In case you're wondering what I'm doing today (the day before Valentine's Day), besides watching my daughter's indoor soccer game, I'm baking cookies. Not just any cookies. Classic Sugar Cookies from the Southern Living Incredible Cookies cookbook with a simple glaze, in heart shapes, of course.
Although I'm so-not-an-expert baker, believe me when I say that I've tried a lot of sugar cookie recipes in my day and this one is the best. It's a true favorite around our house--even my 13-year-old son likes the recipe and he claims he doesn't even like sugar cookies. Over and over again we turn to this--birthdays, Valentine's Day, Halloween, various parties, etc....
There's a reason these cookies are called classic. They're perfect as they are. They're easy. They withstand the test of time. There isn't a need in the world to mess with them.
Enough said. Here's the recipe....
CLASSIC SUGAR COOKIES
1 cup butter or margarine, softened (I've never used margarine, only butter)
1 cup sugar
1 lg. egg
1 t. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 t. salt
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg and vanilla, beating well. Gradually add flour and salt, beating until blended. Divide dough in half; cover and chill 1 hour.
Roll each portion of dough to 1/4" thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut with desired cookie cutters. Place on lightly greased baking sheets. (Oh, oops. That's why my cookies are a little tough to get off the sheets. I do not know if I've ever greased the sheets. I'll try that today.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool cookies 1 minute on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
GLAZE
1 (16-oz.) pkg. powdered sugar
6 T warm water
Liquid food coloring, optional
Stir together powdered sugar and warm water using a wire whisk. Divide and tint with food coloring, if desired; place in shallow bowls for ease in dipping cookies. Yield: 1-1/3 cups. (I rest the dipped cookies on a wire rack and wait for them to dry there. They make a drippy mess, but are so worth it.)
If you prefer an prettier online version of the recipe, try one of these links:
myrecipes.com (and search for the recipe by name)
or
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1933327
Do you have a favorite treat you like to make for Valentine's Day? Do you have a fun tradition you'd like to share? I'd love to hear how you liked this recipe.
Happy baking and Happy Valentine's Day!
Showing posts with label easy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easy. Show all posts
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Easy Gardening: Just Throw the Darn Seeds Out There
Those are the words of my dear friend Kerensa. And, it's exactly how she gardens.
Her yard is ab-so-lutely magical. With railroad ties, rocks and tons of colorful, water-loving plants, the woman even makes her front ditch* look like she wanted it there all along. Her father was a landscaper. I figure she knows what she's talking about.
I, on the other hand, am known to kill every indoor plant I've ever had. I'm forever defending myself against such charges from my husband. "I keep children alive, not plants," I contest with my head held high. My front ditch had cat tails in it for years.
So, naturally, I wanted to heed Kerensa's advice.
Not because I didn't trust her completely, but because I just invested a small fortune in seed packs, I conducted my own quasi, so-not-an-expert experiment first. Here are my completely non-scientific results:
Scenario 1: Just as I've always done, I nursed the baby seedlings growing on my sunny window sills since the beginning of spring. After all danger of frost had passed, I transplanted them all to the garden area in my backyard, watered, and treated as usual.
Scenario 2: I took the extra seeds (and I always have them...they give you so many...you can't possibly use them unless your entire yard is a farm) and scattered them in somewhat organized fashion in a dirt patch just outside my kitchen door. I watered them and treated them as I did my other green offspring.
Results: Wouldn't you know it? Hands down, the darn scattered seeds from Scenario 2 outperformed the pampered, window-hogging, messy seedlings from Scenario 1!
So, there you have it.
All I know, and it's not much, is I like to avoid wasting time. If I don't have to invest time, energy, and space on my window sills to get great produce from the garden, I won't. It's Easy Street for me. I'll take that route anytime.
How 'bout you? Do you tend to take Easy Street or Proper Place? Do you garden? Do you have your own experiment to share or one you'd like me to conduct? Do you just throw the darn seeds out there?
* A front ditch is an unattractive path--sometimes filled with stone, sometimes covered by grass--carved into the front yards of all those homes in our community without sewers. It guides run-off water to a reservoir, which in my case, is a small lake, from which no one eats the fish.
Her yard is ab-so-lutely magical. With railroad ties, rocks and tons of colorful, water-loving plants, the woman even makes her front ditch* look like she wanted it there all along. Her father was a landscaper. I figure she knows what she's talking about.
I, on the other hand, am known to kill every indoor plant I've ever had. I'm forever defending myself against such charges from my husband. "I keep children alive, not plants," I contest with my head held high. My front ditch had cat tails in it for years.
So, naturally, I wanted to heed Kerensa's advice.
Not because I didn't trust her completely, but because I just invested a small fortune in seed packs, I conducted my own quasi, so-not-an-expert experiment first. Here are my completely non-scientific results:
Scenario 1: Just as I've always done, I nursed the baby seedlings growing on my sunny window sills since the beginning of spring. After all danger of frost had passed, I transplanted them all to the garden area in my backyard, watered, and treated as usual.
Scenario 2: I took the extra seeds (and I always have them...they give you so many...you can't possibly use them unless your entire yard is a farm) and scattered them in somewhat organized fashion in a dirt patch just outside my kitchen door. I watered them and treated them as I did my other green offspring.
Results: Wouldn't you know it? Hands down, the darn scattered seeds from Scenario 2 outperformed the pampered, window-hogging, messy seedlings from Scenario 1!
So, there you have it.
All I know, and it's not much, is I like to avoid wasting time. If I don't have to invest time, energy, and space on my window sills to get great produce from the garden, I won't. It's Easy Street for me. I'll take that route anytime.
How 'bout you? Do you tend to take Easy Street or Proper Place? Do you garden? Do you have your own experiment to share or one you'd like me to conduct? Do you just throw the darn seeds out there?
* A front ditch is an unattractive path--sometimes filled with stone, sometimes covered by grass--carved into the front yards of all those homes in our community without sewers. It guides run-off water to a reservoir, which in my case, is a small lake, from which no one eats the fish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
