A-Cookie-A-Day

I haven't posted much this month, but that doesn't mean I haven't been in the kitchen. In fact, I have been "procrastibaking" like a professional (after all, that is how this blog came about)! On Friday, coincidentally the Mayan predicted apocalypse, the written portion of the qualifying exam (QE) for my graduate program is due. Just in case the world ends on Friday, I didn't want to spend my last days on alive workin' to the bone.  So, during the afternoons, I've been baking! Oh, and going on vacation!

During my last trip to Houston, Texas, I got my bake-on. While the boys were at work, I was busy trying really hard to focus on my QE. I ended up procrastibaking. In my effort to use up the ridiculous cache of baking supplies in my apartment, I flew to Texas with little baggies containing pre-measured ingredients for a cookie recipe I have in my recipe box, know I've made, but don't remember how they taste. The recipe is for German Chocolate Cookies from BHG. They are dark, they are kind of healthy (fruit, nuts, flaxseeds, oatmeal, dark chocolate, eggs) and they are very addicting!

The next day, I decided on pie. A certain boyfriend I know loves puns and liquor. That sounds bad. He's got an impressive liquor collection and loves making mixed drinks for other people. That's not to say there isn't a video of him floating around the internet where he chugs a 40. [rolls eyes] Undergrads, so irresponsible. Oh yeah, he also loves pie. We celebrated his birthday a little early with Drunken Raspberry and Portly Pear Pie from Food 52. I won't pretend that his roommate and I didn't pick it simply for the punny name. It was an interesting pie. The flavor was great but the pears gave it a gritty texture. I probably won't be using pears in baking any time soon. Also, I made the crust with lard. It was immensely flaky, but I don't really understand the hype.

I arrived back in St. Louis to an empty fridge. I was cranky and  unmotivated. With the minutes ticking away toward QE submission time, I went into A-Cookie-A-Day mode (like any rational, under-pressure graduate student would do)!

A-Cookie-A-Day, "Abby's Kitchen" Style:

Day 12: Maple Cookies from Simply Recipes
These are one of my favorite Fall cookies. While it's not technically Fall, it kinda feels like it is and I love denying that it's ever Winter. This was my first time baking with Grade B maple syrup. I have to say, I prefer these cookies with Grade A, which is good, because Grade B is really hard to find. My Grade B was from the Dane County Farmer's Market which was exciting because I bought it locally! If I'm going to pay a lot for maple syrup, I like knowing that the people who went out, tapped the trees, boiled and bottled the stuff get to see the profit.

Day 13: Triple-Ginger Cookies from Bon Appetit
My friend Kelly came over to procrastibake with me! She was craving ginger cookies. I normally follow Homesick Texan's recipe, but since I had fresh ginger leftover from Naturally Ella's delicious Spicy Peanut Sauce, we tried this recipe from Bon Appetit. We didn't have crystallized ginger, or dark brown sugar, or light molasses, but we made due. We even did a science experiment and reviewed the recipe! Check out our review!

Day 14: Almond Crunch Cookies from Bon Appetit
Because sometimes you're planning on moving and want to get rid of your liquor and decide to use it in cookies so as not to become a lush (kidding, it's really because you're a lightweight and can't possibly drink it all in time). These are super buttery, which makes me think the recipe might not have the right flour-sugar-butter ratio, but they are also kind of delicious.

Day 15: Salted Mudslide Cookies from How Sweet Eats
Not only is there a 3/4 full bottle of Amaretto, there's also a half-full bottle of Kahlua that needs drinking and a few packets of Foldger's instant coffee in the cupboard. Enter Salted Mudslide Cookies. Now, here's a funny secret, I don't like coffee (though boyfriend may have gotten me hooked on Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes [please don't get me started on how I feel about Starbucks' business practices, because falling for these lattes has really caused a moral dilemma]). Yum. I expected that I would hate these, but I really really like them.

Day 16: Andes Mint Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Mommy loves cookies. Years ago, she asked me to make Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies for her Christmas gift (the kind where you spread the mint over the cooling cookie to make the mint into frosting). Since then, I've been doing regular holiday/birthday baking. She loves my chocolate chip cookies with walnuts and her favorite cookies are snickerdoodles. This year, I decided to mix it up. I stuffed half of an Andes Mint into my great-grandma's chocolate crinkles (I got the idea from A Finn in the Kitchen). Best straight out of the oven when the Andes Mint is still gooey. Yum!

Day 17: Cereal Killer Cookies from I Adore Food (Oatmeal, Chocolate and Coconut)
Today I worked on my QE all day. I mean it. I woke up, got out of bed, went to my computer and wrote. And wrote, and wrote, and wrote. I'm nearing a full draft. What remains is to write one more section in the topical review and add a few (very important, as in, if I don't address these issues I will probably fail) things to the research proposal. After nearly 10 1/2 straight hours of writing (minus breakfast and lunch breaks), I decided that it was cookie time. What was really important to me was that my Cookie-A-Day binge include oatmeal cookies. Oatmeal cookies were the first cookies I made by myself. Home alone one summer day, I found the recipe in my brother's Boy Scout Handbook. The section was on experimenting in the kitchen and cooking. The cookies were delicious. That was my baking debut! My mom is sure lucky that I found the ingredients and supplies (after probably a dozen phone calls). I'm the official family baker (and her personal cookie-maker). This isn't my usual oatmeal cookie recipe, but it is pretty tasty! Strangely, my cookies are far more oatmealy compared to last time I made these. They also look way more oaty than the picture, though I followed the recipe (but added chopped almonds). Hmm.. ??

Day 18: Candy Cane Crinkles from The Slow Roasted Italian
Ok woah! I worked on my QE for 15 hours yesterday! At 3 o'clock this morning, I took a few papers to bed to look over. I read for a little bit then realized how exhausted I was. My alarm was set for 8:15 to get to lab meeting by 9:15. When I woke up and looked in the mirror, I saw a ghost peering back. I was so pale that I almost put on some rouge to look sanguine. I can't lie, it felt kind of good to actually get dressed. After lab meeting, I stayed at work for more QE writing. Seven hours later I needed a break (and a cookie). I stopped at the grocery store to pick up candy canes, ended up with candy canes, pickles, hummus and a Chocolove peppermint candy bar. I would be lying if I pretended I didn't eat the chocolate bar and hummus for dinner (give me a break, I'd only eaten 2 oatmeal cookies and an apple during lab meeting and half of a sandwich for lunch. Oh that, and I'm a grad student. Anything above free food from seminars puts me above my peers). Anyhow, I made these candy cane crinkles. They are the perfect sugar cookies, with a hint of peppermint. If you love sugar cookies, try these.

After submitting my qualifying exam, I went into holiday mode. Turned on Billy Gilman Classic Christmas, made a homemade New Year's card and baked cookies to take back to Wisconsin. With the crazy unhealthy lifestyle I've had the past week while finishing my qual, I couldn't be more excited to head back home.

Nan's Chocolate Crinkles

I always called my great-grandma "Nan." It wasn't until about 5th or 6th grade that I realized her name was actually Marjorie. She was a feisty, young-at-heart, Italian red-head from the east coast (Jersey, maybe?). As long as I knew her, she had white hair and deep wrinkles. She wore a bright coral-pink lipstick, always the same shade. She smelled of baby powder. I loved writing and receiving mail, and so she became my pen-pal. Everyday after school, I stopped at the mailbox to see if she'd written. Her letters were usually about the weather or her cats, Koko and Kellie. She always sent me a one dollar bill with her card. I always addressed my letters to "Nan," and the ladies in my great-grandma's apartment complex thought it was the cutest thing. One time, I accidentally put the stamp and the return address label on the wrong sides. The mail carrier still delivered it. Again, the ladies at my great grandam's apartment complex thought it was the cutest thing. I, on the other hand, was mortified!

Nan passed away when I was in 7th grade. I remember hearing my name called over the announcements between classes asking me to report to the main office, and I just knew. We made it to the hospital in time to say goodbye. A few days later, I received my last pen-pal letter from her. It contained a dollar bill as always. She wrote to tell me she loved me, that she would be watching me from heaven with my great-grandpa Bobby, and most importantly, she asked me to take good care of my mommy for her. That was nearly 13 years ago. Every year at Christmas, I get a little teary and remember her. She had her designated chair at Christmas Eve and usually wore a red or black sweater with a string of pearls around her neck. We always gave her a bottle of strawberry bubble bath from Shopko. My grandma always gave her a pastel sweatshirt with flowers or birds on it. I can almost hear her disapproving voice scolding my brother for picking on me. Holidays just aren't the same without her.

When I think of Nan's cooking, I think of spaghetti and crab cakes. I think of potato salad with sliced hard-boiled eggs on top, sprinkled with paprika. I think of coming back from the pool to eat turkey sandwiches with iceberg lettuce, Kraft Singles and Miracle Whip on white bread. I think of eating macaroni and cheese with hotdogs and ketchup, while fighting with my brother under her huge dining room table. I think of the way my great-grandpa "Bobby" used shake powdered Kraft cheddar cheese on everything, particularly mashed potatoes. I think of fridge full of Diet Coke, a full stick of butter in crystal on the countertop and a candy dish full of mini Milky Way candy bars. I think of her Flour, Sugar, Coffee and Tea canisters that were the basis of many of my first "experiments" in the kitchen. I think of her wooden spice rack hanging on the kitchen wall across from her plastic dried chiles.

Before I left for graduate school, I transcribed all of my favorite family recipes. There were surprisingly few of Nan's. One of the recipes, in her handwriting, on the back of a check register, was for chocolate crinkles. Who knows where she got the recipe, or, if she ever even made them.  Nonetheless, the recipe is written in her later-in-life hard-to-read handwriting which is enough to make it special. When I finally got around to making cookies, I was pleasantly surprised by how good they were. I made them for a Pampered Chef party and they were the first to go! If you decide to try them, keep in mind that the dough has to be chilled overnight, and be sure to heed the *DO NOT OVER-BAKE* warning! Mint-Chocolate lovers: take note of the variation at the very bottom!

Chocolate Crinkles 
1/2 cup oil
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, melted chocolate and sugar. Continue mixing and add the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the oil mixture and mix until the flour is just incorporated. Chill overnight.  Drop the dough by the teaspoon into the powdered sugar and shape into balls. Bake at 350º for 12 minutes on a greased baking sheet. *DO NOT OVER-BAKE*

**Variation: Chocolate Mint Crinkles** to take these to the next level, stick half of an Andes Mint in the center before baking! Absolutely best warm from the oven, but great afterward too. I got this fabulous idea from A Finn in the Kitchen.