Mom's Deluxe Sugar Cookies

Posted by Kathryn @ 3:09 PM

What makes a cookie deluxe? I really am not sure here, but I do know that they leap off the plate... especially when I sandwich raspberry jam in between two cookies. I like the very smooth texture that using confectioners sugar ensures.... I have been known to search out only confectioners sugar based shortbread cookies... it may not be traditional but boy is it good

1 c butter soft
11/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. Cream of tarter
1 tsp. Baking Soda

Beat Butter with sugar then egg and extracts. Finally add the dry ingredients slowly. Chill dough for 2-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 roll out dough anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Make sure to leave space around the cookies as they may spread significantly. It may be worth chilling the cut cookies prior to baking if you have an intricate cookie cutter or want to reduce spreading.

Bake 7-8 minutes until light brown on edges. Remove cookies from sheet immediately to cooling racks.

Fastest PB Fudge

Posted by Kathryn @ 9:59 AM

During the Holidays it is a great time to make food gifts and while some of my cooking and baking at this time of year is quite involved. I like to throw in a couple easy options so that the whole process goes faster. This year I made a selection of 9 cookies and candies for the season but this was definitely one of the fastest.

It is a long time Connor family Christmas tradition so I hope you enjoy it!

12 oz peanut butter chips
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk ( I find that off brands tend to be grainy, so I use Eagle for this)
1/4 cup butter
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Butter an 8in square pan.

Melt peanut butter chips, 1 cup condensed milk and 2tb butter. You can do this over the stove by stirring constantly or by zapping it 30 seconds at a time in the microwave. I don't generally bother with a double boiler because it happens pretty quickly at low heat.

Pour Peanut butter fudge mixture into square pan and spread into an even layer. Then put this layer in the fridge (or out on the back porch in Pittsburgh when it is chilly to start setting ( Just make sure to cover it as I have seen squirrels get very interested by the pan.)

I spend a bit of time cleaning up my original pan and then make the chocolate topping by melting the chocolate chips, remaining condensed milk, and butter over the stove. Once the mixture is smooth remove from heat and pour over the peanutbutter fudge in the pan. Return the mixture to the fridge and let set before attemping to cut it into squares. I usually end up making one pan to give away as gifts. The other batch I cut up and freeze the pieces to take out over the holiday season. At my mom's, we take out an assortment of cookies from the freezer every night before christmas to thaw and eat after dinner. The fudge is a fun addition.

Heart in Hand

Posted by Kathryn @ 10:14 AM

Yesterday, we ventured down to the South Side Works for the McCormick and Schmick Happy Hour and a movie. Little did we know that neither would come to be. Apparently everyone else in Pittsburgh had also descended on this small section of town with similar ideas. We found a parking spot and because we had a few minutes ( so we thought), we went into the book store to look around. Once again I got sucked into the cookbooks, while Ian looked at what was in science and math writing. After the relaxing trip to the book store we entered McCormick and Schmick hungry for a 2 dollar burger and quickly realized that there was no way we could get served in the bar area before happy hour ended. Not sure where we should head next we considered our options. I decided that to continue to the bar food theme , Claddaugh's would be our best option. We get there and there is a line, but it is not as crowded as M&S.

I ordered Guiness and fish and chips. The fish was crisp and typical cod. The table had the requisite malt vinegar. The plate came with a very vinegary tartar sauce that was called "irish tarter".... I had hoped that this would be the pleasingly pink concoction sometimes called Rose Marie.... but no luck there. I think the chips may have been sitting a bit and had some sort of unnecessary coating on them. I would suggest that Fish and Chips fans stick to Piper's pub, but in a pinch these were ok.

DH chose a turtle sandwich which had turkey, irish rasher, hard boiled eggs, lettuce, tomato, mayo. It certainly looked appetizing and was well liked. I am happy to report that our Guiness and Harp were very tasty. Unfortunately service was not very responsive and did not bring everything that was requested. In fact compared to a recent excellent experience at Red Robin ( and I usually avoid chains) the service was downright crummy.

We did try to go to the movies but the place was a zoo and we didn't think we would get good seats, so instead we walked around a bit and I spied a new coffee place. Big Dog. I wasn't in the mood for an espresso so we just went over to see whether they had any dessert and what the ambiance was like. The place had a lot of character, colorful walls, comfortable seating, and a fun selection of sweets. I picked out a bakery made version of a HoHo.... it was really really good. So consider this a qualified review of Big Dog.... the sweets are good... the atmosphere is nice, but I can make no comment on the coffee quality.