Sweetness

 The little lady and I always like to whip up a little something sweet (and pink) for Valentine's Day.   For this mama, cooking with my lil' gal is about as sweet as it gets.  This year we tested out two new recipes, (easy) Strawberry fudge and Sledge cookies.  In addition, I threw together a batch of our tried and true Smitten Kitchen Oatmeal Raisin cookies that would be donated to the little lady's school bake sale.  These cookies have become a weekly staple in our household after the doctor's continued rave reviews.  In fact, I recently purchased a cookie jar just to hold Jeff's weekly supply. 

Strawberry fudge

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened (I use unsalted butter, but perhaps I ought to be using salted butter with the husband's sodium chloride sensitivity.)

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Penzy's if you got it)

1/4 teaspoon salt (bumped that up to 1 full teaspoon)

1 1/2 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup raisins (or chocolate chips if your children have consumed all the raisins in your kitchen)

1/2 cup, chopped walnuts (optional, but if chopped super fine add a lovely texture to the cookies)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins/ chocolate chips, and walnuts if using them. (I also think Craisins and white chocolate chips would be a welcomed alternative.)

You can either chill the dough for a few minutes, or scoop the mixture unto parchment lined trays two inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges. Allow to cool before transferring to a wire rack. 

***

Sledge Cookies

yields sixty

 (Yup, didn't pay attention to that number.  Ended up freezing half of the batter, after my hand began to cramp.)

I photocopied this recipe out of one of my book club books ages ago; therefore, I cannot provide the original source, but can confirm that these are a tasty alternative to traditional chocolate chip cookies.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) of butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons vanilla

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups oats

One 12-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips

One 12-package butterscotch chips

*Just before dropping the dough onto cookie sheets I realized that salt was not among the ingredients added.  Knowing we prefer a salty cookie in this family, I sprinkled kosher salt onto the dough balls just before baking.  I'm sure they would be delicious without the salt, but a bit of salt helps cut through the sweetness.  

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream the butter and sugars together.  Add the eggs, baking soda, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Mix well.

Gradually add flour at oats.  Stir in chips.  Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased or parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes.  Do not over bake.  Cool for about 5 minutes and remove from cookie sheets.  Cool on racks.

***

A few sweet highlights of our day included:

Receiving packages of love from family and friends, and tearing them open during breakfast.

 Packaging sweet treats to deliver to neighbors. 
Our sweet ones get a thrill out of tip-toeing down the hallways of our building to secretly drop off baked goods.

Getting creative after naps.

"Look Mom!  I made myself!"

Daddy arriving home in time to attend "Special Person Night" at Carol Nursery School.  The little lady was beyond thrilled to have her daddy accompany her to school 1) without her brother and 2) at night! 

Sharing a meal with my valentines.

This year I did not prepare my usual feast of "Biscuits of Love." However, we did enjoy one of the children's favorite meals, Smitten Kitchen's tomato sauce with onion and butter and garlic bread. I have realized that preparing a meal for my family is one of my favorite ways to demonstrate my love for them. And, it does not hurt that I, too, enjoy sitting down to a good meal. A bouquet of roses is sure pretty, but a loaf of warm garlic bread soothes my soul.

*Ironically, Jeff and I will (again) postpone the giving of our gifts to one another.  (We keep things simple over here, he prepares a song on the guitar to sing to me, and I write down the many reasons I love him in a card.  Simple, but extremely meaningful.)  Immediately following "Special Person Night,"  he will drive to Pittsburgh.  Tomorrow is a day full of interviews for him.  We'll look forward to sharing our special moment together another evening.  I know it will be worth the wait!