New Years Eve

On This Last Day of 2007

I’m still working on the 4 item list from last night but am now sitting bundled up on the couch with the warmth of the laptop.  I don’t know how, after eating all of the junk we have over the last couple of weeks, dragging our resistance into the dirt, that we haven’t caught something long before now.

Christmas was good. We got to see almost all of our parents’/step parent’s children and grandchildren. Only one person and her significant other were missing. They were greatly missed. Maybe next year. Since the little guy was sick, our previous plans sort of went out the window but it was okay anyway.

My Downfall - Baking

Jeanette from Egg Free Baking stopped by a little over a week ago and boy am I glad she did! We have made her Brown Sugar Shortbread recipe twice. It is definitely a keeper! Everyone liked them. If I wasn’t trying to get and stay healthy, I’d go make another batch right now and eat them all myself. They’re that good. I encourage you to check out her website even if you aren’t allergic to eggs.

Just a recap of what else was tried and true at our house in 2007:

The gingersnaps have only turned out the way they are supposed to once, but they have still tasted great every time I’ve made them. The dough is supposed to be rolled into 1″ balls. They are supposed to flatten and get “snappy” but they don’t. They are soft and dessert-spicey. VERY good, but not like traditional gingersnaps. I have tried this recipe using various fats and nothing seems to make them turn out the way they did at first. I keep meaning to look back at the recipe as originally posted but I keep forgetting.

Cocoa Crazy Cake made into cupcakes, frosted with Vegan Buttercream Frosting and refrigerated overnight are SOOOO good. I have to say that the aforelinked Cocoa Crazy Cake recipe is the most cake-like eggless chocolate cake recipe I have ever had. It is so moist!

Winter

A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to the radio and heard the weatherman say, “It’s not spring yet.” Huh?? It wasn’t even winter yet. We have gotten some snow since that time. In fact, we’ve gotten enough snow to make it look like winter. Well, tonight we have a winter storm warning. I am so excited!!!

I can’t think of a better visual of starting afresh than a blanket of snow making everything look fresh and clean.  Nothing like a clean slate. 

Happy New Year!

Vegan Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

I made these great cookies about a week and a half ago. They were a huge hit everywhere I took them. I’m going to make them again today but I lost the recipe. Just thought I’d share the link and the recipe here for my own future reference and for anyone else who might like something delish that is egg and dairy free.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Submitted by Isa on www.theppk.com

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies Submitted by Isa prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 32 minutes | makes 4 dozen cookies These are soft out of the oven, but as they cool they are nice and chewy. They are a serious crowd pleaser, for crowds with taste buds.Note: I use flax seeds because they make the texture a little chewier, but I’ve made them without and they’re still good! Equipment: baking sheets 2 mixing bowls Ingredients 2 cups flour 1 1/3 cups rolled oats 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 1 2/3 cups sugar 2/3 cup canola oil 2 tablespoons molasses 1 cup canned pumpkin, or cooked pureed pumpkin 1 teaspoon vanilla optional: 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped 1/2 cup raisins Directions Preheat oven to 350. Have ready 2 greased baking sheets. Mix together flour, oats, baking soda, salt and spices. In a seperate bowl, mix together sugar, oil, molasses, pumpkin and vanilla (and flax seeds if using) until very well combined. Add dry ingredients to wet in 3 batches, folding to combine. Fold in walnuts and raisins. Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets. They don’t spread very much so they can be placed only an inch apart. Flatten the tops of the cookies with a fork or with your fingers, to press into cookie shape. Bake for 16 minutes at 350. If you are using two sheets of cookies on 2 levels of your oven, rotate the sheets halfway through for even baking. You’ll have enough batter for 4 trays. Remove from oven and get cookies onto a wire rack to cool. These taste best when they’ve had some time to cool and set. They taste even better the next day! Note from Mrs. Nicklebee: These are extremely sticky. Let them cool adequately before handling them.

“Here, Yellerrrrrr! Come back, Yellerrrrrr …

Best doggone dog in the West.”

Guess what we watched tonight.

A few years ago, Aunt Knockknees got the boys a dog omnibus - The Greatest Dog Stories Ever. Until then, I did not know there was a sequel to Old Yeller. Savage Sam is the son of Old Yeller, but, unlike Old Yeller, Savage Sam requires blood pressure medication to read.

Tonight, after I baked another batch of Gingersnaps, we sat down and watched Savage Sam. I didn’t even know this movie existed until recently. I’d have to reread the book but it seems like there was a big chunk missing.

I kept Dub on Benadryl today based on previous incidences of hives. He slept all morning and part of the afternoon. Apparently he didn’t sleep well last night! Hopefully we’ve headed the hives off at the pass this time.

Yes, I did mention that I made more Gingersnaps. I thought I’d mention it because there was a big difference in the ones we made today compared to the ones we made the other day.

For one thing, I remembered not to mix in that last 1/4 C of impure, adulterated white sugar. The finished product was definitely sugar coated! It was a bit much and I don’t think I’ll roll them in the sugar again.

For another thing, I used vegetable oil instead of Soy Garden. I said I was going to use Soy Garden but thought the oil would be less fattening. Fattening schmattening! The cookies turned out puffy, not flat and cookie-like. They looked attractive, just not Gingersnappy. The higher fat of the shortening worked better. I’m sure the Soy Garden would be good, too.

Once again I saved out three(they’re really small) for each person and stuck the other several dozen into freezer bags for later use. I am so proud of us! We have a stockpile of cookies in the freezer and have only had one per person since we started stashing them there Sunday. It’s quite a milestone. We Nicklebees traditionally do not save cookies, and that’s all I’ll say about that, though I should think the extra poundage speaks volumes!

Another baking day

The day is almost over and I thought I had already posted today!!

For all of the work I did today, I sure don’t have much to show for it! It seems like I washed dishes from dawn ’til dusk.

My nieces have requested another pumpkin roll for dessert on Thanksgiving. I made one last year and it looked horrid. I went ahead and tried the actual pumpkin roll recipe, substituting EnerG Egg Replacer for the 3 eggs {8-0) just to see if it would work. It went tolerably well. If I can’t get the pumpkin muffin recipe to work better than this, I’ll use this. It’s awfully dense without the eggs but it holds together and rolls up great.

I made the vegan buttercream to go with today’s roll, just to have a filling. Man is that stuff rich! I didn’t have very much but I wanted to eat it all with a spoon. I’m glad I didn’t because excessive sugar makes me feel all palpatationy and stuff. Yuck.

This is neither here nor there but I’d like to say how blessed I feel to see my boys getting along with one another on a regular basis. Everybody has their moments. When I was their age, I hated my sister and treated her accordingly more often than not. I’m very glad these boys generally tend to respect each other. I hope each one will recognize the blessings they have in the other two.

As our family prepares for the holidays, my heart goes out to the family of Jodi Parrack after Jodi’s murder.  They will no doubt have a difficult holiday season this year. Their lives will never be the same. I don’t understand why people kill other people, especially children.

Constantine Mouns 11 year old Girl.

Officials Rule 11-Year-Old’s Death a Homicide, Urge Parents to Stay Alert

Gingersnaps

I made Gingersnaps this afternoon and they were a big hit.  I will definitely be making them again soon!

This recipe is a slightly altered version of the Gingersnaps recipe on page 117 of the Better Homes and Gardens’ NEW COOK BOOK. (I’m not sure which edition because that page has long since fallen out. This cookbook was new in about 1991, if that helps.)

Preheat oven to 375 F

2 1/4 C whole grain wheat flour (the original recipe calls for white but ww worked fine)
1 C packed brown sugar
3/4 C shortening or cooking oil (we used shortening but I meant to use Soy Garden and forgot.  I will update this post when I do this again and let you know what difference it makes, if any.  If anyone really cares. )
1/4 C molasses
1 egg  (we used Ener-G Egg Replacer for 1 egg)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 C sugar

Mix everything except the 1/4 C sugar together really well.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll in sugar and place 2″ apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 F for 8-10 min or until the tops are crackled.

Makes 4 dozen in a perfect world.  Makes 3 dozen in Nicklebeeville.  We were stunned to discover that the smaller cookies taste as good as the bigger ones.  Go figure!

* I have baked all of my cookies on a foil lined cookie sheet.  When I take them out of the oven and the foil is cool enough, I transfer the cookies on the foil to my wire rack.  I only have one decent sized cookie sheet so this makes it easier to keep the baking process moving right along.  Make sure you allow the cookie sheet to cool off before throwing more on there or they’ll turn all sloppy looking and stuff.

If you decide to do this, be mindful of the size of the foil and cookie sheet compared to the rack.  I wasn’t really thinking the first time I did this and some of the cookies cooled somewhat bent because they were hanging over the edge of the rack.  Oops!

* I accidentally mixed that 1/4 C of sugar into the cookie dough but everything turned out okay.  The cookies weren’t as pretty as they could’ve been had they been the sparkly refined white sugar but what can ya do, aside from eating them all and starting over?

Better than the taste, the fragrance of the spices when I opened the oven door was almost more than my senses could take.  I didn’t know cookies could smell so good!  Who needs Yankee Candles?!

Next on the baking agenda:  Gingerbread Men.