Carrot Cookies

These are a great little cookie that my friend Sally makes.  
She gave me the recipe with this note on top:

Remember---this recipe is 1960's Iowa.  You DO NOT have to use shortening.
When I brought these to church, I used a cream cheese frosting.

So..when I made them at home, I did use the shortening and used the orange butter icing.  I love the taste of orange in things.
I didn't really 'frost' them either, but rather, just dropped a spoonful of icing on top.  You can see the little orange zest flecks if you look close enough.  You can also see bits of carrot in the cookie that didn't get mashed well enough.

These cookies are so good---I love them.  They aren't that sweet,  kind of like a scone, but much more moist than that.  The carrots keep them moist and soft.  If you didn't frost them tho,  they aren't going to appease your sweet tooth. You  have to make them and frost them and get a book  (by the way,  A Good American is a really good read)  a cup of hot coffee,  and then bliss.
Either frosting you choose is good.  I first had these at church when Sally made them with a cream cheese frosting, but the original recipe comes with the butter orange icing, so whatever your choice is fine.

Carrot Cookies with Orange Butter Icing
1 cup shortening 
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup carrots, cooked and mashed
2 cups flour
2 eggs
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3/4 cups shredded coconut (optional)

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs and carrots. Blend in flour, baking powder and salt.  Stir in the coconut. 
Bake at 350F  for  8-10 minutes.
Cool and frost.

Orange Butter Icing
3 T. soft butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 t. grated orange peel 
1 T. orange juice

Blend the butter and powdered sugar. Stir in orange peel/zest and juice.  Beat until frosting is smooth and of spreading consistency.

February Recap

I've never done a recap before, so this is a first.

I read 8 books in February.
1 was audio
1 was for a book club
6 were for pleasure  (of course, they are all fun, aren't they?)

       Loved this one, and interestingly,  the Iditarod began yesterday.

This one was a book club choice  (for one of my 4 book clubs)  I am glad I read it.  It brought to light many facts about Alzheimer's that I wasn't' aware of.

This was my least favorite read of the month.  It was good, just not great for me.

I did love this book too.  It was very confusing at first, but then I got into a reading rhythm and I just loved it.

           This was my favorite read of the month.  but I was also deeply disturbed by a choice made of one of the characters in the book.  Great read tho!

This audio book was GREAT.   Loved the story and the narrator.

     This was  a heartbreaking wonderful book.  About a woman, wife, mother, with early on-set Alzheimer's. 

This series is pretty new and new to me. This is the 2nd in the series.  I love it.

That's my list!  And I'm sticking to it.

In other Sunday news...I'm leaving tomorrow to go visit my new grandson.   Off to Arizona, where the weather should be nice.
It's raining here today and we have a fire in the fireplace.   A good---no, not good--but a PERFECT afternoon to read a book.
See ya.

Can't Leave "Em Alone Bars

  These are the most simple bars to make ever!  And good too.   

I made a pan of them yesterday,  gave a few to my son and daughter-in-law, took a few more to our friends, ate a couple, and we still have half a pan full.  So, tonight I'll take some to other friends when we go over there to eat supper, because if I didn't...I really couldn't leave them alone.

And that would not be a good thing.

Can't Leave 'Em Alone Bars
from my friend Letty Norcutt


1 box white cake mix
2 whole eggs
1/3 cups oil
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cups butter

In a bowl, combine the dry cake mix, eggs and oil.  Press 2/3 of the mixture into a greased  9x13 pan. Set the remaining mixture aside.
Combine milk, chocolate chips and butter--cook and stir until melted and smooth.  Pour the mixture of the crust.  
Drop small spoonfuls of the remaining cake mixture over the top.
Bake at  350F  for  19 minutes or until lightly browned.  
Do not over bake!  
The middle is supposed to stay soft.

Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce from  At Home With Books.

It's a fun weekly meme where you get to show off your photos, old or new  (but they must be yours).  It's just a fun way to share.

So....here is what I'm sharing today.

My granddaughter was a flower girl in her Grammy's wedding in November.  (her other grandma) 

It was a  2nd wedding for both, and they didn't want anything big and elaborate.  As a personal spin, the entire wedding party consisted of their grandchildren  (there were  7 children under 4) and their 2 youngest daughters to be witnesses.

2 of those grandchildren also happen to be my grandchildren.

okay, enough back-story.

This is my granddaughter Emerson, on the right, and her cousin Hannah on the left.

We were just busy snapping pictures and when we went back and looked, we thought these were the cutest ever!

We wonder what Hannah was saying to Emmy? 

It must have been something good tho!

Isn't it adorable?  (the bad thing is that the camera was focusing on the leaves in the foreground  so  the picture of the girls is fuzzy if you try to enlarge it much)

Wait!  I can't leave Eli out of this--I said I had two grandchildren in the wedding, right?

The little groomsmen.  

My grandson Eli (the first one with his sign,  Here Comes) took his job very seriously. 

His cousins, who were both younger than him, made it down the aisle,  but the pressure of standing up there for the whole wedding was too much for them, so they gave up the wedding party and went to sit with their parents. 

Or other things....

Little Charlie gave up his groomsmen position to come see what the flower girls were doing.  

 Not so, Eli.  He stood in his spot for the entire ceremony.  This wasn't his first rodeo.  He was a ring bearer when he was 2.

Loved, loved, loved the  "family" feel of this wedding.  

One more family member before I go...

...my daughter-in-law preformed  the wedding ceremony  (She's a Methodist Minister), which was very special.

But still....look at the girls.  Checking out each other's necklaces was much more interesting than listening to the ceremony.

Oh yes, and the wedding was Skyped  to some family who couldn't be there.

(the brides parent's, the minister's  grandparents and the flower girls great-grandparents.) 

It's a new world.   (well, from when I was younger anyway)

 You can be there, even if you can't be there.  

Banana Bread (again)

Yes, I've already posted an banana bread recipe--but it wasn't mine.   It was someone else's that I wanted to make a couple of years ago, and while it was very good, it wasn't what I usually make.
Since Saturday was National Banana Bread day and I had very (VERY) dark bananas, I decided to make some and  I thought I might as well post it.  It's the same banana bread that my mom makes--the one we have made for years.

Let me back track just a little bit here--because I've said this before--but it seems to me, most of the time, that people who like to cook don't always have a signature recipe because we like to try new things constantly.  
People who don't really like to cook, find a recipe that they like and stick with it for the rest of their lives.  And then they become famous for them.
I resent them for that---I'm just sayin'.  I mean, some of my best friends who hate to cook, get asked to bring that 'special dish' all the time.  Then they look at me and think  'who the hell knows what she'll bring!'  (ahhh, but they like it because it's always good!  Well, most of the time.  I am brave enough to bring a never before made dish to someone's home.  Turns out great--99% of the time)

Okay, now I'm off my rant!   My point?  That maybe I should stick with the tried and true also, because I know it's always going to be a hit.
Speaking of hits....
This is the banana bread that my mom has made for years, as have I.  It's a good moist banana bread. I gave half to my son and his wife, because otherwise, the  Handyman and I would have eaten ALL OF IT.  And believe me, we don't need to be doing that.   It is on a splattered old recipe card  (You could see it if you followed the Friday Friends on facebook), but that just  means it's been used and loved, right?

Banana Bread
from Debbie's mom

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sour milk  (we just do the homemade buttermilk thing--milk with a splash of lemon juice in it and let it set for about  5 minutes)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed bananas

Combine ingredients in order given, adding bananas last.  Bake in a loaf pan at 350 for an hour.

That's it in a nutshell.  
But...be sure and mix the sugar and shortening before adding eggs, then mix again, then add the dry ingredients.  
I had to figure that out for myself when I was very young!
And grease and flour the loaf pan, or the two loaf pans
You can add nuts if you want to.  I like them, but no one else does.

Monday Morning Thoughts

Good morning!

While cleaning out some drawers this weekend, I found this quote that I had saved.  (I don't know who wrote it so I can't give them credit, but I do know it wasn't me)

People who read books are different from other people.  They're smarter for one thing.  They're more sensual for another.  They like to hold, touch and smell what they read.


I must have saved it because it describes me.  (That was a joke)

Yesterday, the Handyman and I took a quick trip to  Reno, where, among other things we went to Barnes and Noble, where I picked up this book:

It was just a random grab as I was walking by the shelves.  Some of my best reads have been random grabs.
But anyway, this is a book of essays, by writers, telling about their favorite places to browse, read and shop.   (a bit ironic that they are talking mostly about  independent bookstores and I purchased it at a big chain.  Shame on me.)
I read the first essay on the way home  (I wasn't driving--don't worry) and I cried. Not like big sobs, but I got teary eyed about the love we can have for bookstores.
Truly, people who aren't bookworms- book nerds, cannot understand that feeling.   The Handyman doesn't---he just laughs and shakes his head.  He likes to read a book, but he doesn't --well, he just isn't---a bookworm, like me.

I can't wait to read the rest of the essays!  

Do you have a favorite bookstore?  Where you liked to browse, read and shop?

Well, hello there! (and chocolate chip cookie #8)

Hmmmm.... I don't really know how to start.  I've been missing in action for a couple of months and a couple of months before that too.

I'm not sure what I want to do with this blog. Cooking/food? Books?  Random thoughts?

Oh...that's what I was doing.  I just haven't been doing it lately.

I guess I'll just jump right in.... and give you an update in my life, in a nutshell.

1)  I've read 16 books since the first of the year.  I have not blogged about a single one of them ... and there were some great books too!

The one that has stuck with me the most is  "The Light Between Oceans"

It was a great book, but it left me feeling horrible!   Yes, a book can leave you with conflicting emotions.  I was very bothered by a decision in this book... I cannot tell you which one, because I would spoil the story for you, but it's not the most obvious one  (there are more than a few bad choices by characters in the book).  For days, I rewrote a certain part of the book in my mind---this, of course, is why I'm not an author---because my reworking of the story made  the plot too obvious and common.   It was a great read. Check it out if you haven't already.

2) I am keeping up on my goal of working my way thru this cookbook to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie  (none as good as my mom's yet)

This cookie was  #8 in the blog countdown  (okay, yes, I am working my way thru very, VERY slowly)  but #6 in the cookbook.

I made notes to what  I did.  This was a pretty good little cookie.  

Chocolate Chip Cookies VI

1 cup unsalted butter  (to be honest I just use what I have on hand and most of the time it's regular butter--with salt)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup granulates sugar

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp warm water

24 oz (4 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips.  (I used 12oz)

2 cups walnut pieces  ( I used one cup)

Cream butter.  Add vanilla, salt and sugars, beat until light and fluffy.   Add eggs and beat well.

Dissolve baking soda in warm water.  Add baking soda mixture and flour to creamed mixture, beating just until all the flour is blended in. Stir in chocolate and walnuts.  Do not overmix.

Bake at  375F for about  10 minutes, until light brown.  

3) This morning, I thought I was going crazy.  I thought the Handyman had left for work.  It was early---like  7:20. He opens at   7 on weekdays,  9 on Saturdays--I can remember him telling me he was going up to take a shower, but then I guess I just forgot about him.  Oops.  I was busy doing my 'stuff'.  Making a list, cleaning the fridge,  having my coffee, carrying my book around.  I sat down at the computer and I heard water running upstairs.   I thought GREAT, WE HAVE SOME KIND OF LEAK.  Then I heard someone walking around.  It scared me!    I really had forgotten he was still here and it really frightened me.
But for just about  30 seconds.

Menopause?
Alzheimer's?
Crazy as a Loon?

I can't figure it out, but it must be one of the above.

(This is fun....it's kind of nice to be back)