Suzanne Elizabeth Anderson's Blog, page 27

Dogs Love Snow

Snow Day Aftermath

Snow Day Waffles

We woke up to two feet of snow this morning, so we weren't going anywhere.

Mom suggested waffles were in order to celebrate our first snow day in at least two weeks.














Since I didn't have any pre-made mix on hand, I looked up a recipe in my 1982 edition of the Joy of Cooking from and then created a recipe of my own.











Instead of using cake flour, as Joy recommended, I used whole wheat flour and oatmeal, because oatmeal is good for Mom's cholesterol, but she refuses to eat a bowl of cooked oatmeal. Hence my strategy of sneaking it into other things like waffles and cookies.




Then I added baking powder and apple pie spice, although you could add cinnamon, or pumpkin pie spice, or anything else that strikes your fancy. And a teaspoon of sugar...although I bet you could also just skip the sugar altogether without it making a difference to the taste.







Now add the wet ingredients: three egg yolks (aren't they beautiful!) and then milk or buttermilk if you have it.







A few vigorous beats, the batter will be thick, and then gently ladle into the waffle maker and spread out over the surface.









This Black and Decker waffle maker, which I've had for years, actually chirps when the waffles are done. And it makes adorable heart shaped waffles. 




Serve with bacon or sausage and a splash of maple syrup. Yum!




Ingredients:



1 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour



1/4 cup oatmeal flakes



1/2 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice or  1/4 t. Cinnamon



1 teaspoon sugar



3 egg yolks



3 Tablespoons butter melted

SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED

Get up from your computer and walk to the other side of the room. Watch her eyes follow you. She dares you to look away.

Food for Thought

"Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up wrinkles the soul. "







Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964);

American general and field marshal

Thanks, Values.com for this quote.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bars

We're making things with chocolate again....although I stipulate that this recipe actually has some redeeming qualities to go along with all those calories.







This recipe actually had an earlier version that was good, but rather pedestrian. As you can see above, they were rather flat and uninspired. They tasted good, but I wouldn't make them again.







My new version is much heartier. Both were made in a 13 X 9 pan. The difference is that this recipe had twice the flour and oatmeal. Hence the greater density. The other difference, which I think really added to the bar's texture is the use of whole wheat flour instead of white flour. The whole wheat pairs very nicely with the sturdy oatmeal, as well as the addition of butterscotch chips mixed in with the chocolate chips. And finally, there's peanut butter, which makes everything taste better.









Here's the recipe:



1 cup vegetable shortening



1 cup dark brown sugar



1 Tablespoon vanilla



2 large eggs



1 1/4 cups peanut butter



2 cups whole wheat flour



2 cups oatmeal



1 teaspoon baking soda



8 oz cup chocolate chips



8 oz cup butterscotch chips







1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream together sugar and butter, beat until fluffy



2. Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, continue beating



3. Beat in peanut butter



4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, and baking soda. Slowly incorporate flour mixture into wet ingredients.



5. Add chips. Scoop mixture into lightly greased 13 X 9 pan. Optional: sprinkle a few grains of sea salt over top of mixture before placing in oven.



6. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.



Let cool before cutting into bars.

Mac and Cheese Inspired by Country Living Magazine

My favorite magazines are: Southern Living, Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, and Oprah (of course). Last year I went through some sort of compulsive subscription frenzy brought on by Amazon's $5 magazine sale at Christmas and ordered about a dozen other magazines, all of which I've since let expire. This year, I'm just keeping the core. These are my tried and true, been subscribing to them for a hundred years and will still be subscribing to them one hundred years from today.  (Thanks to sister-in-law Kathy for sponsoring my Better Homes and Garden subscription for the past two years).



As I flip through these magazines each month, I generally find inspiration for a new dish that I want to try. This month it was Country Living's Macaroni and Gruyere Cheese. Would you believe that I've never made mac and cheese before? I know. Strange.



Here's my version of it, in which I changed up some ingredients to use what I had on hand, as well as the amount, to suit a two person household.



Ingredients:






8 oz whole wheat pasta shells
1 1/2 cups grated aged cheddar and gruyere cheeses
1 1/2 cups half and half
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter melted
breadcrumbs to sprinkle
pepper, garlic powder to taste









Begin by boiling the pasta. In this case I used whole wheat shells. They're cute and healthy.









Measure out 1 1/2 cups half and half. That's right. Not milk, we're going for the rich stuff.









After you've drained the pasta toss it with about half of your shredded cheese.









In a small bowl, combine the half and half, two egg yolks, and two tablespoons of melted butter. Add freshly ground pepper and garlic powder according to your taste. Freshly grated nutmeg would also be wonderful.









Pour the mixture into the pasta shells and cheese and mix together. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs.



Bake at 325 F for 30 minutes covered with foil, then top with half cup of remaining shredded cheese and bake for another 20 minutes uncovered.









And voila. I promise you, this recipe is easy to assemble and tastes so incredibly better than anything you will get out of a box.



The variations on mac and cheese are endless, so you can literally use anything you've got in the pantry and fridge to create wonderful comfort food.



Cheers!

Our Book Cover Finalists are Here!

Window Cover



















White Flower Cover













Black Flower Cover










I love them all, but only one can be chosen. 

Help Me Choose a New Cover for My Novel

I have completely revised my first novel, MRS. TUESDAY'S DEPARTURE. Turns out that was the easy part. I've spent the last few days tormenting my friends and family trying to decide on a new cover for the book which will be coming out as an ebook and in paperback.




Now I'm appealing to you.




Which is your favorite?









No. 1












No. 2












No. 3












No. 4











No. 5












No. 6











No. 7








No. 8




And just in case you're one of those sticklers who actually want to know what the book is about before deciding...here's a brief synopsis:






Faith is the evidence of things not seen...




Hungary's fragile alliance with Germany kept Natalie and her family out of harm's way for most of the war, but as the Führer's desperation grows during the waning years of the conflict, so does the threat to anyone in its path. Natalie's sister, Ilona, married a Jewish man, putting both her and her young daughter, Mila, in peril. Natalie is hiding all of them, including her schizophrenic twin, Anna, under her roof, and now, as the streets of Budapest thrum with the pounding boots of Nazi soldiers, they are all at risk.




It is time to run.




Then Ilona and her husband betray them by taking the only two tickets to safety for themselves, abandoning Natalie to shelter Anna and Mila from the encroaching horror alone. As the danger seeps ever nearer to her door, Natalie is forced to reach down into the core of her faith to believe in what she must and save what she can, no matter what the sacrifice.




An inspirational story of faith and family, strength and weakness, and the ultimate victory of love over hate, Mrs. Tuesday's Departure shows the power faith has to light even the most imposing darkness.









So, which is it going to be???




Please leave a comment below and let me know your favorite.




I can't wait to see the results!

The Infamous Neiman Marcus $250 Chocolate Chip Cookie: My Version

The week before Christmas I was reading Jane
Green's wonderful novel, Promises to Keep. At the end of each chapter she
provided a recipe that was relevant to the story. One recipe was a copy of
the infamous Neiman Marcus '$250 cookie', which we all know by now is an urban
legend that is actually several decades old and has traveled as far as South
Africa in its origins.

That said, what intrigued me about
the recipe was the use of ground oatmeal with the regular flour. I was also stunned by the enormous size of the batter the recipe would produce, given that it called for a total
of nine cups of ground oatmeal/flour to a relatively lower proportion of butter
in the traditional Tollhouse recipe.

Since I wanted to send cookies to
friends and family for Christmas, I decided to give the recipe a try with some tweaks
on my part. My changes are the addition of the three different types of
chocolate for the chips, a teaspoon more vanilla than the original recipe, and the
use of sea salt.

Urban legend or not…these are some
of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made. I believe the addition of
the ground oatmeal adds a lovely fulsome texture and nuttiness to the cookies
that is not found in a flour only cookie. It's similar to the effect you get
with the use of whole wheat flour.

Give them a try…..and be prepared to
share with the neighbors. I ended up with 80 generously sized cookies.

Ingredients:

2 cups butter 


4 cups flour 


2 tsp. baking soda 


2 cups granulated sugar 


2 cups brown sugar 


5 cups blended oatmeal (measure
oatmeal and blend in blender or food processor to a fine powder) 


3 X 12 oz bags of chocolate chips
(one each milk chocolate chips,semi-sweet chunks, dark chocolate chips) 


1 tsp. sea salt


4 eggs


2 tsp. baking powder 


3 cups chopped nuts (your choice, I
like walnuts) 


1 Tablespoon vanilla

Directions:







   Cream together butter and sugar until
fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Then add vanilla.
 . Sift or mix with a fork flour and ground
oatmeal, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.
   Combine flour mixture with butter
mixture. Fold in chips and nuts.
  Roll batter into balls and place on
parchment lined cookie sheets.
  Bake at 375 for 10 – 12 minutes.
.  Enjoy!