More vintage cookbook pics

This is the cover of small cookbook put out by the Jelke company in 1936. Click to enlarge if you want to see more details. The cake on the cover looks like a red velvet cake to me but, there is no red velvet cake recipe in this book. Strange.



Title page advertising Jelke Good Luck Oleomargarine.

I once knew someone who would became upset if any mention of "luck" or "karma" was invoked, as it went against their religious beliefs. Wonder if the Jelke company had any problems with that?


There's a recipe inside for crown roast of pork and the ingredients are:

• 1 crown of pork
• salt and pepper
• cubes of salt pork
• 1/2 recipe of sage stuffing ( this has the margarine in it)

(You stick the cubes of salt pork on the end of the bones and remove them before serving.) The poor dears, I can't imagine having to make something like that without seasoning packets, Ziploc bags, and vast quantities of alcohol!




Click to enlarge to see the picture and recipe for a coconut orange cream cake. It sure sounds good to me right now!





This page has the recipe for the orange filling and coconut marshmallow icing. Please excuse the stains on the page. This belonged to my late grandmother. She was quite the pack rat so odds are, this was packed away sometime in the 40's or 50's.



I guess we really should eat something other than cake huh? How about some tomato cream salad?

Those olives do seem to follow you around the room don't they? Uh, *gulp* you know I'm really full from all that cake. Anybody want my salad?



Look what else I found!



I was thinking I should send it to Sandy. Bless her heart, she never can remember the difference between a blllender and a mixer. Perhaps this would help?

SHCWSL- Chocolate for Dinner

I'm sorry guys, I'm not up to writing about this right now.

I've got it on tape for later as Mr. Hairball kindly set up the VCR for me this weekend. He also dug out my acid washed jeans, my Whitesnake cassettes, and my Aqua net hairspray to complete my 80's-scape. Here's a link to the TWoP page on this episode and to Food Network's page for this episode.

Enjoy your Sunday evening everyone!

PS: *waves* An extra special "Hello!" to the flood of new visitors. Some of you come from such interesting places! *sighs* If only I could live in Snarkil or Sandy Land...

Pictures from my old cookbook

My more observant readers may have noticed that there is a picture behind my blog title and description up top. The picture is from my Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book from 1950. While I was getting shots of the pages about mac and cheese and how to make a white sauce, I thought I would go ahead and take pictures of all the color pages in the book. As I was working my way through this book I came across a picture which really caught my attention.

Leafing through this cookbook is like seeing in all capital letters. The color pictures leap off of the page and attack your retinas with the fury of pack of wild dogs. You close your eyes and the image lingers. You cautiously open one eye and once again your vision is filled with COLOR! EYE BURNING, RETINA SEARING, COLOR!! Your stomach even lurches a bit as your modern eyes are unaccustomed to this kind of onslaught.

I call this one, "The meat that ate New York!". Click to enlarge if you are the masochistic sort .



Everybody okay? * Passes out cool cloths and water for those feeling faint* How about some pie? I just love good old fashioned homemade pie like Mr. Hairball's grandmother makes. It's so cozy, and soothing. Nothing like some warm pie on a cold day or at the end of a trying day. Pie is such a peaceful dessert.





That is until the 'cherry hatchet pie' showed up to wreck havoc everywhere. Would you feel safe leaving that pie in your kitchen? I wouldn't. I'd be snoozing away in bed and awaken to find the 'cherry hatchet pie' brandishing one of its little pastry hatchets in my face as I yell for Mr. Hairball to save me from the 'cherry hatchet pie'. Life is hard enough ya'll, I don't need any desserts with an attitude taking up residence in my kitchen. I think Nancy Reagan would agree with me. Just say no the the 'cherry hatchet pie' and don't be friends with those who hang out with the 'cherry hatchet pie'. You have been warned!!

Edited to add: I don't want to give anybody the wrong idea that I don't like this cookbook. I love this cookbook!! Many modern cookbooks are either written for a Semi-Ho audience or for an audience who doesn't need to take account of how much ingredients cost. I'm an average person, with an average household budget. The older cookbooks work well for me and my needs. I just find some of the pictures very amusing!!

Homemade mac & cheese and Lucy

I was really craving some baked macaroni and cheese. I usually make the kind where you don't make a cheese sauce and just layer in the cheese and pour a milk and egg mixture over the top and bake it. That is the version my late grandmother made for me growing up. Mama Hairball always made the boxed kind which is an entirely different animal!

I haven't been to the grocery store since the 25th. Because of that, I'm out of some things like eggs, so I couldn't make the non-cheese sauce version I normally make. I turned on my oven to preheat at 350F, got out my 1950 version of the Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book, and refreshed my memory as to how much butter, flour, milk, and cheese I would need to make the cheese sauce version.



Click on the picture to see a larger version. I made a double batch of themedium white sauce and your white sauce is all smooth, you add in your shredded cheese. Betty said said to add 1/4 tsp dry mustard and "1/2 cup nippy American cheese ( cut up or grated). Stir until cheese is melted." I added some cayenne pepper and then some grated Cheddar and stirred until it was smooth.Meanwhile, I sprayed a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick spray and boiled a pound of macaroni for six minutes. It's going to absorb some moisture from the cheese sauce or milk/egg mixture depending on whichever version you make, so I cook it a little less than I would if I were going to eat the macaroni right then.



Next, I turned to the page about mac and cheese and looked over those instructions. If you look at the large version of this you will see that I am not exactly following the directions since I made a cheese sauce and I am making a larger quantity than Betty does.

I poured about 1/3 of the cheese sauce in the bottom of pan and added about 1/3 of the macaroni and repeated until I had used up all the macaroni and cheese sauce. Then I got out some sharp Cheddar I had left(I used a mild Cheddar for the cheese sauce) and put that on the top.



Here it is ready for the oven. Bake it for 30 minutes at 350F.

While we wait for the Mac & Cheese to achieve hot, bubbly, cheesy, goodness, let's veg out with another of my favorite scenes from I Love Lucy:



If you are unfamiliar with this episode, here's some more information.

Okay, lets check on our mac and cheese. Mine looked a little pale so I turned the temperature to 400 and turned on the broiler to crisp up the top a bit. Here's a closeup of my finished product:



Enjoy!

Fun with FEEDJIT

Some of you are scratching your heads right now and wondering what in the blue blazes is FEEDJIT? Scroll down until you see a white rectangular shaped box on the right side of my blog and you will see what I mean. You'll see that there are listings of the visitors to this blog. Now if you click on the link marked "options" you will then see:

.Change your Location
∙ Ignore my browser
∙ Live Traffic Map
∙ Popular Pages Today

Now if having your information appear there bothers you, you can always select the "Ignore my browser" option. I would like to suggest another option for those uncomfortable with their information being displayed there. Click on "Change your Location" and tell FEEDJIT it has your location incorrect and type in another one. Over the last few days, I've lived in different states in the US and even different countries and didn't even have to pack a bag! Whoot!

This way the blogs you visit know they are getting visitors but, they don't know that actually you live in Funkytown, State of confusion, USA or Tinyville, Italy, etc...

Superbowl Commercials

I'm one of the few people who didn't watch the Superbowl yesterday so I missed out on the commercials. I saw a few on some of the blogs I visit but, I wondered if there was a place that had all of them. Duh!! YouTube! Whoot! Here's link where you can see them. Scroll down and on the right of your screen you will see a playlist. You can select "play all" or pick and choose which ones you want to see. There are 53 ads so I understand if you don't want to watch all of them. The CareerBuilder.com one is too funny!

Some of you may be wondering what I watched instead of the Superbowl. PuppyBowl V!!


They did a halftime show with kittens but, I haven't found any decent quality video of the one from this year.

SHCWSL-Double Date

Edited to add: I don't have a DVR so I do sometimes make mistakes as I'm scribbling down my notes while watching Sandy!!

Here's the link to the Food Network's page on this episode. I can't promise any of the FN links I'm using today will be working when you click on them! Here's a link to my post that helps out with terms and expressions related to SHCWSL.

Sandy has begun a trend of sometimes wearing the hair on top of her head pulled straight back. It's not working for her at all. She looks much better with bangs. What adds to the confusion is that her show was actually nominated earlier this year for a Daytime Emmy for hairstyling.

Hot Dates
Sandy tells us a sob story about how she didn't think she'd ever have a date again until somebody set her up on a blind date with The Ladder. This arussipe can be summed up as inserting a piece of Cheddar cheese and one whole almond inside of a date, and then wrapping the date with bacon, and securing it with a toothpick soaked in water before baking it. Sandy who wants to save us "time and money" tells us to buy Cheddar cheese "snack sticks" and then proceeds to cut them up INto smaller pieces.For those such as myself who may be unfamiliar with such products, here's a link . The kind Sandy had appeared to be shaped like long rectangles. Why didn't we just buy the cheaper block of Cheddar and cut some up for this recipe? * smacks head* Oh that's right! We are super busy saving time and money and don't have time for dumb questions. Sandy also didn't wash her hands after she finished putting on the bacon. She also told us to be sure and not eat the toothpicks. ROTFL

Leboo's Buffalo Poppers
I don't know why the 'poppers' are called "Leboo's" and Sandy and her
"semi-homemaker"guest named Steve didn't tell us either. This segment was painful to watch. Anybody who has seen the Halloween episode where she had Tyler Florence stop by will know what I am talking about. If it wears pants and appears on her show, Sandy flirts with it. It doesn't matter if said male guest is in a serious relationship, prefers men, or is dead, Sandy flirts with him. *rolls eyes*

The gist of this recipe is cut up some chicken tenders, roll them in a "seasoned bread coating mix " and bake them. I was so sad that Sandy never once looked into the camera and yelled out " It's Shake and Bake and I helped". After you have shaked and baked, you mix up some buffalo wing sauce and honey for one sauce and in another bowl you pour out some bottled Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing. Sandy proceeded to forget the name of the sauce she was mixing up and had to ask her guest what it was called. He looked at her like she was dumb and told her it was a Buffalo wing sauce. She did her bit about Me washie handsies!after touching the chicken this time.

Verdura Pizza
Sandy pronounces this as Vuh-dura pizza. Sandy likes to talk about how her arussipes use ingredients you already have on hand. I usually don't but, then I haven't sold my soul to the whack-a-dough manufacturers so perhaps that is my problem.

Anyhoo, you take your whack-a-dough and unroll it ONto the backside of a greased baking sheet. I don't know why we are using the backside and Sandy doesn't tell us either. We brush the whack-a-dough with olive oil and stir some garlic powder and oregano INto some pasta sauce and put that on top of the olive oil. Pop on some goat cheese and bake it. Then take it out and pile on some spinach, artichoke hearts, bell pepper strips and olives that were all mixed up with some of the artichoke joos, slice and serve. Meh.

Have any of you ever had a really large plate of salad and it was too big to take a normal sized bite? So you then attempted to use your knife and fork to cut it up a bit? How many of you ended up with some salad on the table or in your lap? Oh, just me huh? Well I guess the well-coordinated folks will be able to cut this pizza up just fine then. *grins* During the pizza segment, she did babbled on about how her semi-homemade way saves us money. This as usual, resulted in me screaming obscenities at the television. Nothing new there folks...

Mudslide Brownies
You will shocked, I tell you shocked, to learn that Sandy put booze in her brownies!! I know I sure was. Basically we are dolling up brownie mix with booze and then mixing up a cream cheese layer and swirling in INto the brownie batter before we bake it. Sandy obviously needs glasses which becomes apparent when she actually drags out a measuring cup and attempts to measure something. Her arussipe called for "2/3 cup vegetable oil" and she poured out way more than that. I could tell when her chocolate and cream cheese batters were replaced with nice smooth stunt batters. She also called her hand mixer a blender again. These brownies are not going to be earth shattering but would probably taste okay if you like that packaged stuff. (I personally prefer to make my own brownies and I heartily encourage you to make some brownies from scratch at least once!) Sandy of course thought it was wunnerful and declared it a "mouthful of chocolate heaven". I'm not even going to go there!

Moody Blue
Sandy proceeds to tell us that "If your date doesn't work out, you are gonna fall in love with my Moody Blue!" She also said her usual bit about cocktail time being the best part of the day. I felt kinda bad for ol' Sandy for just a minute there!

This drink is potent and and it resembles a glass of watered down NyQuil. Guess that makes it a NyQuil-tini! One serving contains one shot each of gin and sweet vermouth, two shots of blue curacao, and a splash of oranj joos. Then she placed a slice of oranj in the glass for a choking hazard. She demonstrated what she felt was "a splash" by pouring out one capful of oranj joos from the container. The color of her drink coordinated with both her dress and her upcoming tablescape.

Tablescape
Steve got to do the tablescape all by himself and "surprised" Sandy with it at the end of the show. Whoot! We had the usual unhemmed fabric on the table and more dishes than diners would use for this menu but, that's normal. The truly stunning thing was that if you sat on one side of the table you could actually see the people across from you!! Steve cut out some paper male and female symbols that he used as napkin rings which I thought was odd but, compared to some of Sandy's completely insane tablescapes, it's nothing to quibble about.

It's a Sandy thing, you wouldn't understand...

I was thinking that some of my readers may be puzzled by the alternate spellings, expressions, etc.. that show up on my blog. I'll try to explain what is going on for those who are unfamiliar with the television show Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. I learned these terms from spending way too much time over at the TWoP board for her show!!

I'm sure I missed some terms or made mistakes along the way. Hopefully, some of my fellow shrikes will point out any glaring errors or omissions! If you know the origin of a word or phrase, please let me know.

Thanks to Rosie Hawthorne of Kitchens are Monkey Business for her kind assistance!

Words sometimes used in place of her given name of Sandra:

• Aunt Drunky
• Aunt Sandy
• Ol' Puddin' Cups
• Sandy
• SLoP/SLOP/SLop
• Snadra
• Snads
• SHAMdra/Shamdra
  
• Wal-Martha

A guide to the alternate pronunciations Sandy uses:

• Aig-egg
  
• Aigstract/eggstract-a liquid extract such as vanilla
• Arussipees/russipees- recipes
• Bee-yooo-tee-ful-beautiful
• Day-kor-decor
• Delishus-delicious
• Engines from the sky -angels from the sky
• Expresso -espresso
• Fiend herbs-fine herbs
• Flay ming yon-filet mignon
  
• F'ntastic-fantastic
• fohndont-fondant
• Gaw-jus-gorgeous
• Gerbil-chervil
  
• Gorganzola-Gorgonzola
• Groshury -grocery
• Hard-bowled aigs-hard boiled eggs
  
• Imonna- I am going to ...
• Inajar- in a jar
  
• INto-into ( she emphasizes the first syllable)
• Joos/joose-juice
• lil'-little
  
• Manaise/maynase-mayonnaise
• MARScapone-Mascarpone
• Melk-milk
• Mirinira-Marinara as in Marinara sauce
• ONto -onto ( she emphasizes the first syllable)
• Oranj-orange
  
• Prisontation-presentation
• Razzburry-raspberry
• Rose peppers- roasted peppers
• Regulur- regular
• Sodalicious- so delicious
  
• Strawburry-strawberry
• Treasurly-tres jolie
  
• Vanella-vanilla
• Vinegar-ette -vinaigrette
• Woostishyer- Worcestershire Sauce
• Wunnerful-wonderful

Words and phrases Sandy uses and their meanings:

• Acorns-corn nuts. See Kwanzaa Cake
  
• Any word with extra 'l's-Same word with the correct number of 'l's.
• Attention to detail- What Sandy says regarding something she has done that she perceives as special or going the extra mile.
  
• Balsamic- Balsamic vinegar
• Bacon joos/joose- Bacon grease
• Can I just tell you? -What Sandy says before she explains or confides something.
• Cocktail time- This is the segment when Sandy makes up very potent alcoholic drinks on her show.
• Cooking from scratch- See 'Monkey business'.
  
• Dolled-up-To use one convenience product to change the appearance or taste of another convenience product . Rarely, she will use a fresh product in the same manner. Can also apply to non-food items in a decorating sense.
  
• Embellish-See Dolled-up.
  
• Fancy-dancy-Something Sandy perceives as elite, expensive, or fussy.
  
• France the 'City of Lights'-Sandy said this on her French Foods episode. It is assumed that she meant to refer to the city of Paris which is located in the country of France.
• Gravy-This is either the liquid that accumulates in a slowkukker after cooking meat, or the jarred, canned, or dry packet versions from your regulur groshury store.
  
• Great flavor- Means it contains booze or a seasoning packet. Sometimes it will contain both.
  
• I cannot wait for that watermelon fizz!!-Sandy said this in the Sunset Clambake episode. It was at the very end of a rambling run-on sentence where she extolled the virtues of being outside in a swimsuit near a body of water.
  
• Joos/Joose - The liquid from any fruit, vegetable, or canned product. It sometimes also refers to the grease that can result from cooking a meat product. Example: INto this bowl, Imonna pour this bacon joos ONto my green beans.
  
• Kitchenscape- Same as tablescape but in the kitchen.
• Kurtain Kraft- Pre-shaped wire product that you thread fabric through for decorating. Invented by Sandra Lee. Shrikes sometimes add extra 'k's or replace the letter 'c' with a 'k' as a joke in reference to this product.
  
• Kwanzaa Cake- An store bought angel food cake in which the hole in the middle of the cake has been 'embellished' with apple pie filling and the outside of the cake is frosted with some 'dolled-up' canned frosting. It is then further 'embellished' by sprinkling corn nuts, (which Sandra calls 'acorns') and pumpkin seeds over the cake. Popcorn was also added in the original written version of the 'arussipe'. The final 'attention to detail', is to shove several large taper candles down INto the cake. This 'arussipe' has since been removed from the Food Network's website. The cake is considered highly offensive to anyone who celebrates Kwanzaa, or possesses taste buds. (Here's another video in case the first one is removed.)
  
• Milli Vanilli/MV - The person (or team) whose job it is to try and make Sandy's 'arussipes' presentable for the camera. Also responsible for prep work and the stunt dishes used on the show.
• Milli Vanilli hands/MV hands- This is where camera shots showing close ups of hands performing activities such as chopping vegetables, do not match up with known images of Sandy's hands.
• Minute- A measurement of time consisting of 100 seconds.
  
• Monkey Business -This encompasses anything that Sandy fears, doesn't understand, disagrees with, or thinks is beneath her.
• My Buddha... She's faux.-Sandy said this during an episode while referring to a statue of Kwan Yin that she had on her tablescape. The female pronoun is not normally used when referring to the Buddha. Shrikes are not in agreement as to what exactly she meant by this statement other than the fact that Buddha was not corporally present during the taping of this episode.
• Pantry- The place where Sandy keeps all of the items for her tablescapes and kitchenscapes. All current available colors of Kitchen-Aid stand mixers are said to be housed there. It is rumored that this facility encompasses one whole city block and has multiple floors. She has another smaller one on the set of her show that contains liquor and a large selection of convenience food products.
• Pop ____ - To place or put. Example: INto your lil' bowl, I want you to pop this Vanella aigstract.
• Pre -means already. Example: INto the oven, Imonna pop these pre-chopped nuts to toast up. On the Log Cabin Camping episode, she gave one guest some food to eat before the other guests arrived. She cautioned him not tell the other guests that he had pre-ate.
• Seasoning blend- A bag of frozen, pre-chopped sweet onions, celery, green peppers, red peppers and fresh parsley flakes made by Pict sweet.
  
• Set up- to abandon a food item out of camera range, so that it can easily be swapped out for the stunt dish. It is sometimes done when the appearance of the item in question, is more unappealing than usual.
  
• Simple simple- This is something Sandy may say while assembling or after completion of one of her 'arussipies' or 'tablescapes'. It is usually said in reference to one of the more insane 'tablescapes' or 'arussipies'.
  
• Smartest thing on the block-This means that she has used a convenience product in a way that tastes awful, doesn't make sense, or costs at least twice as much as if she made it from scratch.
• Sweetness- A term of endearment that Sandy occasionally uses when referring to some of her family members/significant others and certain ingredients in her 'arussipes'.
• Tablescapes/tablerapes/stupidscapes- This is when Sandy 'embellishes' her table and dining room or dining area, to coordinate with her food and clothing. The indoor designs may include elements such as chairs on the table, records hung from the ceiling and large gatherings of nutcrackers. The design normally inhibits the view of diners and may even prevent food from being placed on the table. Foods are frequently placed on unstable items to obtain the varying heights that Sandy desires. For outside events, a formal dining table may be moved outside and placed in a park or even in a parking lot. Chandeliers can be hung from trees, and motorcycles may be parked near outside tables. When this is done in her kitchen, it is called a kitchenscape.
  
• The best time of the day!- See cocktail time
• Thick, rich, and delishus or TRD- See Great flavor.
• This gives great racetrack flavor!- Sandy said this during the Racetrack Tailgate episode where she prepared the entire meal on her portable outdoor kitchen next to a racetrack. The statement is puzzling because if one were to lick the actual surface of the racetrack, it would not be a pleasant experience. See Great flavor for more details.
• Thoughtful/Thoughtfully-Sandy uses these words the way most most people would use careful or carefully.
  
• Trick- Any simple tip related to cooking that Sandy has just now learned. If you can boil water without burning down your house, then you probably learned this 'trick' years ago. She also occasionally has a 'trick' that is not culinary related. For those tips, if you know how to operate a light switch, then you probably already know this 'trick' as well.
  
• Verb followed by the word 'up'-This usually means the exact same thing as if the word 'up' was omitted. Example: INto the microwave, Imonna pop this butter to melt up.
  
• You can see the flavor/Can you see the flavor?- See Great flavor
• Yum-See Great flavor
  
• Whoot!-denotes excitement, happiness, or to call attention to the fact that an accident has been narrowly avoided. Sandy frequently uses it in the vicinity of alcoholic beverages.
  

Shrike Words and Expressions

• Choking hazards:Describes the items Sandy places in her drink 'arussipies', that guests must navigate around to consume the beverage.
  
• Fauxography-The special the Food Network did that details her life. It is called 'faux', because some facts of her official life story have changed over the years. When all 'facts' are gathered together and compared, disturbing inconsistencies are found.
  
• Me washie handsies- To draw attention to the act of washing one's hands. Sandra makes a big production out of the times that she actual washes her hands. She normally doesn't wash them long enough or frequently enough. She also doesn't always use soap.
• Pudding cups- These are Sandra's "girls".
  
• Semi-ho'ed- To cook something using convenience products.
  
• Slow-kukker-slowkukker-See Kurtain Kraft under the Words and phrases Sandy uses section.
• Whack-a-dough- Packaged raw biscuit, pizza, etc...dough that comes in a can.
• Yoda speak- Sandra frequently reverses the word order in her sentences which reminds shrikes of the character Yoda from the Star Wars movies. Example: INto this bowl, Imonna thoughtfully drop these razzburries.

People in the Sandyverse

• Aunt Peggy-This is Sandy's aunt who cries when she gets roses and is married to Uncle Bill.
• Austin- One of Sandy's nephews.
  
• Bryce/Brycer - One of Sandy's nephews.
• Carrie- This is Sandy's friend who created the Espresso Martini.
  
• Cindy - One of Sandy's siblings.
• C'leen- Colleen is one of Sandy's friends. Her favorite drink is a White Russian so Sandy likes to make her White Knight Saketinis. She and her friends were taken aback when Sandy first suggested putting a slice of avocado on a cheeseburger.
  
• Fandras - The name shrikes have given to Sandra's most rabid fans.
• Grandma Dicey-This is Sandra's other grandmother.
  
• Grandma Lorraine -The deceased grandmother who took in Sandy after her parents divorced, and supposedly taught her how to shop, cook, and bake on a budget. In different episodes, Grandma Lorraine hails from different states in the US.
  
• Hillary-She introduced Sandy to the concept of using a 'slowkukker'.
• Kimber/Miss Kimmie/Kimmie - One of Sandy's siblings.
• Lee or Lee Lee - This is Kimber's husband. He has a thing for large, black stone fountains.
  
• Rich - One of Sandy's siblings.
• Scotty-One of Sandy's nephews.
• Shrikes- Those who dislike her and her philosophy towards food and its preparation.
  
• Stephanie/Miss Stephanie- This is Sandy's niece.
• The Ladder - Andrew Cuomo, Sandy's current significant other.
  
• The Stepladders- These are Andrew Cuomo's children from a previous marriage.
  
• The Wallet - This is Sandy's first husband Bruce Karatz.
• Uncle Bill-This is Sandy's uncle who likes Six Cheese Tortellini. He's married to Aunt Peggy.
• Yue-Sai.-This is Sandy's friend who has a cosmetics line.
  

Fabulous dinner for tonight

I am just so psyched about the wonderful meal I'm making tonight. It's such a fun retro dish from 1974! Here are the ingredients you will need for this dish!

8 oz frankfurters (pre-cooked)
1 tart medium apple
1/4 medium pineapple
4 oz. canned onions
1/2 cup sliced canned carrots
1/4 cup bouillon
1 Tbs tomato juice
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tbs cider vinegar
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp coriander seeds

Are you ready for the picture? It is just gorgeous!!







Bwah!!

"Peppermint Bark" Chocolate Cookies

I found this recipe online a few weeks ago. I was searching for recipes that called for candy canes as I had bought several boxes during the after Christmas sales. I must confess that I made up some of the dough the same day I found the recipe. I just never got around to actually baking the cookies. I kept the dough in the fridge and kept snacking on it until it was gone. *sheepish grin*

Well today I decided to make another batch of dough and do a post about them. I got the recipe here. Now you are probably saying to yourself that the recipe calls for 'peppermint bark' not crushed up candy canes and you would be absolutely correct. If you look right above the recipe it says:

You can buy peppermint bark at any candy store or specialty food store, or you can simply make the peppermint bark yourself. If you want to make life even easier just add some white chocolate chips and crushed peppermint candies in lieu of peppermint bark.

and then down in the comment section I found this:

If you are taking the short cut and using white chocolate chips and candy pieces, how much of each would you recommend using? Thanks!

Maybe around a half cup of each, though I would lean more towards more white chocolate. Candy bits sometimes have a habit of getting melty as well, so it may hurt the appearance, but not the taste (I ate one where a large chunk of candy melted and browned a bit and it tasted just fine). You can follow Elise's idea and use peppermint extract with or in lieu of candy pieces as well. ~Garrett

I saw that and I said Whoot! yep, I really did say Whoot! as I was one happy gal. So I opened up all those boxes of candy canes and put them INto my food processor and gave them a whirl. Can I just tell you that it was LOUD! Anyway here's my big ol' peanut butter jar full of crushed candy canes:



I decided that I would use 1/3 cup of my crushed candy canes and 2/3 cup of those "white" chocolate chips I got on clearance because they were red and green swirls. I'm just not getting enough artificial coloring everyday so I knew these would help me out in that department. Hmm, I need a mixer for this but unfortunately I broke one of my beaters so...I'll use my food processor and see what happens.




Here's the butter and sugar all creamed together.



I don't want to over beat the flour so here's the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda about to be worked in.




Here's the dough with cocoa worked in. Then I added the candy canes and "white" chocolate chips to break them up some more, and then the flour was slowly added in. I forgot to get any shots of that or after the flour was all worked in. The cookies turned out flatter than the ones pictured with the recipe and are soft and fudgy inside. They are tasty!!


I saved you some! Want some milk?

Edited to add: Since I wrote this, I tried making another batch of these using 1.5 cups of brown sugar instead of half white granulated and half brown sugar. This resulted in a very soft cookie which I just loved.