Dairy Hollow House Oatmeal Cookies

My sweetheart is the baker in our house. I do the lion's share of the cooking, he the baking. It relaxes him. If he's had a bad day or is stressed, or bored or just wants to bake, he makes cookies. Usually it's chocolate chip (his favorite) but occasionally, I suppose if I've been good enough, he makes Oatmeal - my absolute favorite. Since he's been gone on tour now for several days and I've been very good, I decided to make these myself. I am currently reading 'The Secrets Of Baking" by Sherry Yard because I am very interested in the science of baking and cooking. After reading just a little, I can now tell you the difference between cookies that have butter melted prior to mixing and those that use 'softened' butter to cream into the ingredients. Thank goodness for my KitchenAid Mixer as it made short work of creaming the butter. I did choose to use butter in lieu of vegetable shortening. It cut back on (a little) fat and reduced the trans fat to zero. I also wanted to do the variation right away but chose not to for two reasons. One, I think it best to try the recipe as is before messing with it and two, I would have had to go to the store to get almond extract and it's snowing out there. I did, however use dried cranberries instead of raisins. I just like them better. Anyhow, the cookies are great! I trusted CD and pulled them out before they actually looked done so that they will be nice and chewy. They are. The recipe makes a TON so I'm taking several dozen to improv class with me today and let them eat them all. One thing though - the recipe says to mix the nuts and raisins with one cup of the oatmeal mixture....and then never says what to do with them. Roll the balls in it? Stir it in last? I emailed CD ( you can do that you know) to ask her but she's very busy so it may take awhile to get back to me. In the meantime, I was going to roll the balls in the mixture...and then that didn't make sense. So I just mixed it all in last. I hope that's what you wanted, CD because these bad boys turned out fantastic! I can't wait to share them with everyone.


UPDATE: CD wrote me back a mere three days after I emailed her for help. Here is what this fantastic woman said: " Dear Becky,

I am so glad to know you are enjoying and using Passionate V and having fun with it, and I do indeed consider you a friend not yet met. Yes, the oatmeal and raisins get stirred into the creamed mixture. And I will get on this and put it on the "House of Corrections" page on the PV website.

I remain grateful and delighted not only that the book is so much a part of your and your family's lives, but that you took the time to tell me. Very kind, and I hope you will love the cookies, too. Oh, and please feel free, if you like and only if you like, to write a reader review of the book on www.amazon.com and/or www.barnesandnoble.com --- when I'm browsing books I always believe my fellow readers more than the professional reviewers, though that may just be my own quirk.

Anyway, have a delicious, healthy, fun, interesting 2007.

Warmly,

CD"


Additionally, I have since tried the variation of the almonds and the apricots. Holy cow!! They are SO good. LOADS of people have told me they are the best cookies they've ever eaten - from my husband to the crossing guard I see on the way to work. (my husband likes the originals, she liked the variation). I really can't say enough about these cookies. YOU MUST TRY THEM YOURSELF!!

Cabbage and Greens with Kidney Beans and Caramelized Garlic

I'll admit it - I didn't think this dish would be all that great. I bought the Kale to make it (Kale, by the way, is the food of the week on one of my favorite websites - World's Healthiest Foods) a couple of days ago and soaked and cooked the beans on Monday but just never got around to doing it. I even made polenta on Monday to eat with this. Instead, I blew into the house tonight and in about 20 minutes threw this together. I'm sorry I waited. It's so simple but it's clearly the best of all the foods. So delicious. I can't even tell you. The garlic spreads this goldenness all about the dish. It was mouth watering. I put the greens and cabbage in to stir-fry with doubt but by the time it came out of the garlic scented oil, I knew this dish was a winner. My sweetheart has a show tonight and I sent it with for his dinner so no word on what he thinks of it.
Really. This dish is so good I'm afraid to mess with it - afraid to try to 'fancy' it up. It's just the very simple best of the foods involved. We're going to be eating this for years to come - and it's chock full of super healthy foods!
I bet my parents never thought I would be a vegetarian. I was one of those kids that only put meat and cheese on her tacos and now I actually crave things like cabbage and kale. It's a crazy world - but the ride is fun.

Rich and Righteous Miso-Tahini Stir-Fry Sauce

Excellent! I almost feel bad for saying so many dishes are so good - but they are. You know I'll tell you if they aren't (see Salt of the Earth Breadspread). I had seen the recipe for this days ago and knew I had everything on hand. My husband likes meals with several dishes and, after I put the shepard's pie in the oven, I figured I'd make this and then he could have a multi-dish meal (Kudos to CD for suggesting always having a pot of rice on hand. I made this dish in about 45 seconds). I used peanut butter in lieu of tahini (again, see Salt of the Earth Breadspread) and I put in crushed garlic (who is surprised?) and seasame oil. I meant to put in an orange but that would have pushed this dish's prep time up to 2 minutes or some ridiculous time like that. Maybe next time.
Anyhow, it was delicious and fast! A touch too rich to eat everyday but what a great meal it would make if you didn't know what to make and you wanted to eat NOW.
Update on the polenta: I lined a casserole dish with the hot polenta to set up. I used it to make up a shepard's pie. I worked out great because I just threw in the last of whatever we had on hand. I hate when vegetables go bad because I don't use them in time and I was able to use the last of the green peppers, carrots, spinach, and celery. Not to mention use up the cream of mushroom soup my mom bought me to make tuna casserole because - "You can eat tuna!" I love you, mom. For some reason, I imagined the polenta would be more firm - more cornbread like. I guess that's because that is what it smells like when it cooks. It was mushier, but not in an unpleasant way - much like the mashed potatoes they were replacing. All in all, it was a good meal if I do say so myself. And I do.

Ginger Sauced Carrots

I don't recall if that is the ACTUAL name of the dish but my cat has me held prisoner in this chair until he decides to get up. So, for now, they are Ginger Sauced Carrots. Anyhow, they're gone. My sweetheart liked them so much that he ate them all. He ate at least a half a pound of carrots in one go because he liked them so much. As is our custom, he LOVED them and I thought they were okay. Well, better than okay. They were good but I didn't snarf them down like he did.
Additionally, I made crockpot polenta today in anticipation of making Cabbage with Carmelized Garlic, Kidney Beans and Greens tomorrow. I've seen recipes where you have to stir polenta constantly when at the stove for 45 minutes. This was plug it in and go. It was nice. The polenta is going to turn out rather plain I'm afraid (doesn't all polenta?). And I'm eager to try the 'spicing up' tips CD offers. But I'm going to try it 'regular' first and then throw whatnot in. We shall see.


Update: Ginger GLAZED Carrots is the actual name. Sauced = Glazed? Oops

Sweet-Sour Skillet Soysage Supper

It's good. It's not great. I'll probably never run through the house chanting "Sweet-Sour Skillet Soysage Supper" over and over. But it's good. I put in a bit of extra honey as the blackstrap molasses was very prominent. It turned out fine. Also - I'd never heard of "tomato fillet" before. Though it sounds obvious, I had to look it up to be sure. There was barely any liquid in the pan at first but after it simmered for 20 minutes there was significantly more liquid and it was much better. It has nice heat and isn't spicy - it's more sweet. So it's a nice change. I sliced the carrots a hair too thick but it's nice to have a firm carrot in a sea of softer foods.
We spent the last of our wedding gift cards from Pampered Chef. I'm FINALLY going to get a chef's knife (I've been using steak knives all this time!). It came today via UPS but no one was home. Here's hoping we can get the timing down tomorrow!

Stir-Fry of Tempeh and Green Beans with an Apricot-Mustard Glaze and Traditional Asian-Style "Crisping" Marinade and Method for Oven-Baked Tofu

Sweetness. That is the overriding theme of this dish. Still-crisp green beans in with sweet, delicious red peppers smothered in a glaze that is sweet but not too sweet (Dessert, however is out of the question). I did all the variations that were supposed to make the dish more Thai - influenced and a little hotter. Really, the sauce remained pretty sweet and the only heat I could discern was from the super thin Serrano slices I threw on top. Still, this was good. I'm not so sure that I'll crave it like I do the Kung Pao (I ate it six times in eleven days). Another change I made to this dish was to use Traditional Asian-Style "Crisping" Marinade and Method for Oven-Baked Tofu" instead of the tempeh CD suggests. Normally I would have tried the tempeh (I like it and it makes for another recipe) but the holidays have the store schedules all messed up and the only store open on January 1st was Jewel who doesn't carry tempeh. None the less, the dish was no worse off for it, I'm sure. I do make some changes in this tofu recipe. I cube the tofu prior to baking as I think that having an all around, crisp coating is tastier than cutting through the coating after baking to reveal softer tofu. Additionally, I cut the amount of tofu CD calls for in half but keep the marinade the same. I feel I've told you this already.......
Well, here's something I didn't tell you - Some people can never grasp what it is to be a vegetarian. If you doubt me, just go to a holiday dinner with your non-vegetarian family. I recommend eating before you go.
Happy New Year to you!