1995 - It's All a Blur

From the date on this photo, we evidently 

finished baking before Dec 13: 

Behold our cookie tray from 1995.

Sigh. We were so busy this year. I tried to get Lisa to make the entries this time but she insisted that I'm the writer. Shows what she knows — I failed to make any entries in our beloved Cookie Journal! In fact, it's Dec. 1, 1996, as I write! I promise not be such a slug this year.

Anyway, I am not known for my year-to-year recall and so will have to rely on my memory-queen sister tomorrow (as we begin this year's 1996 baking) for any momentous details — aside from the naturally outstanding flavor and huge, record-breaking quantities.

Here are some notes I found that I had jotted down on one of Lisa's notepads, beefed up with anything she recalled:

We went back to Nestle's Original Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies instead of the Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies. Such traditionalists! We screwed up the first batch by accidentally doubling (or, in our case, quadrupling) the flour. Yikes! Yield: 20 dozen + 3 + those we ate. We made two double batches eventually.

As usual, we flubbed up in the inventory department and didn't have enough peanut butter to make Peanut Butter Cookies. We sent Lisa's eldest, Michelle, to Melton's Food Mart for another jar and had to settle for Peter Pan brand. Choosy mothers (and aunts) choose Jif. We also adjust though. We doubled the recipe and wound up with 12 3/4 dozen.

We couldn't find the Whoopie Pie recipe but evidently we did because we both remember indulging. They take a bit of time but they're so worth it. (I don't see them in any of the pictures though.)

We also made Sugar Cookies, Brownies Cockaigne and Pumpkin Cookies.

The week before Christmas, we had a sisterly sleepover
(complete with matching Christmas gowns!).

1994 - Brownies Cockaigne

Lisa in her festive finery, 1994.

We started with Pumpkin Cookies today (Dec. 4) and yielded 13 dozen beauties. These soft "cake-ies" definitely need cooling racks, so we improvised with a spare oven rack. We used two cans of Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting to top them once they cooled but we forgot to add nutmeg this year. Lisa suggested we sprinkle it over the tops and they looked pretty. 

Even though we loved Barb's Brownies, we decided to try the Brownies Cockaigne recipe in "Joy of Cooking" this year because we wanted a sturdier product that would hold frosting and pecans. They were fabulous! 

"Cockaigne," explains editor Marion Rombauer Becker in the "Joy" foreword, signified a "mythical land of peace and plenty" in medieval times. So she designated some recipes as favorites with this label (which was also the name of her country home in Anderson Township, near Cincinnati, Ohio). 

Brownies Cockaigne

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt in a double boiler (or microwave-safe bowl):

1/2 c butter

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

Set aside to cool (otherwise the brownies will be heavy and dry).

Beat until light in color and foamy in texture:

4 eggs, at room temperature

1/4 tsp salt

Add gradually and continue beating until well creamed:

2 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

With a few swift strokes, combine the cooled chocolate mixture and the eggs and sugar.

Even if you normally use a mixer, do this manually. 

Before the mixture becomes uniformly colored, fold in, again by hand:

1 c sifted all-purpose flour

And before the flour is uniformly colored, stir in gently:

1 c chopped pecan meats

Bake in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan about 25 minutes. 

Cut when cool, as interiors are still moist when fresh from the oven.

One can of Betty Crocker chocolate frosting was plenty to cover a 9-by-13-inch aluminum pan (the disposable kind).