My Final Blog

I created this blog for a project for one of my classes and I thought it would be quite challenging, but to the contrary, it was a lot of fun.  At the beginning, I was giving my daughter cooking lessons.  I enjoyed that and so did she.

One thing the blog has given me is a chance to make my mother's cookies.  I only did three, but she use to make at least 15 different kinds.  Her cookies were always delicious.  We always looked forward to Christmas morning to eat them.

This will be my final edition of Janice's Cooking Corner.  Thank you to those of you who read my blogs and made comments.  They were very helpful.

HAPPY COOKING!!!

Critique of the Snowball Cookies

This is the first time I ever made my mother's snowball cookies.  The easiest part of the recipe was it was very similar to the butter cookies I made yesterday.  When I was forming the balls, I wasn't sure how big to make them.  I thought they were small, but when I baked them, they almost doubled in size. I remember that my mom's cookies were much smaller.

Other than the size, they looked just like my mother's cookies.  I thought they would taste just like them.  I was wrong.  They were good, but not as good as my mom's cookies.

Snowball Cookies

The third cookie I made was my mother's snowball cookies.

The recipe is as follows:

All the ingredients that I used

Sift together 
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Set aside

Cream
1 cup softened butter.  Gradually add
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar, creaming well

Blend in

1 unbeaten egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract; beat well

Add gradually

the dry ingredients; mix thoroughly

Optional:  

Stir in 1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped or ground.

Take the dough out, and form into a ball.

CHILL DOUGH--I put it in the refrigerator overnight.  I wrapped it in wax paper.

Take out of the refrigerator and

 Shape by teaspoonfuls into balls.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and baked for 8 minutes.

Roll warm cookies in confectioners' sugar.

Cool, and roll again in confectioners' sugar.

Definitely one of my favorites.

Critique of the Butter Cookies

I followed the recipe exactly as it was written.  It stated to preheat the oven to 400 degrees and to bake for 8-10 minutes.  So I did my first batch at 400 degrees for 8 minutes.  When the bell rang, I checked on the cookies and they were burnt.  So I changed the temperature to 350 degrees and cooked the second batch for 8 minutes.  The bottoms were light brown, so I didn't want to leave them in the oven any longer.

Butter cookies were never my favorite, but my kids always loved them.

Butter Cookies

The next cookie I made was my mother's butter cookies.

The recipe is as follows:

Sift together 
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Set aside

Cream
1 cup softened butter.  Gradually add
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar creaming well

Blend in

1 egg

1/2 tsp Almond Extract

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Add gradually

the dry ingredients; mix thoroughly

Press a small amount of dough through a cookie press onto ungreased baking sheets.

I used a Christmas tree and two flower disks in my cookie press.

Decorate with sprinkles before baking.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and baked for 8 minutes.

This is how they looked.

Definitely my family's favorite.

Critique of the Pizzelles

I didn't realize how much time was involved in making cookies.  I guess that is why I never really liked doing it.  When I tried making cookies, they never tasted like my mother's cookies, so I gave up.  But I thought now that I have the time, maybe it would be better.

My pizzelles tasted really good.  I preferred the pizzelles from my mother's iron, but I didn't like standing over the stove and counting 10 seconds on each side.  Her pizzelles were larger and thinner and, that in my opinion, makes a better tasting pizzelle.  The electric dual pizzelle maker was okay, but they were smaller and thicker.  Even when I put less batter, they still were thick.  

Thank goodness I only plan to make these cookies once a year.

Pizzelles

Well, it's December 1, and it's time to start the Christmas cookies.  The first cookie my mother would make were pizzelles.  You may see these cookies at stores or have tasted them before, but no pizzelles I have ever tasted, was as good as this recipe.  This recipe has been passed down from generation to generation.  My mother's mother used it, my mother, and now me, that would be over 70 years.

Here's the recipe:

6 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups of flour
3 tablespoons of anise seed
9 tablespoons of melted Crisco
2 teaspoons of anise extract

Beat eggs and add

1 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3 tablespoons of anise seed

2 teaspoons of anise extract

9 tablespoons of melted Crisco

and stir in 2 cups of flour gradually.  Mix until well blended.

My mother's mother and my mother used a pizzelle iron

I use it too, but I also bought a pizzelle maker to make two pizzelles at a time.

My mother would stand at the stove, pour a spoonful of batter 

close the lid, count 10 seconds on one side, flip the iron, and count 10 seconds on the other side.  This is how the pizzelle would turn out.

She would do hundreds of them…one at a time.  

As much as I loved the pizzelles, I didn't want to do all the pizzelles that way.  It would take a few hours to finish the batch.  So I did some one at a time, and some on my new pizzelle iron.

two at a time.  The pizzelles turned out smaller and thicker than on my mother's pizzelle iron, but still tasted good.

A little powder sugar for a sweeter taste.

ENJOY!