Making one really big cookie!

I seem to have accidentally stumbled onto a very simple, fun and delicious way to make people happy!  It all began when I attempted to meet my niece, Morgan, in Glasgow after she had spent a few days in London..  Since she was supposed to arrive around lunchtime, I jumped on a bus and spent a lovely morning shopping!  One place I spent some relaxing time was in Lakeland.  This is a fabulous place if you like to cook.  It has an amazing assortment of anything you never knew you needed in your kitchen!  And there was a sale!  I did exercise loads of self control and picked up and put down lots of things I didn't need! The one thing that did not get put down was a heart shaped pizza/cookie pan.  One of those essential kitchen items!  But, Valentine's Day was coming up, so why not make Alan a big cookie?

The night before Valentine's Day, we suddenly found ourselves with our grandson spending the night!      Corbyn and I had a discussion about what to do for his Mum for Valentine's and he decided to make a cookie too!

The funny thing was - we agreed to wait until Alan had left for the afternoon.  But as soon as he left to walk our dog, Corbyn came crashing into the kitchen ready to start!  I didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm, so Alan returned to a very busy kitchen!  And I lost the element of surprise.  Oh well, the price grandparents pay!

Icing a large cookie is harder than expected!

The heart shaped cookie was non-negotiable even though Corbyn loves to give his Mum hearts.  He actually came out better, in a little boy's world, by using a regular pizza pan, which is bigger than the heart!

Getting a bit of help to start decorating

Doing his best!

Corbyn's finished product!

We had so much fun doing these cookies that I decide to make another one for my manager, whose last day at my work is my first day on a cruise ship!  As a result, I am missing the official leaving do. But my "team" decided to have an alternative do.  It wasn't meant to be exclusively our team, but no one else was able to go. We just went to our very local and fabulous restaurant:  Garfield's.



Before leaving the office though, I had hand carried this huge pizza pan full of cookie from Ayr to Ardrossan on the train.  Boy had I not thought about the awkwardness of that when I decided not to take my car!

But it was worth it to see the look of surprise on Sarah's face.  

The really funny thing was the way Sarah cut her cookie - like a pizza!  So 11 of us got a large slice of cookie!  There was one piece left and I cut it into 5 pieces before giving it to Sarah to take home!

What is the is the best thing to do after gorging your self on a large slice of cookie?  Go to Garfield's for tapas and cocktails!


The food and drinks were delicious. Funny thing though, it was only Sarah and myself that could actually drink!  With the new Scottish laws about how much alcohol is allowed in a driver's blood stream, practically zero, unless you are not driving at all, you cannot risk even one drink.  Never mind, the Project Team had a fantastic time together.  Turned out to a tremendous evening and we hope to repeat this again soon. And we will invite our friend, Sarah, since she will no longer be our manager!

Good luck in your new role, Sarah.  Your Project Team will miss you!

Whoop!  Almost forgot to include the recipe!  

Chocolate Chip Cookie - Pizza size!

Adapted from a Nestle's bag of chocolate chips.  I have tried to convert American measurements to British, but these measurements are my own and done in good faith!

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (195g plain flour)

1/2 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick/113g) butter (I always use unsalted butter)

1/2 cup (126g) brown sugar

1/3 cup (73g) granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 cup (6 oz) chocolate chips

1/2 cups chopped nuts (Optional and I did not use)

Preheat oven to 375F/170C.

Sift dry ingredients - flour, baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)  and salt in small bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy.  Add egg.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture gradually, adding small amounts and mixing well before adding more.

Add chocolate chip and nuts, if using.

If making cookies, drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake for 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Pan Cookie Variation:  

Follow same instructions.

Using baking parchment, line a pizza pan and spread cookie dough to the edge. (this is harder than it sounds!)

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes (I baked for 15 minutes), until golden brown.  Cool in pan on wire rack.

Enjoy!

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.  ~Arnold Toynbee

Basic Macaroni and Cheese

In these cold days of Winter, something simple, warm and filling seemed to be needed!  So I went to one of my old and trusty cookbooks from my high school days in the '70's!  The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book to be exact.  If you go into book stores even today, a very similar edition of this cookbook can be found, but I love this old friend!

This is always a success and everyone who has ever had my macaroni and cheese enjoys it. That is not always the case with my many experiments, so I treasure these simple recipes!  And the ingredients are almost always just sitting in your kitchen waiting to be used!  So here is a very easy and satisfying recipe for you to try!

I have also tried to convert the few measurements required so no one is limited to using only cups.  And at the end is the recipe with no photo for easy copying!

Macaroni and Cheese adapted from the 1972 edition of The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Oven temp -  350F/170C                                Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

This is actually the ingredients for doubling the recipe!
I was feeding too many people for only 6 servings!

1 1/2 cups / 247g  elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons / 42.5g butter
2 tablespoons all purpose flour/ plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
2 cups / 500ml milk  (I used skimmed milk)
1/4 cup chopped onion (optional and I didn't use this but it was about half an onion, before I changed my mind about using it!)
8 oz / 227g sharp process American cheese (I used Red Leicester instead)  cubed to approx 2 cups!




1.  Cook macaroni according to instructions on package and then drain thoroughly.

2.  In a different pan, melt the butter and slowly blend in the flour, salt and pepper.

3.  Add milk to the butter mixture, just a little at a time to prevent lumps forming in the sauce.  Once this is completely mixed in, heat until the sauce is thick enough to be noticeable on the back of your spoon.

4.  If you are using onion, now is the time to add this, along with the cheese.

5.  Once cheese is melted, mix the cheese sauce with the drained macaroni.

6.  Pour the mixture into a suitable sized casserole dish. The recipe states a 1 1/2 quart casserole, but I just use what looks like the right size!

7.  Some people like sliced tomatoes on the top of macaroni and cheese. This has never been a favourite at our house and I never do this!

7. Bake time is about  35 - 40 minutes but keep an eye on it to prevent the top getting too browned.


This recipe was very popular within my family and I have decided to always double it.  Then I will not bake it in one large casserole dish but a variety of small dishes, that can be frozen and ready for busy days!

"I am not one to turn down macaroni and cheese, even late at night. I love Italian food. I love pasta... A refrigerator full of water and Gatorade? Honey, that's just not gonna happen."

Queen Latifah

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter and Nutella

This is my second month with the Peanut Butter Bash and I am almost down to the deadline in finding a suitable recipe!  Not that we have didn't have plenty of notice, but I have just been really unlucky in locating a British recipe that seemed to work with the required ingredient of peanut butter and nutella!  But I believe I have found one now!

The link to our Facebook page is:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/peanutbutterbash/  If you are a food blogger, it is fun to have this challenge every month!

This recipe has been pinned to my fridge for almost a year though, so I didn't have to look very far!  Last year, the Steamer Trading Company in Glasgow had a special opening of its basement!  Doesn't sound like much, but they had rented their premises as one floor and noticed the stairs that went down to virtually nothing. Once investigated, there were dirt floors and who knows how long that part of the building was used last!  Needless to say, they held a grand opening and the basement is beautiful now.  During this celebration, there was champagne, cupcake decorating demonstrations and free baked goods from the Riverside Bakery just across the street.

Sue and I fell in love with their brownies and got copies of the recipe, the suggestions on this recipe is just add whatever you feel like. The ones we had included Salted Caramel sauce!  Fabulous!

For some reason, this recipe has lived on my fridge for all this time and only got its debut this morning!  Now I have to let these brownies cool and then post them to my son in London, since I really need them out of my house!  We will be going on a cruise soon and I don't need any temptation like delicious brownies sitting around in my kitchen!

I have attempted to convert the British measurements into cups and hope these work out alright for those of you who want to try this recipe using cups and not by weight.  For the butter, I always go to the online butter  conversion.  This has been the best thing for me to ever discover! Before that, I had such difficulty measuring butter.  When growing up with butter in measurable sticks and all recipes I used calling for this sort of measurement, it was virtually impossible for me to use my favourite American recipes when I first moved to Scotland!




Adapted from the leaflet provided by the Riverhill Coffee Bar 

Dark Chocolate Brownies      

Oven temp - 170C/350F

Ingredients:

300g/ 10.5 ounces Dark Chocolate 70%

200g/ 1 & 3/4 sticks  unsalted butter

4 eggs

200g/ 3/4 cup caster sugar (any granulated sugar will do really!)

140g/ 5/8 cup soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

170g/ 1 cup flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

my added ingredients for the Peanut Butter Bash:

4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons Nutella

Prepare a square 8 x 8 baking tin.

Being careful not to overwork the chocolate, gently melt the chocolate and butter on a low setting in the microwave, checking frequently.  When melted, let it cool slightly.

Add eggs and both sugars to a large bowl and whisk with an electric beater or Kitchen Aid until mixed thoroughly and becoming thick and creamy.

Add vanilla and cocoa powder and make sure they are well incorporated into the egg and sugar mixture.

The recipe calls for the chocolate and butter mixture to be "folded" in and I wonder why that is?  To me, that is what you do for muffins....however, I would fold as requested!

Following this, add the flour in small portions to ensure it is well incorporated into the rest of the batter.


On low and using 2 small pans, melt the peanut butter and Nutella separately.

Pour the batter into the brownie tin then add the peanut butter and Nutella on the top.  I dropped this onto the top in lines then took a knife to add a bit of a pattern.  If I were to do this again, I believe I would "cut" the peanut butter and Nutella a bit deeper into the batter to make them easier to cut mainly!

Next time, I would take the knife a bit deeper so the peanut butter and Nutella are not all on the top.

Bake for 25 minutes - (I had to bake an additional 5 minutes but am wondering about my oven since I seem to have to do that quite often now.)

The brownies should be fudge-like - if you bake them for too long, they will be more cake like.

Riverhill suggests adding all kinds of different things to this recipe such as pecans, white chocolate, salted caramel, berries or whatever takes your fancy, like I did with peanut butter and Nutella!

These brownies are amazing, if I do say so myself!
So yummy, in fact, that I quickly packaged up as many as possible and posted them to my son in London!
That way I won't be tempted to eat them!


Standard procedure at the post office is to ask what the contents of a package are.  After I told her it was brownies, the lady behind the counter laughed and said her next question should be the approximate worth of the contents, but these would be priceless!  Let's hope Martin agrees!

Added note - Just before posting this blog,  I got a message from Martin and his colleagues in London after they received the package of these brownies.  From the picture, it looks like they all agreed the brownies were priceless!  

"The trouble with remakes is that people fall in love with the original. It's like peanut butter. If you try to change the taste of peanut butter, you're in trouble."

Sylvester Stallone

Also be sure to check out all the other recipes from this month's Peanut Butter Bash!

From the Riverhill Coffee Bar  here is their recipe for

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Preheat oven to 170C/350F

300g/ 10.5 ounces Dark Chocolate 70%

200g/ 1 & 3/4 sticks  unsalted butter

4 eggs

200g/ 3/4 cup caster sugar (any granulated sugar will do really!)

140g/ 5/8 cup soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

170g/ 1 cup flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

my added ingredients for the Peanut Butter Bash:

4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

4 tablespoons Nutella

Grease and line a brownie tin.

Melt together the chocolate and butter in the microwave and leave aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile whisk eggs and sugars together with electric beaters or in a Kitchen Aid until pale and thick and creamy.

Add the vanilla and cocoa powder.

Fold in the chocolate and butter mixture and lastly the flour.

On low and using 2 small pans, melt the peanut butter and Nutella separately.

Pour the batter into the brownie tin then add the peanut butter and Nutella on the top.  I dropped this onto the top in lines then took a knife to add a bit of a pattern.  If I were to do this again, I believe I would "cut" the peanut butter and Nutella a bit deeper into the batter to make them easier to cut mainly!

Bake for 25 minutes - (I had to bake an additional 5 minutes but am wondering about my oven since I seem to have to do that quite often now.)

The brownies should be fudge - if you bake them for too long, they will be more cake like.

Riverhill suggests adding all kinds of different things to this recipe such as pecans, white chocolate, salted caramel, berries or whatever takes your fancy, like I did with peanut butter and Nutella!

Ranch Tortilla Roll Ups for a Birthday Picnic

To celebrate my grandson's 6th birthday, he requested museum visits in Glasgow!  We managed only to get to the Transport Museum.  He has been here before and it is so child and family friendly that is it a super day out!  And it is free, plus you can bring in your own food and eat at tables scattered throughout the museum.

We had hoped to visit Kelvingrove Museum on the same day, but time ran out and no one was disappointed.  It just gives us another day's activity to look forward to!

Plans for the day included a picnic and, considering this was the end of January, I did wonder exactly where we would be able to enjoy our picnic!  The discovery of those random tables were fantastic!  I was even able to bring in a lovely coffee from a stall outside when I went to our car to bring our food in. In this picture of our indoor picnic, I have no idea why Morgan and Whitney are still wearing their coats, and Whitney is also wearing Corbyn's hat!  Corbyn and I were not wearing coats though!


I decided to make one of our favourite sort of sandwich, but they are really little appetisers if you cut them up the way the recipe shows!  These little rolls are very healthy, loaded with broccoli, red onion and carrots!  Easy to make and I thought they would be nice to share!  Plus, if I put them on my blog, I won't have to search for the recipe every time I decide to make them myself!

Ranch Roll Up Snacks  recipe discovered on the Pillsbury website! 

Adapted from the Pillsbury recipe of the same name

• preparation15 min
• 2 hr 15 minutes

Ingredients

1

package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened  (I used low fat)

1

container (8 oz) ranch sour cream dip    (we don't have this dip in Scotland, so I used Ranch salad dressing)

1/2

cup finely chopped broccoli  (this is not alot of broccoli at all!)

1/2

cup shredded carrot

1/4

cup finely chopped red onion

4

slices precooked bacon, chopped  (It is not often, but I found American style bacon, makes it much easier since this kind of bacon crumbles!)

5

Old El Paso™ flour tortillas for burritos, 8 inch (from 11-oz package)  (any type  of tortilla works fine)

Steps

• 1  Beat cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth.  Add dip and mix until well blended.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
• 2
  

  

  Using a spatula or icing knife, spread the mixture onto the tortillas.  Make sure to get the cheese mixture all the way to the edges.
  
  
  
  Roll each tortilla individually and wraps tightly in clingfilm.  . 
  
  
  
  
  Refrigerate before serving, minimum time would be 2 hours, but I like to leave them overnight.
• 3These look lovely cut into small, bite size pieces, but they could easily be eaten whole, like a sandwich.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  "Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors." Alice Walker  

  (This is so true for all the UK and I had to share it!)

  
  
  
  
  Ranch Roll Up Snacks  recipe discovered on the Pillsbury website! 

Adapted from the Pillsbury website.

• prep time15 min
• total time2 hr 15 min
• ingredients7
• servings40

Ingredients

1

package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened  (I used low fat)

1

container (8 oz) ranch sour cream dip    (we don't have this dip in Scotland, so I used Ranch salad dressing)

1/2

cup finely chopped broccoli

1/2

cup shredded carrot

1/4

cup finely chopped red onion

4

slices precooked bacon, chopped  (It is not often, but I found American style bacon, makes it much easier since this kind of bacon crumbles!)

5

Old El Paso™ flour tortillas for burritos, 8 inch (from 11-oz package)  (any type  of tortilla works fine)

Steps

• 1 Beat cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth.  Add dip and mix until well blended.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
• 2Using a spatula or icing knife, spread the mixture onto the tortillas.  Make sure to get the cheese mixture all the way to the edges.
• 3These look lovely cut into small, bite size pieces, but they could easily be eaten whole, like a sandwich.  

•