This morning I woke up and immediately put a sheet of cookies in the oven. There’s nothing quite like making the house smell like a big fat cookie first thing in the morning. Here’s the recipe:
Ernie’s Cookies (the better-half’s uncle)-350 degree oven
2 eggs, 3 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tbs cinnamon, 1 cup butter (softened), 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped nuts (we used pecans-but walnuts would be nice), 1/2 cup candied cherries (we used red and green)
Sift together dry ingredients, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and mix well. Add dry ingredients, nuts and towards the end toss in the cherries. Add a few drops of milk if needed. Roll dough into rolls and wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap. Chill several hours or days.
Slice and bake for 10-15 minutes.
The Chicken Soup Disaster
The other day I made chicken soup from scratch. I didn’t even cheat by putting in a can of stock. I had two chicken thighs (on the bone) and tossed them into some water to boil with some herbs, peppercorn and two bay leaves. While that was brewing I sautéed some onions and garlic and chopped some carrots and celery. After taking the chicken meat off the bones I dumped everything into the pot. Then it eventually made it into the refrigerator. The next day I heated it thoroughly starting with a 2-3 minute boil. I added some garden mint, some chervil and some red pepper flakes plus a bit of chinese five spice. What I forgot was the salt. Towards the end of the cooking I added some wide noodles and then we ate. Thank goodness I had also made some grilled cheese sandwiches because that soup was gross. The better-half said if he put a shload of salt in it that he could eat it.
This chicken soup disaster was the first time I’ve ever made chicken soup and failed. I have boiled out a pot while attempting to make stock (I was trying to get the flavors to really become nearly atomic in their chickeness) but never have I ruined chicken soup. In fact I’d say that chicken soup is one of the things I always do well. I was pretty disappointed.
Tomorrow we’re having friends and their kids over for a mid-afternoon lunch. I don’t see how it won’t be delicious…pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls with chocolate-cinnamon pudding for dessert. Sounds good, eh?
I think I’ll go figure out something for dinner tonight.