Cookies

I think today I will be thankful for cookies.  Not the ones you can buy in a package in the store.  While there are some good ones out there, those are just mass produced morsels.  I'm talking about labor-of-love, hand made bites of yumminess.

Of course, sometimes they aren't all that great.  Maybe it was the recipe.  Maybe it was the quality of ingredients.  Or the oven temperature was off (or you turned the oven off and wondered why things weren't cooking....).  Or you forgot half the flour.  Or the leavening.  Or you had to make some changes due to what you had on hand.  (Yes, I've had all those crop up at one point in time or another...)

Anyhow, today is my birthday.  And while there were some good things about today, I think I'm most thankful for the time I spent with Boo baking cookies.  We made two different kinds today.  (Actually, I made the first batch while he was supposedly napping, he helped with the second.)  The first batch I made were cranberry pumpkin ones that turned out very cake-like and very delicious.  (As soon as I write this I'm making another cup of tea and enjoying a few cookies...)  The second batch didn't turn out all that great.

Earlier in the week Boo asked if we were going to make cookies.  Of course I said sure!  I was figuring we'd make sugar cookies of some kind so he could do the sprinkles (which is his favorite part of cookie making).  But, this morning he asked to make chocolate cookies.  Oh, darn, twist my arm.  Unfortunately, the recipe for crinkles that I love requires you to refrigerate the dough for an hour or more to make it manageable.  We just didn't have that kind of time or attention span.  So, I tried a different one.  One that I thought should have worked, since it was in the Betty Crocker cookbook after all.  You know, the red notebook one?  The one with all the basic staples in it?  Yeah, well, this one didn't work out so well.  I'm not sure if it was me or the recipe.  Boo had a lot of fun helping me measure the flour and the sugar and loved that I let him lick the spoon I used with the melted chocolate.  (They definitely could have used more than 2 oz of chocolate, maybe double, but I'm a chocoholic....).  The biggest challenge was to keep him from licking the various measuring cups and then putting them back in said flour or sugar.... yeah.  Oh well.  Everything was going into the oven to cook...  The first dozen spread out way, way, way more than I expected and weren't done and then were suddenly burnt.  So, I added another half cup of flour and a touch more baking soda to the remaining batter and the rest didn't spread so much, were more cake like and cooked without burning.  They just aren't the stellar chocolate cookies I was in the mood for.

Oh well.  I really can't complain.  The time spent with Boo more than makes up for adequate at best cookies.  So, I guess I'm not really thankful for the cookies themselves, but for the time it takes to make cookies (or other things) from scratch and the time that is spent with loved ones in the process.

So, on that note, I'll wrap this up.  I wish I had a picture of the cookies to put at the top, but I haven't taken one and I'm just too lazy to get up and do that, come back, download it, upload it and post.  So, you'll just have to use your imagination.

Peace to all and may you have some quality (cookie) time with loved ones.

Slow Cookers

Today I am so very thankful for my crockpot, aka slow cooker.  I know, I know, it's kinda silly, but truly, I am thankful for it.  Tuesdays have become quite hectic in the evenings.  I don't get out of work until 5, I pick up Boo by about 5:30 and have to get us (and usually Rachel) fed so I can pick up Gak at 6:30 or so and then get Rachel and I to Scouts by 7:00 or 7:10 so I can get there before the 7:15 meeting start.

Therefore, the crockpot has become my savior.  For the last few weeks I've either taken something out of the freezer that I'd done in the slow cooker weeks ago or, like today, throw something together that Gak can start before he leaves for work.  I mean, I could just boil a pot of water, throw in some pasta, add a jar of sauce and call it good, but that gets old fast.  This way, we can have a little variety and I can still cook somewhat healthy for my family.

I have no idea if tonight's dinner will be any good.  I half remembered a recipe I tried a few years ago that tasted pretty yummy.  I didn't have all the correct ingredients on hand, so I adjusted and made it up as I went along.  I'm calling it Thanksgiving preview.  I layered a couple of peeled and cut up sweet potatoes in the bottom and drizzled them with a little maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger.  On top of that went two seasoned boneless, skinless, turkey breast halves (about 2 lb I think) and on top of that went a couple of peeled and largely sliced apples with a little more maple syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon.  I think the original recipe called for either pork loin or pork chops and some other stuff as well.  We shall see.  It'll be dinner in one pot at any rate, and hopefully moist and delicious.

So, I'm thankful for my evening time saving device and am more than willing to make good use of it.  It simmers chili quite nicely and I've created some nice barbecue pork and beef marinara with just a nice cut of meat and some bottled sauce.  Next week I should have a little more time to prepare something yummy, but it will still be a bit of a rush.  (That is if the girls decide to meet next week, they may not...)  I'm looking forward to experimenting more with this tool.  I don't do chicken in it often because the time frame between when Gak puts the crock into the pot and turns it on and the time I get home is a little too long to keep it nice.  I'm hoping the turkey won't fall apart or dry out (in such a moist environment?!) too badly.

Well, I'd best get back to my actual work.  Just a quickie for today.

Peace to all and may everyone have a trick or two (and maybe an appliance) up their sleeves for making hectic dinner nights not so hectic.

P.S. Even though I said it Sunday, happy birthday Dad!  I love you so very much and am so very thankful your my dad.  You've seen me through a lot, and I appreciate it.  (See, two things to be thankful for today!)