boy for his bed (he can't lie down), etc. etc. I have also been cooking up a storm so he will have plenty of food while I am at work and dinner will only need to be reheated all week. I have not touched the book since I was waiting for him to come out of the x-ray room.

While shopping, I bought a 2 lb. bag of carrots. When I got home, I discovered I already had a 2 lb. bag. So carrots were used in just about everything I cooked.

These beauties went into a totally-from-scratch carrot cake with cream cheese coconut frosting that I made yesterday.

Today I made turkey rollups, honey glazed carrots, beef veggie soup/stew, and a beef roast with carrots and potatoes.
That should be plenty for the work week.

I did get to do a bit of sewing early Saturday morning before the fall.

I don't know how DH will be able to stand doing nothing for the next few weeks. He is like me and rarely sits doing nothing. He is already quite bored.

Hopefully the ortho doctor will be able to tell us more this week. We are hoping that he does not need surgery on the shoulder. How many weeks does it take for a fractured rib to heal? I guess I should google that, but right now I have to go clean up the kitchen.

I Had No Idea!

I thought it odd that bags of green M & M's were in with the valentine candy. Thanks to Dianne (who is a wealth of all kinds of interesting information), I now understand.


I guess I didn't even read the disclaimer on the package that states: "Consumption of The Green Ones® may result in elevated romance levels. If you experience this effect, contact your significant other immediately."

So not only are those cookies healthy, but they have aphrodisiac qualities. I think I will go wake up DH with a big plate of cookies.

I Found the Most Delicious Frozen Veggies Today

I don't grocery shop very often, so they may have been around a long time, but today was the first time I saw this Caribbean Blend of frozen veggies.

At first I thought the yellow was squash, but it's not. Guess what it is?

Yellow Carrots! I liked that because it was different than the usual orange color. I just boiled these until crisp tender and tossed them in butter, salt and pepper...YUM! This blend has green beans, yellow carrots, broccoli, and red pepper. It would be great for a stir fry.

Since it's getting close to St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd make some green cookies. I wasn't in the mood to work hard enough to make cut out shamrock sugar cookies, so I bought a bag of all green M & M's and tossed them into some oatmeal cookies.
They turned out very good. It's just the recipe on the Quaker Oats box with M & M's thrown in. With 3 cups of oatmeal, I think they can be considered "health food", don't you? LOL.

As I write this, I am watching Paula Dean's talk show. One of the guests is a large man who has sweat dripping down his face. I must have a very weak stomach, because seeing someone cook with sweat droplets almost makes me lose it. I keep imagining a big "plop" as the sweat drop drips into the saucepan. GROSS! I will leave you with that pleasant thought... :)