Breadcloth from long ago & Peanut Butter Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Recently I had a delicious meal at my brother and sister in law's home, and I was so excited to see them use a breadcloth I stitched for them years and years ago.  I had to share it here, of course. 

I recently baked up some delicious cookies.  Here is that recipe:

Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. honey

2 tsps. baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

4 1/2 cups rolled oats

11.4 ozs. bag butterscotch morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter, peanut butter until well combined. Add brown sugar , sugar, and beat until smooth. Add honey, baking soda and mix in well.  Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.  (see below for variation) Use a cookie dough scoop to put on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes, do not overbake. Cookies are flat and chewy.  Cool on the pan for a few minutes, then remove and enjoy! 

I split the batter into two parts and added 1 cup butterscotch morsels to one part, and the other part was doused with 1 cup of chocolate chips instead of butterscotch. (semi-sweet chocolate morsels)  My family preferred the chocolate chip ones over the butterscotch ones.  To each his own, I say! 

Rum Cake

 

Yesterday we celebrated a birthday in our family, and I was called upon to bake the requisite cake. In my family, you don't buy one. You bake it, and preferably it should be something beyond just a mix and frosting. The birthday gal requested rum cake, and I couldn't wait to try and bake one. It turned out nicely, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. If you want to give it a whirl, here's the recipe:

RUM CAKE

Cake
1 Cup Toasted Pecans (to toast them, spread them on a cookie sheet that's been sprayed with a vegetable coating, like Pam. Bake at 350 degrees for about five minutes. The toasting brings out the flavor, or so I read.)
1 yellow cake mix
1 1.75 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum

Glaze
1/2 cup butter (Don't use margerine!)
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt cake pan. Sprinkle the toasted pecans into the bottom of the Bundt pan. Combine all the cake ingredients and beat on high for 2 minutes with an electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan, and bake for one hour. (Mine was done after 55 minutes, test with a toothpick.)

Towards the end of the baking (after it's baked about 50 minutes), prepare the glaze. (see below) After the cake has been removed from the oven and cooled for five minutes, pour 1/3 of the prepared glaze on top of the cake. This way the cake gets very moist and flavorful. Let the cake cool five MORE minutes, and then invert it onto your cake plate. Pour the remainder of the glaze on top of the cake. This cake gets better with each passing day. Enjoy!

Glaze Preparation


Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in water and sugar, and bring to boil while stirring. Boil five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. There will be a lot of steaming, so be careful to not burn yourself!

Orange Cookies

My wonderful Auntie always baked these cookies for us when we visited her home during the summer. They are among the best cookies on the planet. Enjoy, and Happy 2012 to you!

Orange Cookies

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup margerine or butter

(you may use 1/2 cup shortening with 1/2 cup butter or margerine if desired)

2 eggs

1 Tbsp orange rind

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk (add after eggs)

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, orange rind, and then add the buttermilk. 

Add the dry ingredients, mix well. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookies sheets. (They get a lot larger, so don't make them too large or they'll be huge.)

After they are cool, ice them with this icing:

1 Tbsp orange rind

3 Tbsp butter, softened

3 Tbsp orange juice

3 cups powdered sugar

Makes about 40-45 cookies. 

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