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Finally, the snowman drawstring gift bag.


I didn't eat one, I ate two. I ate another because I felt it was necessary to taste one a couple of minutes out of the oven and another five minutes out of the oven. Sometimes it just has to be like this. It's all about tasting and testing. It's sweet science in the kitchen. I ate the last one with strawberry jam, again, more sweet science testing. I invited my daughter to come sit with me and taste them. She liked them. She asked me if I was going to serve hot tea. We both laughed, although it would have been a great idea, we are having more iced drinks these days here in Arizona. If I made this recipe again, I would use dried cranberries or cherries. They would certainly be sweeter then the apple I used since dried fruit are always sweeter.
A scone halved to see threads of cheddar and moist apple bites throughout.
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Nothing taste better than an old fashioned sugar cookie. Today's cookie has a twist, it has been dunked into a cinnamon-sugar mixture thus calling it the Snickerdoodle. If you adore the taste & smell of cinnamon baking, then help yourself to this recipe for Snickerdoodles.

The cookie on the left were the 9 min. guys
and the ones on the right stayed in for 10 min.
Snickerdoodles
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
2 large eggs
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.
3. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week. Makes 4 dozen.
Mix up the brownie batter with cocoa, baking soda, oil and hot water. Watch what happens when you stir it up. It's a chemical reaction! I love this part.
Here's the double batch of cream cheese. So good.
After I pour the batter in the pan, I tilt it from side to side until it reaches the sides.
These are cooling and will be ready to be cut soon. I hope these will be well received.

Cheesecake Brownies
3/4 c. cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 c. oil
1/2 c. boiling water
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
For Filling:
8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Stir cocoa and baking soda together in a small bowl. Blend in 1/3 cup of the oil. Add boiling water and stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup of oil. Stir until smooth. Stir in flour, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.
Mix all filling ingredients and blend with mixer. Pour brownie mixture into a 13"x9" pan. Add cream cheese filling mix on top of brownie mix and swirl with a knife until marblized. Bake @ 350* for 35-40 minutes. Cheescake layer should be very lightly browned when done.


So I started cooking. First to bake were the muffins.
They are the large muffin pans because I like to make
them hefty.
They turned out so yummy. Want one?


I served this with a side of white steamed rice. Next up is the finale...dessert!
Looks like snow! No, it's dough.
I made the dough a bit wetter by adding more milk so I could drop the dough on instead of rolling it out. The other changes I did was to half the recipe and add 3 T. of sugar instead of 3 T. for the entire recipe. I used a frozen mixture of Berries called Berry Medley. It consists of raspberries, blueberries & blackberries, a really yummo combo.
Here it is. It cooled for 5 minutes and I ate it with whipped topping. It was really, really good and a delight to make and eat. I liked how the there was just the right amout of berry juice to spoon up. I never cook with berries of the rasp, blue and black variety. The only fresh berries I buy are strawberries. Dorie has opened my eyes to baking with frozen berries. They were on sale too! It tasted like a dessert you'd eat on vacation...something you'd splurge on. Thanks for your recipe Dori.
Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home adapted from Anne Strawberry and me!
3 C. all-purpose flour
1 C. yellow cornmeal
1/4 C. sugar
2 T. baking powder
2 t. kosher salt
2 C. milk
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar, grated
3 chopped scallions
2 seeded and minced fresh jalapeño peppers
Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, eggs, and butter. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until most of the lumps are dissolved. Don't overmix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated Cheddar, the scallions and jalapeños, and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan. (I used 2 large muffin pans and sprayed them with canola oil). They baked for 30 min. using the large muffin pans.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and cut into large squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Honeyed Chicken Teriyaki
adapted from In the Kitchen with T
Prep time: 1hr - 1hr 15 min.
2lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 eggs, beaten
oil for frying
Glaze
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c honey
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp ground ginger
3 Tbsp sesame seeds, optional
Preheat oven to 250*F
Cut chicken into approximately 2″ cubes.
Combine flour, salt and pepper.
Dip chicken chunks into eggs, then coat with flour.
Using a non-stick skillet, pour a little oil into the pan and heat over medium-high heat.
When oil is hot, add chicken, a bit at a time. Plan on probably 3 ’shifts’ for this amount of chicken. Turning chicken to brown on all sides. Allow about 6-8 minutes cook time, each ’shift’.
Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, heat soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger.
As chicken gets done frying, remove and drain briefly on paper towels. Dip in honey mixture, to coat. Once all chicken is cooked and dipped, you may sprinkle with the optional sesame seeds, if desired. Then bake on rack in pan at 250* for 20 minutes. At the 10 minute mark, brush with any remaining glaze.
For next week's TWD, Karina of The Floured Apron has chosen the Apple Cheddar Scones on page 32. I'm hoping to dry my own apples for these unless I get lucky at the store.



Some animals have escaped the funny farm...but they have been caught. Line up for your mug shot guys!

Click here
for a free diaper cover pattern in a lot of sizes.


It's the tongue of a cow....and it's food on my table..it's also considered a delicacy. So how did I prepare the fat muscle of beef? I boiled it until it was tender, about 2.5-3 hours. Let it cool, then peel off the outter rubbery skin. Now slice it into thin slices and prepare a sauce for it. We enjoy ours with authenic Mexican red chili. When it's mixed with red chili it's called Chili con Carne.
I love onions, so I added a whole medium sliced onion and simmered everything until the onion was tender. My husband is taking burritos to the roping tonight. I'm sure he'll share with the cowboys there.
Comments are always welcomed. :-)