Secret Kiss Cookies

My plan this weekend was to start my holiday baking with my traditional peanut butter kiss cookies, but I discovered that I was out of shortening.  So I skimmed through one of my seriously used cookbooks from my childhood, Favorite Brand Name Recipe Cookbook, and decided to try these cookies for the first time.   Wow.  They were a huge hit and were one of the easiest cookies to make.

Secret Kiss Cookies

Cream 2 sticks softened butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Gradually add 2 cups flour and beat until blended.  Chill dough for about an hour or until firm.  Mold a tablespoonful of dough around an unwrapped Hershey's kiss and roll into a ball.  Make sure the entire kiss is covered.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12-16 minutes.  The cookies should be set, but not brown.  Cool slightly and coat with powdered sugar.

This is one cookie that is actually better after it's cooled completely.  I experimented with a variety of the holiday kisses.  The cherry cordial kisses melted and oozed out onto the cookie sheet, so those weren't the best choice.  But the mint truffle kisses were fantastic.  They gave the cookie just the right amount of chocolate and mint, and a day later when the cookies were cool, they looked awesome when you bit into them.

With only 5 ingredients (plus the Hershey's Kisses) and minimal time and effort required, this cookie recipe is definitely a keeper.

Blue Ribbon Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

It's that time of year again when my children begin to perform on stage.  We'll have concerts, musicals, awards ceremonies, and recitals for the next five weeks.  Tonight we begin with our youngest daughter's violin recital---her first one.  Our family is to bring cookies for refreshments, so I've decided to whip up some oatmeal butterscotch chip cookies.  I know many of you aren't oatmeal cookie fans, but you can't rule them out until you've tried this recipe.  I've adapted it from the Cub Scout book.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Beat together 3/4 cup lard or shortening (I think the lard is the best), 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 cup water, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until creamy.  In another bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and about 3 cups uncooked oats (I tend to use a little less oats so they're not as dry.)  Add the dry mixture to the wet gradually and beat together.  Then stir in 1 bag of butterscotch chips and drop by spoonfuls onto  greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

These cookies took the blue ribbon at our county fair several years ago; hence, the title of this post.  I haven't met anyone who didn't like them---even those who don't particularly care for oatmeal cookies.  At least, no one has let me know that anyway.  And the raw cookie dough is much sought after at my house too.  Fortunately today, I only had one child at home while I made them so there was still plenty of dough left to fill a plate of cookies.  Enjoy!

Going Kelly Green for St. Patrick's Day

I couldn't stand it any longer; I had to return to blogging.  I just missed it too much to take a longer break, and I missed sharing our life with all of you.  Over the past couple of weeks I have discovered that there are more of you visiting from all around the world than I originally thought, and that is encouraging and exciting to know.  To all of you readers who sent me emails, messages, or comments since my last post, I thank you.  Your opinions and words mean so much to me, and I appreciate that you took a few minutes out of your day to drop me a line.

With St. Patrick's Day coming tomorrow, I thought I'd share with you some of the things we're doing at our farmhouse to celebrate this feast day.  I whipped up some Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies the other night as an experiment.  I saw on Pinterest that you can simply add green food coloring to your regular chocolate chip cookie recipe to get the above effect.  I added about 15 drops to the 2 sticks of melted butter before adding and mixing all the other ingredients.  Once I did that, it seemed only natural to add some peppermint extract because who doesn't like mint with their chocolate?  A little goes a long way, so I only put 3 drops of the extract into the wet ingredients.  They turned out great; although, I would have preferred a darker shade of green.  Once you add all that flour and sugar, it lightens up the butter quite a bit.  I also had to add an extra 1/4 cup of flour since the peppermint extract and food coloring added more liquid to the recipe.  Oh, and I found the napkins in the top photo on clearance at Party City.  That place has everything!

Last evening, I treated the children to Rainbow Sherbet Floats.  I couldn't find any lime sherbet in the grocery store, so I had to settle for a gallon bucket of rainbow sherbet instead.  I decided that I actually like the looks and taste of these even better.

Simply put a couple of scoops of rainbow sherbet in a mug (we like ours frosted) and add 7-Up to the brim.  That's it.  The kids loved them.

All St. Patrick's Day items were 50% off at Kohl's this past weekend, and with my Kohl's cash I was able to pick up this wall hanging for only $5.  It's on our front porch this year.  There's not much Irish blood in our family, but I was able to find one Irish ancestor in my lineage from the late seventeenth century.  Regardless, I've always loved Celtic jewelry, music, poetry, and home decor.  My husband and I even had our wedding bands custom made into Celtic love knots.

Not one of my best chalkboard designs for the porch, but I was in a hurry so I used shamrock cookie cutters as stencils to make this.  With Easter coming in just a little over a week, I'll be changing over to all new decorations this weekend.

The best green of all is the one found in nature.  Our grass and pastures are already turning a lush emerald green.  This is such a treat for us because the past two winters brought so much snow that we didn't see green grass until well into April.  Our goats and sheep are very happy.

Our banks are also full of clusters of daffodils getting ready to open.  I think it's possible they'll be blooming by Easter, which is remarkable for us since Easter is so early this year.  We didn't have daffodils or tulips in bloom until the latter part of April last spring.

Tomorrow evening I'll be making corned beef for the first time in my life.  I saw an easy recipe on Pinterest where you just put the corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots in the crock pot with some water and beef broth for the day.  That sounds quick and easy enough.  I'm not sure if the little ones in my house will like it, but we're going to give it a try.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, Readers.  And thanks for coming back to read Preppy Mountain Farmhouse over and over again.

Baked Cavatelli, Botox Conversations, and Cookie Bars

In keeping with my earlier attempts to beat the January doldrums, we had some friends over for dinner last weekend.  While the boys took turns riding a dirt bike, the girls chatted and listened to music, and the adults discussed all kinds of unrelated things over some pumpkin beer and white wine.  This family is of Italian descent, but that slipped my mind when I prepared a menu of two full baking dishes of cavatelli, garlic bread, and salad.  Once they arrived, it occurred to me that none of my Italian dishes could possibly compete with what their grandmothers prepared.  But it was too late to change my mind.  I apologize for the somewhat blurry pictures today.  I took these shots hurriedly with my tablet after a few glasses of wine as everyone watched and waited for me to be finished so we could finally eat.  I'm not sure how other bloggers discreetly photograph their subjects for upcoming blog posts.  I always feel rather embarrassed photographing in front of my guests.

Baked Cavatelli

Prepare 1 pound of wagon wheel pasta al dente.  Drain and set aside.  Bake 1 pound of Italian link sausage for 45-60 minutes until cooked through.  Slice approximately 1/2 inch thick and set that aside.  In a small skillet, cook 3 small diced onions and 2 minced garlic cloves in some olive oil until tender.  In a baking dish, combine the cooked pasta and sausage, the onion mixture, 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, some oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.  Toss gently to combine.  Bake, covered, in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until center is hot.  Uncover and sprinkle another 1/2 cup of shredded mozarella on top.  Bake uncovered for another 5-10 minutes.  This serves 6-8.  I doubled the recipe to fill 2 baking dishes.

We picked up a couple of frozen loaves of garlic bread from the supermarket and put them in the oven right before it was time to eat.  Along with a tossed salad with a simple oil/vinegar salad dressing recipe I use all the time, dinner was made for 11 people, and there was some cavatelli left over.

There are friends you're just so comfortable around that you can talk about anything easily.  Somehow the topic of Botox came up.  And Botox parties.  And mobile Botox party trucks.  And injections of Juvederm and a host of other mid-life topics.  I don't even know how this all originated except I have only recently become aware of the existence of such things and have been rather curious about their effects.  When I was in my twenties, I thought that when I reached my forties and fifties, I would finally be able to relax about my appearance.  I mistakenly assumed that there would no longer be this pressure to look young, svelte, and...perfect.  But somewhere in the past 20-30 years, it seems that the standards have definitely changed.  I remember when a woman of 50, who could be a grandmother, would still look attractive, but she looked like an attractive middle-aged woman.  She didn't continue to look 30.  Now the checkout aisles are full of magazine covers of celebrities my age and much older who still look the way they did two or three decades ago.  It doesn't seem fair that we women never get to relax.  Not only are these women careful about their diets and exercise regimes, but I discovered a thick magazine in Barnes & Noble that is all about the latest products and procedures and surgeries that even non-celebrities go through in order to still look youthful and flawless.  At what age does this immense pressure to look like the cast of Friends end?  I hate that this exists, that I even think about it, and that my daughters will face this their entire lives.  Anyway, that is sort of what the Botox dinner conversations were about.  Only with good friends can these things be discussed at the dinner table along with politics, religion, and all those other impolite topics.

To finish off dinner, I made these sinful Dark Chocolate/Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bars.  Fortunately, they were gone by the end of the evening so there were no temptations for me the rest of the week.  

Dark Chocolate/Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bars

Stir together 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  In another bowl, beat (with mixer) 2 sticks of softened butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until creamy.  Add 2 eggs and beat well.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in 1/2 bag of Hershey's Special Dark mildly sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 bag of Reese's peanut butter chips.  Spread in a greased baking dish and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

As I end this blog post and continue to strive to age gracefully, I share the following quotes that keep me focused on what really matters:

"At the end of the day, you will not remember the person with the most beautiful face, but you will remember the person with the most beautiful heart and soul." (unknown)

"A pretty face gets old, a nice body will change.  But a good woman will always be a good woman."  (unknown)

"Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised."  (Proverbs 31:30)

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.  Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile."  (Mother Teresa)

And a heartfelt thankyou goes out to all my friends and family who have blessed me with their companionship over the past few weeks.  You are making winter fly by!

Sweets for Santa

We've been making all kinds of sweet treats this week to share with friends and family, to consume by us, and of course, to leave near the tree for Santa tomorrow night.  Our youngest also came home from school with a bag of reindeer food that she'll sprinkle on the ground in front of our house for Rudolph.  Below are the recipes for some of our favorite Christmas cookies and candies our family makes each year.  Some of these only take about 15 minutes to prepare.

Peanut Butter Bark

Pour 1 bag of white chocolate chips, 1 bag of peanut butter chips, and 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat.  Stir often to prevent sticking and scorching.  Once melted, add 1 cup broken pretzel pieces and 1 cup of peanuts.  Stir well and pour on a foiled cookie sheet.  Chill in refrigerator.  Once hardened, break into pieces.  I keep it stored in the fridge.

The most time-consuming treat we made were gingerbread men and women.  There was also a gingerbread reindeer and a few candy canes thrown in there too.  I usually just make sugar cookies, but our daughter begged me to make these this year.  It turns out that we like them even better than sugar cutouts, so this will become our new tradition.

Once one child began decorating, they all wanted to get in on the fun.  Even my husband participated.  By the time I was finished getting the last cookies out of the oven, there was no more gel icing left and most of the sprinkles were gone too, so my cookies were rather plain.

I was really surprised that my children loved the taste of these.  They're not nearly as sweet as some of the other Christmas treats we make.  I think we made 34 gingerbread cookies, and most of them were gone in two days.

Gingerbread Cookies

Stir together 5 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 teaspoons of ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Put aside.  Beat 1 heaping cup of shortening for 30 seconds.  Add 1 cup sugar, beat till fluffy.  Add 2 eggs, 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon of molasses, and 2 Tablespoons of vinegar.  Beat well.  Add the dry ingredients to beaten mixture, beating well.  Cover and chill overnight (or at least 3 hours.)  

Divide dough into thirds.  On a lightly floured surface, roll each 1/3 lump of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes.  Place about 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes.  Cool before decorating.  

*You can make these thinner and only bake for 5 minutes.  We like thick, soft, chewy cookies, so we made ours thicker.  Plus, I'm impatient and don't want to stand around rolling out twice as many.

This is the one Christmas cookie that I do bake at other times of the year as well.  These are our absolute favorites for some reason.  They're fairly quick to make too.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Cream 1/2 cup shortening and 3/4 cup peanut butter; add 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar.  Add 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat well.  Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly.

Shape dough into bouncy ball sized balls; roll in some granulated sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 375 for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately place unwrapped Hershey's Kisses on top of each cookie, pressing down slightly so they crack just a little.  Cool.

Peppermint Cookie Bars

Combine 1 roll of sugar cookie dough with 3 Tablespoons flour, and 1 Tablespoon mint extract.  Press out onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Immediately sprinkle a bag of white chocolate chips over the top.  Once melted, spread to cover the bars.  Sprinkle crushed peppermint candies on top.  Cool.

These are a lighter, cool minty cookie but are also quite filling.  A little goes a long way, and they look so festive.  Great with a hot cup of cocoa!

Other than a pumpkin cake roll that I still need to make for our Christmas dessert, I am finished with all baking for the week.  Time to relax a little before company arrives and the big meal preparations get under way.

May You All Have a Very Merry Christmas!