Beth Cato's Blog, page 142

Bready or Not: Philly Snickerdoodles

I tweak a lot of recipes as I make them or remake them, but it's not too often that I create a recipe entirely my own. It feels like building a short story, really--"What happens if I mix this and this?"

Only short stories don't pack on calories or have the potential to burn my house down if I forget about them. Or do they?



This recipe emerged from several circumstances.
- I had a block of cream cheese with a "best by" date of the next week
- I wanted a surprise for my husband for our anniversary, and was thinking along the lines of his favorites like lemon or snickerdoodles
- I was super busy and didn't want anything complex



Because of the cream cheese, I thought of doing my Philly Chippers recipe. It's such a good stand-by. My husband would like them, true enough, but they wouldn't be a favorite.

Then I remembered seeing a snickerdoodle recipe with cinnamon chips on Pinterest. I had a bag of cinnamon chips in the cupboard, which isn't something I normally have. Things started to add up in my mind and I scratched out an experimental recipe that melded the Gold Medal snickerdoodle recipe with Philly Chippers, with a bonus of cinnamon chips.

My husband was very, very, happy with his anniversary surprise. So was everyone else who tried them, too.

The cream cheese makes for a luscious, rich dough, and everything else about these sings about snickerdoodles--the cream of tartar, the combo of cinnamon and sugar, even the crackled finish on top.



Yum.

Philly Snickerdoodles
formed by combining my faithful snickerdoodle recipe with my Philly chippers recipe

1 cup butter (two cubes), softened
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 bag cinnamon chips

3 Tablespoons sugar
3 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and slowly incorporate them with the wet ingredients. Add the cinnamon chips.

3) Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

4) Use a tablespoon scoop or tablespoon to drop dough into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Use a spoon to roll the ball around so it's completely covered. Transfer to a cookie sheet.

5) Bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to a rack to cool.

OM NOM NOM.

Great Way to Start the School Year

Today is my son's first day of 3rd grade. Other than the shift in our morning routine, the day has an odd feel to it--it's cloudy and cool, with the taste of rain on the air. There's a chance of monsoon rains throughout the day. The high is only supposed to be 96.

Therefore, I saw several kids at his school sporting hooded jackets. Heat. It's all relative.

I returned home chanting the word, "FREEEEEEEDOM!" beneath my breath, went to my computer, and found a short story acceptance. Now that is the way to start the school year off right.

There's a lot of other newly published stuff to talk about, too.

- My science fiction story "A Song Not Fully Sung" was published today at Every Day Fiction. If you read it, please give it a star rating and maybe drop in a comment.

- I guess science fiction is the theme for the week. My giant robot story "A Lonesome Speck of Home" is in the very first issue of Blue Shift Magazine, along with some other big names like Mike Resnick and Robert Silverberg. The full issue is available in PDF or print.

- Two humorous poems, "Four Addenda to Home Association Rules" and "Regarding Portable Unicorns," are in Star*Line 36.3.

I think that's it for now. Oh yeah, and then I HAVE A BOOK DEAL. I just like saying that.

Sunday Quote has a few more days until school starts

“Books may well be the only true magic.” ~Alice Hoffman

What is steampunk?

What is steampunk? That's been a common question for me when I tell people what I write. It's one of those things most people have seen, they just don't know there's a term for it, or how popular it is. So popular, in fact, that IBM's Social Sentiment Index has predicted that steampunk is a major trend that will only grow stronger in 2014. (This, folks, is likely the only time in my life I'm on the cutting edge of something trendy.)(And seriously click on the link above. It has a fantastic infographic.)

When I explain steampunk to people, I usually say, "It's like Jules Verne or Wild, Wild West. It's Victorian and Edwardian era clothing and manners, but with more technology, like airships and submarines. It started out being a British thing, but steampunk can take place in any setting, really. The TV show Firefly is often classified as steampunk because of how it blends frontier clothing and sensibilities with outer space."

Somewhere in there, I usually see the person's eyes light up in understanding.

Since I have the internet at my disposal, that makes it even easier to draw out examples. The funny thing about steampunk is that literature is only a small part of the genre. Jay Lake did an excellent post on the subject and observed that steampunk emphasizes clothes and costumes, crafts (though some folks glue gears on something and call it steampunk), and music (check out Steam Powered Giraffe or amusing songs like "Lady Has Bustle" and "Fighting Trousers").

There has been some controversy and nose-sniffing that steampunk is a horrible thing because it celebrates a time period where women were chattel, tribal people were displayed in zoos, and the new technology of the day drenched cities like London in toxic fog. This is all true. This is history.

Steampunk rewrites history. The books in the genre often have a strong undercurrent of darkness--soot, poverty, gangrene--but that darkness lets the light shine even brighter.

To me, the great beauty of steampunk isn't limited to ornate corsets or finely-creased trousers. It's really about acceptance and celebrating the marginalized. You see steampunk attire on every skin color, every age, every body type, and it looks universally fabulous. It's about women being brilliant scientists and machinists and defying convention--and saving the world while they're at it. It's about nobodies who are really somebodies. It's about celebrating beauty and manners while being completely clothed--an opposite of reality TV and the crassness of modern media. Steampunk emphasizes civilization in the midst of chaos, really. After all, this is the genre with the fine sport of tea dueling.

If you hadn't encountered steampunk before, did this help?

If you're familiar with steampunk, are there other examples you'd like to point out?

Bready or Not: Lemon Crinkle Cookies

For several years, I experimented with lemon pie recipes to try to find "the one," and none of them were that good. I finally was given an amazing recipe from my husband's grandma--one that makes a tried and true awesome lemon pie.



Pies are awesome, but pies have their deficiencies as well. Pies are not very portable, especially in 110-degree heat with a mile-long walk into work. Meringue-type pies can't be frozen, can only stay fresh for so long, and they can't feed large crowds.

I present to you the cookie recipe that made my husband turn teary-eyed with joy as he pronounced, "These cookies taste like sunshine and happiness. It's like you made that awesome pie into cookie form!"



Not only did my husband love these cookies, but they were a smash hit at his work, too. I can see myself returning to this recipe every time there's a good sale on lemons.

These cookies are pure lemony goodness--the ultimate summer dessert treat.



Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen
Modified from LDS Living

Ingredients:
1/2 cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 whole egg, room temperature
zest of two lemons
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (amount from one lemon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

for rolling:
1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in lemon extract, egg, lemon zest, and juice.

2) Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. The dough will end up dreamily smooth.

3) Chill dough for minimum of two hours, or overnight.

4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper, or use seasoned stoneware.

5) Pour powdered sugar into a bowl. Form a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

6) Bake for 13-15 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte (not melty or shiny). Remove from oven and cool cookies several minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top if you like.


OM NOM NOM.

Bready or Not Bonus: Roasted Cherry Brownies

I bought a lot of cherries. I then had to figure out what to do with said cherries.



So, yeah. This happened.

I hit up Pinterest for a good cherry brownie recipe. I love chocolate-covered cherries at Christmas, so I knew I couldn't go wrong with that combo. To my frustration, all the recipes were for smaller pans. I had a lot of cherries, so I knew I had to go big.

I've made recipes from Annie's Eats before, so I know she's a good source. I took her basic recipe, doubled the amounts, and tweaked some things here and there. The result was awesome, as in one of the best brownies I have ever had.

Now I want to try this with roasted strawberries, too. Yum.



Roasted Cherry Brownies
Adapted from Annie's Eats

For a 9x13 pan

4 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
2 1/2 cups white sugar
plus 1/4 cup white sugar
10 ounces semisweet or bitter chocolate, chips or chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chips or chopped
2 cubes (1 cup) unsalted butter
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
6 large eggs, room temperature
4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 450-degrees. Combine the cherries and 1/4 cup sugar in a roasting pan and toss well to combine. Roast the cherries for 13-15 minutes, or until they begin to release their juices. Remove the pan from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350-degrees.



2) Line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with foil. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray.

3) In a double boiler or microwave, carefully melt together the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside to cool.

4) In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, remaining sugar, vanilla and salt; whisk until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the warm chocolate mixture. Then stir in the flour until just combined. Gently fold in the roasted cherries.

5) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, about 40-45 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

6) Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares as desired. Store in an air-tight container.

OM NOM NOM.

Sunday Quote says it's not always a dry heat

"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." ~ Haruki Murakami

How It Feels to Sell Your Book

A Story Told in Gifs

When you get the call from your agent, your mind just kinda goes



Then you realize, hey, I've gotten approximately a gazillion rejections, I've earned this



Months and months pass and you finally get to announce the book deal to the world. You're smooth. You got this.



However, you're keenly aware that the editorial letter is going to hit very soon



That'll keep you humble.

Bready or Not: Rolo Biscoff Blondies

I can see some of you thinking, "Uh oh. The Biscoff spread obsession has returned to Beth's blog." To which I say... um, it never went away. Not really.



I'm at a point in my baking where I see recipes and think, "That looks really great, but what if I try THIS..." That's what happened with this recipe. The original as featured on Rachel Cooks used caramels, but all I could think was ROLOS. Rolos happened to be my very favorite candy as a kid. I'm weaned from them now, but I tend to stock up after the holidays so I can use them in baking.

For this recipe, I used kitchen shears to roughly cut up the Rolos into halves and quarters. There was nothing exact about it. The little shards of chocolate all go in the pot, anyway!

The result is a delicious bar that reminded me of a gourmet, soft and chewy version of a Twix. But, you know, better. The yummy cookie dough taste of Biscoff is there, and the chocolate and caramel dapple the whole thing so you get a taste in every bite.

You can always continue to take bites, just to make sure. Quality control and all.



Rolo Biscoff Blondies
adapted from Rachel Cooks

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup Biscoff spread or Speculoos (or nut butter)
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
30 Rolo candies, cut into chunks

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray a 9×13-inch pan.

2) Over medium heat, melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan, stirring constantly. Melt until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in cookie butter until incorporated. Pour into a large bowl to cool.

3) While that is cooling, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

4) Add one egg at a time into the cooled butter/brown sugar mixture, mixing well. Add vanilla extract. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

5) Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cut-up Rolos over the top, pressing down lightly into the batter.

6) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until set and golden brown. Cool slightly in pan, but cut into squares before the caramel hardens.

OM NOM NOM.

Sunday Quote is in the thick of monsoon season

"Fiction is about everything human and we are made out of dust, and if you scorn getting yourself dusty, then you shouldn’t try to write fiction. It’s not a grand enough job for you." ~Flannery O'Connor