Hot Stuff!!

 

So…what’s the best thing to do when it’s a million degrees outside and all you want to do is sit in front of a fan and drink iced coffee??? You crank up the oven to 350° and bake cookies, of course!

 

I found this super easy cookie recipe online a couple of years ago and made some great chocolate cookies with it for Christmas. It was the winter. No prob. It calls for only 3 ingredients: boxed cake mix, tub of cool whip and 1 egg. The next time I was at the store I picked up a strawberry cake mix. I really wanted lemon, but they didn’t have that. I also got a tub of cool whip. Those two items languished in the pantry cabinet/freezer for almost 2 years! I finally decided I really needed to use up that cake mix soon, and I had no idea what the cool whip looked like after being hidden in the icy wasteland that I call the freezer.

 

The cake mix looked fine, as did the cool whip after I thawed it. So…even though it was a million degrees outside…I baked those cookies. And while this recipe is easy, it is extremely sticky! Be warned!

 

Basic recipe: 1 boxed cake mix, any flavor, 1 8oz. tub cool whip, 1 egg. Mix together and drop by teaspoonfuls in powdered sugar (OK, there’s another ingredient, making it 4. So sue me).

 

Place on cookie sheet on parchment paper. Bake 350° for 12-15 minutes. They will be very soft at first. Let cool before removing from cookie sheet.

 

Now for the sticky part…and I mean REALLY sticky. After it’s all mixed up you WILL get it all over your fingers when working with it. What I do is have a small bowl of powdered sugar with a teaspoon in it. I’ll take a spoonful of dough (with another spoon) and scrape it off into the sugar. Then I take the clean spoon in the sugar and spoon it all over the cookie, using the spoon to flip it over and get completely coated. THEN you can pick up the cookie and place it on the cookie sheet. They will spread a bit, but not much while cooking. Most of the labor is scooping out the dough and covering it with the powdered sugar.

 

Now for another tip: be careful when removing the sheet from the oven. I found out that parchment paper is VERY slippery and if the sheet is tilted at all, the whole piece will slide right out and onto the floor. This happened with the first batch because I was using a cookie sheet that had no sides. I immediately learned my lesson. No one’s tossing cookies on MY watch…

 

The Wraith – Josephine

 This was my favorite room in our house. My parents were very wealthy and generous to me. It was in this room they held a ball for me when I turned 16. It was a magical night. So many people! Wonderful music! Lots of handsome young men to dance with! I had my first kiss with Jameson Watson, when he led me out to the patio by the east lawn. And there were many more kisses from him as time went on…

 

When I was 18, Jameson asked Daddy for my hand in marriage in this very room. We were celebrating my graduation from Miss V. Sander’s finishing school. We were to marry in 2 years’ time when Jameson came into his inheritance. We decided to hold the wedding reception in this room. So many things to look forward to…

 

When Jameson died in a fall from his horse while fox hunting a year later, I was inconsolable. Mama said I was suffering from nervous exhaustion and should go to Europe for a rest cure, but I knew that would not help. A traveling doctor sold them a tonic that he claimed would set my mind to rights. Daddy bought the doctor’s entire stock and Mama was very diligent in seeing that I had my tonic with every meal. I spent most of my time in this room laying on my favorite chaise in a daze. Time meant nothing…

 

When the tonic ran out, a year and a half had gone by, of which I remember very little. My parents tried to interest me in seeing other men, holding a lot of dances here for me, but they were of no interest to me anymore. I still loved this room though…

 

The years went by and I occupied myself with gardening and looking after Mama and Daddy. When Daddy’s bank went bust, he sold all of the property except for the piece where this house stood. Times became difficult. More and more of the furniture was sold. Mama became ill and died. Daddy wandered through the house as if he was looking for Mama. Eventually, he and I were mostly living in this room. We had my favorite chaise and his easy chair by the fireplace at the other end. They were quite worn out, but then, so were we…

 

After Daddy died, I was the one wandering through the house. I found a dusty box behind the pantry and it was filled with bottles of my tonic. That helped my days go by easier. I knew now what the tonic was, and that it was no miracle cure, but I found it a comfort…

 

I have the last 4 bottles now and am determined to finish them all this night. I suspect what this will do to me, but I no longer care…I’ve lived in this room for a long time and dying in this room is a comforting thought…

 

…Jameson!! I’m here!!

 

 

Too Pretty To Eat?? NEVER!!

 

 I have yet to find a dessert that I would not consider eating. Even strawberry rhubarb pie. I’m not overly fond of rhubarb, but with enough sugar in it along with the strawberries and ice cream on top, I would definitely give it a go. Trolling around for attractive food I found these:

(Remember to click on the pic to make it bigger.)

 

 

Galaxy Donuts!!! – Who wouldn’t want Galaxy Donuts!!! Yes, I would probably take a picture of them first. Then I’d grab a big glass of milk and off we’d go…

 

 

 

Churro Cheesecake – Any kind of cheesecake is wonderful, but the combo of churros and caramel sauce with it is outstanding. I looked up the recipe and know that I would never actually make one myself. I don’t do stuff with a lot of ingredients/expertise/prep time. I would rather pay the price and buy it.

 

 

 

Black Velvet Cake – As far as looks go, this one “takes the cake” so to speak! (See what I did there?) It’s made with black cocoa, which I’d never heard of. It’s not just dark chocolate, it’s BLACK chocolate. Another one I would never take the time to make. Just give me a big slice and I’ll go away quietly…

 

 

Blueberry Pie – I LOVE blueberry pie. I might even be persuaded to make one. But I’ve never done a fancy crust. I am in awe of some of the really fancy crust designs out there. This one looks fairly easy to do…BUT…if you look at the picture, you will see that it’s a jigsaw puzzle! The gal that made the pie was so chuffed by her efforts that she printed up a picture of it on a puzzle template to have forever. Brilliant!! Then she probably ate all the pie…I know I would have…