Tuesday Tasters

Since the fall of last year, I have had the unique opportunity to volunteer in my daughter's middle school office once a week. I originally had signed up to work in the library and not put myself in the position of having to answer all those questions from the parents - the same ones that I'm usually asking on the other end of the phone. But as luck - or fate - would have it, I was switched to the front office. In my initial conversations with my new friends, I quickly noticed that these lovely office ladies were very open to trying anything laden with sugar or butter. So I decided to make this a win-win and use the front office as my taste-testers (guinea pigs?) for new recipes I was compiling for my cookbook. And with that, the "Tuesday Tasters" were officially formed.

Now along with testing new recipes, I also had to work around some dietary issues, religious traditions (Lent) and personal preferences that the ladies had. Some weeks were a bit of a challenge but one thing I found out in all of this was that if you bring them sugary confections they will swoon, and by "swoon", I mean that it won't matter as much if I accidentally cut someone off on the phone while transferring a call... or sending visitors to the wrong part of the school... or constantly asking annoying questions (sorry Liz). It just means they will blissfully "bless my heart" with a smile on their lips and a fork in their hands. So next time you volunteer in your kid's school, just remember to bring a plate of something sweet. Think of it as "paying it forward" if your kid ever ends up in the principal's office... I'm jus' sayin'!


Linda's Lemon Berry Cheesecake


Linda (who I will truly miss) gave up chocolate one year for Lent and decided to never go back. (I know, very sad) but with that challenge in mind it pushed me to think more outside of the box for her. Chocolate is always easy and perfect on it's own but with that said, sweetness comes in many flavors. Since cheesecake is one of her favorite desserts I decided to mesh together a lemon bar and cheesecake to create a dessert that would send her off with lots of love.


Crust:
1-1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
3 Tbsp. Sugar
1/3 cup Butter or Margarine, melted

Filling:
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Eggs

Lemon Curd
2/3 Cup of your favorite homemade lemon curd
Here is my favorite recipe courtesy of Patent and the Pantry.

Topping:
2 cups of berries (your choice) I used strawberries and blackberries because they were on sale.


HEAT oven to 325°F

MIX crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

BAKE 55 min. or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Right before serving, spread a nice layer of lemon curd on top of cheesecake and then pile berries on top of that. If you want a shiny look. melt 1/4 cup of apricot jam or grape jelly in the microwave until thin. With a pastry brush, carefully paint the tops of the berries to give it a beautiful sheen.

Tami's Salted Caramel Delites

Tami is a chocolate lover no doubt, but equally, she loves salted caramels. One day I brought in a container of freshly made salted caramels. She loved them so much she wondered if I could create a brownie combining her two favs. Hence this easy brownie recipe...

1 box of brownie mix (for 9x13 pan)
Follow directions except replace water with strong coffee.
Kraft Caramel Bits
1/2 caramel ice cream sauce
Kosher flake salt

Make brownies to instructions substituting the coffee for water. Spread in 13x9 pan or individual cupcake liners (24).
Sprinkle the caramel bits on top all over.
Bake per directions on box.
After slightly cooled, drizzle caramel sauce on top and sprinkle with kosher salt. Cool completely before cutting and serving.



This year has been an absolute treat (pun intended) working in the office with Liz, Patti, Tami, Linda, Susan and those sweet student runners. It has been my absolute pleasure feeding y'all and getting to know you. I can't thank you enough for testing all of these recipes!

The Wooden Spoon

My Mom first received the "wooden spoon" as a wedding present, coming with a matching wooden fork and a large wooden salad bowl. The salad bowl only came out for special occasions and over a decade later, ended up as a garage sale item. As for the fork, we never quite put our finger on where that disappeared too. But the spoon... well that's a whole other story.

This spoon, if given an audience, could tell some kitchen stories that would put Mark Twain to shame. It could tell you how it stirred up coffee cakes with crumbled strudel on those "special" breakfast mornings. It helped my Daddy beat eggs, Bisquick and milk into some mighty-fine pancake suppers on Sunday nights. It can tell you how it occasionally lent its hand to child rearing when my brothers and I found ourselves acting out. I'd bet that it's seen more potlucks and stirred up more birthday cakes than Betty Crocker herself! I remember
using this spoon when I started baking. I also remember when I snuck it out of my Mom's kitchen and kept it in mine. I bake when I need peace and so that spoon has had a hand in grief, happiness, stress and of course, comfort. It has burn marks on it and it's weathered at the ends, but it still continues to be a legacy in our kitchen. I have kept it intact and still use it whenever I need the "perfect" spoon to mix something up.

Like any good kitchen tool, if you find one that works then you stay with it instead of trying to upgrade it because it just feels right in the hand. I had hoped to hand this spoon down to my daughter as a third generation of cooking lore. However, as we were getting ready to take the picture with it that now sits at the top of this blog, my husband picked it up and for whatever cosmic reason, it broke in half. Naturally, I was just in shock! How could a spoon that lasted 50 years just break in half? How could it stand up to so many batters and not get lost at so many functions just break in the hands of - bless his heart - my husband? I thought to myself, "How can I write a blog about my Mother's spoon if it's broken?" Well, guess what... with a little wood glue, a clamp, and numerous apologies from my sweet man, it's back to being that lovely wooden spoon and you know what? That break will just add more character for my daughter, because after all, it's not the spoon but the love behind it. That spoon endured more love than any one kitchen tool I know and I am proud to pass that love down to her.

Happy Mothers Day to my Mom, who taught me about the love and peace I can find by picking up a wooden spoon and turning it into a piece of comfort for my family. And Hun, don't worry if the wood glue doesn't work - there's always duct tape and it comes in many colors... I'm jus' sayin'!



In honor of my mom, I am posting her all-time favorite cookie recipe. If I had to pick one cookie that reminded me of my childhood, it's this one. The whole house smells of goodness when you bake these little gems. It's still one of the only cookies my Mom bakes today. My daughter loves these cookies and after making them for this blog, I realized I don't bake them enough. Betty Crocker was certainly onto something with this rich and spicy cookie.



Molasses Crinkles (adapted from Betty Crocker)

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup mild-flavor molasses or full-flavor molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

1. Mix shortening, brown sugar, molasses and egg thoroughly in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

2. Heat oven to 375°F. Grease cookie sheet. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Dip tops in granulated sugar. Place balls, sugared sides up, 3 inches apart on cookie sheet. Sprinkle each with 2 or 3 drops of water.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or just until set but not hard. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.