ok, ok - recipes

Potato Chip Oatmeal Cookies Excuse me while I go make a cup of tea and get a few of these to eat while I write this recipe for you... they are that good!...ok, I'm back with 3 cookies in hand. The original recipe is from Maida Heatter's Brand New Cookbook (which it isn't) of Great Cookies (which some of them aren't) where she calls them Key Largo Oatmeal Cookies. I have never been a big fan of oatmeal cookies - they are fine, but not my favorites. However - THESE!!! Here is my adaptation of her recipe 4 oz salted potato chips, crushed put a bunch of chips in a plastic bag and squeeze them to crush them a bit - but they should be coarse, not fine. They should fill 2 cups when they're crushed (of course, I cheated and added more). 1-1/2 cups walnut pieces 2 cups sifted unbleached flour (I used whole wheat) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 to 1-3/4 packed cups brown sugar** ** The recipe calls for 1-3/4 cups light brown sugar. I cut it almost in half and used 1 cup because I don't like very sweet stuff. I also used dark brown because that's what I had. Suit yourself anywhere in between. 2 large eggs 2 cups old fashioned (not instant) oatmeal 1 cup raisins 1 cup dried pitted sour cherries (I used dried cranberries but you could use cut up dried apricots, dates, or whatever. I like the tart things best, though) 1. With electric mixer in large mixing bowl, beat butter till soft. 2. Add vanilla and sugar and beat till mixed. 3. Add eggs and beat till mixed 4. Add sifted dry ingredients and beat on low only till incorporated. 5. Add oatmeal and beat to mix. (if using food processor, move contents to a large mixing bowl to continue) 6. With wooden spoon or sturdy spatula, stir in the dried fruits and nuts. 7. Finally, stir in the potato chips. The chips should still be visible. Line cookie sheets w/ parchment, put a tablespoons of dough on the sheet, about 1" apart: press down to flatten. Bake at 350 for 18-20 min or till lightly browned all over. Maida Heatter uses 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie but I'd rather use a tablespoon and get twice as many cookies out of the deal. You will be glad you made smaller ones and more of them! Happy eating. Mushroom Barley Soup there are a zillion recipes, some of which you can find on the Internet. I grew up with a grandmother and a mother who were good cooks and Nanny never used a recipe. Both cooked by instinct, taste and experience nothing written, nothing measured exactly--adding unspecified amounts and giving this kind of advice:"if it needs salt, add more"; if it is too sweet, next time, add less," "cook until it's done", etc. While nothing was ever the same twice, it was always delicious. Actually, in my family, this was called Bean and Barley soup and the only mushrooms in it were dried Polish mushrooms, which gave it a wonderful,smoky flavor. I never saw a live mushroom in my bean and barley soup. My mother and grandmother made it in the pressure cooker because it cooks in 20 min, and they always included a soup bone (beef marrow bone). I use the pressure cooker, but if I don't have a bone I make it without. If I have fresh mushrooms, I'll throw some in - but if not, I don't care. The dried ones are the ones that count. Here's my "recipe" - give or take. If you are the type of cook who needs measurements, skip this and go to the cookie recipe. 6 cups water - Put into pressure cooker or pot and add: a few cut up celery stalks, including leaves a few cut up carrots 5 or 6 dried Polish mushrooms a couple big onions or a few small ones, cut up about 1 cup pearl barley about 1/2 cup dry lima beans (more if you want, or none if you don't want) a bay leaf 3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced salt & pepper OPTIONAL a parsnip if you have one a couple pieces celery root if you have any sliced fresh mushrooms a beef bone If you have about 3 hours, you can cook all of this on low. If not, cook under pressure for 20 min, adjust salt and add a handful of fresh dill. Soup should be thick. If it isn't, add more..but by next day you'll probably have to add water. (see what I mean?) If you look on the Internet for a recipe, ignore all that add tomatoes or green peppers (no self-respecting Jewish grandmother would add those!) and skip any that tell you to sauté the onions and carrots, etc. before you add the other stuff. Too much trouble - just throw everything in at once! Enjoy! R.

Newspapers. Eleven days' worth, saved in case I wanted to read them. I didn't...but of course, had to go through the entire pile so I could retrieve Wednesday's NY Times food section, Thursday's Home and Styles sections, and the Sunday book reviews from the last two weekends. Oh, and the art. Took the whole morning.
Well, to be fair, it took only half the morning. I got home at 6:am and since my body was on Left Coast time, I went to sleep and slept through the first half of the morning. Then back to laundry and real life. Studio Six meets at my house on Wednesday and I had to bake for the occasion - so that was tonight's actvity. Lemon Sours

3/4 cup sifted flour (I didn't sift)
1/3 c. sweet butter
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar -pack a little, not too firm (I used 2/3 cup and it is plenty sweet!)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 c. confectioner's sugar (approx)

Mix together flour and butter to a fine curmb. Sprinkle evenly in 11x7 pan (I used 8x8) Bake in 350 oven for 10 min.

Meanwhile, beat eggs, brown sugar, coconut, nuts, baking powder. spread on first mixture as you take it from the oven. Return to oven and bake 20 min longer (or till brown on top)

Mix lemon rind, lemon juice and add conf. sugar to make a creamy mixture. Spread over top as soon as pan is taken from the oven. Cool cut into squares. Makes 16-24 squares, depending on size of pan.

It has been countless years since I have made these so I'm not sure how they have turned out.
Will let you know.

tea

I grew up in a house where we had tea and dessert (often, cookies) after dinner every night. Tea with lemon, no sugar. Coffee was for breakfast. Somewhere along the line, I stopped putting lemon in my tea - and I'm not sure why. I actually love it with lemon. Through my marriages, the tea kettle went on after dinner - and even now, I have a cup at my right hand as I type. Much as I love coffee, I am more likely to make a cup of tea in the afternoon. Tea = comfort. Baking also=comfort. Less so the eating than the process of baking. I have had the recipe for Pepper-Cumin Cookies sitting around since the beginning of time: obviously cut from the NY Times magazine. I had not baked in a while - and last night, apparently needing comfort --I baked a half-recipe of these cookies (just in case they were terrible). Love at first bite. Snow day today. Worked at home: did paperwork, made soup, and baked another batch of these cookies, which are as divine as I had hoped they would be. Half of them I will take to the studio to share. Perfect counterpoint to tea. Of course, they might not appeal to everybody - the flavor is a bit quirky --and you might not have a big jar of cumin seeds sitting around in your pantry, as I do, but these cookies are worth a trip to the Indian grocery store. Seeds, not ground cumin. You didn't ask, but here it is. Pepper-Cumin Cookies

2 c. flour (I used whole wheat)

6 T sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 tsp black peppercorns, cracked

1 tsp cumin seeds, cracked

1 cup unsalted butter, softened slightly and cut into pieces

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Put the first 6 ingredients into food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter & vanilla and pulse till mixture just forms a dough.

2. Place dough on work surface and shape into 1" balls. Put on parchment-lined baking sheets and flaten each cookie with palm of hand.

3. Bake till lightly browned, about 15 min. Remove and cool on rack. Makes about 3-4 doz.