2006 - Overnight (Cookies) Sensation

SIGH! For some reason, I couldn't get motivated this year! I was as sick as a dog the day after Thanksgiving, so that didn't help. And I've been very busy with Charlie and all his school-related activities. But his last day of school is Friday and I needed to get moving so we can give cookies as gifts to his teachers. Sooooo, right after I got home from walking Charlie to school, I got busy!

While waiting for the butter to soften, I whipped up another batch of Pumpkin Bread. I wound up with seven mini loaves. I froze all but one, which I intend to eat for breakfast!

I was still undecided what to even make this year. I didn't want to make all the same things again. And since the oven was in use for the Pumpkin Bread, I thought I'd try Lisa's Festive Fudge. It's an Eagle Brand (condensed milk) recipe that she gave me last year. It was easy and quick — I made one pan of chocolate fudge and one pan of chocolate-pecan fudge. Of course, I sampled a square from each batch (two hours of chilling later) and deemed it dee-lish! I tinned it all up and put it in the fridge. Yield: 2 pounds.

After that, I decided to go with Lime Meltaways again. They're easy enough, being slice-and-bakes, so I mixed up the dough, wrapped the logs in parchment, and put them in paper-towel tubes in the fridge. I made a double batch of four logs, which I'll slice and bake tomorrow. 

Then I called Mom to ask her about Grandma Baker's Overnight Cookies. As kids, we never liked them as much as her other cookies. I remember Dad loved them and ate them by the handful. But Mom couldn't find her recipe, so I called Aunt Judy in Ohio. She easily found the recipe and quickly rattled off the ingredients. She couldn't say how long to bake them though and said, "Can't you tell when they're done?" I had to laugh! Of course I can but my OCD kicked in and I needed her to say!

I started them in my stand mixer but had to switch to an enormous bowl — it's a gigantic recipe! Aunt Judy remembered that Dad didn't like nuts (and neither does Charlie) but I do, so I added pecans to half the dough. I got five hefty logs from it. By that time, Charlie was home and writing his Christmas cards at the table, so I called it a night.

Without nuts for Charlie (and most kids).

Grandma Baker's Overnight Cookies

4 c brown sugar

1 c butter

4 eggs

6 c flour

1 Tbsp soda

1 Tbsp cream of tartar

1 c nuts

In a large bowl, sift together flour, soda and cream of tartar. In a HUGE bowl, combine brown sugar and butter and blend well. Add eggs and combine until well-mixed. Stir in nuts.

Form dough into loaves or logs and wrap in parchment paper. Chill overnight. 

Slice and bake cookies at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 to 10 minutes (rotating cookie sheet midway). Makes about 15 dozen!

With nuts, for meeee!

I shared this recipe with the Foodtastic Friday Feelin' at Not Your Ordinary Recipes. 

1998 - Judy, Judy, Judy!

Thursday was our last day of baking. We made 12 dozen Dunkable Brownies (don't mix double batches by hand, fools!). 

We also made 8 dozen Lime Meltaways, a recipe in Martha Stewart's Holiday magazine. We messed up one batch by somehow adding powdered sugar instead of corn starch! 

A week later, I drove Dad up to Bettsville, Ohio, to visit his relatives. We stayed at his sister, Judy's, house for a few days. He enjoyed it very much because he was surrounded with family and he enjoyed some of his favorite foods that he associated with home, including Sugar Pie and Rivels (a noodle and potato soup). Aunt Judy also had the traditional Baker favorites on her cookie platter: Chocolate Chip Cookies, Buckeyes, Whoopie Pies and more. He was extra tired, though, from all the medication he was on for his multiple myeloma.

One afternoon while he was napping, I brought out the Cookie Diary and a few of my cousins asked to read it. We flipped through the pages around the dining room table and had a few laughs. Aunt Judy copied her Buckeyes recipe into the diary for me and my cousin, Jill, added her recipe for No Bake Cookies. My sister and I had always called that School Fudge, and I didn't know what happened to my recipe so I was tickled to get Jill's version. And even though it wasn't a cookie recipe, I copied Aunt Judy's Sauerkraut Balls into the diary (there's that German heritage again!). I have yet to try them but they sounded yummy at the time.

Aunt Judy, Dad, Grandma Baker and Uncle Bobby, 1998.

It was a nice visit - Dad's last, as it turned out. And little did we know it would be his last Christmas as well.

Jill's No-Bake Cookies

2 c sugar
1 stick oleo (margarine)
4 T cocoa
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c peanut butter
2 1/2 c oatmeal

Boil sugar, oleo, cocoa and milk for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla, peanut butter and oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Aunt Judy's Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (Buckeyes)

1 stick margarine (1/2 c)
2 c peanut butter
3 c powdered sugar
1 12-oz package chocolate chips

Mix first three ingredients together and roll into small balls. Place in refrigerator to chill.

Melt chocolate in double boiler (or microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes). Drop each peanut butter ball in chocolate to coat. Place on waxed paper to dry. Let cool and enjoy!