Melt in Your Mouth Shortbread Cookies

Does it ever amaze you how you can be married for 25 years and then, out of the blue you find out something about your spouse you never knew. Such as, his pet peeve is breaking the spaghetti noodles in half before cooking them. Or that his second favorite kind of cookie (after the obvious chocolate chip) is shortbread.

Last night we wanted a little treat, and with this new information and knowing I didn't want to whip up a big batch of chocolate chip cookies, I found this little gem. Only 4 ingredients and they truly do melt in your mouth AND they were so quick to make.

 

MELT IN YOUR MOUTH SHORTBREAD COOKIES

1 cup butter (no substitutes)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups flour

Make sure you butter is softened (9-11 seconds in the microwave usually does it). Whip the puddin out of the butter. Put your mixer on high and let it go for about 3 minutes (wipe down the edges once or twice). Add your powdered sugar and let it mix another minute or so. Then add the cornstarch and flour. Whip it again for an additional 2 minutes.

Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. The dough is soft so I used my cookie scoop. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. You want the edges so they are just starting to turn light brown. Take them out and let them sit for a few minutes to cool or they will fall part.

Just as good the second day :)

My Notes: I think these would be a great holiday cookie, You could drizzle with a little chocolate like the picture, or put your thumb print in the top before baking and add a little dollop of jam. It could be a versital dough to play with.

Pumpkin Dessert

My mom was gallavanting around the country this summer and picked up this yummy recipe in the process. We may let her gallavant around more often if she comes home with more gems like this. She made it for us Sunday and I added it to my list of definite blog worthy recipes. I am making it tomorrow for my daughter's teacher appreciation luncheon, so will post a picture tomorrow after making it.

Pumpkin Dessert

2 (15 ounce) cans solid pack pumpkin
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (optional, unless you are me, then they are required)

Frosting:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Line a 13 X 9 inch pan with waxed paper and coat the paper with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk and sugar (she also added 2 tsp of cinnamon). Beat in eggs and vanilla. Pour into prepare pan. Sprinkle with dry cake mix and drizzle with butter. Sprinkle with pecans and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. When cooled, invert onto a large serving platter; carefully remove wax paper. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Frost dessert. Store in refrigerator.

She used real whip cream instead of the whipped topping. It was delicious :)

Black Peppered Shrimp and Dipping Sauce

Can you believe this is SCD legal :)

I was a little nervous with all the pepper in this, but if you like shrimp, it is a winner!!!

Black Peppered Shrimp and Dipping Sauce

2 lbs of shrimp, raw, deveined, unpeeled, thawed (about 21-30 count)

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

3 T black pepper (I like coarse ground)

1/2 cup butter

crusty loaf of bread (not SCD legal)

Rinse shrimp and pat dry so marinade will stick better.

Squeeze lemons until you have 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Throw in blender with garlic, salt and blend until garlic is in itty bitty pieces. As blender is running, drizzle in oil. I just guesstimate try and do about 1/4 cup or so. Put this in a gallon size ziplock bag with shrimp. Let sit for 20 minutes. Not to much longer or the citrus will cook the shrimp and it will be tough.

Turn on oven broiler. Line cooking sheet (with sides) with foil for easier cleanup. Dump all the contents of ziplock bag on foil. Sprinkle on half the pepper, stir around and add the rest of the pepper and stir again. I know 3 TABLESPOONS seems like a lot, but it turns out... trust me. Because the shrimp has the shells on, it isn't to spicey.

Next I take my cube of butter from the freezer (forgot to tell you about that step) and using a cheese grated, grate it over the shrimp trying to spread it evenly. I actually only use about 3/4 of the stick of butter. Put pan under broiler for 5 minutes or until shrimp start to turn pink, turn shrimp over and cook for another couple of minutes. Don't overcook or they will be tough.

Put shrimp on platter and pour juices in a boil for dipping shrimp and piece of your crusty bread in.

YUMMY!

* Now this is where I get on my soapbox, since we are trying to be more aware of what we are eating with Courtney's Crohn's. Most shrimp in the grocery store is from Eastern Asian countries. They raise their shrimp on farms and end up having to put chemicals in the water to prevent disease and keep the growin. Three different banned antibiotics were found in the shrimp: enrofloxacin, an antibiotic banned in animals that Americans eat because it damages the immune system; chloramphenicol, suspected to cause cancer in humans; and carcinogen nitrofuranzone, which was banned in the U.S. 40 years ago.

So look for wild caught shrimp (it will cost your around $1 more a lb) and verify with restaurants as to where they get their shrimp. You might have to deveine them yourself. But it is as simple as using some kitchen shears and snipping up the backside and cleaning out the vein with water.

Hot Cinnamon Milk Mix

Just made this tonight and it got rave reviews. Even from my husband who is a chocoholic. After a quick taste, he chose this instead of a fancy holiday hot chocolate mix we splurged on.

Hot Cinnamon Milk Mix (to fill a quart jar)
2 cups powdered milk
1 cup powdered French Vanilla creamer (found by coffee aisle, like coffemate with vanilla)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon

Simply mix together and fill your jar! To enjoy, mix 1/3 cup of mix with hot water. If you want it a little creamier, you can mix 1/3 cup of the mix with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup milk.

Recipe to fill a pint jar
1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup powdered French Vanilla Creamer
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

This would be a fun neighbor gift. Cut a fabric circle and tie it on the jar. Put a tag with directions on it and you are good to go.

My son, who is home from college, said I could mix up a bag for him to take back. Isn't that thoughtful of him.

Cranberry Chicken

I think everyone has this recipe. If you don't, then you can thank me later for letting you "in" the loop. I made this for approximately 40 ladies at a Christmas dinner. It is pretty full proof and very tastey.



Cranberry Chicken

1 (16 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
1 (8 oz) bottle French dressing
1 envelope onion soup mix
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cranberry sauce, dressing, and soup mix. Place chicken breasts in a greased 3 quart casserole dish or a 9 x 13 baking dish. pour mixture over chicken and bake uncovered 45 - 60 minutes. Serves 8.

Gingersnap Cookies and Pumpkin Dip

We are headed into the holidays, which usually means parties, and taking treats to share. We scour through our recipe boxes and the internet looking for something "new", but good. Since we will be sharing with our friends. If you like pumpkin flavor, then this is a winner. Plus it makes a very pretty presentation and is also something different.

I put the pumpkin dip in a pretty dish on a platter and surround it with the gingersnaps. Make your gingersnaps smaller so you don't have to worry about people double dipping. If you are in a hurry, Costoc sells a big tub of gingersnap cookies which are yummy, and a decent price. You can also buy those wafer thing gingersnap cookies at Safeway. They can be slightly expensive though.

Pumpkin Cream Chees Dip

4 cups powder sugar
2 8 oz. packages cream cheese
1 30 oz. can pumpkin pie filling mix
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger

Beat Sugar with cream cheese and then add everything else and whip until fluffy and combined. Pour into a bowl.

Mom's Ginger Snaps (from allrecipes.com)

1 c packed brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup white sugar for decoration

Preheat ove to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; stir into the molasses mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/4" balls. Roll each ball in white sugar before placing 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven, or until center is firm. Cool on wire racks.

We cut the pumpkin dip recipe in half. It makes a quit a bit. I think I would also cut out 1 cup of powder sugar and then add that back in at the end until it was the desired sweetness.
We made our ginger snaps smaller and cooked them a little less time because of the size. I wanted a one dipper size to prevent people from double dipping (which would happen with a larger cookie). Hope you enjoy.