Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

My weekend started off the right way.  Friday after work, I walked into the house and it smelt of cookie heaven (if there was such thing).  Mom was in a baking mood and had a billion fresh cookies sitting on the cooling rack (note—I couldn’t get them all pictured because there was so many).  You know, cookies just make you feel special; there is just something about them that is so heart warming.  She made chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and peanut butter.

Let me tell you a little story about the peanut butter cookie.  I believe it was 3rd grade, I had to memorize a recipe and present it to the class.  Well, mom always had these wonderful peanut butter cookies that only had three ingredients and it's a 1-1-1 cup ratio.  How convenient was that?  It was perfect for that assignment.  To this day, people think I am lying when I tell them about this cookie.  When I am going on a road trip and going to stay with friends, this is what I take them in turn.  It’s easy and people are impressed, a win-win situation for everyone!

FLOURLESS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES        

Ingredients:

•  1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Add Creamy peanut butter, sugar, and egg in a bowl.  Mix until it is all well combined.


2. The dough will be sticky, so be prepared to get your hands messy.  Roll some dough into a ball.    Take a fork and press down, do this both vertically and horizontally, it makes a nice little design.  Line a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.


3. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes.  You will know the cookies are done when they feel coherent, but still a little soft.  Take the tray out of the oven and let the cookies rest for at least 5 minutes.  Afterward, carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.

It’s just a typical Monday in the office, I am about to leave to head to Mutual Girls Club and teach a program.  Tomorrow we leave for 4-H camp, it starts tomorrow and will be ending on Thursday.  It should be an interesting week to say the least.  I am just thankful that we are going to have a little break from the heat—because having an office job has made me spoiled this summer.

Smells Like Strawberries

My morning started off early, it stormed last night and I didn’t get that much sleep.  I have lived in Oklahoma almost all of my life, you would think that by now I would sleep straight through storms.  That is not the case, though, I am a baby…I do not like storms at all.  My disclaimer for the day—I did not get my morning coffee because I left my house late, let’s just hope I can make it until lunch.  I am not in a bad mood tired and a little cranky… All I can say, Cold Play is saving me today.

Yesterday was not all that interesting, I just did a lot of paperwork for my upcoming program.  I did some press releases and wrote some letters for local business owners.  That kept me busy the whole day for the most part.

Tuesday I took the day off and went to Tulsa (it was well deserved).  We had Olive Garden for lunch and it was delicious as always.  Then it was off to the mall to do some shopping.  You can’t go to the mall without hitting up the Disney Store.

We looked around for a new toy story toy that Jack did not already had.  Well, that was a challenge in itself.  He has almost every toy made I think.  He went for the Ham piggy bank.  He refers to him as the Evil Dr. Pork Chop like Andy does in the movie, soo funny.  His new favorite obsession, asking people for their change.  Note—Donations are welcome.

I, on the other hand, came across the Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear! I couldn’t help but like him (even though he is a bad guy).  This was a must-have photo opportunity.  After hugging him, I placed him back on the shelf and Jack later came across him and shouted, “He really does smell like Strawberries!” I failed to notice that earlier when I was holding him.  How in the world did I miss that?  I am still not sure but oh well. I love the Disney store, it makes me feel like a little kid and I will welcome that feeling anytime.

Homemade Apple Pie

I am enjoying a vanilla Dr. Pepper, tapping my foot along to Jack Johnson, and at the moment, I couldn’t be much better.  The weekend is over, and I am back to the office, today hasn’t been all that eventful.  Currently, I am working on a postcard to send out to my etiquette workshop.  I am making it cute, who doesn’t love a fun font…maybe I am the only one?

Yesterday was father’s day, we went and had lunch out in Bartlesville, did some shopping, and then headed home.  We were in the kitchen for three hours trying to get everything prepared.  We had fried chicken, fried squash, mashed potatoes, hot wings and apple pie.  I was almost in a food coma by the end of the dinner, but it was well worth it.

There was one point in the evening that I was about to laugh out loud at my mother.  The apple pie came out of the oven and it was on the cooling rack, I was about to take a picture of it, and I said asked…”Did you notice that you made your A upside down?”

Debbie <3’s Dad, nothing says happy father’s day like an apple pie!

“Lindsey, I always put a heart in the middle of my pies…”

“You do? I thought you were trying to spell DAD! haha!” after twenty-one years I never knew that, well then again I am sure it is because, at my house, baked goods do not have a long life expectancy.  So maybe that’s it, I guess I never paid that much attention.

But that is what it is all about, being in the kitchen with my mom and grandma is always a good laugh and those are memories that will last me a lifetime.  I hope I can share that someday.

You Got A Friend In Me

I just don’t understand how Disney and Pixar make movies this good, I mean at some point you think it would level off, and they would stop outdoing each other. However, this is not the case.  This movie was such a treat, when “you got a friend in me” started playing it took me back to the little six-year-old girl I was when I watched the first one in Theater fifteen years ago, it is hard to believe it has been that long.  Overall, I am just so impressed with this movie.  I think that everyone should see the movie, regardless of age because it has a great message and you can relate to it, no matter what age you are. Jack-7 cried, Lauren-17, Me-21, and Mom-40.  So there you have it, everyone can laugh and cry, a movie that everyone can agree on!

Friday night was the night, Toy Story 3!  We went to the 10:00 p.m. showing, it was Jack’s first late night movie experience.  I think he had a good time.  As you can see, he brought along Buzz and Woody to see the movie with him.  Most precious thing ever, I think so.

Lauren and I had toy story spirit too (but we left our toys at home). My shirt had Jessie on it, Lauren’s had Miss Potato Head, mom didn’t get the t-shirt memo, but we still love her.  It was great to see the final chapter in Andy’s life.  They did a great job of making it realistic; I remember feeling that way when I left for college.  Needless to say, there were a couple of times I caught myself tearing up and at one point I was crying, and my sister was too, she took my napkin.  Later on the car ride home, mom said she cried a couple of times in the movie.  When you leave for college, you feel like you are leaving all of your childhood memories in a box and it overwhelming to put everything away. You say goodbye to those long lost toys that you spent countless hours with that have not been played with in years and watch you grow up.  All part of growing up I suppose…

I hope everyone had wonderful father’s day.  I had a day full of wonderful food and family time.  I will share details with you about that tomorrow, that will give me something to do while I am at work.

Little Brother, Big Baseball Game

The joys of having a seven-year-old little brother!  Last week, Jack had a baseball game, and I got to go and watch.  He was super excited to have his big sister there; he introduced me to his little team.  Talk about feeling old…oh dear!

Well, Jack is very athletic and full of life.  I think he is going to be a lot to handle as he gets older.  My parents are going to have their hands full.  He was pure entertainment this whole game, my mom and I laughed the entire time.  He hit the ball, slid into home plate (I was too busy laughing to snap a shot), played catcher, and played in the outfield.  He is so much taller than everyone else on his team.

Please note—I was not sitting that close to the fence, I was not “that girl” being the annoying big sister.  All I have to say is, thank God for the zoom feature.  What did we do before that?

Changing the World

I am planning my special project that I have to have for my internship class. I am going to host an etiquette workshop; it will be two days for boys and girls ages 13-18.  I think it is a wonderful idea, I am just trying to finalize everything…I hate playing phone tag with people!

Yesterday, I got to present a workshop to the Mutual Girls Club in Bartlesville.  Those girls were the most adorable thing on the face of the earth.  I just wanted to hug them all.  I presented a program called Health Rocks; it's a 4-H curriculum.  The topic yesterday was the long and short term effects of smoking.  I think it went over really well, they were engaged and had lots to say.  That age is so impressionable; it’s important that someone talks to them, especially if they are not getting that talk from their parents.

I have never made it my goal to change the world, I know it takes more than me to do that…but it is a good feeling to see that you can make a difference (even if it is a small one).  It makes it all worth it.

Sweet Seventeen

I had an awful exciting weekend; I am just going to leave it at that.  I will leave the rest up to your imagination.  It was an amusing Friday evening at my families house.  Lauren turned 17, and my mom and daddy celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary.

Slowly my little sister is turning into me, I like pink more…just saying.

The whole family went out for dinner and then we came back to the house and little girls and boys started arriving in packs, there were so many of them!  I had to get out of the house fast; I could not take the giggling and awkward high school boys.

Here is Lauren and Megan (her best friend) everyone please note that I do know that she looks just like me…I am fully aware.

This week I should be in and out of the office. I am looking forward to it, just not all of the rain.  Today is the first day I did not wear a dress to work; I had this bright idea to wear some dress pants…I wore white linen!  Bad life choice on my part.  I never have been more embarrassed.  I just want a towel to put on them until they dry off!

Canning Workshop

It has rained nonstop today…and to top it all off, everyone in the office is at a meeting.  Needless to say, I have the Coldplay station on pandora playing and I just decided to write…time to ease my mind.

So,  last week I have the opportunity to take part in a week-long canning workshop.  We canned: carrots (I still don’t like them),  apple slices (great for pie filling) and grape jelly (strawberry is better). The only day that I really enjoyed was the grape jelly day.  I grew up making jam and jelly with my mommy and nana so I felt a little more comfortable this day.

I think that the class went over really well, the people were really happy with the information, presentation, and just the overall experience.  A lot of these people have never canned by themselves, so it was a learning experience.  They also were really impressed with cooperative extension, two ladies said they didn’t even know that it existed…that kind of broke my heart—but they said they are going to be more involved with it.  I even made an old lady friend who has a blog!  How darling is that?  Here is one day of class with some of the ladies.

“I went to Nearby City to the Agriculture Building.  You’ve got to love Extension Services.  They do all kinds of wonderful things, and I was about to learn Canning 101… my name, not theirs”

via (http://humoranddoings.blogspot.com/)

Canning is really not as bad as what people think.  It takes a lot of time, good equipment and again….lots of time!  We made a jelly that only had three ingredients to it: 5 cups of grape juice, 7 cups of sugar, and one box of pectin.  How simple is that?  I know, how awesome, right?

You combine the juice and pectin before you put it on the stove.  Heat the mixture to a strong boil, add the sugar and mix continuously, then have it reach a rolling boil for a minute.

Remove from heat & Remove the foam,

Then fill jars with 1/4 inch headspace,

Remove the bubbles and foam from top of jar,

Wipe down jar and rim and place lids on,

Place into hot water bath for 10 mins,

Take out and wa-la! You made homemade grape jelly with ease!

I made 10 jars by myself, I am giving them all away too.  They make great gifts, they are nothing too big, but for some reason, I am a sucker for homemade gifts.  Also hallmark cards…I love  no I looooooove cards, but that is beside the point.  However, it is only four months until my Birthday, just saying.  It is never to early to be thinking about that.  October is a month-long celebration.

100 Canning Jars Later

I did not stay at home this weekend, I went back to Stillwater to be in a Fashion show for Elizabeth's.  Needless to say, I was not in the kitchen at all...

However, this week I will be in the kitchen more than I would please.  We are conducting a two-day canning workshop for both Washington and Osage County (four long days filled with canning! AH!!) Today we were making copies, stuffing folders and working on things like that.  So I wore my normal attire: dress, pearls, and heels.  Little did I know that I was going to be washing 100 Ball canning jars by hand!  I was a true vision, a 50's pin-up girl if you will.

Please take note, I do not have a darling husband or a daughter at this point and time.  You get the idea, this is what I felt like today.  Charming, I know...

Yesterday I was planning on getting my nails done, but I have something else come up and I am very glad that I did.  I would not be a happy camper at the moment if that were the case.

Bacon, The Secret To BBQ Baked Beans

I think it must be a southern thing…baked beans are always the side dish of choice.  They are at every: BBQ joint, family picnic, church potluck, and any family event that involves my little sister.  Lauren—is a 16 almost 17-year-old with a heart of gold.  She is slowly growing into her individual self, living in such a small town and having an older sister; she has lived in my shadow. That all seemed to change when I went off to college.  She has developed her own likes and found things that she is passionate about.  Well, she has a love for my mom’s baked beans and only hers.

How cute is she?  She kills me & she has the best hair evvvver!

I was not sure what my mom did that made them so different, so I watched over her.  When I first told my mom about my blog, she was a little apprehensive. My family has always been secretive with their recipes. On the other hand, sometimes my mom does not even follow a recipe, she just adds things until it looks and tastes right.

I am going to give you some insight on how to make these baked beans; I am just going to say your welcome right now because you will want to thank me later.  The secret?  BACON!  That’s right, homegrown, delicious, bacon!  Let that saute then add a chopped yellow onion and saute them together.

One word—-YUMMY!  You know those begging strips that have the commercial with the dog and he goes crazy?  Yeah…I am kind of like that.

Next, add two cans of beans (whatever brand is your favorite).  Then add one cup of brown sugar, one tablespoon Molasses, and two teaspoons of chili powder.  Mix together and you are ready to enjoy your favorite side dish!

“To Infinity And Beyond”

I am the oldest of four children.  John Paul-20, Lauren-16, and Jack-7!  John and Lauren are laid back and don’t get too excited about anything.  Jack is more like me, really excited about life and has never met a stranger in his life.  He might be the most adorable thing on the face of the earth, but then again he is my little brother.  I will let you be the judge.

We were at Starbucks wasting time before his coach pitch game.  Please notice the front tooth missing, and also meet stretch—the newest addition to his Toy Story Collection.

He loves playing dress up.  He is the youngest of four—at this point, I don’t think my parents are giving as much effort.  Nothing shocks them anymore and well, to be honest, we are just happy he has clothing on!

This one is pretty old, but it is priceless!  He loves pj’s that have feet in them; I HATE them.  I can not stand socks or anything on my feet when I sleep!  It makes me cringe sitting here thinking about it.  Here is Jack doing Pistol’s firing yay for being an OSU Cowboy!

The countdown to Toy Story Three in 3D is a big topic of discussion in my household.  I hope you all are excited as we are.  I can’t help but love Buzz and Woody, for crying out loud I was six years old when the first one came out.  I have grown up with them :)

Heavenly Angel Food Cake

Next on our list, Angel food cake—this is something that I feel most people have been deprived of.  People are either scared of trying to make it or they have had a bad experience In the past with it so they have sworn it off.  I will say that there are a few tricks to making this cake and both my mother and grandmother let me in on; I will share them as we continue.  I will say that this cake takes patients and it was a good thing for me because that is something that I do not have much of.

Heavenly Angel Food Cake—Betty Crocker

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 2 hours 55 min
Makes: 16 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups egg whites (12)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 375ºF. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature, this will make separating the egg whites easier.
2. Mix powdered sugar and flour; set aside. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Beat in granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, on high speed, adding vanilla, almond extract and salt with the last addition of sugar. Continue beating until stiff and glossy meringue forms. Do not under beat. *According to my mom and grandma you should sift the powdered sugar and flour together three times.  This makes really soft and fluffy.
3. Sprinkle sugar-flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time, over meringue, folding in just until sugar-flour mixture disappears. Push batter into ungreased angel food cake pan (tube pan), 10x4 inches. Cut gently through batter with metal spatula.
4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cracks feel dry and top springs back when touched lightly.
5. Immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof funnel or bottle. Let hang about 2 hours or until cake is completely cool.
6. Loosen side of the cake with a knife or long, metal spatula; remove from pan.

During this weekend, we ran out of sugar and I volunteered to run to the grocery store because you get to go into town…but oh no.  Guess what my mom had down in the basement, that’s right, a 25-pound bag of sugar.  I mean really, who has this besides a bakery.  I told my mom we should put stock in sugar and flower as much as we use the two.

In the end, this weekend was a fun experience, I am glad I didn’t go to the lake after all.  I might need to do a few extra crunches or swim some laps, but homemade dessert is something that I will never pass up.

Better than Birthday Cake

This last week was the start of my internship; it was a pleasant experience for the most part.  It’s a 25-mile drive every morning, at 7:15 a.m.  That is a little early for my own personal preference, but there is a Starbucks on the way so I can continue to feed my addiction to coffee.  The building is a nice size; I even have my own office.  So you will notice that I still tweet and blog while I am at work.  Best job ever—I think so.

Memorial weekend has passed by, and any holiday at my house is welcomed with food and lots of it.  I decided to skip out on the lake and stay at home this long holiday weekend to have some family and pool time.   This weekend we took on making homemade: blackberry cobbler and angel food cake.

Blackberry cobbler is something that is a family favorite.  At our ranch, we have many blackberry bushes and we pick them when they are ripe, it’s almost a surplus of them.  However, my mom freezes what is left over from the summer, so we can have blackberry cobbler anytime of the year.

October 28^th, my birthday my mom makes a special one for me.  It’s better than Birthday Cake, just throwing it out there.  My mom has this crust that is out of this world, it flaky almost like a pastry, it’s not chewy or doughy like most crusts and it has this wonderful taste.  Also—something that we do, sprinkle sugar on top of the crust before it goes in the oven to bake.

You may notice that there is not a picture of the finished product. As soon as it got out of the oven I had to have a piece with ice cream.  Don’t judge me, if you had to smell it baking in the oven as long as I did, you would have done the same, trust me.  I promise next time I will try to do better.