acmespaceship (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
acmespaceship) wrote2009-12-16 01:39 pm
acmespaceship) wrote2009-12-16 01:39 pm
Useful Knowledge for the Season - #2
These are my people:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/dining/16cookies.html?em
Really. Pittsburgh is not far from my hometown of Cumberland, MD. I don't particularly recall cookie tables at weddings... I recall cookie tables at every event. I remember St. Paul's Lutheran Church when they held an after-service reception for a retiring pastor. Everyone apologized to me (the Daughter Visiting From Chicago) because it wasn't going to be a big spread like the potluck dinners, just punch and cookies. Now, picture a gymnasium. There is a 4-foot wide table running from under one basketball net to the mid-court line. There are a few punch bowls on this table, and some stacks of plates and cups. Every remaining square inch is covered with cookies. Tiered serving racks 3, 4 and 5 levels high. Your only clue as to the color of the tablecloth is to look at the sides hanging down because you cannot see the top of the table. Every shape, color and ingredient you can imagine in a cookie is here. Busy ladies replenish the platters with more cookies as others are taken away. And as you graze down this table, people keep apologizing because it's nothing much.
With this as my cultural heritage, I fall pathetically, miserably short but do my best. Here is a recipe for last night's experiment. My son proclaims these are ready to publish. Since "Oatmeal Cinnamon Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies Using Canola Oil Instead of Butter So You Can Eat More" is far too many adjectives, I will name these after a blended tea and call them "Chocolate Comments." Or, since![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
e_m_b insists on calling the tea "Constant Complaint" perhaps these are "Chocolate Complaints."
Chocolate Complaints
Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes
Grease the cookie sheets or line with parchment
Mix dry ingredients:
2 C oatmeal
1 and 1/2 C unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream:
1/2 C canola oil (you could use melted butter and feel guilty)
2 large eggs
1 T orange zest
1 C brown sugar
1 C white granulated sugar
1 T vanilla (yes that's a lot of vanilla)
1 T orange juice
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and then stir in as many chocolate chips as you see fit to add. I bet you could add walnuts to good effect if you can stand yet another adjective. Maybe raisins, too.
If the dough seems too soft to handle, let it rest a few minutes while the oatmeal takes care of the extra moisture as you know it will.
Drop by Tablespoon, leaving a couple inches between cookies for spreading. Bake at 350 until centers are soft and edges are beginning to brown, something like 14 minutes.
Warning: just lately I've been using heavy baking sheets and silicone liners, and it seems that cookies take an extra minute or two with this setup. If you're using a thin sheet and parchment, check the cookies around 12 minutes.
Please let me know how it works out. Think of it as beta testing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/dining/16cookies.html?em
Really. Pittsburgh is not far from my hometown of Cumberland, MD. I don't particularly recall cookie tables at weddings... I recall cookie tables at every event. I remember St. Paul's Lutheran Church when they held an after-service reception for a retiring pastor. Everyone apologized to me (the Daughter Visiting From Chicago) because it wasn't going to be a big spread like the potluck dinners, just punch and cookies. Now, picture a gymnasium. There is a 4-foot wide table running from under one basketball net to the mid-court line. There are a few punch bowls on this table, and some stacks of plates and cups. Every remaining square inch is covered with cookies. Tiered serving racks 3, 4 and 5 levels high. Your only clue as to the color of the tablecloth is to look at the sides hanging down because you cannot see the top of the table. Every shape, color and ingredient you can imagine in a cookie is here. Busy ladies replenish the platters with more cookies as others are taken away. And as you graze down this table, people keep apologizing because it's nothing much.
With this as my cultural heritage, I fall pathetically, miserably short but do my best. Here is a recipe for last night's experiment. My son proclaims these are ready to publish. Since "Oatmeal Cinnamon Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies Using Canola Oil Instead of Butter So You Can Eat More" is far too many adjectives, I will name these after a blended tea and call them "Chocolate Comments." Or, since
e_m_b insists on calling the tea "Constant Complaint" perhaps these are "Chocolate Complaints." Chocolate Complaints
Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes
Grease the cookie sheets or line with parchment
Mix dry ingredients:
2 C oatmeal
1 and 1/2 C unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream:
1/2 C canola oil (you could use melted butter and feel guilty)
2 large eggs
1 T orange zest
1 C brown sugar
1 C white granulated sugar
1 T vanilla (yes that's a lot of vanilla)
1 T orange juice
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and then stir in as many chocolate chips as you see fit to add. I bet you could add walnuts to good effect if you can stand yet another adjective. Maybe raisins, too.
If the dough seems too soft to handle, let it rest a few minutes while the oatmeal takes care of the extra moisture as you know it will.
Drop by Tablespoon, leaving a couple inches between cookies for spreading. Bake at 350 until centers are soft and edges are beginning to brown, something like 14 minutes.
Warning: just lately I've been using heavy baking sheets and silicone liners, and it seems that cookies take an extra minute or two with this setup. If you're using a thin sheet and parchment, check the cookies around 12 minutes.
Please let me know how it works out. Think of it as beta testing.