I Made It!

This afternoon I delivered the last basket in Matt's Fall Cookie order. I felt relieved and very satisfied with the results. Thanks Matt for believing in me!

Many hugs,

Kathy

Almost At The Finish Line

For the last couple of weeks I have been working on my first big cookie order for my friend Matt. He asked me to make 9 baskets of various sizes and 21 cookie bags, all with a fall theme.

Last night I baked 168 cookies for the 21 bags and packaged them this morning. Judging by the look on Matt's face and the hug I received, I think he was pleased. It made the lack of sleep very worthwhile. I only have one more basket to go and that is on tonight's agenda.

Matt is a very talented graphic designer and created a beautiful card to accompany the baskets. I know my iPhone picture won't do it justice, but I just have to share. The leaf on the card is real. His parents sent him leaves from up north to affix to the card. I love the quote that he used. I just hope my cookies lived up to the sentiment.


Many hugs,


Kathy

Matt's Fall Cookie Baskets

A couple of weeks ago my friend Matt asked me to make cookie baskets for his clients. I was thrilled and embarked on making the baskets as beautiful as I could and filled with tasty cookies. I baked Toasted Pecan Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Tri Berry, Apple Cinnamon Crunch, Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan and White Chocolate Blueberry Pecan Cookies. Then I wrapped two cookies in each treat bag, tucked them in fall baskets, wrapped the basket in tulle and tied with fall ribbon.

Many hugs,

Kathy

Pumpkin Raisinet Cookies

To me nothing says fall better than pumpkin...anything pumpkin. Tonight I decided to try a new pumpkin cookie recipe I discovered on the Nestle site to see if it was worthy to add to my fall repertoire. The cake-like texture made it very different than any of my other cookies, but still very good.

Pumpkin Raisinet Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 can (15 oz.) Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups Nestle Raisinets Milk Chocolate-Covered Raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

Vanilla Glaze

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in Raisinets and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze.

Vanilla Glaze

Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla in small bowl; mix well.

Many hugs and fall moments,

Kathy

Nellie's Cookie

Yesterday when I walked into work at Costco, I received the most amazing gift. Nellie, the Manatee Coffee demonstrator and fellow avid baker, had baked the night before. She told me to stop by her demo area for a treat. Carefully wrapped in parchment, were 2 beautiful sandwich cookies for me to enjoy later...5 minutes later. Two light butter cookies were sandwiched together with caramel and the edges rolled in finely shredded coconut, almost like coconut dust. This cookie was one of the best I have ever tasted. It was so good it literally melted in my mouth. I ran over to Nellie's area again, this time to request the recipe. Nellie's parents were German and she was raised in Argentina, so her recipe is in the metric system. She promised to copy it down for me next week. Somehow I will translate it into something I can post and bake. It is just that good! The power of good cookies was out in full force yesterday. Time for a happy dance.

Many hugs,

Kathy

A Very Special Request

Yesterday I spent a couple of the best hours ever...in a hospital room in the cancer center at Florida Hospital Altamonte with my hero Mary Helen, her boyfriend Ron and my friend Rita. Mary Helen is in a battle with cancer and cancer is hitting her with everything its got. And yet, I have never seen a person exude more life and positive energy than MH did. We talked about politics, my silly blogs, the horrible hospital food, dogs, tumors, pain. We talked about life. We laughed...a lot! We cried...a little.

When I mentioned that I wanted to re-invent myself and maybe becoming a nutritionist to fix the horrible hospital food situation was the way to go, MH asked me to leave...to leave right now...to start culinary school. I would love to oblige, but financial reality won't let me. She then asked for some cookies. This I can do. I happily baked Tropical Escape Cookies and Toasted Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies and dropped them off to the hospital this morning.

Yesterday was a magical day thanks to my hero, Mary Helen.

Many hugs,

Kathy

Flu-Fighter Cookie

Friday night I decided to bake a type of breakfast cookie to take to Saturday's breakfast tailgate and opted for the Flu-Fighter Cookie recipe I found in this month's Food Network magazine. The flavor of the cookies is quite good and they look great, but were a little on the dry side. I think next time I might add a little more butter, molasses and Greek yogurt.

This recipe includes five key immunity-boosting ingredients.

Ginger - People in China, Japan and India have used ginger medicinally since the 1500's. The herb has some antiviral compounds and its antihistamine properties help combat congestion.

Cranberries - You have been told to eat an apple a day, but a cup of cranberries a day provides twice as many antioxidants, which help your body fight off cell-damaging molecules (free radicals).

Oats - Old-fashioned oats are rich in selenium, a nutrient that helps your body fend off harmful free radicals including the ones your body produces when you are sick.

Walnuts - A 1-ounce serving of walnuts has 1 mg zinc and zinc helps keep viruses from reproducing in your body.

Yogurt - Active cultures from yogurt help balance the bacteria in your digestive tract, boosting your ability to absorb healthful vitamins and minerals.

Flu-Fighter Cookies

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cup golden raisins
1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
1 1/4 cups roughly chopped toasted walnuts

1. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a medium bowl.

2. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the molasses, yogurt, ginger and lemon zest and beat until smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture to make a sticky batter. Do not overmix. Fold in the oats and half the raisins, cranberries and walnuts. Mix the remaining dried fruit and nuts in a bowl and set aside.

3. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Top each with some of the reserved dried fruit and nut mixture and chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 F.

4. Bake the cookies until dark golden, but still soft, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Many hugs and fewer sniffles,

Kathy