Fraternal Cookie Twins

Last week, I made Christmas cookies for a relative in South Dakota. Anyone who has made something which needs to be shipped, knows it’s best to keep decorating to a minimum. And the goodies should be a bit sturdier.

When you need a cookie chameleon, sugar cookie is your dough. Basic round slice & bake, decorated cut-outs, sculpted shapes, wrapped around a filling – I’m not sure there is anything this dough can’t do. It also lends itself to different flavors, a nifty trick I took advantage of for my gift.

Since these cookies were going to be shipped more than 1,000 miles, I made choices which could easily be packaged in vacuum-sealed bags. (Single layer per bag, with packing peanuts filling gaps in the shipping box). Cookies decorated with hard icing like Royal, or covered with sugar sprinkles, might be OK in a snug-fitting plastic bag. However, I knew the recipient wouldn’t mind something a bit simpler. I settled on Christmas Bells and Chocolate Mint Pillows. Both recipes came from Better Homes & Gardens publications. (See pics below) The Chocolate Mint Pillows are made from one third of a big batch sugar cookie dough recipe. I didn’t need so much dough, and after a bit of comparing, realized the Christmas Bells recipe was a sugar cookie with a smaller yield. If I was making two different kinds of sugar cookie, why not make one big dough recipe? Each cookie has flavor add-ins in addition to vanilla. The bells have orange zest. The pillows have green food coloring and mint extract. (You can use mint oil instead. A few drops are enough.) It’s much easier to customize during the “construction” phase, rather than kneading into the dough. Then you know everything is completely incorporated. Over-working the dough will also create a tough cookie. Sugar cookie dough isn’t very complicated, and doesn’t take much extra time to make separate batches.

Christmas Bells are a slice & bake cookie with a twist. After the rounds are sliced, a maraschino cherry half is placed near one edge and the dough above is folded from each “side” to create the bell shape. Dried, candied maraschino cherries, found in the produce dept. during the holidays, are the usual choice here. The Chocolate Mint Pillows are rolled out and cut into squares which are large enough to fold over the individual sections of chocolate candy bars (think Hershey). I decided to use Andes chocolate mints instead. The recipe yields 30 cookies, so unwrapping individual mints wasn’t exactly a time saver. Probably took as much time as breaking/cutting a few candy bars apart, but easy enough to do while the dough was chilling. I also didn’t decorate with a melted chocolate drizzle as instructed by the recipe. Like icing, I didn’t think it would do well in the vacuum-sealed packaging. No point in wasting good chocolate on a plastic bag. Despite a lack of fancy embellishment, both cookies were delicious. (Yes, I had to sample a couple to make sure they were good.)

The package arrived at its destination early this week, apparently with the cookies intact. And even though simple, they made someone happy, which is what matters most.

The Project Queen

Christmas Bells

“Holiday Desserts”, found at a grocery checkout, was an impulse purchase I made in 1988.

My husband and I got married in early October, and since we dated less than a year

before we got married, it was our first Christmas together as a couple.

Which probably explains why an old magazine is still lurking in my cookbook collection.

Chocolate Mint Pillows

My copy of “Christmas All Through the House” is copyrighted 1999.

 Mine was a book club purchase when it was first released.

A few months later, it made the move to Texas with us

where I was anticipating decorating a larger house with a real fireplace.

Though no longer in print, it doesn’t seem difficult to find used copies available

for a reasonable price.

In six more years, it will be vintage.

Bunny Trouble

Lola with a mouthful of cardboard, hay and hair.

Well, maybe it’s not trouble, exactly, but owning rabbits as pets (especially long-haired breeds) comes with its own set of challenges.

Angus developed weepy eyes which forced me to keep the hair short on his face. The weeping seems to have slowed down recently, but I still think his age has earned him the right to stay retired from fiber production. Buns suffered calcium sludge twice. Each time he’s had it, I needed to try removing and re-adding things to his diet to locate a cause. I had a suspicion the higher protein pellets needed by the EAs didn’t quite agree with him. He now has a separate bag of pellets, though I came to the conclusion his main problem was lack of water. It isn’t that he isn’t given enough. He was supposedly feral for a while. It’s possible he got into the habit of not drinking much, because water wasn’t always easy to find. To get enough water into him, I resorted to wetting his greens every time I feed him. By and large, Benjamin is a very healthy bunny. Probably helps that the only long hair he has is around his face. He’s a sassy little bugger, though, quite fond of grunting at me whenever I put my hand in his cage. He also stomps his back feet, for no apparent reason. A habit which completely freaks out Alexa, our Cattle Dog. Some of the other dogs recently decided if the Queen Bee finds the noise so disturbing, then they need to worry about it too.

Now, we come to Lola. I noticed a while back she was putting on a bit more weight than she should have been. Even though I don’t feed anyone things they’re not supposed to eat. I couldn’t quite decide if it was a doe trait, or if it was particular to her. There were some other things that seemed to be improving with time as she got a bit older. I finally got her to make regular use of her litter box, and she stopped banging her hay bin against her cage.

Recently, I needed to place her in the playpen with Angus for a little bit. Despite sterilization surgery, instinct kicked in, and I now have a doe who thinks she’s having babies. She resumed banging the hay bin about, at all hours of the day, and then popping off the litter box grate so she could dig there. She also got sassy with me, especially when I wanted her out of the cage for cleaning. (Which is a daily chore here.) Of course, she didn’t want me undoing her handy-work and removing all the hay she was stuffing around the perimeter of her cage. After more than a week of this craziness, I came to the conclusion it was necessary to give her something to nest in, until she decides she isn’t pregnant. Otherwise, it’s possible to needlessly prolong this behavior. No shortage of cardboard boxes around here, so I took the flaps off a box that was big enough for her to root around in. It was my hope I would just remove her mess when she was finished with it. No such luck. Despite the extra pieces of card board I gave her, and all the hay she has at her disposal, she ripped out at least half of the box bottom.

In the midst of the baby drama, shearing time has rolled around again. I got Angus finished in a couple of days. However, Lola tends to take me a bit longer, since she’s bigger and the hair is even thicker. The other evening, I pushed myself to trim the hula skirt off her booty. Which left her legs and tummy to finish. It was getting late enough, and my hands hurt. I decided to finish the next day. Hands hurt enough yesterday it seemed a good idea to take a break. This morning, while feeding everyone, I discovered clumps of hair in Lola’s nest. This is typical behavior of a nesting doe, and it was in the back of my mind she might pull hair to complete this project. So now the remainder of her haircut will wait too, until she abandons the nest.

Despite the fact she’s making a royal mess and not eating much right now, it has been interesting to see instinct in action. It’s also a good reminder of how powerful, and tricky, this survival tool really is. Still, I’m glad I started buying bales of hay from a farm/ranch supply store for a very reasonable price. I got the current bale around Easter weekend. Half of it has been used to this point. Every time I give Lola hay right now, she’s stuffing it in her nest area. Occasionally, she’s nibbling on some of it, but I’m going to end up throwing most of it around my blackberries. Needless to say, the very rare “play date” she had with Angus will never be repeated, with him, or the other boy bunnies.

The Project Queen

Single Serve Cold-Brew Coffee

No, there isn’t mud in my coffee maker.

Turns out it works well for making single serve cold-brewed coffee.

Like many people I developed a fondness for iced coffee a few years ago. I generally enjoy it more when the weather is hot, and definitely prefer to use cold-brewed coffee when I make it. While making cold-brewed coffee isn’t particularly complicated, it does take a commitment of counter space and time. Brewing it strong enough to be diluted with ice means planning ahead. It’s usually recommended to allow the grounds to steep at least a day. Then it takes some time to strain it. If you’re the only one drinking it, a larger batch may last anywhere from a few to several days. Not bad for a little bit of work. But still not as convenient as just brewing some coffee in a coffee maker.

This year, as the weather got hotter, I resisted making cold-brewed coffee. I just didn’t want to mess with it. For those so inclined, you can purchase systems for cold-brewing coffee. As a general rule, I don’t necessarily like to buy a lot of specialized equipment for my kitchen. Not too long ago, I cleared out some cabinets and would prefer to keep clutter to a minimum. Cold brewed coffee is not something I make year-round. So it seems kind of silly to buy a product solely for that purpose. I have a couple of 4 qt. glass batter bowls, with lids, I’ve used for the large batches. A wire mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter and placed over the storage pitcher did the job of straining. This past weekend the craving became too much. However, I still didn’t want to make a large batch. I also didn’t want to go to the coffee shop, on a shopping trip, or wait for a single-serve brewing device to be delivered. I just wanted some iced coffee with a minimum of effort.

Guess what? You can make a single serving of cold brew coffee in a standard drip coffee maker. Just leave the machine unplugged. (Not talking about the K-cup brewers here. Think “old fashioned” Mr. Coffee type.) Our coffee maker basket & coffee filters will hold 10 -12 oz., or 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups of water. This works best with a coffee maker that allows you to remove the pot while brewing. When setting up, taking the pot off the coffee maker is the first thing I do. A filter is placed in the basket, then I add 4 tbsp. of coffee grounds. The water is poured into the basket at a steady rate. Taking your time, just a little bit, means you’re less likely to overfill the coffee filter. After I let the grounds steep for a while, the pot is returned to its place under the basket.

The first batch I made in the coffee maker steeped for about 2 hours. It made a decent enough batch that I concluded this was a viable option for getting my iced coffee with a minimum of fuss. At least 4 hrs. is probably long enough for smaller amounts of ice. A steeping time of 8 hrs. or a bit longer will make it strong enough for those who like lots of ice. To make sure it is already chilled when ready to drink it, I started setting up a batch late in the morning, draining it into the pot in the evening, then placing it in the refrigerator overnight. I recommend putting it in the container you plan to drink it from, before it goes into the fridge. It’s not a good idea for another member of the household to use a chilled coffee pot if they want to make hot coffee in the morning.

Do you make coffee with pour-over equipment? Pour-over is our preferred method for making coffee when we travel with our trailer, since the stovetop kettle helps keep our use of electricity to a minimum. Our pour-over filters aren’t breakable and take less storage space than a drip coffee maker. A pour-over filter will make a dandy strainer. They’re just not designed to hold water for a long period of time. Using the filters for cold-brewed coffee stumped me until I recalled my collection of Bonne Maman jam jars. We don’t travel with a lot of glass, but a couple of coffee steeping jars in a well-packed refrigerator will be fine. Otherwise, I know there are a couple of Karl’s stainless steel Thermos canisters still lurking in a kitchen cabinet. (Nice heavy ones which are hard to find now. He used to take them hunting.) They will probably be easier to pour from without making a mess on the countertop.

The Project Queen

Fun with Faux Succulents

Succulents should be easy care houseplants. As members of the cactus family, they actually prefer neglect and small amounts of water. So why would anyone want fakes? Well, maybe they already have too many plants. (Me) And can’t resist the opportunity to do something that doesn’t work so well with live plants. (Also me.)

I blame this project on the dollar store. I actually went in looking for something else and came across the plastic dish garden now containing the succulent arrangement in the attached photos. Since it’s clear, how could you not put some fun, plastic ice “crystals” and LED fairy lights in it? Obviously, I couldn’t resist. Another bonus? Faux plants can stand having a bit of glitter glued on them.

The succulents, crystals and lights weren’t available at the dollar store. Bummer. So the project did cost a few more dollars. I considered making it more permanent with resin poured into the stones, then ruled it out in case the lights die at some point. The resin did add to the cost, but I have pendant molds and was out of resin. It won’t go to waste. Without the resin pour, this is a quick project. The tiny LED lights on metallic wires work best, especially when they have an equally small battery compartment. It’s easier to hide. Besides hiding the wire as the bowl was filled, I also added 2 bags of large faceted plastic beads from my stash. The crystals are turquoise colored. The beads are purple, blue and green. They tied the bowl filler with the succulents I chose. After the bowl was filled with lights and filler, the plants were arranged and a second strand of lights was interwoven into them. They were added after doing a test in a dark room. While the bowl looked nice, the succulents themselves were hard to see. Since I purchased a set of ten LED strands from a certain internet retailer, I had extra to play with. Battery compartments are stashed between a couple of the plants at the edge of the bowl, where they’re still easy to access.

Now, I have a fun night light which can also travel with us in our Airstream. (Bottom shelf in cabinet while on the road.) At home, I can enjoy it upstairs in my studio, without having to worry about whether or not I remembered to water the plants.

The Project Queen

Happy Spring, Y’all!

The temps are warm enough here that it’s time to put the fancy boots away.

I didn’t wear my boots on our excursion. They came along as a prop.

The goal was a photo where it looked like someone took off their boots
to run thru the flowers.

But I wouldn’t recommend doing such a thing.

Those pretty flowers actually harbor some not-nice critters like snakes and Fire ants.

Technically, we didn’t have much of a winter. And the some of the wildflowers, like the Bluebonnets, are early in Texas this year. After living here almost 17 years, we finally went out to Brenham for a photography session before they’re gone for another year. There are wildflowers blooming next to roadways here in the Houston area, but they aren’t good locations for such an activity. Besides, there is nothing like seeing large, multi-colored swaths of flowers in the open fields.

Taking photos of the Bluebonnets is a Texas Spring rite. If you live in a major city like we do, you don’t necessarily have to travel hours away to find the fields of flowers. Thanks to the Grand Parkway, we can now get to the Brenham area in less than an hour, as long as traffic on Hwy. 290 isn’t too heavy. On a nice sunny day, like we had this past weekend, plenty of people were leaving the city for posy peeping and stopping on 290’s shoulders. (Especially by mid-afternoon when we were on our way home.) It was a little too crowded for our taste, and I never pass up an opportunity to visit the Antique Rose Emporium. It’s located several miles slightly NE of Brenham on Hwy 50, just south of the historic town of Independence. The ARE wasn’t open for at least 20 minutes when we got there, giving us an excuse to finally visit Independence.

I did most of my wildflower photography there. We found the old school house, which had a circular drive and a small parking area in front of the historical marker signs. Karl entertained himself reading the signs while I walked around the lot and some of the town taking photos. He learned Sam Houston lived in the big white house across the street and Baylor University was originally founded in Independence. Other than some motorists passing thru, and folks who were attending church, we mostly had the place to ourselves. It was a nice spot for me to take pictures, especially close-ups of various flowers. There was a nice variety of different species, and it was far more relaxing than taking pictures where there were large crowds.

We arrived at the rose nursery about 40 minutes after it opened. A few people had already arrived. By the time we left an hour and a half later, it was getting busier. Go on a week day if you want the place to yourself. However, we still enjoyed our time there. When breezes blew from the right direction, the scent of roses filled the air. Lots of the plants in their display gardens are blooming their heads off right now. Since I usually prefer to plant my roses in the fall, I actually didn’t plan to buy anything on this trip, and had just finished taking my last photo of the day. The subject was a yellow beauty, in a planter, named “Julia Child”. Perhaps it was her sunny, buttery color. Or her strong licorice scent. Either way, she’s a wicked enchantress. I came home with one of her clones. Early this morning, I needed to get my butt outside to plant her in the rose bed. Stormy weather has been rumbling thru Texas the last couple of days. Today, it’s our turn. Skies were darkening with a distant rumbling of thunder before I finished some other chores I wanted to squeeze in. Hopefully, we won’t have anything too wild here. However, there is nothing like a good Spring rain to water a new transplant.

The Project Queen

The Edible Romance of the Rose

Balthasar van der Ast (1594-1657)

How many species of roses can you find in this painting?

As Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us (tomorrow), and procrastinators are scrambling to buy last minute gifts, including those very expensive rose bouquets, perhaps it’s time the human race becomes reacquainted with our most powerful symbol of love. And the one plant family whose own history is so intimately entwined with ours.

The Rosaceae family is incredibly large and very diverse. Besides the tremendous number of “ornamental” varieties we plant in our yards, and often torture, there are species of roses we eat all the time. Most of us just don’t realize it any more. My interest in rose history was piqued when heirloom roses really started becoming mainstream. I took notice in the early to mid-1990s, but I think the old rose movement was part of the return to organic/natural gardening, which started making a resurgence in the 1960s & 70s. Of course, growing and using fresh herbs was occurring at the same time; along with rediscovering old recipes for cooking, freshening the home (potpourri), and curing what ails you. Before the Victorians came along, with their notions of beating nature into submission with science, and ornamental gardening became a hobby of the new middle class, roses were multi-purpose herbs. Yes, that includes the rose we now prize for its flowers alone. They’re edible, and once upon a time most of them produced fruits called hips.

Have you ever been to a fancy celebration where sugar coated rose petals decorated a cake? Or perhaps the crazy old lady down the street gifted you with a jar of rose hip jam. Since those items became a lost art, especially in the 20^th Century US, you might have thought eating roses was a strange thing to do. I know I did, when I first started seeing rose recipes in magazines like “Victoria” and “Country Living”. But that’s because I kind of forgot what I learned in Biology. Are you a strawberry jam junky? Guess what. You’re eating roses. Remember, I mentioned this is a diverse family. Other members include apples, pears, and quinces (Fall fruits). The drupes; otherwise known as stone fruits like apricots, peaches, cherries, plums and almonds (Summer fruits). Then there are the berries like raspberries and strawberries (late Spring & early Summer).

So how did the rose become the flower the of love? Well, I think it started with humankind’s love of eating. Some nutrition experts seem to be fixated on the hunter part of our history, and maybe downplay the gatherer part a little too much. But let’s be honest here. We’re not the biggest creatures on this planet. We also don’t have fangs and sharp claws. Having meat in our diets took a tremendous amount of work and the outcome of a hunt certainly wasn’t guaranteed. That makes meat a treat, most likely in jerky form. The bulk of early man’s diet was plants, because they don’t run from you, and unless they’re poisonous or have thorns, don’t fight back. Plants from the rose family are probably one of the first superfoods. Rose hips are very high in Vitamin C. They’re generally available from late summer into fall. It’s not hard to imagine stone-age man carrying dried rose hips around in their pouches, like raisins, once they made the association that consumption of their rosy snacks kept them from getting sick in the winter. And what’s not to like about a plant family that makes food at least half the year. 

Because of that early relationship, the rose became civilized with us. Once we settled down and started becoming all philosophical, it was only a matter of time before roses meant more than a means of filling our bellies. The heady fragrances of their flowers spoke to our souls, and their longevity made them mythical forces to a species which often didn’t get to live very long. (Yes, when this large plant family is left to its own devices, many members can live a very long time. Perhaps a resident of one of the Johnny Appleseed states can verify if any of his apple trees are still alive.) It was everything we admire in roses which made them the old world’s enduring symbols of both religion and love. (Even after chocolate hopped the pond, it couldn’t unseat the queen of flowers from her throne.)

If your budget isn’t compatible with a big, fancy bouquet of the flowers, don’t be ashamed of your chocolate covered strawberries or cherries. Heck, if you want to be globally inclusive, give the gift of a chocolate coated, gourmet candy apple. Quite frankly, I can’t think of a more poetic way to show your devotion (and express your amorous intent). In the event your significant other complains you didn’t give them even a single rose, you smile sweetly and say, “Of course I did, my darling. You’re eating it.”

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Project Queen

P.S. – If you can’t find chocolate covered, candied apples or truly procrastinated to the last moment, core and slice a couple of your favorite apples and turn them into a shareable dessert for two. Place them in the prettiest bowl you have, then drizzle with good quality caramel and chocolate sauce. Indulge in the sensual act of eating with and licking each other’s fingers. After all, the spirit of the holiday is about reconnecting with the one we love the most.