Happiness is a full cookie jar!

It's January in Minnesota. It's cold outside. In January in Minnesota it's all about keeping yourself from getting cabin fever. It's about comfort food, trying to get some exercise and trying to find some fun things to do to keep you busy so you don't go stir crazy!

So I try to keep the cookie jar full. But I try to fill it with things that are semi-good for us. So I tweaked the Old-fashioned Oatmeal Cookie recipe. We love it! The cookies are thicker and slightly crunchy around the edges. I hope you like them too.

Tami's way to make Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup raisins, chopped dates or dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla together until creamy. Add eggs, soda and salt until light and fluffy. Mix in flours and cinnamon till blended. Stir in oats and dried fruit. Drop dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in 2 tablespoon balls. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Enjoy!

Christmas Treats!

My husband and I have a great debate when it comes to Christmas Cookies! He loves Peanut Butter Blossoms, and I say they are an everyday cookie. When I was growing up Christmas Cookies were special! They have icing and sprinkles and they have flavors that you don't eat other times of the year. They include molasses, nutmeg, cloves and chocolate. So I found a good recipe we can agree on. And you use those wonderful Mint Truffle Kisses that are only available at Christmas!

Chocolate Mint Kiss Cookies

2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking powder1/2 t. salt
2 cups granulated white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1 cup powdered sugar
bag of mint truffle flavored Hershey kisses

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil and eggs until well mixed. Whisk in extracts. Stir dry ingredients with wet ingredients just until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookies sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough int 1/2 tablespoon balls. Dough is very sticky! Roll balls in powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 11 to 13 minutes, until cookies crackle. While cookies are baking unwrap the kisses. When the cookies come out allow them to cool for 2 minutes. Then push the kisses into them. Cool all of the way before putting into containers.

I also found another recipe that is a keeper. I'm going to give these away as gifts.

Spiced Nuts

3 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cups whole almonds
1/2 cup sugar; plus
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tsp, kosher salt

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. cayenne pepper (I used 1/2 tsp.)

In a large, heavy bottomed saute pan, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the almonds, and stir with a wooden spoon, coating each thoroughly with oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar, and continue to stir until the almonds become golden brown and the sugar caramelizes, about 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and pour almonds into a medium mixing bowl. Sprinkle the remaining sugar, salt, cumin and red pepper, and toss well. Pour the spiced nuts onto a well greased cookies sheet and spread them out into a single layer. Allow to cool and then break apart. Store in a air tight container for up to 2 weeks.

Have a Blessed Christmas! Tami

"Once you go fresh, you will never go back" hubpages.com

I agree! I love fresh pumpkin. I learned how to cook and use them about 10 years ago and I haven't bought a can of pumpkin since. I also love growing little pie pumpkins. They are called Sugar Babies and they are happy. When you cook them you get about 3 cups of cooked pumpkin. As the garden is winding down it is the last thing that is still going strong.

Here is some instructions on how to cook them up. Then you can use them in your favorite recipes. They make great pies and the quick bread is nice too. You can also throw the cooked pumpkin in a freezer bag and freeze it for later use. Here goes:

Option #1: The Oven
Cut pumpkin open and scoop out the seeds. Place pumpkin halves facedown in a baking dish. Add 1/2" of water to pan: this helps keep the pumpkin flesh moist.
Bake at 450º until you can pierce the skin with a fork (about 45 minutes to an hour).
Scoop flesh out of shell with a spoon.
Option #2: The Stovetop
Cut pumpkin in half, scooping out the seeds. Then, cut pumpkin into large chunks, but leave the skin on.
Place chunks in a large steamer basket (or a colander placed inside a dutch oven, with water on the bottom). Steam for 20 minutes, or until pumpkin is tender. Scoop the flesh out of the shell with a spoon.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, simply use a food processor or blender to whip it into a pumpkin puree.

Don't forget to save the seeds for roasting!


Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe

Ingredients:

One medium sized pumpkin,

1/2 to 1 Tablespoon Salt,

1 Tablespoon Olive oil.
Method:

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a half tablespoon of salt for every cup of water (more if you like your seeds saltier). Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown, 10-20 minutes. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.

What to do on a hot day...

I guess I am in canning and pickling mode. It is 90 degrees today with 100 degree heat index and I find myself restless. So I decided to make the Current Jelly that I extracted the juice for yesterday. Then I made a Garlic Braid. Not bad for my first attempt, because it is not easy! Then I had cukes that I picked this morning and decided I was hungry for Refridgerator Pickles. Now it is 3:30 and I think I will go read a gardening book and then start supper, a light pasta salad sounds good on a hot day.

Aunt Syble's Refridgerator Pickles from COOKS.COM

7 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

2 cups sugar

1 cup sliced red onion

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 tablespoon pickling salt

Combine all ingredients together in a gallon jar. Place in the refridgerator. Will keep until gone. Can add more slices to mixture. They're good.

Beautiful! Isn't it?

Garlic! I harvested it today. I harvested six of my seven varieties. The Blossom just looked like it needed a little more time. But isn't it lovely?

I have grown to love the garlic. You plant it in October, so it sits under the snow, waiting. It is the first thing to pop up in the spring. It pops up with the first Dandelions of the year. Then it makes those awesome llittle scapes in June. They are curly and cool looking. They make you smile just to look at them. And they taste good in a salad too. But then in July, when the stalks start to dry, you get to dig up those first few beautiful garlic. They smell so good as you are digging and pull out so straight and long, and then comes the garlic head... nice and round and ready to go.

Now to make my Garlic Jelly and dry and clean it up for Market on Thursday!

Like William Shatner once said, "Stop and smell the Garlic! That is all you have to do."

 

Kale

I admit it. It scares me too. It looks a little too "green" and "nutritious". But I was watching a cooking show this winter, I believe it was Rachel Ray, and she was saying it was the new "super food". So I decided to try it. I ordered the Siberian Dwarf variety. I planted it. It came up and it is beautiful!

So I looked it up online to see what to do with it. I found a website call vegbox-recipes.co.uk. It says "Kale is a leafy cabbage like vegetable. It's strong flavor requires careful cooking, so it's worth reading how to use it and checking out recipes, to make sure you enjoy it." Ok. So make sure to pick it young.

"Choose kale leaves when they're still small and young. Avoid leaves that are mottled yellow, as this means that they're going to be old and bitter. Use it as soon as you can." Here's the best part! "Trim the stringy stalk. Wash the leaves well. Then use them as spinach or cabbage. You can slice the leaves and wilt them in a little butter and garlic for a quick, tasty side dish. Young tender leaves can be used as a salad." Guess what's for dinner! Yum!

"Kale is a great source of Vitamins C, A and B6. It's also packed with antioxidants, which are vital for a healthy immune system." Cool.

I will have Kale to sell for the next few weeks at the Monticello Farmer's Market on Thursdays. Come be brave and try some Kale with me

Spinach recipe...

I love spinach and I love to find things to do with it! I am so happy that it is finally here, but you can only eat so many salads and I don't like it wilted too much. I still love the fresh flavor and thickness of the leaves. So I have found a recipe that my family loves. Here it is...

Spinach with Orzo and Feta

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook 1/2 pound orzo according to package instructions. Stir in 1 pound chopped trimmed spinach until wilted. Drain. In a large bowl, toss hot spinach and pasta with 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint, 1/2 cup feta cheese, 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and ground pepper.

Thank you Martha Stewart for the great recipe. Enjoy!