Mom mom's Snickerdoodles

When I was young I used to make these cookies with my grandmother before Christmas. She passed away 11 years ago and I still make them to bring back happy memories.

They make great Christmas cookies, but they are delicious and could be made for any occasion.

I'd always thought that this was a Super Secret Family Recipe but upon doing some research I discovered that it originally came from the back of a Gold Medal flour bag. A very similar recipe can be found at the Betty Crocker website HERE

. The recipe there differs in shortening/butter content but I use the version that my grandmother wrote on a 3X5 index card.

To prepare the cookies:

In a large bowl, mix together:
1 cup soft shortening (part butter)
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs

In a smaller bowl, mix together:
2 3/4 cup gold medal flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time and mix together.

At this point you can either chill the dough or get right to baking the cookies. My grandmother preferred to chill them. It will make it easier to roll the dough into balls without it getting sticky.

Roll the dough into balls the size of a small walnut (about one inch) and roll in the following mixture:
2 tbsp sugar (I found another recipe on the Betty Crocker website for Holiday Snickerdoodles HERE. I experimented making green ones which can be seen in the photo. However, you could use any color sugar to tailor the cookies to any occasion.)
2 tsp cinnamon

Place the dough on an ungreased baking sheet about two inches apart.
Bake at 400 degrees until slightly brown but still soft (about 8-10 minutes). They will probably be done before they look done. I made the mistake of over-cooking my first batch. They will puff up at first and then flatten out.

This recipe makes about 5-6 dozen cookies. Enjoy!

Read More...

Summary only...

Fall Classic: pork loin, baked apples and acorn squash

I love fall food, squashes and apples especially. This week, we picked up a couple nice looking Niman Ranch pork loin chops, and prepared them simply with some acorn squash and baked apples on the side.

Sweet acorn squash: Slice a medium acorn squash in half, through the stem. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Using a fork, poke the flesh liberally - this allows the flavoring to sink into the flesh while it's baking.

Place ~1 tsp. butter in the hollow, sprinkle in about 1-3 tsp. brown sugar (depending on the size of your squash), two pinches of cinnamon and, if you have them, a pinch each of allspice and nutmeg (preferable fresh grated). Bake 30-50 minutes at 400°F, until the flesh is very soft. I think it makes a nice presentation to serve just like this, but you can also scoop the flesh out and mash it up before serving. Adjust the sugar/spices at this point if desired.

Pork 'chops': Rub your pork chops with olive oil, kosher salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. We had some fresh sage on hand, so we chopped that finely and rubbed that on as well.

Heat about 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a small oven-proof pan. Sear chops 5 minutes on each side and transfer to oven. Cook another 10-15 minutes at 400°F until meat is at 150°F - but be careful, it's super easy to overcook pork (as I did this time, boo) and nobody likes a tough chop. Remove from oven to a clean cutting board, cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes.

Baked apples: Core and slice (no need to peel) two medium-firm apples like Gala, Cortland, or the more tart Granny Smith.* Place the slices in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, similar to the squash, and wrap the aluminum foil up into a cup shape. Add 1 tsp. butter, if desired, and bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. *I sometimes add a handful of raisins (golden or Thompson) or cranberries to the mix for an extra visual and taste dimension, but didn't do that this time.

There's a lot of stuff going in the oven for this meal, so it takes a little thought to organize. I find it's easiest to prepare the squash and put that in the bottom rack of the oven first. Prepare the apples and set them aside. Start the pork, get that in the bottom rack of the oven too, and then put the apples in the top rack after five minutes or so. You can turn the oven down to 350° after removing the pork, that will finish off the squash and the apples by the time the pork has rested.

Read More...

Summary only...