Flourless Cookies

(Published on surfKY News on May 31, 2012)  

So many people are going “gluten free” these days, but do we know exactly what gluten is? Gluten is a protein found most commonly in wheat and other related grains such as rye and barley. Gluten can also be used to thicken and bind foods, act as a stabilizer and it can be its own protein supplement.

The move to go gluten-free has been called this decade's low-carb diet. Since many dieters cut out carbohydrates, which include breads and pastas, a gluten free diet has become the fad of the weight watchers of today.

There are many recipes available to accommodate a gluten-free diet and there are many products that are labeled “gluten free”.

For many years, during the holidays, I have made coconut macaroons, which can be made without using flour. They are quick and easy to make, are gorgeous when they are lightly browned and they make nice gifts when presented in goodie containers or decorated jars. I love the smell of the almond extract that is used in the recipe and the unique taste it gives when blended with the coconut.

Who knew that for years, I had been practicing a gluten-free diet.....well, at least with my macaroons.

Here are a few recipes for cookies that do not require flour.
 

COCONUT MACAROONS

5 ½ c flaked coconut
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 t vanilla extract
1 ½ t almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine coconut, sweetened condensed milk and extracts; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonful’s onto aluminum foil-lined and generously greased baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Immediately remove from baking sheets. Store loosely covered at room temperature.


FLOURLESS DEEP DARK CHOCOLATE COOKIES

1 ½ c bittersweet chocolate (chips divided about 9 ounces)
3 large egg whites (room temperature)
2 c powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray baking sheets with nonstick spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow crème. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue. Stir in lukewarm chocolate and 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dough will become very stiff). Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 8-10 minutes (do not overbake). Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes.
 

FLOURLESS OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3 c rolled oats, not quick cooking
2 sticks softened, unsalted butter
1 ½ c firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 t vanilla extract
½ t salt
¼ t miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees, line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Process 2 cups of oatmeal in food processor until finely ground and floury. Combine ground oatmeal with whole oatmeal, baking soda and salt together in a bowl, set aside. Cream softened butter until smooth, then add brown sugar and continue mixing until well combined. Add eggs, vanilla extract and mix again. Carefully blend in the dry ingredients then fold in chocolate chips. Drop dough on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned.


NEXT WEEK—How Does Your Garden Grow?

Under the Big Top

(Published on surfKY News on May 18, 2012)  

I remember as a child going to the circus when it came to town, watching all the wild animals, the flashy costumes and beautiful horses. I was also fascinated by the huge elephants and how such a gentle giant would allow the beautiful women to ride them. I do not remember ever meeting any of these exotic animals up close but when my son was little, there was nothing he was scared of.

We started a Thanksgiving weekend tradition of going to the circus each year. One year, JoJo would want to get his picture made with the baby tigers and the next year, he wanted to pet the horses. The year he wanted to ride the elephant, I felt a huge lump come up in my throat. It's one thing to admire these huge creatures from afar and it's one thing to watch the trained performers ride them. It's another thing to watch your child climb up on an elephant that has a mind of its own, that could take it upon itself to go in a different direction than where it is being led. I think I held my breath for the entire three minutes he was on that gray bull. JoJo was so excited when he climbed down from his ride. Little did he know that his mother was nearly in cardiac arrest.

Give Me The Chocolate and No One Gets Hurt

(Published on surfKY News on May 11, 2012)  

 There once was a time when I considered lobbying the USDA to make chocolate have its own level on the Food Pyramid. I figured that if chocolate could be incorporated into nearly any type of food group, it should be honored on the pyramid.

I have grown from having a crazy passion for chocolate to appreciating the wonders of it. Since May 15 is National Chocolate Chip Day, let's take a look at the history of the chocolate chip.

The chocolate chip evolved from cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestle chocolate bar that was added to a cookie recipe by Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. The Nestle company soon made a deal for the rights to that recipe and invented the chocolate morsel. The chips were packaged in a yellow bag and had the “Toll House Cookie” recipe printed on the back.

The Fastest Two Minutes In Sports

(Published on surfKY News on May 3, 2012)

Kentucky is known for a lot of things, including bourbon whiskey, bluegrass music, basketball, beautiful women and fast horses.

This Saturday, May 5th will be the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race covers one and one-quarter miles at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the elusive Triple Crown which includes the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes. The last horse to win the Triple Crown was affirmed in 1978.

The derby usually draws a crowd of approximately 150,000 people and the fans look forward to the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home” as the horses enter the track.

The Unsinkable

(Published on surfKY News on April 26, 2012)

Maybe you have noticed, or even if you haven't, Culinary Crafts has been on a two week hiatus. I would love to say that I have been out celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic striking an iceberg and sinking in the cold Atlantic Ocean near Nova Scotia. But I can't.

I would love to say that I have been visiting the town of Queenstown, the last port of call for that tragic maiden voyage of that great ship. But I can't.

I would love say that I was helping prepare one of the many copycat nine-course meals of what was served at the last meal on that fatal journey. But I can't.

Oh well...a girl can dream.
 

Would You Like Fries With That?

 (Published on surfKY News on April 5, 2012)

Like many young people trying to work their way through college, I served my “McDonald's Time” and I am very proud of it. I had some of my greatest times in college standing behind the counter asking, “Would you like fries with that?”

We are coming upon the anniversary of the opening of the first McDonald's by Ray Kroc, who was a seller of milkshake machines. On April 15, 1955, Kroc opened his first restaurant near Chicago. Today, McDonald's is the top fast food chain and reported an all-time high revenue of $27 billion in revenue for 2011.

McDonald's has come a long way from their simple menu of just hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, shakes, soft drinks and apple pies. Today, the menu features frappes and cappuccinos, fruit smoothies, Angus burgers, salads, wraps, oatmeal and the newest addition, a wonderful strawberry and cream pie.
 

PB&J Day

(Published on surfKY News on March 29, 2012)

Since I do not have any little ones around anymore, I am not sure how popular peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are in this day and time. But after sending a self-created survey through text messaging to several of my friends that have kiddos, I discovered that, in my small circle of friends, the PB&J is now DOA.

I used to love PB&J sandwiches. I also loved putting peanut butter on bananas, celery sticks, crackers and many times would just eat it right out of the jar. These days, I enjoy cooking with peanut butter and I have a favorite, killer, peanut butter pie recipe that is a hit anywhere I take it.

During World War II, peanut butter and jelly were on the US Military ration menus so many soldiers added jelly to the peanut butter to make it more edible. Peanut butter was also used as an alternative to meat, since it was inexpensive and high in protein. When the soldiers returned from the war, the sales of peanut butter and jelly soared in the US. It also helped that peanut butter was not on the list when the nationwide food rationing was instituted in the US in 1943.
 

Do You Double Dip?

(Published on surfKY News on March 22, 2012)

One of my favorite episodes of Seinfield is the one about George double dipping a chip at the wake of his girlfriend's aunt. Obviously, George did not think he did anything wrong when he dipped his chip, took a bite then proceeded to dip it again. But his girlfriend's brother Timmy, gets a little bent out of shape and proceeds to scold him about his practice of double dipping.

Every time I am at a get-together and see dip on the food table, I think about this episode and I wonder how many people actually double dip. Anyone that does double dip, is it out of habit? Or is it to spread those microbes in the dip? In reality, double dipping is comparable to kissing everyone at the party. So in the future, you might want to check out the guests and then decide to just spoon a little dip onto a plate to prevent becoming too friendly with the others in attendance.

Finger Lickin’ Good!

(Published on surfKY News on March 15, 2012)

After I went through my phase of raising pygmy goats, I decided to try my hand at raising chickens. I borrowed a few friends that had knowledge of how to build roosting boxes, it helped that they also knew how to use a hammer and a drill. We built several boxes and mounted them inside the barn which once housed my goats. I then got feeders and water containers ready for my new chickens. Now, all I needed was chickens.

I made several trips to the local flea market and to a few friends chicken coops and soon acquired my first group of chickens. After introducing them to their home, I started naming each of them-Tammy, Loretta, Tanya, Patsy and Reba. After settling in, they started laying eggs for me and I felt like I was going on an Easter Egg hunt each and every day. The girls loved their big barn and huge field that they could roam in anytime. I was enjoying the chickens so much, I decided to add a few more to my flock-Wynonna, Dolly, Shania and Martina.

My New Interest

(Published on surfKY News on March 8, 2012)

Several weeks ago, a friend sent me an invitation to a website called Pinterest, which is a site for setting up boards to post things that you find while surfing the internet. At first I was not very interested in Pinterest, but I started reading about it and checking out what others are posting to their boards and then I became addicted.

We are creatures of habit and lately, I have noticed that my surfing habits lead me to the same sites day after day. I check my email; I check my twitter feed, CNN, Facebook and a few other favorites. But I am not one to venture too far out of my comfort zone, even if it only consists of a few strokes on the keyboard. But Pinterest gives me the opportunity to “follow” people that I know or that have the same interests as I do. I have found many new sites that interest me just by checking out the boards of the people I follow.

Pigging Out

(Published on surfKY News on March 1, 2012)

I have had many animals in my lifetime. I have had gold fish which eventually went belly up and were buried in a swirl of a flush of the toilet. I have had many cats and dogs, pygmy goats and chickens. I currently live in between two farms, one with cows and one with horses. I have close friends that have several reptiles, including snakes, bearded dragons and a gecko. And then I have some friends that have two pet pigs.

Radio, born on Valentine's Day five years ago, had a twin brother named Forrest Gump, but Forrest did not live very long. My friend says that Radio and Forrest were victims of inbreeding and they just could not give up on saving Radio. Their other pig, Porkchop, turned one this past November. Radio and Porkchop live in a Pig Condo with lots of sweet feed and comfortable bedding. Radio prefers straw bedding but Porkchop has a favorite blanket that he has to get just right before he lies down.

Take a Flying Leap

(Published on surfKY News on February 23, 2012)

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Save February, she alone
Hath eight days and a score
Til leap year gives her one day more.
 

Nearly 2000 years ago, Julius Caesar decided to reorganize the calendar and add an extra day every fourth year. Since the Earth takes 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to travel around the sun, if an extra day was not added, the calendar year would not synchronize with the solar year. Nearly 1600 years later, Pope Gregory XIII made the system even more accurate by ruling that centurial years (1700, 1800, 1900, etc.) should not be treated as leap years unless they were divisible by 400.

Random Acts Of Kindness

(Published on surfKY News on February 16, 2012)

The first time I heard about random acts of kindness was on the Oprah Winfrey Show. She was talking about how people were performing selfless acts for others, for no reason other than because they can, with little or no recognition for the acts. The phrase, “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” is claimed to have been written by Anne Herbert onto a place mat at a Sausalito, California restaurant in 1982/1983.
 
One of my favorite movies is “Pay It Forward”. It stars Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey and Haley Joel Osment. The plot of the movie is centered on a class assignment to devise and put into action a plan that will change the world for the better. Eleven-year-old Trevor (Osment) develops a plan based on the networking of good deeds, rather than paying back a favor, the recipient “pays it forward” and asks that person to continue to pay it forward, creating a pyramid of acts

A Rose by Any Other Name

(Published on surfKY News on February 9, 2012)

We are coming upon the sweetest day of the year. There are many ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with your special someone and if you try to be creative about it, you can find many things to do that will not break your bank account.

Consider getting all the ingredients to make a special dinner. Put on some music and enjoy preparing the meal together. If you do not enjoy cooking, order your favorite carry out, throw some pillows on the living room floor and enjoy your takeout while watching a romantic movie. If you are an artsy kind of person, you can make your own card or a book of vouchers to entitling your sweetheart to such things as a massage or a relaxing bubble bath.

Please Don't See A Shadow

(Published on surfKY News on February 2, 2012)

I remember a time in my life when I did not care one way or the other if the sun was shining or if it was raining or if it was snowing outside. The weather was not on my list of priorities. Funny how, when we get older, our priorities change.

If I get up to a dreary, cloudy day, my mood feels like that. But if I see that the sun is shining and everything it bright, I feel so much better. There are many days that I still feel like I have the blahs, but at least when the sun is shining, it is a little more bearable.

The Corn Chips Have It

(Published on surfKY News on January 26, 2012)

In 1932, the manager of San Antonio's Highland Park Confectionery purchased a corn chip recipe for $100 and started his own corn chip business in his mother's kitchen. Charles Elmer Doolin and his mother produced the corn chips, which they sold for five cents per bag. They soon outgrew the confines of the kitchen and started producing the chips in warehouses in Houston and Dallas and became known as The Frito Company. In 1945, The Frito Company merged with the H.W. Lay & Company to become Frito-Lay, Inc. and in 1965 merged with Pepsi-Cola to create a new company called PepsiCo. Today, PepsiCo is the largest globally distributed snack food company.

Corn chip are very versatile, they can be loaded with salsa or dip, they can be crumbled into soups, chili’s and salads and they can even be used to make haystacks. Corn chips were considered a food group in my younger days and my favorite meal in the school lunch room was Mexican Haystacks.

The Big 21

  (Published on surfKY News on January 19, 2012)

“When they are little, they step on your feet. When they grow up, they step on your heart”. If you have had any part of raising a child, you are probably familiar with this quote, which is one of my favorites. Another of my favorites was quoted by the infamous television father, Cliff Huxtable, “I brought you into this world......and I'll take you out!”

When I was pregnant, I did a lot of reading and researching on parenting. With all this information, I just knew that I could be a wonderful parent and have a terrific child. I forgot the part about the child having his own brain!

13 X 3

 (Published on surfKY News on January 12, 2012)

The new year is not even two weeks old and we are already facing our first “Friday The 13th”. Any month that begins on a Sunday will have a Friday the 13th. We will have three of these days of superstition in the year of 2012, which is the most that can happen in any given year.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th. If you have this phobia, you may stay home on this day, stay away from ladders and black cats, and you may try really hard not to break a mirror. If anything bad happens to you on this day, you may always associate bad luck with this day.

Many cities do not have a 13th street or avenue and many buildings do not have a 13th floor. Legend has it that if 13 people sit down to dinner together, one will die within the year. Some people that were not so lucky on Friday the 13th include Al Capone, who was sentenced to prison on a Friday the 13th, Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed on a Friday the 13th and Hubert Humphrey, the 38th Vice President of the United States who died on a Friday the 13th.

Warming up for Winter

 (Published on surfKY News on January 5, 2012)

Old Man Winter made his entrance in an amazing way this past weekend. Saturday, I was wearing short sleeves and no jacket. Sunday, I was freezing so much my teeth were chattering. You know what they say about Kentucky weather, “If you don't like it, wait a few hours, it will change.”

I am like an old wasp. When I get cold, I find it very hard to do anything, which really does not make sense. I know that if I would get up and move around, I would get warmer. Seems that I, like a lot of people, complain about being too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. I am never happy with the weather.