A Tale of Two Cookies

These cookies rounded out the menu for an Ice Cream Sundae Dessert Bar at a church dinner I catered. For variety, I decided to provide both sugar cookies and chocolate cookies, so I used a recipe for Favorite Drop Sugar Cookies by What A Dish! and Chocolate Mint Cookies from Allrecipes.com. Both recipes are spectacular, but the sugar cookies were the first to disappear!


For the sugar cookies, I added one tablespoon of milk and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg, subbed unbleached flour for the whole wheat pastry flour (I did not have it or I would have used it!), and I sprinkled sugar on top before I baked them. I used a large ice cream scoop and made giant cookies, which were tender and chewy on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. They lent a wonderfully fragrant, sugary smell to the kitchen while they were baking!



For the chocolate mint cookies, I added a teaspoon of vanilla to the batter, and I mixed in a package of Nestle's Dark Chocolate and Mint Morsels instead of placing a mint on top after they baked. These cookies are richly chocolate with the perfect touch of mint. My attempt to show the wonderfully fudgy, brownie-like interior is inadequate. For the dessert bar, I named them Brown Sugar Chocolate Mint cookies. ;)

Haiti: How to Help

American Red Cross

United Methodist Committee on Relief

Salvation Army

United Nations Foundation

United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)

Fried Apples

Thanks to a mail order Christmas gift, we had apples begging to be used. A pie would be my first choice, but after nearly non-stop eating over the holidays, I settled for something like pie without the crust--fried apples. It was the perfect accompaniment to our meal of chicken and rice, green beans, and buttermilk biscuit. I'll spoon it over vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Fried Apples
5 or 6 apples, peeled and cut into thick slices
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon caramel cream liqueur

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, melt butter just till it begins to brown; add apples and let them simmer for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over apples, toss to coat, cover and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, or until tender. Uncover and add vanilla and liqueur and mix thoroughly--let bubble until liquid thickens a bit.