Category: Cooking and Baking

Just checking in…These are really easy sugar cookies. I made them from the “Basic Drop Cookies” recipe in our ancient, stained, and falling-apart edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. It is so tattered the page with the date and edition have fallen out. I have a newer version, the 12th edition, and the “Chocolate Chip Cookies” recipe in that is close enough. In fact, any basic drop cookie or chocolate chip cookie recipe will do just fine. Instead of nuts or chocolate chips, add a cup of golden raisins and you have it. I sprinkled sugar on top in the last two minutes of baking them.

I’m adapting a doll pattern so I can take some sculpting lessons from Max Bailey, and I’m working on getting a hand piecing tutorial installment of my Stitch-along together. That will take me a little time since the hand sewing part is a bit slow. Right now, I’m thinking a quilted pillow cover would be the best project to demonstrate with the bluebird block, since it is can be done more quickly, without a long wait or a chance of my getting distracted by other things 😉 I’ll try make the design quilt-friendly so more blocks can be added to the layout design if desired.

I’m also debating over whether or not I should be taking the two quilting classes I signed up for this year, as I have a backlog of projects from previous classes I would like to finish and not enough time for both. I really like going to class, as it affords me some out-of-the-house time and I like the social aspect of it. But the pile of unfinished projects causes me some stress, especially when I have work-related crafts projects to do as well. I haven’t made up my mind yet. I guess it will be made up for me if I don’t get to my homework!

Yes. Yes, I did. LOL. I know it is kind of strange to make your family wait to eat their cookies while you photograph them, isn’t it? Contrary to popular opinion, it doesn’t take nearly as long as it seems to take.

These are sand tarts, from my mom’s relatively old edition of Joy of Cooking. The latest copyright in it is 1964. I have the newer All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking version, but I wanted to make the same cookies we had when I was little. It could have been a little easier…Those old recipes have you sifting and resifting and sifting this with that. I guess that’s why I couldn’t find the recipe in my new version. I also couldn’t find our “Little Drummer Boy” or snowman cookie cutters. So, the Christmas bunny and the Christmas elephant had to stand in for them. Never heard of them? Well, never mind 😉

All done. I made my apple crisp this morning using the “Fruit Crisp” recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Yeah, I ate some already. Before lunch even.

I am supposed to be resting, but, of course, I am not. Resting is boring…

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

One more dessert to make and I’m ready for Thanksgiving. This is “Cheesecake Supreme” from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. It’s really pretty easy to make and it comes out very nicely. I’m getting better at making it. This time the middle didn’t crack.

Here is a slice with strawberries in sugar on top. I ate this piece right after I photographed it. It was hard to wait.