Growing up we had no snow, though wintertime never disappointed us. There was much baking to be done. Mother didn't have a lot of money and so throughout the year we were not allowed candies, soda pops, or sugary cereals, but she sure made up for it when she baked pies, cakes, and cookies at the end of every year. It was the cookies that I remember the most. Ginger Cream Cookies with snowy white fluffy frosting. That was my snow! As an adult and mother it became the custom to bake dozens of these thickly cut cookies and frost them all with the help of our children. Now days we get the real snow, and the little chickens have moved on, but at the end of the every year when the Ginger Cream Cookies are baked many memories of my childhood and of our 3 little chickens makes for such a sweet end of another year.
GINGER CREAM COOKIES
Cookies:
1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup molasses
2 egg yokes
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ginger
5-6 cups flour
Heat oven 400 degrees. In a large bowl cream sugar and shortening together. Now mix in each molasses, egg yokes, hot water, baking soda, and ginger. Finally, add a cup at a time flour until cookie mixture is workable as play dough. Lightly dust clean counter surface with flour and roll out cookie dough until flattened to 1/2-inch thick. Using your favorite cookie cutters (lightly dusted with flour) cut cookie shapes and place them on lightly greased cookie sheet (I use non-greased air bake sheet) and bake for 10-12 minutes. Don't let them brown on the edges. They should be raised and soft. Cool completely before frosting
Frosting:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
Beat egg yokes until fluffy set aside. Cook sugar and water together at a soft boil until it forms a ball when you place a drop of it in water, approximately 10 minutes. Be sure to stir constantly. Now slowly add in sugar/water mixture into beaten egg yokes and beat on high until soft white peaks are glistening creamy and white as snow, meringue-like. Use frosting immediately to frost all cookies as it sets up stiff when cooled. Use your favorite sprinkles or decorate cookies as you like.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
"Gail, do you like seeee food?"
Those were the words of my stepdaughter, Alissa. She was 12 years old when she asked me this, as she opened her mouth wide to display its contents. Seeee Food! Yes I like seafood, but not that! Our kids always displayed such cheesy humor. They never grew out of it. So it was this fall's soup cooking season that made me think of my Honey Bear's favorite soup: Beer Cheese Soup. Of which I never made, with all the years of souping making to be done on our stove. Am I a bad wife? The summer we married we honeymooned in the McKenzie Bridge area and dined the old Log Cabin Inn. It was a wonderful old place that served up beer cheese soup. So in honor of my big Honey Bear....
HONEY BEAR'S BEER CHEESE SOUP
1/2 cup butter.
1 chopped medium yellow onion.
1/2 cup chopped carrot.
1/2 cup chopped celery.
1 medium Yukon potato, peeled and cubed.
1 cup flour.
2 cups chicken broth.
1 12-ounce bottle of pale ale. (You can drink the 5 other bottles later.)
7-ounce extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded.
7-ounce pasteurized process Swiss cheese. (I use approximately 10 slices out of deli singles package.)
2 cups of half and half.
1-pound smoked sausage ring, cut into pieces.
Salt to taste.
1/2 tsp dry mustard.
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
1/2 tsp black pepper.
1 tsp to 1 tbsp of hot sauce. You decide.
5 crispy fried bacon, crumbled for topping.
Melt the butter in a pot and add chopped onion, celery, carrot, and potato. Saute until translucent and slightly softened. Add flour and stir until mixed. Add chicken broth and beer. Cook until soft boil. Slllloooowwwwly add all the cheese until soup is smooth. Add half and half, salt, mustard, pepper, Worcestershire and hot sauce. Reduce heat and cook until veggies are done and soup is thick. In a pan saute sausage pieces and when done remove and blot dry and toss in soup. Ready to eat? Get your bowl and dish it up and toss some crumbled bacon on top.
HONEY BEAR'S BEER CHEESE SOUP
1/2 cup butter.
1 chopped medium yellow onion.
1/2 cup chopped carrot.
1/2 cup chopped celery.
1 medium Yukon potato, peeled and cubed.
1 cup flour.
2 cups chicken broth.
1 12-ounce bottle of pale ale. (You can drink the 5 other bottles later.)
7-ounce extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded.
7-ounce pasteurized process Swiss cheese. (I use approximately 10 slices out of deli singles package.)
2 cups of half and half.
1-pound smoked sausage ring, cut into pieces.
Salt to taste.
1/2 tsp dry mustard.
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce.
1/2 tsp black pepper.
1 tsp to 1 tbsp of hot sauce. You decide.
5 crispy fried bacon, crumbled for topping.
Melt the butter in a pot and add chopped onion, celery, carrot, and potato. Saute until translucent and slightly softened. Add flour and stir until mixed. Add chicken broth and beer. Cook until soft boil. Slllloooowwwwly add all the cheese until soup is smooth. Add half and half, salt, mustard, pepper, Worcestershire and hot sauce. Reduce heat and cook until veggies are done and soup is thick. In a pan saute sausage pieces and when done remove and blot dry and toss in soup. Ready to eat? Get your bowl and dish it up and toss some crumbled bacon on top.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Looking for Fall Warmth?
Fall Leaves
Fall has always been my favorite time of year with its warm colors which glowed from the trees' dying leaves that seemed to promise life in them would return. Where I grew up I did not experience this wonderment, as in those days in the outlying area of San Francisco the only trees that South San Francisco planted were flowering plumbs. The strong winds blew and bent these little trees so they never really had a chance to stretch out strong limbs. They always looked weather bent. Nonetheless, the few lots that had planted such displays of crimson red or golden yellow were always a wonderment to me. Thus when I moved to Southern Oregon experiencing the real splendor of the fall leaves, the child within me awoken and I remembered the real warmth in my childhood....mother's cooking. She was a single mother met with the challenge of feeding 3 children. Every fall brought all the colors in soups and the baking of the pies and cookies. Mother was not a connoisseur of the art of cooking and neither am I, but we shared the love of cooking and baking together. As a mother and wife, I always wanted to share a bit of those wonderful things with my 3 little chickens: Beautiful little mamma Alissa, Miss Sunshine Kelsey, and our Wonder Boy Miles. We are a blended family. My husband Jason brought with him two wonderful little girls and I with my little boy into this splendid family. With limited funds to feed our little ones we enjoyed many cold nights slurping up chicken soup and fresh warm biscuits. Beans and fish were also on the menu many times and yes you can say that our 3 little chickens were full of wiggles and beans (energy). With that, I want to share what I have learned in the basics of cooking beans and biscuits. These are the foundations of making many good things. Enjoy!
Cooking Beans
2-pound bag of pinto beans.
1 whole yellow onion (finely chopped).
1-pound ground meat of your choice (precooked).
1 teaspoon of black pepper.
1 teaspoon of garlic granules or 2 fresh ground cloves.
1 to 2 teaspoons of hot sauce.
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce.
1/4 cup loose packed brown sugar.
Salt to taste (only add salt when beans are almost done). I use about 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
To start: Place beans in large pot of water and rinse them thoroughly. Remove any floaters. Drain off all rinse water and now add clean water to cover beans 2 inches. Boil beans in water for only 2 minutes and then cover and turn off burner. Let beans rest for 2 hours or overnight. Now the beans are ready for cooking. While leaving the beans in the soak water, add 2 more cups of water, onion, meat, pepper, garlic, and hot and Worcestershire sauces. Cook on simmer for 1-1/2 hours and then add the brown sugar and as the beans become more tender you can add the salt. You will need to add 2 cups of fresh water every 20 or so minutes of boil cook time as you must keep the beans covered in water. Stir occasionally and let beans cook until they are able to be mashed with your finger in a spoon. That's the basic.
Note: You can substitute ground meat for ham hocks, thick bacon, or diced ham, and skip the sauces and brown sugar--and that would be called beans and ham hocks. Serve this up with corn bread. That was what I grew up on. Kelsey likes the BBQ addition, which is skip the brown sugar and add in 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce.
BAKING POWDER BISCUITS
2 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour.
1 tablespoon baking powder.
1 teaspoon salt.
1/4 cup vegetable shortening. (I use Crisco Butter Flavor.)
1 cup of milk.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture becomes crumbly. Now add in milk while stirring lightly with a fork. Don't over mix. Using a greased soup spoon, portion out about 2-inch rounds and drop into a slightly buttered pie dish. Bake in hot oven at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown. Use fork to separate to test for doneness.
Fall has always been my favorite time of year with its warm colors which glowed from the trees' dying leaves that seemed to promise life in them would return. Where I grew up I did not experience this wonderment, as in those days in the outlying area of San Francisco the only trees that South San Francisco planted were flowering plumbs. The strong winds blew and bent these little trees so they never really had a chance to stretch out strong limbs. They always looked weather bent. Nonetheless, the few lots that had planted such displays of crimson red or golden yellow were always a wonderment to me. Thus when I moved to Southern Oregon experiencing the real splendor of the fall leaves, the child within me awoken and I remembered the real warmth in my childhood....mother's cooking. She was a single mother met with the challenge of feeding 3 children. Every fall brought all the colors in soups and the baking of the pies and cookies. Mother was not a connoisseur of the art of cooking and neither am I, but we shared the love of cooking and baking together. As a mother and wife, I always wanted to share a bit of those wonderful things with my 3 little chickens: Beautiful little mamma Alissa, Miss Sunshine Kelsey, and our Wonder Boy Miles. We are a blended family. My husband Jason brought with him two wonderful little girls and I with my little boy into this splendid family. With limited funds to feed our little ones we enjoyed many cold nights slurping up chicken soup and fresh warm biscuits. Beans and fish were also on the menu many times and yes you can say that our 3 little chickens were full of wiggles and beans (energy). With that, I want to share what I have learned in the basics of cooking beans and biscuits. These are the foundations of making many good things. Enjoy!
Cooking Beans
2-pound bag of pinto beans.
1 whole yellow onion (finely chopped).
1-pound ground meat of your choice (precooked).
1 teaspoon of black pepper.
1 teaspoon of garlic granules or 2 fresh ground cloves.
1 to 2 teaspoons of hot sauce.
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce.
1/4 cup loose packed brown sugar.
Salt to taste (only add salt when beans are almost done). I use about 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
To start: Place beans in large pot of water and rinse them thoroughly. Remove any floaters. Drain off all rinse water and now add clean water to cover beans 2 inches. Boil beans in water for only 2 minutes and then cover and turn off burner. Let beans rest for 2 hours or overnight. Now the beans are ready for cooking. While leaving the beans in the soak water, add 2 more cups of water, onion, meat, pepper, garlic, and hot and Worcestershire sauces. Cook on simmer for 1-1/2 hours and then add the brown sugar and as the beans become more tender you can add the salt. You will need to add 2 cups of fresh water every 20 or so minutes of boil cook time as you must keep the beans covered in water. Stir occasionally and let beans cook until they are able to be mashed with your finger in a spoon. That's the basic.
Note: You can substitute ground meat for ham hocks, thick bacon, or diced ham, and skip the sauces and brown sugar--and that would be called beans and ham hocks. Serve this up with corn bread. That was what I grew up on. Kelsey likes the BBQ addition, which is skip the brown sugar and add in 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce.
BAKING POWDER BISCUITS
2 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour.
1 tablespoon baking powder.
1 teaspoon salt.
1/4 cup vegetable shortening. (I use Crisco Butter Flavor.)
1 cup of milk.
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture becomes crumbly. Now add in milk while stirring lightly with a fork. Don't over mix. Using a greased soup spoon, portion out about 2-inch rounds and drop into a slightly buttered pie dish. Bake in hot oven at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown. Use fork to separate to test for doneness.
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