Flashback Friday: Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Flashback Friday: Revisiting a recipe from long ago

This recipe appeared twice in my great-grandmother's notebook.  On one page she called them "Cookies, Mamma's White" and on another they were called "Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies." If they were old-fashioned even in her day, what does that make them now?  Super-old-fashioned?  And when she called them Mamma's White Cookies does that mean this recipe was from my great-great-grandmother?

Let's just say a few other details have been lost as well.  Both times she left out the flour measurement and instructions. Again.  Yep, it's time for another round of guessing games and recipe testing.

I looked up multiple old-fashioned sour cream sugar cookie recipes.  Having old cookbooks comes in handy, but some of the recipes aren't any more detailed than my great-grandma's.  Once again I found drop cookies and cut-out cookies, so I split the recipe in half and tried it both ways.  The Betty Crocker Picture Cooky Book (which I showed you on our very first Flashback Friday) gave me a good starting point for the cut-out cookies.  I never would have picked an oven temperature of 425, but most of the recipes I found used surprisingly high temperatures.

Random Recipe Wednesday: Instant Frozen Yogurt

I bet you remember the frozen banana "soft-serve" craze of last summer.  I made countless batches of the creamy concoction, but this summer it's time for something new.  Instead of whirling up creamy frozen bananas, I decided to play with frozen grapes.  

Have you ever tried frozen grapes?  You should try frozen grapes.  They're a great snack in the summer heat.  Unlike other fruits they stay semi-soft even when frozen, kind of like bananas do.  With that same frozen-but-not-icy-or-rock-solid texture, I figured gapes could also be turned into a creamy frozen soft-serve.  Of course this had nothing to do with the 2 gallons of frozen grapes in our freezer (you'll never guess what was on sale a few weeks ago).

Mindful Monday: A Slice of Daily Bread

Mindful Monday: On Monday's I'm going to share what's been on my mind. I by no means have any of this figured out, I'm just thinking out loud here.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. -Psalm 34:8

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. -Proverbs 16:3

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. -Proverbs 4:23

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. -Matthew 5:6

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. -Psalm 90:14

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. -2 Timothy 1:7

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. -James 3:17

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith....let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. -Hebrews 10:22-23

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. -Hebrews 11:1

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. -Romans 8:24-25


Food for Thought: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:5-6

Flashback Friday: Good Jumbo Raisin Cookies

Flashback Friday: Revisiting a recipe from long ago

These cookies more than make up for that disappointing Mock Angel Food cake I told you about last Friday.  I expected a rather plain and boring old-lady cookie full of nuts and raisins, but boy was I wrong.  Each lovely bite was soft and just a hint chewy, but not cakey.  You know, like all the goodness of a fresh, warm cookie....only they stayed that way even when they weren't straight out of the oven.  And believe me when I say I taste tested them at multiple stages; as dough, straight from the pan, cooled 5 min, cooled 10 min, 30 min later, 2 hours later, breakfast the next morning, within 20 seconds of walking in the door after work, and, well, you get the idea.  Not even possible to just eat one.

Tuesday's Twist: Cupcake Project

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

Instead of testing out recipes this weekend, I baked and decorated around 250 mini cupcakes.  These bite-sized desserts weren't blogging related, they were requested for a private party.  I decided to snap a few pictures to share with you before I delivered the order.

There were 4 kinds of cupcakes: 

Chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

Almond-flavored white cake with an almond buttercream and decorating sugar crystals.

Red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate curls.

Lemon cake with a lemon cream cheese frosting and yellow decorating sugar.

The lemon was my favorite, but I must admit I had fun using my vegetable peeler to make the chocolate curls for the red velvet cupcakes.

The whole process went fairly smoothly.  I made the frosting earlier in the week, then baked the cupcakes the night before the event.  The original order was for 10 dozen, but I didn't realize one batch made 5 dozen of the mini size.  With 4 flavors I ended up with 20 dozen cupcakes spread across my table and counter.  Umm yeah, only double what I needed.  But now I know for next time.  The next morning I frosted and finished each cupcake.  Of course I doubted myself and freaked out that I wouldn't have enough frosting.  After all, I had prepped for 10 dozen not 20.

So I hastily made one more batch of frosting and then rewhipped each previous batch, adding just a little more butter and powdered sugar to stretch it.  My brain, however, was still in frosting conservation mode and I went light on the frosting while decorating.  I ended up with way too much leftover.  Oops, guess I should have stuck with the original plan and gone with my instinct, not the doubt of the last minute rush.   Hmmm, I've never said that before.  Oh and by last minute rush, I actually mean cram everything into half the time and  have it done several hours early.  I had a little too much fun using that extra time to play with my camera.

Food for Thought: "Practice doesn't make perfect. Practice reduces the imperfection." -Toba Beta