Baked (Shirred) Eggs

(having trouble getting the pictures to go where I want them to go...)

If your family like soft-, medium-, or hard-boiled eggs, then you must give these a try! Baked eggs are a great alternative to other egg preparations because they require zero attention, can be endlessly customized, and can be adapted to any number of servings. Perfect! (You also don't have to try to peel a bunch of boiled eggs... something I'm tired of doing.)

Recipe based on How to Cook Everything, 10th ann. edition

Butter or oil for cups/pan

Eggs

Grated cheese

salt and pepper

Grease bottom of custard cups (1 per egg) or bottoms and sides of muffin tin cups (this is a terrific alternative when you're baking lots of eggs at once, but you must cook all eggs to the same level of doneness; if the eaters all want a different level of doneness, use individual cups you can remove one at a time). Crack one egg into each cup. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a small amount of grated cheese on top. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on your preferred yolk texture. Warning: the eggs will not only look underdone on the top but be more cooked near the bottom, they will also cook a bit more when you take them out of the oven. Ours usually end up with a medium-boiled egg texture even though I like them softer.

If using individual ramekins or cups, give one to each person. If using a muffin tin, slide a knife around edge of each egg and then slide the egg onto a plate (this is pretty easy to do).

Serves however many you like!

Pine Bark Candy

Some folks around here call this "cracker candy," but there are at least two versions of the recipe floating around. This one uses semi-sweet chocolate on top of the crackers; you can use butterscotch or something else in place of the chocolate, but I like the chocolate version best.

• 40 saltines (1 "sleeve")
• 12-oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 2 sticks REAL butter
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. nuts, chopped (we like pecans)
• 1 jelly roll pan (or cookie sheet with rim)

Line pan with foil. Spray foil with Pam. Spread crackers in one layer in pan. Melt butter and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil 3 minutes (time from moment "first bubble" appears). Pour butter/sugar mixture over crackers. Bake at 375 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Spread chocolate on top. Wait a minute or so and then smooth with knife or plastic spatula once chocolate is soft. Sprinkle nuts on top. Put pan in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Remove from fridge and peel back foil from back. Break up candy with hands. Can be stored at room temperature.

Turkey Soup

It's time for turkey soup, everyone! Here is our mom's recipe.

• turkey carcass
• 2 c. chopped cooked turkey
• 2 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 c. sliced carrots
• 1 c. sliced or chopped onion
• 1 c. sliced celery
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 t. poultry seasoning
• 2 t. salt
• 1/2 c. rice or barley
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1 1/2 c. (or so) milk

Put turkey carcass, meat, mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, seasoning, and salt in large Dutch oven. Pour 2 quarts water over. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 1 hour. Remove carcass and pull off any bits of meat from it.

Add meat back to pot along with the rice or barley. Cover and simmer 1 more hour.

Slowly stir 1/2 cup milk into 1/2 cup flour, mixing until smooth. Add to soup, stirring constantly until blended. Add 1 cup milk, more or less, to soup. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened.

Makes 10 cups

Holiday Favorites on This Blog

I've put up some recipes recently that are holiday favorites, but there are already quite a few on this blog. Here's a short list of some our holiday favorites:

Cream of Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Sweet Potato Souffle

Cranberry Apple Casserole

Cranberry Apple Pie

Pecan Pie

Cornbread Dressing

Rolls

Perfect Pie Crust

My mother-in-law makes pies and pie crusts all the time; she makes up three crusts at a time and freezes them in the pie plates so they're ready when she needs them. This is a terrific tip to know about when holiday baking season descends. Here's her recipe:

3 1/2 c. Wondra flour

1 3/4 t. salt

1 1/3 c. shortening

14 T. or so COLD water

Sift flour and salt together. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-sized. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, working water in with a fork, only until dough is moistened (you don't want it wet and you may not need all the water). Divide dough in thirds and roll out crusts. You can use the scraps from the first two crusts to add into the ball for the third--this is especially helpful if you have one pie plate that's slightly bigger than the others. Or, you can line a muffin tin with scraps and have some mini tart shells.

Makes 3 pie crusts.

Cranberry Apple Pie

My family makes a cranberry-apple "casserole" (which is practically dessert), and my husband's family makes this similar cranberry apple pie. The pie is sweeter because it's supposed to be dessert, but otherwise the only real difference is that one is in a crust and one isn't. Take your pick! Someday, I'll combine the topping from the casserole with the pie filling and overload on sugary harvest goodness.

• pie crust (unbaked)
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1 t. apple pie spice (or 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. cloves, 1/4 t. ginger)
• 4 c. tart apple slices
• 2 c. cranberries
• 2 T. butter
• Crumb Topping (see below)

Stir together sugar, flour, spices. Alternate layers of apples, cranberries, and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with apples. Dot with butter. Sprinkle crumb topping on. Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes (you might need to cover with foil to prevent over browning).

Crumb Topping:

• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 3 T. butter

Mix together using pastry blender or fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Grandmother's Cornbread Dressing: Part Legend, Part Process, and Part Modern Counterpart

AAahhh.... Those of you not from the South have probably had few experiences, if any, with real Southern cornbread dressing. That "stuff" you may have gotten in a cafeteria or at Cracker Barrel is moderately similar in flavor but usually gloppy--sort of stiff and sticky.

Real Southern cornbread dressing is simply a perfect marriage of leftover biscuits and cornbread, leftover chicken or turkey stock, and a few veggies. Simple, eh? Like most old-fashioned favorites, this recipe is much harder to make if you don't already have cornbread and biscuits lying around. The secret? Make them ahead of time and freeze them in the amount specified below (and, you should make Southern cornbread and short biscuits). When you want to make the dressing, half the work will be done! (You can also freeze homemade chicken or turkey stock if you're in the habit of making that.)

As with many old family favorites, it was hard to pin down an actual "recipe" for this. If you've had dressing before and/or have made it before, the version my grandmother gave me will suffice. If you're still in the dark, see below for a more modern, more specific, but very similar version. Carrie and I are going to work on getting some pictures up of the texture, in progress, so you can see what your goal is.

Handed-Down Version (no doubt, girls used to spend more time at the stove with their mothers and this version would have been sufficient)

Mix crumbled cornbread and biscuits together. Cook 1 onion, 2-3 stalks celery, and some parsley until soft. Dump into cornbread/biscuit mixture. Add liquid/stock until you have a moist dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste (and poultry seasoning if desired). Bake.

Simple, eh?

For us more modern folks who don't make dressing on a regular basis and/or have always eaten it but never actually made it, here is a more prescriptive--and very similar--recipe from an old family favorite cookbook: The Chattanooga Cookbook. The term "modern" is a bit of a misnomer; the cookbook was published in 1970 and is out of print. I've changed the cookbook recipe a touch to reflect how my family makes dressing.

Dressing for Chicken or Turkey

• 5 cups crumbled cornbread
• 1 cup crumbled biscuits (about 4 large biscuits)
• 1-2 onions, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped (1-2 stalks)
• ~1/4 bunch of fresh parsley, leaves only, chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten (if doubling, just use 3, not 4)
• chicken or turkey stock (roughly half a can)
• salt and pepper to taste
• poultry seasoning to taste (my mom uses ~ 1/2 t. per recipe; I use ~ 1 t. per recipe)

1. If your cornbread was not cooked with/in bacon grease, then saute your veggies in bacon grease until they are quite soft. If your cornbread was cooked with the magic ingredient, then boil your veggies and parsley until quite soft and the liquid in which they were cooked is roughly the same height as your veggies. (I know, it's still a bit vague...). Crumble your cornbread and biscuits (should look like above photo).
2. Mix veggies (drained, if boiled, and water reserved) with crumbled cornbread and biscuits. Add some seasonings. Add some cooking water from veggies and some stock to make a moist mixture (my mom says about half a can will do the trick). You want it wet but not soupy; it will dry out some as it cooks. This is sort of a "you get better at it the more you practice" kind of thing. (You can see from the picture that it will be fairly "wet" looking.)
3. Put in greased casserole dish and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes; it will look noticeably drier with a nice slightly brown "crust" on the top.

Serves 6-8; can easily be doubled

Mama Blanche's Biscuits

The story goes like this: my grandmother was staying with her new in-laws shortly after marrying my grandfather (country people from Mississippi; she's a city girl from Memphis). When she got up in the morning, Mama Blanche (my grandfather's mother) wanted to know what my grandmother wanted for breakfast. The answer? Chocolate cake! That must have been a surprise to Mama Blanche, and she no doubt wondered what on earth her precious boy was going to eat if his new wife wanted cake for breakfast. I can attest that my grandmother is now an excellent cook! This is a recipe she got from her mother-in-law, my great-grandmother, and I never knew it wasn't my grandmother's own recipe until I asked her for it for this blog!

These are "short biscuits"--drier and more crumbly than those you can buy frozen in the grocery store. They're great with soup and the perfect biscuit to make if you are hoping to make genuine (and delicious) Southern cornbread dressing.

Mama Blanche's Biscuits

• 2 c. flour plus ample for board/rolling out
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 c. shortening
• 3/4 c. buttermilk (roughly--this is one those "add until it's the right texture" things)

1. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening. Add buttermilk until a moist dough forms--not wet, but too moist to handle much.
2. Sprinkle board liberally with flour and turn dough out onto it. Sprinkle dough with enough more flour to handle/roll out.
3. Roll out and cut into little circles (the recipe is vague here--I remember them being fairly petite in both height and width).
4. Bake. (vague here, too--my grandmother said 400 degrees or so). Time will be short, but will depend on big the biscuits are. They should be lightly browned on top.

Mama Blanche's Pecan Pie

Thanksgiving week is a great week to share some true family favorites--they always end up on our holiday tables, and this week will be no exception! This is my great grandmother's recipe and it is the best pecan pie I've ever eaten. Part of the secret is one of those nebulous, vague things: cooking it just the right amount of time (longer than most recipes). But it's worth the attempt!

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. dark karo
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 c. pecans plus a few halves to decorate the top
• 1 uncooked pie crust

1. Mix sugar and butter; add eggs, vanilla, salt, karo, and pecans.
2. Pour into uncooked pie crust. Decorate top with reserved pecan halves.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes; then turn oven down to 350 degrees and continue to bake until middle jiggles only very slightly when shaken and top is quite brown, about 45 more minutes. Watch crust to make sure it doesn't brown too much. You may need to cover just the crust with foil strips about half way through cooking time.

Serves 8

Menu Failure (sigh) and Change of Plans

We all have weeks like this: you plan a certain menu (or group of possibilities) assuming you'll make it to the store at least one time before the culmination of said "week." Right? A ha ha ha ha.... And you never make it to the store. I usually have enough food on hand to wait out a week of not going to the store; I have an easily accessible produce stand that opens super early in the morning--I can always run there for some fresh fruit, milk, and eggs. (To date, it's been 10 days since I last went to a regular grocery store....)

But, not getting to the store when I'd made my menu based on that very assumption? Well, I had to make changes. My "Texan" week is only half-way through and we're jumping ship. We have the fixin's for pinto beans and cornbread, but I spiced the pintos a bit too much for the tender palates of the under-5 crowd around here. I dropped the dish with the cooked sweet potatoes in it: it broke and all the sweet potatoes had bits of ceramic chard in them.... They got thrown away. I cooked a pork roast that was also thrown away (we're not sure if it was the recipe or the pork...either way, it was nasty). You should know that I hate, loathe, despise, and abominate throwing away food if I can avoid it. I tried another experiment that was mediocre at best. Tonight: hamburgers, fruit, and crudite. Maybe I'll whip up some cookies.

Tomorrow: hmm... baked potato bar with???? Bacon (some in the freezer), broccoli (also in freezer), cheese (getting mighty low on cheese--a truly perilous state of affairs for the aforementioned under-5 crowd), and butter (also getting low on butter--a truly perilous state of affairs for this 30-something butter ADDICT).

Slight chance I'll make it to the store after dinner tomorrow in which case: fajitas on Friday! We'll finish on a solid Texan note. We'll see.

I have the glorious gluttonous gastronomic delights to look forward to next week, so even if we round this week out eating pancakes, it'll be okay.

Cowboy Chicken

This is easy and kid-friendly. It's a great Tex-Mex option: sort of a Tex-Mex BBQ flavor. The salsa, brown sugar, mustard combo is very similar to BBQ sauce, but it's got a kick and isn't quite as thick as regular BBQ sauce. Serve with rice or chips to scoop up the sauce.

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 16 ounces salsa--your choice
• 3 T. brown sugar
• 1 t. brown mustard

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place chicken in shallow baking dish. Stir together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover dish with foil.
3. Bake for 1 hour, until chicken is cooked through. Uncover last 15 minutes to brown the chicken.

Serves 6

Fiesta Chicken Bake

This is a great Tex-Mex style dish that goes well with rice. If you need to serve a crowd, it doubles fairly easily. It's a great entertaining dish because you can get other things ready while it bakes (like a salad and cornbread!).

From Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 11th edition

• 6 chicken legs (3 to 3 1/2 pounds total)
• 1/2 c. chopped onion (1 medium)
• 1 T. cooking oil
• 1 (14.5-oz.) can tomatoes, cut up
• 1 (8 3/4-oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained (I've used frozen corn, too)
• 1 (4-oz.) can diced green chili peppers, drained
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1/2 t. paprika
• 1/4 t. cumjin
• 1/8 t. pepper
• several dashes hot pepper sauce
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 T. sliced pitted rip olives (optional)
• hot cooked rice (optional)

1. Skin chicken. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Arrange chicken in a 3-quart rectangular baking dish (13x9-inch). Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Drain off fat.
2. Meanwhile, for sauce, cook onion in hot oil until onion is tender but not brown. Stir in undrained tomatoes, drained corn, drained chili peppers, spices, and hot pepper sauce.
3. Pour sauce over chicken. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes more or until chicken is tender and no longer pink, basting occasionally. Sprinkle with cheese and olives. If desired, serve over rice.

Serves 6

10 Tips to Tempt Those Tiny Palates (the ethnic version)

I've written about this before, but it bears repeating: whatever you feed your kids when they're young is what they learn to like. We think that curry, hot chili pastes, weird Asian greens, and the like are too weird for young children. What do you think 3-year-olds eat in India, China, Mexico, etc.? They eat "weird" stuff because that's what their families eat.

We have tried a variety of ethnic foods on our children. This has worked to our advantage and our disadvantage. Advantages: they frequently eat fish in most any form, they like most curries, they like Asian stir-fries and have even eaten bok choy, etc. However, they do not appreciate spaghetti or other tomato-sauced dishes (sigh).

This is part of my strategy with the different theme weeks I'm doing: I want my children exposed to a variety of foods, particularly the ones my husband and I enjoy. I think the more frequently they see/taste something, the better. Their memories are still pretty short, so seeing something several times in a week is not a bad idea. And, it helps me to know where the shortcomings are. For instance, during our Indian week, I learned that the kids don't mind a mild curry dish! Who knew?! But, they're not as crazy about garam masala (really, another curry type). I would have expected the opposite.

So, how do you go about introducing your kids to different "weird" flavors?

1. Keep the main ingredients recognizable: chicken, potatoes, rice, whatever. They'll be more likely to try it if they recognize it.

2. Start small: plain rice with a side of chicken curry or stir-fried beef.

3. Start mild: include some minimal heat, but don't throw chipotles in your chili just yet.

4. Provide condiments that enhance flavor and also provide nutrition: marinara sauce, mild salsa, yogurt-based sauces, and so forth. If they end up eating all the sauce and leave the main course, they're still getting some vitamins in!

5. Expect them to eat it! Don't have a back-up plan. Don't allow them to only eat rice. Our kids have to try one bite of everything before they can get seconds or leave the table. (And, yes, this causes WWIII at the dinner table many times.)

6. If they really hate a category of food you love (like pasta), then continue to serve it, but don't overdo it.

7. Keep it varied: continually try new things, eat some old favorites, and try not to get in a rut.

8. Model good taste-testing and food-appreciation. If you don't like something, feel free to say so (after you have tasted it). If they don't like something, don't allow complaining, but don't force it down.

Texas Menu, Week 1

After two weeks of Middle Eastern/Indian meals, I figured we were ready for some meatier dishes. Since I'm from Texas, I figure this week can include anything I grew up eating; I'll stick to beefy dishes and Tex Mex, since those things come to mind when I think "Texas." It's too bad I don't have some beef brisket or flank steak on hand--those would really fit the bill!

Options (some of these are quite similar--I'll pick and choose):

Chili

Chicken Fajitas

Beans and Cornbread

Two-Bean Tamale Pie

Corn Pone Pie (almost the same as Tamale Pie--depends on what kinds of beans I cook)

Beef and Corn Casserole

Mexican Pulled Pork over Rice

Fiesta Baked Chicken

Beans and Franks

Baked Potatoes (topped with leftovers of nearly any of the above!)

Hamburgers

Nachos or Quesadillas with leftovers

Side Dishes That Work Well:

Corn

Slaw

Salad

Green Veg (green beans, broccoli, peas, etc.)

Cornbread

Rolls/Bread

Crudite

Potatoes (white or sweet)

Dessert:

Texas Sheet Cake!

Shopping List:

pinto beans

meat of choice (depends on freezer and what's on sale)

tortillas

flour/cornmeal

potatoes

carrots

green veg of choice

corn (frozen or on the cob)

Grandmother's Rolls--the History and 3 Recipes

This is the bread recipe I first learned to make--my grandmother was my teacher. We did the second recipe listed below. These are the family rolls in my mother's side of the family; we haven't made them much for holidays recently because Sister Shubert rolls taste mighty similar. However, they are worth making, they are actually quite easy, and nothing else is quite as good. You can make whatever roll shape you want, but the dough is sticky--round balls or folded over circles are best. This dough also makes superb bread for toast. Simply bake longer than the rolls. I've included 3 versions of this recipe--the one my grandmother learned to make is first. The one I learned to make is second. The one my daughter will learn to make is third. The only thing different in each recipe is the type of yeast used and the type of fat. Feel free to pick and choose! (My sister Carrie wants to try these with her freshly milled whole wheat flour--so there may be a fourth version soon!) This makes about 4 dozen rolls.

Original Recipe:

1 c. lard

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. salt

1 c. boiling water

2 eggs, beaten

2 cakes yeast

1 c. cold water

6 c. unsifted flour

Pour boiling water over lard, sugar, and salt. Blend and cool. Add beaten eggs. Proof yeast and add to sugar mixture when lukewarm. Add flour, blend, cover, and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 1 1/2 hours before baking. Use just enough flour to roll out the dough, but don't overdo it. Cut in circles and fold over to make into rolls and allow to rise in warm place until double. Brush rolls with melted butter before baking (to brush inside the fold, brush before rising). Bake at 350 degrees until light brown on top.

Second (Modern) Version

1 c. shortening

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. salt

1 c. boiling water

2 eggs, beaten

2 packages active dry yeast

1 c. warm water

6 c. unsifted flour

Pour boiling water over shortening, sugar, and salt. Blend and cool. Add beaten eggs. Proof yeast and add to sugar mixture when lukewarm. Add flour, blend, cover, and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 1 1/2 hours before baking. Use just enough flour to roll out the dough, but don't overdo it. Cut in circles and fold over to make into rolls and allow to rise in warm place until double. Brush rolls with melted butter before baking (to brush inside the fold, brush before rising). Bake at 350 degrees until light brown on top.

Third (Postmodern) Version

1 c. butter

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. salt

2 c. hot water

2 eggs, beaten

5 t. instant yeast

6 c. unsifted flour

Pour hot water over butter, sugar, and salt. Blend and cool. Add beaten eggs. Add 2 cups of flour. Add yeast and remaining flour. Blend, cover, and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 1 1/2 hours before baking. Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheets or in greased pie pans to rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees until light brown on top.

Betsy's Basic Whole Wheat Bread

Nearly identical to my original recipe, this is the way I make bread now--I make it frequently, and this is our favorite version. It's still a dense whole wheat bread, but it slices well (and even thinly) for sandwiches, holds up for sandwiches, and makes terrific toast. You can add wheat gluten or extra yeast if you want it taller (or bake it in 8x4-inch loaf pans for taller, slimmer loaves). The honey helps the bread keep longer and stay moist.

3 1/2 cups hot water

1 T. instant yeast (rapid rise)

1/2 c. powdered milk

1/2 c. honey

1/4 c. oil

scant 1 T. salt

1 c. wheat germ

4 c. whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat)

3 c. or so of white flour

Heat the water until quite warm. Pour over honey, oil, salt, powdered milk, wheat germ, and whole wheat flour. Stir vigorously (or mix vigorously) for a minute or two. Let stand until lukewarm or even cooler (this is your chance to finish the breakfast dishes). When cool, add yeast and 1-2 cups of white flour. When dough is too stiff to stir, turn out onto well-floured board and knead in remaining cup of flour. This dough will be slightly tacky from the honey--don't knead in too much extra flour. You're not looking for pizza dough here.

Let rise in covered, oiled bowl until double (1-2 hours). Punch down and divide into 2 pieces. Let rest a few minutes and form into loaves. Place into greased loaf pans and let rise until double (? an hour? I don't usually time this).

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or so. If the bread browns too early/much, cover with foil.

Makes 2 loaves

Indian Week, round 1

Our Greek/Mediterranean Theme Week last week was a success (the kids weren't into falafel this go 'round even though they've eaten it in the past, but I'm going to chalk that up to general toddler/preschooler eating habits--they like something one time and don't the next; you never know). This week is Indian week, so we'll see how it goes....Not everything is full of curry (which is actually a collection of spices) but everything is compatible with it in the event we have leftovers from various dishes.

Options:

• Chicken Korma (one of our all-time favorites at restaurants; still searching for good homemade equivalent; kids liked it)
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Chicken Biryani
• Mujudarrah (not technically Indian....)
• Red Lentil Dal over rice
• Winter Squash Curry with Potato and Lentil Curry (kids liked potato/lentil curry and didn't care for the squash)
• Indian-spiced Fried Fish
• Tandoori Chicken with leftovers on the side

Side Dishes:

Naan

Chapati

Rice

Salad

Green Veg. (Peas and broccoli work well here)

Condiments (these can all be homemade with little effort):

Yogurt

Cilantro Chutney (YUM)

Coconut Chutney

Chopped cilantro

English Toffee

This is another recipe from my mother-in-law. She makes these every Christmas: little bar cookies with a shortbread base that's topped with melted chocolate. Very addictive.

• 1 c. butter
• 1 egg
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 c. flour (sifted)
• 1 c. chocolate chips ("real" chocolate)
• chopped nuts, optional--about 1/2 cup

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy; add egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in flour. Press into 15x11-inch pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Return to the oven for a minute or two to melt the chocolate. Remove pan and spread chocolate over top. Sprinkle with nuts if desired. Cut while warm into 1x2-inch squares.

Some Cookie Tips and Reminders

We like cookies.

We like cookies a LOT.

We like to make cookies. (If anyone's a Frog and Toad fan, then I would here direct you to the classic story "Cookies" in which Toad makes delicious cookies, and the two friends try to use some willpower to refrain from eating too many cookies....)

But cookies aren't good for us--at least not the quantity we would prefer to consume. So, how do we get around that small little fact? Make all our cookies "healthy?" Of course not--not all of them at least. There are some ways around this as well as some other tips I've learned over the course of the past few years of my cookie baking:

1. Make your cookies smaller--most older cookbooks have recipes that make 6 dozen or some other large amount. When your attempt only turns out 3 dozen, examine the size cookie you're making. Most recipes say drop by "teaspoonful." That's a pretty small amount--about a 1-inch ball. Then, it's easier to give your kids 2 cookies because the cookies are petite.

2. Freeze cookie dough: freeze in rolls of wax paper or flash freeze as little cookie-sized dough balls (my preferred method). Store in ziploc bag and pull out required number when you're suddenly needing a small dessert or cookie fix. This helps keep you from eating that 6 dozen cookies in 3 days....

3. Sub in half whole wheat in cookies like gingersnaps, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, and the like.

4. Stick with the old classics: chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin, gingersnaps, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, shortbread etc. They're usually less expensive than the really elaborate cookies, less time-consuming to make, and easier to make with your children. (And you'll always have the ingredients on hand for at least one of these)

5. Get over your healthy fix long enough to bake cookies and eat them with your children at least once a month. Especially at this time of year--schedule a cookie decorating party with some friends and let the kids go wild.

6. Pull cookies from the oven the second they look done and let them cool 1 minute on the cookie sheets. This will make them easier to remove with spatula to a cooling rack and help ensure they don't get overdone.

7. Teach your children self control and portion control. Sure it's okay to have a cookie once in a while or 2 small cookies for dessert. But don't go overboard. Share those monster cookies you get at bookstores, mall stores, and so forth; we divide those in fourths when I'm out with the kids and it's more than enough. Teach your children what a normal serving of sweets should look like. Then it's not a problem to have a cookie every now and then.

8. Make it a rule to make all of your own cookies. There are several benefits here: you won't eat quite as many because it will require a teeny bit more effort to provide them for dessert. You won't spend as much money. You won't consume preservatives and all sorts of questionable ingredients (hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, etc.). The cookies will taste infinitely better.

What is your favorite cookie or cookie tip? Leave a comment with any recommendations, tips of your own, favorite cookies, and so forth. I'll be posting my own favorite recipes in the next few weeks--we'll all need them when the holidays hit in full force!

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is your basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, but it's perfect--the right texture, taste, and amount (50 smallish cookies; not the 7 dozen some of my recipes make!). Because this amount is smaller, if you let your butter soften on the counter, it's relatively easy to make these without a mixer. (I don't currently have a mixer, so that's a plus for me.)

From The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, 13th edition

• 1/4 pound butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 c. dark brown sugar
• 1/2 c. white sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 t. vanilla
• 1 1/8 c. flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional
• 1/2 c. oats, optional (if not using nuts; I don't use nuts or oats)
• 1 c. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease cookie sheets or use baking stones.
2. Cream butter, then gradually add sugars, beating until light and smooth. Beat in the egg and the vanilla. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together and add it to the first mixture, blending well. Stir in nuts or oats, if using, and chocolate chips.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets about 1-inch apart and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Makes 50 2-inch cookies

Quick and Easy Potato Soup

Potato soup is always comforting, loved by both children and adults. This is a quick and easy version using leftover mashed potatoes. You can improvise potato soup with just about any kind of leftover potatoes--if there's been some salty sausage or ham cooked, add that, too!

Recipe from More-with-Less (called "Golden Potato Soup")

• 1/3 c. finely chopped onion
• 2 T. butter or oil
• 1 T. flour
• 1 t. salt
• dash pepper
• 1 c. water
• 1 c. leftover mashed potatoes (or more)
• 2 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. grated cheese

1. Saute onions slowly in butter until yellow and softened.
2. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Add water and boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Add remaining ingredients and heat slowly until cheese melts. Do not boil.
4. Garnish with bacon bits, parsley, croutons, leftover chopped cooked broccoli, or whatever!

Serves 4

New Menu Strategy: Theme Weeks

Most people in the world eat the same thing or the same type of thing for nearly every meal of every day (except special feast or celebration days). Even in our country, it's a relatively new phenomenon to be able to have Mexican one day, chicken pot pie the next, and a Thai flavored stir-fry the following day. My family enjoys a wide variety of food--textures, flavors, "ethnicities," and so forth. My grocery shopping has become quite complicated since I enjoy cooking from scratch, I try to stay on a fairly tight budget, we like to eat so many different kinds of things, and I hate wasting food/leftovers. Even having a night each week allocated to pasta or Mexican or whatever was too complicated and left me with random ingredients left over.

I read about a new strategy in someone's comment to a blog post I read recently (can't remember where!). It struck me as completely visionary: Theme Weeks. This will enable someone like me to purchase ethnically-inspired ingredients more cost effectively, to use up leftovers more easily, and to have a list of similar recipes that all work together for the week--not needing to be consumed in any particular order most of the time. In addition, there are so many yummy recipes like French Toast that work best with "stale French bread." If we haven't had an Italian/French meal in a while, we're likely not to have had French bread in the house either. Aaahhh... but in a theme week, we'd have some viable leftovers for those great recipes that START with leftovers. It doesn't have to be an ethnic theme, necessarily, but I found that grouping food from general regions of the world seemed to be most effective.

I spent about 30 minutes coming up with some possible "themes" and the accompanying lists of meals that loosely fall under that category (to be posted later this week). I was amazed at the variety within each category and noticed that there were soups and leftover type meals that coordinated nicely with each theme (nachos fit at the end of a Mexican week, for example). Some of my friends have said that they would get tired of "Mexican" all week, but I don't think that will happen. You won't have Mexican again for at least a month, maybe 2, so you'll no doubt be ready for it when it rolls around again; in addition, there seems to be plenty of variety for a week's worth. The organization I've done so far has taken far less time than I've spent in the past trying to figure out other systems, I have some nice groups of menus from which to choose, and my shopping lists will be shorter--larger quantities of fewer ingredients.

My hope is that this will enable me to streamline my grocery shopping some, use up leftovers better, and cook from scratch more effectively. For instance, if we're having Italian food, I might just whip up a batch of homemade marinara sauce that can then be used for spaghetti, sauce in a baked pasta dish, and dipping sauce for Calzones. Or, I can cook a big pot of beans that can be main course one night, mashed for refried beans the next, and finally used as a quesadilla or burrito filling. Definite potential here. We'll see how it goes.

For now, here are my themes:

• Asian (Chinese, Thai, etc.)
• Mediterranean (excluding Italian food but including Greek, Moroccan, Middle Eastern...)
• Indian (yes, we like Indian food!)
• Southern European (France, Italy, Spain)
• Northern European (including the British Isles--this is the week for those big 10-pound bags of potatoes!)
• South of the Border (Mexican, Caribbean, Latin American, etc.)
• American (sub-categories here might be Southern, Cajun, comfort food, or whatever)
• Clean out the freezer/pantry week

I'm starting with Mediterranean since we haven't had that in a while, I have most of the ingredients already, and we've been craving it. We'll see what we're in the mood for next! I don't think there needs to be much rhyme or reason to a "rotation" as long as we're not having one theme week twice in a month. So, we'll just see what's on sale, what sorts of ingredients we have on hand, and what we haven't had in a while. Certain seasons of the year cater more to certain categories; potatoes and cabbage tend to be on sale this time of year, so we'll no doubt have some Northern European type food more now than we do in the summer (things like bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, and so forth).

Braised Potatoes with Sausage

This is simple, yummy, and provides a terrific base for loaded potato soup the next night. Serve with salad and crusty bread.

Recipe from How to Cook Everything, 10th ann. edition

• 2 pounds all-purpose or waxy potatoes
• 3 T. olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 c. chicken stock or water
• 1 pound kielbasa
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional

1. Peel potatoes and cut them into large chunks, in half if they're midsized, or leave whole if small. Slice kielbasa thinly.
2. Put oil in large pot over medium-high heat. When hot, add potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until coated in oil and beginning to turn golden. Add onion and sausage and stir a few times until onion softens, a minute or two.
3. Add stock and enough water to cover so that the potatoes are barely covered. Bring to a boil, stirring once in a while to make sure potatoes aren't sticking, then turn down the heat to medium-low so that the mixture bubbles gently. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes get tender, 20-25 minutes. Add more liquid if they start sticking. When a fork slides easily into a potato, they're done. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
4. If hoping for leftovers that you can turn into potato soup the next day, serve with a slotted spoon and leave a few pieces of sausage.

Serves 4

Leftover Potato Soup

Cook up some more potatoes, peeled and cubed, in the leftover stock. When tender, mash partially in the pot with a potato masher. Stir in some milk until it's to your liking and serve, topped with some grated cheese. The sausage flavor will add a nice richness to this simple soup.

Mediterranean Menu, Week 1

I'll be writing more about my theme weeks tomorrow, but suffice it to say that, for this week, we're going to have Greek/Mediterranean foods. Yum! I went to Sam's and picked up a container of our favorite hummus (Sabra brand) and a big box of spring mix for our Greek salads. We've got some falafel mix on hand; should be an easy week and the kids love it (they really do).

Here's my Mediterranean week menu (out of town for the weekend, so only a few nights)

• Monday: Stuffed Pitas (baked with feta cheese filling) with Greek Salad
• Tuesday: Falafel with Tzatziki sauce, Greek salad
• Wednesday: Mediterranean Salmon Cakes, Salad, pita with hummus
• Thursday: Moroccan Chicken over polenta or rice, salad

Snacks will be pita and hummus--we love hummus (even the kids!)

(other options: Spanakopita or Tiropita, Moussaka (we don't like eggplant, so no thanks here), Gyros, Tabouleh, etc.)

Leave a comment with any other Greek or Mediterranean food suggestions!