Happiness Cookies

This had to be one of the most excited days of the year! I discovered in an old church cookbook a recipe for easy peanut butter cookies which unexpectedly did not call for any flour. With a little tweaking of my own, they are fabulous gluten-free choice. I have to confess I ate the whole batch myself, not all in one day of course....

They just look so delicious! And that comforting smell in the house of fresh baked cookies.

Milk and cookies, gotta have milk with mine, especially peanut butter cookies. They were so fabulous, I can't even begin to tell you how good they were. This was the first batch before I had the bright idea to add some chocolate chips.

The Recipe: 1 egg, 1 cup of peanut butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar. 

 

Reduced sugar version: 1 egg, 1 cup of peanut butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup honey, 1/2 cup Bob's Mill all purpose gluten-free flour.

Copyright 1936

  

While on a recent road-trip across the entire state of Ohio, we stopped at a very large antique store. After much pleading and begging. You cannot imagine my excitement when I discovered a whole shelf of Grace Livingston Hill books! I quickly dialed my sister's work number and her boss answered. Unfortunately it was a bad connection and I felt bad for bothering her boss. With much "hello-ing" and "are you there", I attracted all the people in the antique store, and the staff were rushing to help me, perhaps thinking I had fallen or been skewered by an ancient weapon. My sister assured me I needed to buy at least several of them. I also had to call my mother-in-law and check her stash of these books by our beloved author and justify my first impression of grabbing them all!

Most of them were in fabulous condition and fairly priced and I eventually chose Maris, Through These Fires, Coming Through The Rye, Rainbow Valley, Silver Wings and April Gold. Also an unexpected book at the end as you will see.

 Can you get over these wonderful covers and original art? These are some of our very favorite titles! If you have not read a Grace Livingston Hill book you really need to, they present such a wonderful view of the past, full of great food and always honest and upright ideals. Mrs. Hill wrote over 100 books from around 1900 to the mid 1940's. I could gush on and on about her....

Surprise! On the way to the check out, how a plain brown book binding caught my eye, I don't know. The dealer could not have known who L.M. Montgomery was and had priced this at a mere $2.00. In fabulous condition, I have not even been able to find this book in paperback. I have always wanted to read it! For those of your wondering, L. M. Montgomery wrote the Anne of Green Gables series, one of my very favorites. As you can imagine I snapped this book up and practically ran to check out.

Note: The wonderful pineapple fabric in the background, I found at a great quilting store in Ohio. I think it is going to become a tablecloth.

Flat Bread Pizza

 

 At a restaurant a week ago, I ordered Flat Bread Pizza. It was so delicious!! I loved the combo of topping and it was a small personal size, just right for lunch. Once I got home I decided to replicate it. I think this would be a wonderful last minute throw together meal.

 

Of course, I had to make my own flat bread. But if one is in a hurry, store bought is always faster. The recipe I tried for the crust I didn't really like and so I won't recommend it. But I did learn that flat bread is a generic term for a type of bread. Focaccia, ciabatta, pita and pizza crust are all in this category. So I think when I make it again, I will use a pizza crust and just make them personal sized. After the dough had raised I rolled it out and baked it before putting on the topping, just until the edges started to get brown, then put the toppings on and popped it back into the oven. One recipe I read suggested roasting the vegetables before putting on the pizza if using premade flat bread.

This pizza I replicated the one I had eaten in the restaurant. It is tomato free! Start with a generous layer of olive oil, sprinkle Italian seasoning and garlic, add a layer of spinach leaves, toss on a bit of pre-cooked chicken chunks(leftovers), cover with cheese and top of with fresh mushrooms and olives. One of the reasons I am so excited about this pizza, is tomatoes don't agree with me and this version finally clicked! This is also what made me realize I don't like white sauce on my pizza.

As you can see, it is very easy to customize! On the left, is a goat cheese version and on the right, tomato lovers version.

Does anyone have a favorite flat bread recipe? Or do you make a similar pizza?

How many different kinds of cinnamon are there anyway?

Do you know how many different kinds of cinnamon there are? Until recently, I didn't. I also thought they were all the same. Then I bought some in bulk from a specialty grocery store. I thought the cinnamon was old, or a poor grade. It was so bitter, not at all the warm cozy spice I love. Then it happened, a Penzey's Spices was built in our town. The first time we visited I made a bee line to the baking section and was amazed to see FOUR different kinds of cinnamon. All claiming to taste slightly different! Boy, did we have fun smelling them all! I just kept sniffing until I narrowed it down to the one that smelled warm, cozy, sweet and spicy. Now you my be thinking, they ALL smell that way. Not at all, if you have them all in a row for a test, you will see!

Indonesian-
Sweet and mellow, Indonesian cinnamon is the type of cinnamon we all remember from our childhood. Fragrant Indonesian cinnamon is as strong as China cinnamon, but smoother and not as nippy. (from Penzeys Spices.)

Ceylon-
Complex and fragrant, with a citrus overtone and rich buff color. Although Ceylon cinnamon is less strong, its hint of citrusy flavor and lack of any bite whatsoever makes it the favorite in both England and Mexico where it is preferred for all uses. (from Penzeys Spices.)

Chinese-
Extra sweet, spicy and strong. Perfect for everything from cinnamon rolls to apple pie, Christmas cookies to French toast. (from Penzeys Spices.)

Vietnamese-
Vietnamese cinnamon is the strongest, richest, and sweetest cinnamon around. For traditional cinnamon recipes such as gooey cinnamon rolls, the vibrant flavor of Vietnamese cinnamon really shines. It is so strong, that in most recipes it should be cut back by about a third, but it is perfect used full strength in any recipe where cinnamon is the main, delicious flavor. (from Penzeys Spices.)

My favorite is the China cinnamon. My sister, who loves spices and likes to have them bite back at her, buys the Vietnamese variety. I haven't tried the Indonesian or Ceylon Cinnamon yet. In the store when I smelled them, the Chinese smelled the nicest, so I have stuck with it. Someday I might try the other ones.

The first thing one thinks of when talking about cinnamon, is Cinnamon Rolls! So I am sharing our favorite recipe. This is our go to recipe when we need a fast breakfast or a quick comfort food fix.

 

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

4 cups flour

8 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup melted butter

1 1/3 cups milk

Pretty much just dump everything in a bowl and mix into a dough. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times until not too sticky. Roll out into a square about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle sugar (we usually use brown or a mixture of brown and white) and cinnamon over the dough in a nice layer. Starting at one end roll up the dough into a log. Slice into pieces, placing cut side down on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 8-12 minutes.

 

They best way to eat these is right out of the oven with butter melted on top! Yum!

Live, Love and Laugh

For those days when you need a bit of extra cheer, or maybe want to get the party, these flags are fun and versatile. They look great on muffins, cupcakes, or maybe even to top off your banana split. You don't have to limit youself to decorating food, pop one in the mail to a friend, bunch them in a bouquet in a tiny glass....

     All you need is a few toothpicks, ribbon and a dab of glue! 

 This large piece of cake looks like a ship ready to sail away......does anyone have a fork?

 

 

That's So Corny!

What could be better than a few ears of lovely corn to start your autumn decoration? Scatter them on the table for your Thanksgiving feast or hang them in a group on your door, here they look so comfortable in my basket by the door. The best part is that they won't get old and moldy.

  It started when I saw a few cloth ears of corn at the local craft store. They were made out of different patterns of fabric but I liked this upholstry fabric that was just the right texture, only it was brown and tan. I lightly brushed yellow acrylic paint on the fabric, I didn't care if it was blotchy in places, going for a very organic look.
 

In keeping with the organic style, and also very easy, I didn't use any kind of pattern for the corn, each and every ear that grows is different anyway. I just cut each piece freehand and machine sewed as I went along, leaving the top open for turning and stuffing. I did use a stronger waxed thread, mostly because I wanted to use it up and also it was a little heavier for the fabric.

Leftover quilt batting was cut into strips for the stuffing, it was a great way to use up those pieces trimmed from the edges of quilts. I turned the top edge to the inside and did a quick running stitch to close it up, it left a small hole, perfect for inserting the raffia for the top.

 After wrapping the raffia in loops around my four fingers, I stuffed one end in the corn top, then I poked my needled through the raffia, securing it to the fabric on the other side. I went back and forth with the needle through the raffia about eight times so it wouldn't pull out.

Then I clipped the top of the raffia so it would feather out, and crunched it in my hands to create a texture.

 

 

Ready for a feast!

Acorn Season

When we go for our walks this time of year, we crunch through masses of acorns. In honor of the season I made Acorn Cookies!

 I used our Favorite Sugar Cookie recipe, with chocolate butter cream frosting. K-Dee, I used Dutch processed cocoa in the frosting. It came out so yummy!

I used a new acorn cookie cutter, which makes the Perfect sized cookie! About two bites worth! The acorns in the park are mostly the "hairy" cap kind, so that is the look I was trying for. They came out really cute.

 My "smooth" cap acorn look. I piped the frosting on using my vintage cake decorating set. My arm got a bit tired of making hairy caps......

 I love them scattered all over the table, just like they have fallen off a tree! The saying goes, "the more acorns there are on the ground, the harder the winter we will have". I wonder if we have more acorns this year.......it is hard to tell.......