Embarrassingly Delicious Cookies

I've been awfully busy lately, what with bringing home the bacon AND frying it up in a pan.  I don't have as much time for baking, which bums me out.  A lot.   I came across this recipe in an old Pillsbury cookbooklet (they used to sell them at the grocery checkout stand, by the TV Guide--whoa! how old am I??) and it turns out these cookies are absolutely delicious.  Well, they are delicious if you like chocolate and peanut butter. The embarrassing part comes in when you read that the whole recipe hinges on cake mix!  Maybe I am dabbling in the dark arts here, what with a sort of semi-homemade kind of a thing,  but I will definitely make these again.  They are certainly not chic, delicate little biscuits, but if you are in a hurry, and want something that looks fall-y, and Halloween-y, these cookies will be right up your alley.

Peanutty Chocolate Cookies    makes 3 dozen

1 (18.25 oz.) pkg. chocolate fudge cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 (15 0z.) pkg. Reese's Pieces

1 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets with Pam, or line with a Silpat.  In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, butter, and eggs; beat at low speed just until moistened. Stir in Reese's Pieces and peanuts (this make take some doing, but be patient and keep at it).  Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and just barely press down, arranging 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes (I did mine for about 11 minutes--all depends on your oven).  Let cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes, then move to rack to cool. Eat three in a row.

Family, Feasting, and a Merry Christmas!

We have our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.  Usually prime rib, but due to austerity measures this year, we are having bangers and mash (which we all love but rarely eat, for obvious reasons). On Christmas Day, we graze. There are mince tarts, jam tarts, and maid of honour tarts (yes, these get spelled the English way).  Christmas cookies, Christmas toffee, Christmas cake  (I feel like Elf and his four main food groups: "Candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup").  Sausage rolls, lox and cream cheese with bagels, bourbon balls, peppermint bark, mini quiches, and a box of chocolates.  Later, we add rolls, cold sliced turkey and sliced roast beef, and condiments and crudites into the mix.  It is a food extravaganza that goes on all day Christmas Day.  And because we do have this embarrassment of riches, I don't have to cook on the 26th, either.  Which is quite a treat, really, since I have been cooking like a fiend for the week (and longer, for the things that can be frozen) leading up to the 25th.

Springerle cookies (at right) are a new addition this year--we'll see how they turn out.  The sausage rolls (at far left in the picture above) are a perennial favorite. The tarts are on the tiered plate above, and Christmas sugar cookies (below right)  are made in a double batch, frozen, and then slowly doled out and quickly iced, otherwise we would scarf them down in a day or two.

Bourbon balls (below) are probably my favorite Christmas goodie.  Even when I was a little child I loved them.  They are very bourbony, so I'm not sure this says anything good about me.  The Christmas cake is a fruitcake draped with almond paste, then iced with royal icing (hey! this is what Kate and William's wedding cake was--just one more way in which my life parallels that of the royal family...).

The mini quiches, peppermint bark, box of See's, and Cadbury fingers are all gifts or purchased (once a year treats, and I can't do everything), and they nestle up nicely to the homemade English toffee (at left).

Now, I've not given you recipes, but these are all easy to find, run-of-the-mill Christmas treats.  I know Christmas isn't just about food, like I know that Christmas isn't just about presents.  But certainly you can't deny the huge role both play in the celebration.  Christmas is, of course, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it is also a time to celebrate family and tradition, which I think is just as significant to most people as the religious reasons for the holiday.  So have a very Merry Christmas, and enjoy your families and your feast.

Gainful Employment

It's finally happened.  The Vacaville Housewife has begun climbing the corporate ladder.  Well, the corporate step stool at any rate. And it is, may I say, absolutely no fun whatsoever.

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I get home after everyone else is home, and I'm beyond tired, and I still have to make dinner.  I know, I should have spouse or offspring do it, but  I'm not willing to do that.  I still feel adamant that dinner (and food in general) is my responsibility and I will persevere!  I didn't want to go back to work yet, but needs must, and so here I am.  When I was growing up my mother worked, but she was home by about 4:00, and we had housecleaning help.  If that scenario was on deck, I'd feel much better.  But sadly, it's not, so I content myself with planning my exit strategy, fantasizing about flinging down my papers and shouting, "I quit!"

Until that dramatic day, however,  I am left juggling grocery shopping, cooking, and laundry.  On the weekend, I make three lists of dinners:  make-ahead (to, uh, make, you know, ahead) quick and easy (to make on work nights), and regular (to make on weekends).  And as far as baking goes, well, there just isn't a lot of time for that.  Which makes me sad.  A quick and easy cookie that my mother used to make has always been one of my favorites, and it is also one of my children's favorites.  They are called Valley Cookies (though I'm not sure why, since they look more like little hills.  I also make what my children call Cave Cookies, so we have all the landforms covered.  But more on those another time.), and you don't even have to bake them.   You make them on top of the stove, leave them in the fridge to harden, and they take literally five minutes to make.  Do it before bed, and you'll have cookies for lunches tomorrow.

Valley Cookies  makes about 3 dozen

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk (I use whole milk)

1 stick butter (4 oz.)

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

4 Tbl. Hershey's unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla

3 1/4 cups oats (quick cooking or old-fashioned--I use old-fashioned)

[caption id="attachment_861" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Miss Congeniality cookies"][/caption]

Place butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat.  Add sugar and milk.  Increase heat and bring to a boil.  Boil for one minute.  Remove from heat. Quickly add the peanut butter, cocoa, and vanilla, and mix well.  Now add the oats (no dilly-dallying--you don't want the mixture to set up before you get the oats all mixed in).  Cool mixture slightly, for just a few minutes.  Drop mixture by tablespoons onto a greased or Silpat-covered baking sheet. You can also cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap, and drop the cookies onto the plastic.  Put the uncovered baking sheet in the fridge and let cookies harden.  When hard, remove from sheet and store tightly covered in the fridge.  They won't win any beauty contests for cookies,  but they sure are tasty.  And they get tastier when you think  how it took you about five minutes to make them.