Tag: cookies

(2023) I’m a Cookie Monster at Heart…

Wiwohka6 Comments

Daily writing prompt
What food would you say is your specialty?
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While I can make a pretty mean chili, salsa that can melt the paint off a house, homemade soup bowls to fill with dreams, and a good many other dishes I picked up along the way… baking is my passion!

Not just baking, but desserts mainly… and not just desserts… I LOVE COOKIIIIEEEESSSSS!

I am well versed in baking most types of cookies, but my most highly prized handheld delight would by my secret recipe of ………………..

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are not just anybody’s cookies, but my own twisted version. While I won’t tell you the exact recipe, I will say that it mostly has to do with HOW I bake them, more so than all my secret stuff I throw in before baking the dreamy mouthfuls.

Let me just say that I have perfected the art of perfect oven temperature, yummy ingredients, and a sore back from standing bent over in front of the oven, and watching for the perfect moment to pull em…

They come out golden brown and crispy on the surface, but when you break them open they are perfectly ooey gooey on the inside… A tall glass of milk is a must for these, as I forgot to mention that I make them about the size of an open hand, not a child’s hand, no no no, but a grown up people size hand…

They were Huge!

When my girls were small, we spent a great amount of time involved in church. Every spring the church would do bake sales to raise funds for our Children’s Ministries. I would make a triple batch of my cookies, wrap them individually in colored cellophane and ribbon, set up a spot on the church bake sale table, and watch the cookies disappear within less than a half hour. That’s a lot of cookies people, A LOT!

When I refused time and again to give up my recipe to some of the moms, I seriously worried for my safety a few times… lol… just kidding!

I did often jokingly say that my recipe was a Government Secret and if I told them the recipe, I would have to make them disappear… that always got some laughs.

So there you have it folks, hot off the press… we can bake cookies pretty good!

**The original cookies had mold all over them, so, as per my commitment to quality… These are fresh!

You ARE like those you associate with…

Wiwohka4 Comments

Brands, that is…

Daily writing prompt
What brands do you associate with?
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Ah, the good ole days…

Once, there was time when a girl could eat whatever she wanted, with reckless abandon. She wasn’t tied down to just any old brand. And she never had to worry over what brands she chose to associate.

There was a time when she loved to celebrate with her closest associate, Mr. Folgers…

Alas, those days are gone.

There were the days of joyful indulgences with her most frequent of associates… you may know them. Folks used to call them the Tillamook Gang, but to me, they were my friends. I think I miss Cheddar the most, as she was most often in the kitchen…

Well, as I mentioned at the beginning of this, you are like those you associate with! Unfortunately, they weren’t the best influence, so I had to give them up.

Now, after learning to let go of that which is a bad influence, I cleaned up my kitchen and now have a new circle of brands to hang out with… the healthier kind!

At first, it wasn’t so easy. Meeting new brands that behaved far differently than my old brands was difficult for a time. Strange names and unusual characteristics made me feel very self-conscious and intimidated, not to mention a bit scared. Change is never easy, but for the sake of healthy associations with brands… it had to be done!

Now that I’ve taken the time to get more familiar with her, Chiquita has become a very loyal brand, faithfully supplying me with a better association with potassium, and the like…

Chiquita was so genuinely helpful and giving, she actually introduced me to the Foster Farm Girls…

You know, associating with them has done wonders for my health, seriously!

There is, however, one brand that has been my friend since my earliest days. My mother actually introduced me to them, first. I was only about five years old, when my mother bought me an Easy-Bake Oven. I’d never made cookies before. I’d only ever seen my mother do it, but she was now handing over the spatula, so to speak!

I was placed upon a stool that had been stacked with several Yellow Page telephone books. Before me sat my brand new oven, all the little trays, sprays, spoons, and such. But the world turned on it’s axis, when my mother handed me a large bowl filled with cookie dough! It wasn’t just any cookie do, however, but the original recipe from Nestle Toll House Morsels package… that was all it took!

From that little oven, came some of the best cookies I’ve ever tasted! Now, perhaps it was the sugar rush that kicked in, or even the bit of caffeine from the chocolate chips, hitting the bloodstream. The point is, I was hooked… not just on cookies, but on the Toll House brand!

I’ve had occasion to use other brands, but I always come back to Toll House! Whenever I see their packages, I’m immediately transported back to my childhood days… the good ones, though they be few. Thank you, Toll House!

I bet you guys are glad I kept this brand. I wouldn’t serve you anything less than wonderful… hugs

I bake, of course…

Wiwohka2 Comments

Daily writing prompt
How do you practice self-care?
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If ever I’m feelin down, or just plain overwhelmed with life in general, I bake!

Depending on the reason that get’s me in the kitchen, what I might bake varies, greatly. Breads bring comfort, whether sweet or savory.

Quiches, casseroles, and stews comfort loneliness, somehow. I think they bring back memories of my mother, my daughters, and even the good bits of my own childhood. There weren’t many but I cherish the ones I have…

Now, if ever my moods of being overwhelmed are simply due to stress… well, that’s when sugar gets involved! Stress baking is most often going to have chocolate and/or caramel in it. Not always, but most often, anything having chocolate in it, is for my husband. He loves chocolate! While I’ll admit that the man loves most anything sweet that I bake, it’s the chocolaty bakes that make his heart the happiest.

Now, chocolate works fantastic in most of my cookies, mousse’s, and pies. But I’m rather talented at baking an unforgettable Snickers Cheesecake!

Sometimes, things are a mixture of stress, aggravation and/or any other factors that give me an excuse to bake… oh, did I just type that? Ok, fine! I just want to bake, ok? I have days where nothing makes me happier than baking a really good pie! Apple crumble, or a cherry cobbler… ooh ooh, and don’t forget peach cobbler. Nothing tastes better than a good cobbler with some old fashioned vanilla ice cream (I just buy that part)…

Yesterday, I shared about the changes in my health, coupled with my need to completely change my diet. It’s not that I need to lose weight, because I don’t really eat most of what I bake. The problem is that I taste everything I bake, so I have to find some satisfactory substitutes for some of my ingredients. THANK YOU, GOD it’s not sugar, chocolate or anything in the sweet department! It’s the flour, the butter/oil, and any dairy. Never fear, my sweet cookie eaters, for this shall never stop my baking self-care, no no…

Caffeine free, lactose-free, Gluten-free, low cholesterol, low sodium is not the end… it’s only the beginning!

Besides, much of what I bake is done for putting smiles on others faces! That’s the part that makes me happy, more than the flavor of the bake! Now take your cookie…

You’ll never be able to taste the difference… Honest!