Tomorrow's Baked Good

Cherry Chip Cookies

3 c flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup candied cherries quartered

These look like small pancakes. I mixed the batter excessively. I had already put the egg-butter-sugar mix into the flour and mixed in the chips and cherries when I realized I forgot the milk, so mixing in the milk at that point caused the overmixing. They are very tasty, nevertheless.

Tomorrow's Baked Good

Cranberry bars

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped frozen cranberries

350-degree oven 20-25 minutes

Tomorrow's Baked Good

These are very crumbly. I have sliced them, but won't take any more of them out of the pan until tomorrow, after they have been in the freezer overnight. I am puzzled about the recipe's assertion that the yield is two and a half dozen. The portions would have to be unmanageably small. The taste of the filling resembles mincemeat, This photo is with my new camera. The jpeg file is ten times as many bytes as photos with the older camera.


RAISIN OATMEAL BARS  Source: cooks.com

2 c. raisins, chopped
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 c. water
1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 to 1 c. packed brown sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. rolled oats
1 tbsp. water

Combine first 4 ingredients together and cook over medium heat until thickened. Set aside. Cream butter and brown sugar, then add dry ingredients. Mix until crumbly. Press half of mixture into 13 x 9 inch pan. Spread raisin filling over top. Sprinkle rest of crumb mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Makes 2 1/2 dozen bars.

Yellow Tumbling Tom Tomatoes 13 days old

Tomorrow's Baked Good

Raspberry Macaroons

Today's Backyard Garden

Yellow Tumbling Tom variety of tomatoes

Tomorrow's Baked Good

Russian Tea Cakes, from One Smart Cookie, by Julie van Rosendaal

3/4 cup ground pecans

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup softened butter

Canola oil

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Powdered sugar

I also used rainbow crystals colored sugar

The recipe called for 1 tablespoon of canola oil, but the mixture was too crumbly, so I added more oil as I went along.

These are also called Mexican Wedding Cakes.

I got the rainbow crystals colored sugar at Cash & Carry

I used a tiny amount of cinnamon extract in addition to vanilla extract.

The call numbers for this recipe book are TX772.R658 in the Library of Congress classification and 641.8’654 in Dewey.

Tomorrow's Baked Good: Brownies

From The Settlement Cookbook

“The famous all-purpose cook book for beginner and expert” 1965 edition

Brownies

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

2 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instruction from The Settlement Cookbook:

Bar cookies are baked in a single sheet, and cut up after baking. Brownies and similar cake-like cookies are baked in this manner, as are some rich cookies of the shortbread type.

I am skeptical of this advice:

Brownies and other moist cookies should be stored in an airtight container. A piece of apple or potato may be placed in the container to keep the cookies moist and chewy

Tomorrow's Baked Good

From How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food

By Mark Bittman

Cranberry Bread

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon minced orange zest

1 egg

1 cup chopped fresh cranberries

Closeup of texture resembles a Jackson Pollock:

Tomorrow's Baked Good

Almond Tea Cake

This is a variation of a recipe from a cookbook called The Settlement
Cookbook, an heirloom from my mother; I have the 1965 edition. 

In case you want to read more about The Settlement,

here is a link and an excerpt from that link:

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=910
Born in Milwaukee in 1858, Lizzie Black Kander helped to establish and was
president of Milwaukee's first social settlement, known simply as "the
Settlement" in 1900. With the financial support of the Federation of
Jewish Charities of Milwaukee, the Settlement offered training in
vocational and domestic skills, as well as classes in English, American
history, and music. Kander believed that food was a powerful means of
religious and cultural expression.

The Backyard Garden

Snow Peas

The Bane of Genetics

The Clark clan has some quirky members!
My packrat disposition may be genetic.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4472549.stm


A copy of the original Electronics magazine in which Moore's Law was first published has turned up under the floorboards of a Surrey engineer.

David Clark had kept copies of the magazine for years, despite pleas from his wife to throw them away.

Now the couple are celebrating after collecting the $10,000 (£5,281) reward which was offered by chip maker Intel.

Tomorrow’s Baked Good: white chocolate chip cinnamon cookies

I altered the standard Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe by using cinnamon extract instead of vanilla extract. I might do this again, using powdered cinnamon instead of the extract.

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon extract

Half a package of white chocolate chips

The standard recipe uses a full package of chips. I find that the dough is awkward with a full package. The downside of this decision is that if I am inattentive, a few cookies don’t have any chips at all. I am gathering empirical data for a Clark's law on the number of chips on a cookie. Sorry if you are a resistor of puns. I have a great capacitance for such humor. Moore's the merrier.

Closeup of pak choy

The floating row cover seems to have been beneficial.

Tomorrow’s Baked Good: Plum Oatmeal bars

Tomorrow’s Baked Good: Plum Oatmeal bars

I have made this recipe many times, with various flavors of fruit preserves. The extra ingredient in the batch to be delivered tomorrow is a tablespoon of hazelnut agave nectar.

I chopped the coconut mixture finely and pressed it firmly onto the fruit-crumb mixture. My hope is that the result will be less crumbly than the last time I made this recipe.

Oatmeal Bars

1 1/4 cups flour

1 1/4 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup preserves

1/2 cup flaked coconut

Combine dry ingredients. Add butter and vanilla; stir until crumbly. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture evenly into an ungreased 9 by 9 inch baking pan. Spread preserves over crust. Combine coconut and reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over preserves. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until coconut is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars

This is the first bloom from the small, individual clay pots.

Our cats (Ben & Jerry) enjoy nibbling on Alyssum flowers.

The afternoon sunlight makes this planter especially attractive.

It is great fun to be surprised by the color and texture of each new bloom.

This is the first Johnny Jump Up of the season. I am considering getting the equipment to press and dry flowers.