cookies!!

I am, unfortunately, famous for burning things. Foodish things. When I was in college, I worked for a family, for fifteen dollars a week (can you imagine? about 20 hours a week!!!) The mom had died, and they needed help with cooking and cleaning, and "babysitting" a nine year old. I knew NOTHING about cooking anything. I rarely cooked at home, didn't know much. So strangely enough, they hired this unexperienced nineteen year old (it was cheap LOL) I learned to cook with that poor family. (Not that I am that great now, but I get by) I did a great job helping with homework and such. We would watch Hogan's Heroes every afternoon and then he would do homework with help, and I tried to keep the house tidy. His brother and sister were quite a bit older, so I basically just took care of Tommy and then cooked dinner for the family.  I ate there sometimes, but usually didn't.  I learned how to cook with that poor family. I broiled pork chops one night and they turned out well but I neglected to clean out the broiler, until I turned it on the next time..... oh my.

Another memorable time also involved a broiler, many years later. I don't remember what I was cooking but it was in the broiler so long that the smoke alarm went off. The cows came running and stared in the windows. I was crying in frustration and then laughing at the cows and trying to figure out how to turn off the alarm. Fortunately it was not connected to the fire department or anything.

Today, I made cookies. I DID NOT BURN THEM. It's usually the last batch that gives me grief, because I think, well that's done, when I shove the last batch in the oven. But I FOCUSED today!!

My mother in law made wonderful cookies and taught me a few things. Undercook the cookies for one thing, just let them get barely brown. They keep cooking on the sheet. And don't leave the kitchen while the cookies are in the oven. Sit down, have a cup of tea. For me, FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS on the job at hand. DO NOT let yourself get side tracked. 

So I made cookies, thought fondly of my mother in law, and had some tea. Well it was coffee. Same idea. I stayed in the kitchen, used the timer. Was reminded of the time I set my mother in law to stir something while it was heating, and she complained it wasn't heating... turns out we both forgot to turn on the burner. 

So most people aren't proud of themselves when they don't burn the cookies, but I AM PROUD of my ADD self. 

And hubby is glad, and the people that I gave cookies too are glad, but they don't really know that I usually burn them, so they aren't proud of me, just thankful for cookies.

PS The chocolate chip recipe is on the bag of the chips. I collect all these recipes, then use the ones on the package. (eyeroll here!!) We get the  Ghirardelli 60% chocolate bittersweet chips. I also used less sugar, and half the chips and more chopped pecans. That way we can feel less guilty eating the high carb morsels. HA who are we kidding. 

PPS. My youngest child is 33 years old today. That means my oldest is 43. Crazy.

something different

We got a new cooktop finally, we have
been without since April due to screwups with the order and delivery and it took until the middle of July to get it done. Anyway, hubby was concerned with having things (strainers and whisks) hanging up there. So I took them down, but it left the area looking bare and plain. I've been looking for tile decals online but thought about some butterflies that I still had hanging around, so decided maybe I'd put them up. They are probably temporary but they are fun. Five minutes to spark up the back splash. Of course pictures show up all the nicks and oldness of the tiles, plus all the spots I missed. When I actually put up the final decals, I'll have to clean it with alcohol or something. Then I start thinking about alcohol inks and sprays and..... ok calm down, it would just run down the wall. Anyway I'll have fun with the butterflies. Pretend you don't notice the cleaning supplies in the scene. This isn't a professional blog LOL... just me.

recipes...

I sure am goofy. I flit from thing to thing. I got a new phone, and found an app I had forgotten about, Recipes. It is unfortunately obsolete. I thought I had quite a few recipes on there but there is a very odd assortment. So I started another blog for recipes, here:   Breakfast Lunch and Dinner. Doesn't that have a catchy name? Anyway I've got part of them in there. The whole purpose is to be able to access them on my phone. SO I HOPE IT WORKS. So far I see that the main tags are Cookies, Dessert, and whew Main Dish. A Balanced Diet. Sure.

Life as Told by Recipes...

Going through my mother in law's recipe file boxes. Yes, boxes! I realized as I was looking that this is a little piece of her life. She always said she wasn't a good cook even though she made DELICIOUS food! The reason, she said, was she always used other people's recipes. Who doesn't?  I never considered myself a good cook, and the reason was I don't follow recipes well! She was a wonderful cook, and always had the best collection of cookies for her neighbors, grandchildren, great grandchildren-- and whoever stopped by was asked if they would like some cookies and tea, coffee, or milk. Or fruit or vegetables, but that's another story.

She was blessed with friends. Her box has recipes from Audrey, Joy, Aunt Oletha, Violet, Fran. Some are in their own handwriting, or typed on an old typewriter. Little pieces of friendships that spanned decades. She lived in the same house for more than sixty years. Some of those friends were also friends of my mother's, some became friends of mine. I also heard the old stories of the Times Gone By. When my mother in law slipped into dementia, those friends became more real to her, and she talked of them often. I even became "Audrey" one day when she thought I was her. The present faded away, but the past stayed.

Those friends are gone now, and so is my mother in law. What a treasure of friendship they had! I can't help but imagine a Heavenly place, where I can see them sitting around the kitchen table, sharing life, swapping recipes. And maybe some of that wonderful zucchini bread.