These are great sugar cookies. I am not usually a huge sugar cookie fan. But, these are an exception. These are hands down, the best sugar cookies I have ever had.
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease 2 or 3 cookie sheets.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup(1-1/2 sticks) unsalted softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
In a large mixing bowl beat the sugars, butter, corn syrup, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg.
Stir in the flour.
Using a medium size cookie scoop, drop cookies onto the prepared sheets. Use a spoon if you don't have a scoop..
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. The edges will just start to brown. They will look soft though.
Take them out of the oven and leave them on the sheets for 5 minutes to finish cooking.
Transfer to a rack to cool.
You will get 2-1/2 to 3 dozen cookies.
These are great frosted with simple cookie glaze.
This is a great glaze for your cookies.
It dries shiny and hard so it's great for decorating after it sets up. And it does set up pretty fast.
It is not completely opaque so is really great for food coloring additions.
Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon milk
20-25 drops food coloring-optional
Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl.
The glaze should be somewhat thick, but spreadable.
To make sure it is the right thickness, do a test cookie.
Spread it over the cookie and let it set for about 30 seconds to a minute. The glaze should settle smoothly over the cookie.
If it is too thick to smooth out, add a tiny bit of milk, about a teaspoon and stir that in and test it again.
When you have the right consistency, glaze all your cookies.
They will harden up in only a few minutes.
Decorate as you like.
This will make about 2/3 cup and will frost about 2-1/2 dozen cookies.
Double the batch for large cookies or for a lot of them.
Sometimes we find ourselves without eggs, but we want to bake something with eggs.
So what should we do?
Substitute, of course.
Currently there is a major recall of eggs due to potential salmonella contamination. People have been getting sick.
So, if you are like me, you can't use the eggs you have.
I am not sure I can even buy eggs, at this time.
So, if you want to bake, you have 2 options.
Find a recipe without eggs.
Or, substitute other ingredients for your egg or eggs in the recipe.
You can buy egg product, which comes from egg whites.
Or you can make your own egg substitution.
For each egg that you need, use:
2 Tablespoons liquid
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 Tablespoon shortening
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
You can also use:
1 teaspoon cornstarch
add an additional 3 Tablespoons liquid to your recipe.
But, the first substitution is the better option.
This is my mom's recipe for dill pickles. You can slices them for sandwiches or leave them whole. The jar on the left was just made and still needs to go through it's curing stage. The jar on the right is done and is ready to eat.
Ingredients:
Cucumbers to fill 1 quart jar
2 heaping teaspoons dried dill seed
1/3 cup vinegar
1-1/2 cups water
1 Tablespoon pickling(also called canning) salt
Fill your sterilized jar with cucumbers. Add the dill set.
Set aside.
Put the water, vinegar, and salt in a pan and bring to a boil.
Pour over the cucumbers and dill seed.
Carefully pour the vinegar mixture back into the pan, making sure cucumbers stay in the jar.
Placing a jar flat partially over the mouth of the jar helps a lot.
The dill seed will come out though and that is OK.
Bring the vinegar mixture back to another boil.
Pour back over the cucumbers.
Seal the jar with a flat and jar ring.
Turn over the jar and let stand 15 minutes.
Turn upright.
Let cool.
Store for 6 weeks before opening so the pickles will develop really good flavor.
If you are making a lot of pickles, you can process them in a water bath.
After pouring the vinegar over the cucumbers the first time, seal the jars and process for 10 minutes in a water bath canner.
It works, but the pickles never seem to come out crunchy.
This is no ordinary salad. I stumbled across this recipe while trying to find pasta salad recipes.
It is a great addition to a potluck or even great as a meal, all by itself.
Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups water
2/3 cup long grain white rice
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
6 oz. salad shrimp
1/2 cup cubed ham
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped tomato
3/4 cup Italian salad dressing
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
In a 2 quart pan, bring the water to a boil.
Add the rice and turn down to medium low. Cover. Cook for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed into the rice.
Fluff and turn out into bowl to cool.
Chop all your vegetables and ham.
If you don't have celery or don't like it, use 1 cup green pepper for the 1/2 cup celery and 1/2 cup green pepper. Still is great that way.
Add the crumbled bacon, shrimp, ham, and vegetables to the bowl with the rice.
In another bowl whisk the Italian dressing, thyme, salt, chili powder, and garlic together.
Pour over the rice mixture.
Stir to coat.
Chill until serving.
Serves 6 as a main dish.
I love French Onion Dip. I think just about everyone does.It seems that way, anyway.
Here is a yummy recipe for a French Onion Dip that is worlds away from the kind you buy at the store.
It is so good!
If you want to cut the fat use fat free mayonnaise and sour cream.
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped onion- choose a mild such as yellow or even green onions.
a 1.4 oz. package dry French onion soup mix
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
Mix all the ingredients together.
Chill until serving.
You will get a nice bowl of dip that should see you through a bag of chips.
I know, I know. Another blueberry recipe. Hey what can I say? They are in season and I grow them.
Blueberry cobbler is just simply wonderful. It is homey and delicious.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
You will need a 2 quart baking dish.
Ingredients:
4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup water
1/3-2/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
Combine the 1/3-2/3 cup sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the water and blueberries.
Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
Turn heat to warm and keep filling hot while making the rest.
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until mixture is crumbly.
Stir together the egg and milk.
Add to flour mixture and stir to moisten.
Pour filling into baking dish.
Drop mounds of dough on top of the filling.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the topping comes out clean.
Serves 6.
