Happy Hogwarts Birthday

I'm no Pinterest junkie, so I kind of shocked Adam when I started working on a Harry Potter themed birthday party for RG ... who turned ELEVEN this month, so hello! Hogwarts party it is!! (When SM turned 11, that was sadly the year I decreed no parties at all. What was I thinking!?!? We'll have to make it up to her at her next birthday.)

There are many, many more elaborate ways to have a Harry Potter party. This would barely register for "party stylist" type people, but it was a pretty big deal for me. We spiced up our living room with a bit of Hogwarts Great Hall flair.

Crepe paper and disposable tablecloths on my friend Kelly's long tables did the trick. (The dollar store is my new favorite place for things that are just going to be thrown away. What took me so long?) I also printed out small House banners on cardstock, which were on either side of the fireplace.

The birthday girl greeted her guests in her brand new Gryffindor robes.

I used this tutorial, but made things more complicated for myself by putting right sides together in a couple of places. Meh. Just follow the directions as is, and fold in your raw edges to secure with a top-stitch. It would have gone a lot faster. If using 44-inch fabric for the wrist-to-wrist side so you can do the fold on a length of yardage, this is sized for kids. I don't think you could use this tutorial with the way the fabric is folded for adults. Two and a half yards is a good amount of fabric for a child somewhere around 4-foot-6. RG is 4'8". 

As the witches and wizards arrived, they each selected their own sorting hat.

There was a single color of M&Ms in each one to identify the House (red = Gryffindor, etc), and there was no way even for me to know who was choosing what after they were glued shut. It was fully a surprise for everyone in the room.

We had 12 guests, so there were three per house for our Harry Potter Trivia Challenge. RG wasn't allowed to be sorted/compete anyway because she would have answered every question ... so to stop that before it even started, I told her she could help moderate the competition. One of the Slytherin girls - by herself - beat all three other teams. I would have liked to have seen how she and RG stacked up against each other, but RG already knew the questions.

After Slytherin kicked butt in the trivia test, it was time to eat. Butterbeer cookies, double chocolate cauldrons, and Polyjuice potion. Recipes for the cookies and cake are at the links. The potion was Sprite, blue Hawaiian punch, and pineapple juice.

The chocolate cauldrons were AWESOME. This was definitely my favorite on how it turned out. I used the recipe for the cake, which had the thick and heavy consistency of brownies, and for the center cream filling. There's also a recipe for the outer chocolate frosting included, but I just bought that. The handles were made from Wilton's Candy Melt chocolate shaped with a plain round icing tip and "drawn" on parchment paper until it set.

After our sugared-up "feast," we sent them all downstairs to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. As our guests left, their favor was a chocolate frog. I bought the mold on Amazon (watch the little spots for the eyes - I had to use my finger to press the melted chocolate all the way in), so there is a strong possibility of more Harry Potter celebrations in the future!

Recipes 2016: January

After completing my 100 Recipe Challenge last year, I wasn't sure that I would be eager to do another one right away. But I got my slow cooker for Christmas, and with our current church schedule, we have started having Slow Cooker Sundays.  So I'm at it again.  Instead of doing a separate list for this year, I'll be adding my favorite recipes to our master recipe list, and calling it good.  But so you have an idea of what's going on the list, here's what I made this month.

Our first Sunday meal was Sweet and Sour Sauce on Slow Cooker Ribs. A fabulous meal to break in the new slow cooker.  The meat was amazing and the sauce worked great. We bought a huge can of crushed pineapple (hence all the other pineapple recipes), and made a large batch of sauce, so we froze a lot of it.

Apple Chips - I had apples and was about to return a borrowed dehydrator.  I really need to make these more often, because we were given a dehydrator, and I ate them up fast. Great snack.

Had to use up the pineapple so I made Pineapple Pudding Whip, Pineapple Chicken Salad, Layered Lime Tiramisu (from Company's Coming: Mexican Made Easy), Sweet Carrot Salad, and Pineapple Meatballs (Company's Coming: Slow Cooker Meals).  Pudding was yummy, with a different texture. We made the tiramisu for a friend's birthday and would happily make it again (if you are interested in the recipe please ask).  The salads were alright, but didn't hit the spot for me - maybe in the summer.  The meatballs were okay, but not a favorite.

Greek Yogurt Pizza Crust - we make pizza often at our house, and since our breadmaker died, this is definitely going to be our go-to crust recipe.  Two ingredients (or technically four) is perfect.  And it is delicious. We made some slow cooker pulled pork and it was AMAZING on a pizza.

Almond Milk Pancakes - We found almond milk for cheap and bought a lot, so we were finding ways to use it.  I usually prefer French toast to pancakes, but these were delicious. We made them three times in one weekend.  The small batch is perfect for the three of us.

Avocado Lime Ice Cream - We just happened to have all the ingredients for this (we don't usually have fresh limes), so I was happy to try it out.  MUCH yummier than the plain avocado ice cream recipe from last year. I would happily make this again.  Aaron also made a huge batch of Raspberry Frozen Yogurt, but didn't follow a recipe or write any measurements down, but it included almond milk, greek yogurt, raspberries, and a little sugar.  It goes great with the lime.

Oatmeal Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt - the first time in forever that I didn't have a banana in the freezer (or anywhere!) so I used an avocado instead and added extra honey.  Didn't turn out horrible, but not amazing either.  I'll eat what I made (with the addition of chocolate chips and coconut) but won't be making it again.

"Tasty" shares a bunch of quick videos with fun recipes on Facebook, and we've tried Apple Fritter Rings and Honey Garlic Chicken.  The apples were deliciously crunchy. Such a fun little dessert.  We enjoyed the chicken too, but I prefer potatoes and carrots with red meat. 

Ice Cream

At the end of July Cupcake turned three!  (And I turned three two.)  We had a big backyard barbecue - hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, and a 10 gallon bucket of strawberry limeade.  Along with the cupcakes and cookie bouquet, we made six kinds of ice cream.  Six.  Because we don't do anything half way here.

We asked Cupcake what kind of ice cream she wanted, and she replied with "pink."  So after much debating, we settled on this recipe for Pink Lemonade Ice Cream.

1 cup sugar
1 cup whole milk (we used half and half)
2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

To make it pink lemonade, add a full can of lemonade concentrate (half wasn't enough) and some food coloring.

For root beer we added extra vanilla and some sassafras flavoring (no clue how much, just added more until it tasted right).  This was probably the most popular flavor.

We also made cake batter ice cream, with the addition of 3/4 cup of a yellow cake mix.  I would suggest cutting back a bit on the sugar because this stuff was sweet.  I tried to add sprinkles, but they all sunk to the bottom.  This recipe suggests whipping the cream first, which would probably help with that.

We used a couple of different freezing methods.  We have an ice cream ball (mixture in one end, ice and salt in the other, shake until frozen), and a friend has an in-freezer style with a turn crank.  As a last ditch effort (since I hate buying ice), I put the mixture into a yogurt container and stuck it in the freezer, shaking or scraping it every half hour or so until solid.  Honestly, you can't tell them apart.  They are all a nice soft serve consistency that is perfect straight from the freezer.

And in case you were wondering, Aaron also made a peachberry passion (peach, strawberry, passion fruit) and lychee ice creams, and I made some orange coconut.

Recipes 2, 3 and 4: Sausage, Soup and Pears

Wednesday I made Potato and Sausage Bake.  Sound familiar?  That's because I found the recipe posted here on this very blog six years ago.  (My goodness people posted a lot that first month.)  Pretty tasty - similar to the potato packets Aaron likes to make on the barbecue.  Cupcake gobbled it up, except for the carrots and onions.  Aaron liked it alright, but we both thought it needed something to make it a main dish.  Maybe a mushroom sauce?

Today was a good day for soup.  Particularly this soup, Zuppa Toscana, like they make at Olive Garden.  I was able to chop up extra potatoes and cook up extra sausage yesterday so making the soup was even easier.  I didn't use the crockpot as suggested (because I don't have one!) so it was done in about an hour.  YUMMY.  It's warm and hearty and has lots of great textures.  I'd totally make it again.

And for dessert, I made some Maple Baked Pears.  Got the recipe in my email today and we just happened to have some pears (which we normally don't).  Why not?  Not something I'd make on a regular basis (I don't usually make dessert), but could be a quick "fancy" little dessert for company.

quiet time here

I know it's been quiet here but I have been sewing quite a bit lately. I'm shooting for a Christmas as close to $0 as I can. We bought a real tree and I have to buy stamps for our Christmas cards, so obviously we're spending some money for our holiday ... but I'm trying to use materials we already have for making gifts. The results will be posted after Christmas, since the girls read the blog. No preview notes or photos, but I will say that C and D in the Alphabet Challenge will be covered.

In other homemaking news, we had a lovely Thanksgiving with my brother and his family visiting from Virginia. It snowed on Wednesday last week, so we had our first White Thanksgiving. The girls went sledding with their cousins in the morning before our big dinner.

Adam has figured out the secret to pie crust - he totally nailed it on every pie. The secret is - freeze the butter, then grate it with your food processor grater attachment. Don't ever touch the butter with your hands. Mix it in with the flour with a pastry cutter and handle the dough as little as possible until it's rolled out and in the pie plate. Adam has been trying for "flaky" pie crust for years, and this was fabulous.

things to do with zucchini

I've always liked zucchini, but my mother-in-law had a garden this year so I got a LOT of it.  I've shredded some for the freezer, I've pureed some and added it to spaghetti sauce.  Here's a few other things I've done with zucchini this month.

Zucchini Boats - great to make with small zucchini.  Can be used for a whole meal or as a side.  Easy enough to change up the ingredients to suit your needs - add ground beef, mushrooms, etc.

Zucchini Chips - I've made these as chips (using small zucchini) and fries (with big to jumbo zucchini), dredging them in either milk or eggs.  Both work, both are tasty.

Zucchini Cobbler - I prepared the zucchini according to this recipe, but added my usual crisp blend for the top.  My husband loves apple crisp and gave a big thumbs up when he tried this.  And THEN I told him it was zucchini.  He was stunned.  This is now known as deceitful crisp at my house.  And this is awesome for large/jumbo zucchini because it uses so much up at once.

Zucchini Pizza - Yum Yum YUM!  Fabulous use for large zucchini (not too huge, or you get the soft spot in the middle with all the large seeds).  Tastes like regular pizza, but you don't feel so guilty eating a lot of it because there's no crust, just zucchini!  Definitely a favorite.

Zucchini Carrot Muffins - when given a lot of zucchini everyone's first thought is to make bread or muffins.  This was actually the last thing I tried (and they just came out of the oven).  I halved the sugar, and replaced the oil with more applesauce.  Very similar to the spiced carrot muffins I made last month, but with added pecans and raisins.  I'd make them again.  There are many other muffin recipes I'd like to try, so it's a good thing I've got a stash of shredded zucchini in the freezer.

Frozen Rainbow Pie

The original recipe of Frosty Lime Pie comes from a Company's Coming cook book.  Obviously my amazing husband tweaked a few things.

FILLING
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tsp (or more) grated lime rind
1 egg white, room temperature
1 cup whipping cream
2-4 drops food coloring

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in egg yolk.  Add lime juice and rind; mix in slowly.  In a separate bowl, beat egg white with clean beater until stiff; fold in.  Using the same separate bowl and beaters, beat cream until stiff; fold in.  Add food coloring.  Pour into prepared pie shell and freeze.  Let thaw approximately 15 minutes before serving.

CRUST
1/3 cup butter
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
(for chocolate crust add 3 tbsp cocoa)

Melt butter.  Add crumbs and sugar.  Press evenly on bottom and sides of 9 inch pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cool.


Now if you look at the picture you'll notice that it isn't just green.  Aaron always has to take things one step further.  He took the exact same recipe and divided it into thirds, making layers of lemon, orange and lime.  It is difficult to divide an egg yolk into thirds, but possible.  When pouring into the crust, wait an hour between layers.  And we topped it with whipped cream with raspberries or strawberries mixed in (raspberries blend much better when whipping the cream).

Note: We have tried this with a regular pie crust, but it tends to thaw too slowly compared to the filling making it difficult to slice.  The graham cracker crust is a wonderful compliment and is amazingly easy to make!

Pumpkin Mousse and Gingerbread Pie

What started as a delicious cookies and dip combination turned into an amazing pie.  Lots of compliments and requests, so here it is. 

GINGERBREAD (two pie crusts and then some)
-Cream together 3/4 cup butter and 7/8 cup brown sugar.
-Stir in 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, and 1/2 cup molasses.
-Gradually beat in 2 eggs.
-Sift together 3 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ginger, 2 tsp allspice, and stir into everything else.
-Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm it up before rolling it out. For cookies: cut out shapes, bake at 375 for 10 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. For pie: roll out and place in a greased pie plate, and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

PUMPKIN MOUSSE (enough for two pies)
-In a saucepan, stir together: 1 15 oz can of pumpkin (1/2 of one of those large cans), 1 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg. (I accidentally put it 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, plus some ginger, and it worked great.)
-Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently for five minutes.
-Remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 tsp vanilla.
-Chill for at least one hour.
-Whip 2 cups chilled heavy cream into stiff peaks. Gently stir in half the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated before folding in the remaining mixture. Chill.
-For pie: pour into the baked pie shell and refrigerate overnight (to stiffen up the mousse). If in a hurry, put it in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Minny's Chocolate Pie

After seeing the movie The Help a few weeks ago, I was craving a chocolate pie. I know, I know...the chocolate pie is supposed to gross you out, but maybe it's the pregnancy thing. Anything chocolate -- especially fudgy-chocolate -- sounds divine. I went in search of a chocolate pie recipe, and after some searching, I found the gem below. It's the actual recipe used by the food stylist from the movie. I've made it twice now, and it's quick, easy, and tasty. I have yet to go at the whole thing with a fork, but I do have eight more weeks of pregnancy left, and I'm not saying no to anything!

1 1/2 C sugar
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 C butter, melted
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1 5 oz. can evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 refrigerated pie crust (or...I got REALLY bold and made my own!)

1. Place pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate and prick the bottom and sides with a fork.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Mix sugar, cocoa, and butter in amixing bowl.
4. Add eggs and beat for three minutes.
5. Add salt, milk, and vanilla.
6. Pour filling into pie shell and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and middle is partly set.
7. Cool completely, then refrigerate. Serve with whipped cream.

A few notes:

• I had the best success making the entire thing with the whisk attachment on my Kitchenaid. It seemed to hit the perfect consistency. If I did it by hand, I got a lot of bubbles that kept the pie from being as pretty as it could be.


• Also, let the pie cool COMPLETELY before trying to put Saran wrap over the top; otherwise, the top layer will stick to the wrap. If the pie is cool first, it will peel off easily -- no sticking!

our Christmas dinner

Friends, this dinner was noteworthy. Nirvana on a plate. Adam's a good cook but seriously. When it comes to Mediterranean food, something just really comes together for us.

We skipped the typical turkey and mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner, and went with a Lebanese theme.

We had roast using this meat rub that we used on lamb at Easter. We were told by a friend that we could use roast if lamb is too expensive - and it was this time - and it worked spectacularly. Adam cooked it in the crockpot and it was very juicy and fell apart when cut into. The smell in our kitchen was amazing.

Adam made pita bread using this recipe - it didn't work out so well as the first time. The rolls were not hollow. So we tore out the middle and used the bread chunks in our dips, and voila! The shell is a regular pita pocket! For our pita appetizers, we had tomato, cucumber, green olives, black olives, strips of bell pepper, goat cheese, hummus, and an eggplant dip called baba gannouj. If you are a fan of hummus, may I suggest a replacement. Baba gannouj is absolutely delicious, not to mention hilarious to say. 8000 times. Baba gah-NOOSH! It was, by far, one of the most casual and relaxed and FUN meals we have had in a long time.

We also had, but hardly worth mentioning after all that, asparagus with lemon and rice.

And then dessert. Please join me in singing the Hallelujah Chorus. We have a new Christmas dessert at our house: Buche de Noel. It's a French cake shaped to be like a yule log - it's a flat, flourless cake with mousse rolled in the middle and covering it over the top, and it's all chocolate.

the most amazing dessert EVER!

dessert pizza

Sugar cookie crust - you can use your own sugar cookie recipe, but here's mine:
3/4 cup of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour

The usual recipe says ungreased cookie sheet, but if you are making one giant cookie, it's best to lightly grease it if you want to take it off the pan before serving. Bake for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Frosting - mix 8 ounces of cream cheese with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. We only had regular sugar, and it worked just fine. Spread across the cookie when it has completely cooled.

Top with various kinds of fruit. We used strawberries, kiwi, mango and dragonfruit. Cut like serve like a pizza, and enjoy!

homemade chocolate pudding

This was the trigger for me wanting pudding:

Adam found it online somewhere and posted it on his Facebook page. Now he keeps saying, "Pudding, you say?" So I told him I wanted some. So he made some. From scratch. It seriously has the same consistency as from a box, and tastes better. Yay!

Homemade chocolate pudding

1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Place over medium heat, and stir in milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in margarine and vanilla. Let cool briefly, and serve warm, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

cake mix cookie sandwiches

If you're in the mood for something sweet and don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, these are great - looks like a cookie, tastes like cake. All you need is:

• one cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 cup water

Mix together and drop by tablespoon on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. There's lots of variation, depending on what flavor of mix you use, and you can always stir in chocolate chips, raisins, or candies. I used a yellow cake mix and added 1/2 cup applesauce (minus 1 egg and the water), along with a tsp of pumpkin pie spice and a tsp of cinnamon. Whatever you're in the mood for.

To make them into sandwiches, simply frost the bottom of a cookie and match it up with one about the same size. If you want to make a lot, drop the batter by the teaspoon and you'll get something closer to an oreo size (which is what I did for the cookies shown). These are just plain rainbow chip cookies, so they definitely needed some fun frosting in the middle.

lemon pie

Made this tonight for dessert - it's another new one for me, but I'm not counting anymore. It's very tangy - if you don't like lemon, you probably wouldn't like this. I do like lemon, and I loved this!

15-oz can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed = about 6 lemons. I used the little bottle things and it took about almost 2 full ones.)

graham cracker crust - either store bought or homemade

1. Mix the condensed milk and egg yolks with a hand-held mixer at medium speed until the mixture lightens, about 3 minutes.
2. With the mixer running, pour the lemon juice in slowly until it's entirely incorporated.
3. Pour into graham cracker crust.
4. Bake on center rack of oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until it's completely set.
5. Let cool for at least an hour before eating.

We ate it with vanilla ice cream. The pie would go great with a meringue, which you could use the egg whites for after separating the yolks. I was a klutz and broke one of the yolks in the whites, so they were no good for the meringue and I dumped them.

yam cake

Aaron bought a yam this week. He claims he's going to do something with it, but has yet to do it, so I took a chunk off the end and tried something myself.

The original recipe calls it Golden Yam Brownies but they didn't look like brownies. They were a little flat for cake, but that's a bit closer to the truth. I skipped the glaze, added a tsp of cinnamon, and switched out the all-purpose flour for some whole wheat flour. Turned out great! Aaron isn't big on sweets, but he's gobbling this stuff right down.

Here's to trying out new recipes with random vegetables!

Brickle

I got this recipe from my mom, who got it on the internet. It's ridiculously simple, and everyone who takes a bite immediately says, "Wow, I need this recipe!" It's been my contribution to three different Christmas get-togethers so far!

Ingredients:
1 tube saltine crackers
1 lb salted butter (don't substitute)
1 C brown sugar
12 oz. pkg chocolate chips
5 Heath bars chopped up, or 1 bag Heath bits

Preheat the oven to 350.

Get a cookie sheet with a rim and line it with tin foil. BEFORE you finish this recipe, check to make sure it will fit in your freezer! (My biggest mistake...)

Then, lay the crackers out on the foil. They should pretty much cover it perfectly, but you may need a few more. Don't overlap; lay them all flat.

Melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar. When the mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat to medium-low and stir constantly for three minutes. The mixture will be runny, but definitely caramel. Pour the caramel over the crackers.

Put the crackers with caramel in the oven for about ten minutes, or until the caramel is well-spread and bubbly.

Take out the pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips over it. Leave it alone for about five minutes until the chocolate chips melt. Then get a spatula and spread the chocolate out evenly.

Sprinkle the Heath bits on top of the chocolate.

Put the pan in the freezer and leave it for 4+ hours.

When you're ready to eat it, peel the tin foil off the back of the brickle. Then break the brickle into irregular pieces. (I used the edge of a plate for this.) Enjoy! FYI: This keeps best in the fridge or freezer so it doesn't get sticky.

peppermint cupcakes

Number 42 of 50 ... I'm closing in on the end, and it's a darn good thing because we're pretty much at the end of the year! We're going out of town in a week, and I still have 8 recipes to go!

Peppermint cupcakes

I made these as a test-run for Mindy's wedding on the 29th. The only change I made was that I put in 3/4 tsp of peppermint extract instead of 1/2. The flavor was barely there with the lesser amount, and I liked it a bit stronger. I took them to playgroup, and the whole batch was eaten right up. The other moms gave this a thumb's up and wanted the recipe too.

chocolate pretzels

This isn't in my count because we've made them before, but I thought this recipe would be fun for others who might want to try it for Christmas. We put them also in the box to Adam's brother. They're SO GOOD, especially with egg nog! Note that they're not chocolate-covered regular pretzels ... but soft-dough pretzels that are chocolate and sprinkled with sugar.

Oh, these are from a cookie cookbook that just has the title, "Cookies."

1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup superfine sugar (put regular granulated sugar in the blender, then pulse it so you don't burn out your motor, until the sugar is like dust. It's different from powdered sugar, and really makes a difference in the texture.)
1 egg

1 egg white
raw sugar sprinkles

1. Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder.
2. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and egg. Add the flour mix and combine.
3. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper, chill for 1 hour or freeze for 30 min.
4. Grease cookie sheets, preheat oven to 375.
5. When the dough is chilled, roll into small balls. (Recipe estimate is 28 - when we make bigger pretzels, it makes only about a dozen.)
6. Roll out each ball into a rope, then loop around to make a pretzel shape. Put on greased cookie sheets.
7. Brush the pretzels with the egg white and sprinkle with the raw sugar.
8. Bake 10-12 minutes, cool on wire rack.

The first time we made these, it was to give them away. We had to make a 2nd batch, because we ate the entire first batch within 30 minutes of them coming out of the oven.

Doomsday cookies

Number 41 ... we made these to go in a Christmas box sent to Adam's brother in Iraq. I overcooked them a bit because they were pretty hard at first, but they got better after they'd been in the cookie jar with other cookies for a day or two.

The recipe is in the book Chicken Soup for the Soul Cookbook, and called "doomsday cookies" because the story that goes with it says that the author's mom said that she would make enough "to last until Doomsday."

1 1/4 cup canola oil
1 3/4 brown sugar, packed firmly
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour (the recipe says whole wheat, I used white)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
chocolate chips
chopped pecans or walnuts (I used pecans)
3 cups rolled oats oatmeal

Cream together oil, brown sugar, and egg
Add vanilla, then flour, salt, soda, and powder.

Add chocolate chips and pecans.

Add oatmeal - the recipe calls for 3 cups. I added one at a time and mixed as I went, and stopped at 2 cups. I think they'd be WAY too dry with that 3rd cup. If necessary, add a little bit of water to moisten after the oatmeal is added.

Spray a cookie sheet with no-stick spray, and drop batter in mounds - I used a large soup spoon for this. They'll spread to be pretty flat so leave some room between them.

Bake at 350 for 10 to 13 minutes. Do NOT leave them in the oven past 13 minutes, even if they seem like they're not done. Any longer will strip what's left of the moisture, and you'll have nothing but crumbs when you try to move them to a cooling rack with a spatula. Yes, I learned that the hard way.

banana cream pie from scratch

Number 40 was a banana cream pie from scratch. Last year, I got pretty turned off by the "banana cream pie" made from a box of vanilla instant pudding so I wanted to try it from scratch this year for Thanksgiving. I actually did this as a test-run a couple of weeks before for a couple of the missionaries who were transferring the next day. It turned out great! We're never going back to the boxed instant pudding junk for this!

Old fashioned banana cream pie

Some notes ...

1. The recipe says to scald the milk - I looked it up and basically, you heat the milk in a saucepan stirring constantly until just before it boils, and immediately remove it from the stove.

2. I mixed an entire banana mashed into the filling before pouring it over the sliced bananas in the crust. This was suggested in the comments, and it added to the banana flavor.

3. I put it in a regular pie crust. We think it would be better in a graham cracker crust.

4. If you have shallow pie plates, this makes enough filling for 2 pies.