Oatmeal Cookies & Milk

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Thanks to Pinterest I recently stumbled upon this delicious treat! I made the mostly for my fiancé. He is quite the Cookie Monster! But, I made them exactly as directed from The Novice Chef blog. They tasted so good and went terrifically with a big glass of cold milk. I highly recommend making them. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cookies:

2 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and butter two cookie sheets. Set aside.

In a food processor, pulse oats until partly ground. You don't want a fine powder, you want a coarse meal. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the melted butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in the dry oat mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined.

Drop dough by (heaping) rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating halfway through, until browned. Let cookies rest on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cookies are completely cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Generously frost each cookie and allow the glaze to harden completely before storing. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

75 Days Until We Say "I Do"

I am getting married in 75 days! I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. Just recently I had my first of two bridal showers with ladies from the family and my mother’s oldest girlfriends. What a fun but odd feeling and experience to be the complete center of attention and to have all focus on you. Up until I got there I was so nervous; I can only imagine how nervous I’ll be on the actual wedding day.

My aunt on my dad’s side made the most thoughtful gift. It is such a great idea that I’d like to share it on here.  A few months ago she emailed my mother to send out a mass email to all her friends, my aunts, my fiancé’s mother and his aunts, etc. It was sent to all the “mommies” in our lives who have known us since we were kids. Ladies who I look up to and admire in so many ways; ladies who I have learned so much from and who most certainly have a special place in my heart.  They sent out a mass email to these woman asking for their most tried and true, favorite recipes. Then they all sent their recipes to my aunt who compiled them and made a book on Shutterfly.com.  With special notes from many of the woman to us, and recipes that I have loved for years all in one place, I think this gift will always hold a special place in our home. Here are some pictures, but they don’t do it justice.  Perhaps some of these will make it to the Coffee And…menu. Especially the Key Lime Pie which is to die for!!!

Lemon Shortbread Cookies with Fig Jam

Happy Mother’s Day!

Since my mother loved the Pistachio Shortbread cookies I made for her birthday, I thought I would make her some more Shortbread. I just wanted to try out another recipe. I had found a recipe for Rosemary Shortbread cookies that was simple enough. But, instead of Rosemary, I thought I would use lemon zest to give it a spring, sweet flavor. I had seen another recipe where they covered the cookie with fig jam. So I got some fig jam and lemon curd to put on top. This way mom has her choice. Either way tastes delicious! I think she’ll really enjoy them.

Lemon Shortbread Cookies with Fig Jam

1 ½ cups unsalted butter

2/3 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons lemon zest

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon extract

2 teaspoon white sugar for decoration

2 tablespoon lemon zest for decoration

Cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the flour, salt, lemon zest, lemon extract until blended. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough and cut into triangles. Place on cookie sheet about one inch apart. Sprinkle with remaining sugar and lemon zest.

Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on cooling racks (eat a few while they are still warm) and store in an airtight container. Before serving, spread fig jam or lemon curd on top of the cookie. 

Chicken Salad

Often times I try to put a little more effort into my lunches that I bring to work with me. I don’t want to eat frozen meals; I don’t know what kind of preservatives and such are put into them. I usually will make a little extra for dinner so I can bring some leftovers or I’ll make some kind of salad that I can bring for most days of the week.  This week I made the most amazing Chicken Salad that I have had in a long time. I got the recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs, Smitten Kitchen. The recipes are usually pretty simple and are always delicious. This one is no exception. It’s a Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad. I also try and use what ingredients I already have at home. Since I didn't have Tarragon Vinegar and did have White Wine Vinegar, I used that. I also didn't have fresh Tarragon so instead used some parsley. I highly recommend this one. I’ve been putting it on a mini wheat tortilla wrap with some lettuce. I only used two chicken breasts and it made enough for about six wraps.

A tip I actually found on Pinterest was a tip to help keep fresh herbs longer. It is to chop them all at once and put them in a Tupperware container to put into the freezer. It actually works, my fresh herbs do not get all moldy and definitely last much longer; plus fresh herbs just taste so much better when cooking!

Here is the link for the chicken salad and below is the recipe I used which is slightly different.

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/10/cranberry-walnut-chicken-salad/

Cranberry-Walnut-Chicken-Salad
Makes 4 to 6 servings.

2 chicken breasts baked with salt, pepper and olive oil. Cut into cubes.

2 to 3 handfuls of walnuts chopped

1/2 cup celery rib, diced into small pieces

1 small shallot finely chopped

2 handfuls of dried cranberries, chopped

3 large tablespoons of mayonnaise

3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Serve just the chicken salad as is, or on wheat tortilla, or on crackers would be delicious as well.