Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Oh Look! A New Blog Post!

  I have been remiss in blogging about all the cookies I've been baking. It's because I'm busy baking cookies! In the last week, I've baked four batches of cookies: Chocolate Drops, Brown Sugar Drops, Pineapple Drops, and Oatmeal Drops. Drops is a predominant word, and I'm getting tired of these super-simple, novice-level cookies. They're not necessarily bland, but they're certainly not exciting. Oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite, so I actually baked the full recipe on these yesterday. I got about 7 dozen. Most of them are gone, but I did send a bag of them home with my parents, who came for a visit.
  In non-baking news, the weather has turned bitterly cold for a while. I drove Katrina to school today because it was -5° and she has to walk about a mile. I also promised to pick her up after school. I hope I remember. The chickens are faring well despite the cold. They love their hot breakfast of oatmeal with bugs, and continue to reward me with eggs almost every day. I'm checking on them every few hours in this cold, so they expect a treat every time I go out. It's a great way to get rid of leftovers!

  I signed up for a women's only mountain bike clinic in March. I'm excited about that. I really enjoy mountain biking, I just need the skills to challenge myself a little more. Then maybe I can get a better bike to use those skills. (hopefully!)

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Orange Drops

  Today's recipe was # 2, Orange Drops. Definitely a "meh" recipe. I keep biting in to one, expecting more flavor, but all I get are bits of orange zest in my teeth. It's probably for the better, since I single-handedly ate at least three dozen of Monday's batch. (Doesn't really fit in with the weight loss plan!)

In other news, I have a very busy weekend coming up - Friday night cycling fan geek-out, Saturday work then Girl Scout event, then Sunday bike race spectating.

See ya' on the flip side!

Monday, January 7, 2013

It Begins

  I've been baking cookies since I was a kid so I'm no slouch when it comes to baking.So it makes sense that my New Year's Resolution is to bake every recipe in my Betty Crocker Cookie Book. I used my Mom's copy when I was a kid, copied my favorites from it when I moved out, and was thrilled when I got a copy for Christmas a few years ago (a reprint of the 1961 edition). There are so many recipes I've always wanted to try, but just never did - like those twisted candy canes or the painted gingham dog and calico cat. So here I go. I'm starting with the first recipe, and going through in order.
It's like a teeny-tiny ice cream scoop!

Betty starts you out easy - drop cookies.  These are the kind of cookies I love to make - quick and easy! They're why I bought a cookie scoop.

 So the first recipe is applesauce cookies. They're cakey with a bit of spice. At first I thought they were bland, but a few hours later, the flavor developed a bit, now I can't stop eating them. That scoop makes the perfect "pop a whole one in your mouth" sized cookie. I had to put them away and put the can of chicken cereal on top of them so I won't take one every time I walk by!

I have a feeling I'm going to be giving away a lot of cookies this year. If you're in the neighborhood, drop by and I'll send you home with a couple dozen!