Question of the day November 16th!

[luvofallhorses]

What is the best thing you can cook?

For me I can bake good brownies or something but not real meals. :o

[Karen]

Probably depends on who you ask ... the dogs and people always like my Brown Sugar Bunnies - cookies I make to bring to the Findlay gatherings ... others would say coffee ring, but that's a family recipe ... so everyone in the family knows how to make it.

Hmm, cookies of some sort, probably the most popular, it's hard to say. The soft pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting at Thanksgiving, gingerbread at Christmas, toll house year 'round, Chocolate Crackles ...

I can also cook meals, but much of what I used to make is now inedible for me, as I have so many food allergies. So the spaghetti sauce I used to make was quite yummy, but I'd be sick for days if I had it now. So my "cooking" is narrower in scope than it used to be.

[luvofallhorses]

Do you have a recipe for the Brown Sugar Bunnies? :)

[aTailOf2Kitties]

grilled cheese, LOL. Actually it's more like toasted cheese out of the toaster oven. I can't cook worth a darn, it's more like what can I heat up the best, LOL.

[chocolatepuppy]

Apple pie and frosted sugar cookies as far as baking. As for cooking, I can cook most things pretty decent, just have to wanna.:D

[Queen of Poop]

Turkey dinner with all the fixings.

[Pinot's Mom]

Beef Stroganoff or Meatloaf. I also make some mean unnamed pasta dishes.

BTW-my husband? Hands down, his Guacamole - it's KILLER!

[caseysmom]

I am sort of famous for my barbequed steak and mashed potatoes.

[Casper]

An omelet stuffed with Spaghetti O's... :D

No, I really don't know. If you give me a recipe I can usually execute it... not necessarily very well, but my food does seem to be edible. Nothing really stands out, though.

[Alysser]

Oyster, have you tried Spaghetti O Tacos? :D

Between you and me, if you give me and microwave I can make a mean bag of popcorn. :p

[Karen]

Do you have a recipe for the Brown Sugar Bunnies? :)

Of course! It's over in the recipe thread as well, but here it is:


Brown Sugar Bunnies (or doggies, or diamonds or circles or even just squares):

Sift together:
2 cups all-purpose flour, or 1 cup white flour, 1 cup wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt

Set that aside.

Cream together (you can mix this all together by hand if you don't have a mixer):
2 sticks (1 cup) of butter, softened a bit works easiest
1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (3 tablespoons = 1/8 cup)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (or ginger, or clove - whatever you like!)

until well-mixed and "fluffy"

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, if you're using a mixer, set it at low speed.

If you want, add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, but I don't because of allergy issues, and sharability

Now, if you just want to make round cookies, you can form the dough into a "log" and refrigerate for two hours or so (or overnight, or whatever), then slice 1/3" inch thick ... or ...

Put the dough in a plastic bag, or between sheets of waxed paper and roll out 1/3" inch thick, refrigerate for two hours or so.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F
Use ungreased cookie sheets (lined with foil or baking parchment if you want)

To make them "sparkly":
In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar or raw sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, when mixed dump it onto a plate.

Use cookie cutters or a knife to shape the cookies from the cold dough.
Using a spatula if they have delicate bits like tails, transfer the cookie shape over to the sugar mix, and press it down.

Then put it, sugar-side up on the cookie sheets. (Now is when you can draw on smiles and eyes, if you want!) You can put the cookies pretty close together, they don't spread much.

Bake for 40 minutes. Leave the cookies on the sheet to cool, or transfer to racks using a spatula - they're fairly breakable at this point.

They keep very well in an airtight container, as long as you don't eat them all up or let anyone else know where they are! ;)

[Karen]

Also, wanted to add, any of you who think you "cannot cook," I bet you can, with a little help and courage! And the best part about cooking experiments is that even many of the 'failures' are still edible!

[Freedom]

I LOVE to cook, and everyone has told me for years that they enjoy my cooking. I experiment, and seldom measure anything any more. :p

I don't do much pastries because for 15 years I lived alone and would tend to eat it all before I could get it to friends, then Dad moved in and is diabetic. I can do them, just haven't done much in ages.

[luvofallhorses]

Of course! It's over in the recipe thread as well, but here it is:


Brown Sugar Bunnies (or doggies, or diamonds or circles or even just squares):

Sift together:
2 cups all-purpose flour, or 1 cup white flour, 1 cup wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon of salt

Set that aside.

Cream together (you can mix this all together by hand if you don't have a mixer):
2 sticks (1 cup) of butter, softened a bit works easiest
1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (3 tablespoons = 1/8 cup)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (or ginger, or clove - whatever you like!)

until well-mixed and "fluffy"

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, if you're using a mixer, set it at low speed.

If you want, add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, but I don't because of allergy issues, and sharability

Now, if you just want to make round cookies, you can form the dough into a "log" and refrigerate for two hours or so (or overnight, or whatever), then slice 1/3" inch thick ... or ...

Put the dough in a plastic bag, or between sheets of waxed paper and roll out 1/3" inch thick, refrigerate for two hours or so.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F
Use ungreased cookie sheets (lined with foil or baking parchment if you want)

To make them "sparkly":
In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar or raw sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, when mixed dump it onto a plate.

Use cookie cutters or a knife to shape the cookies from the cold dough.
Using a spatula if they have delicate bits like tails, transfer the cookie shape over to the sugar mix, and press it down.

Then put it, sugar-side up on the cookie sheets. (Now is when you can draw on smiles and eyes, if you want!) You can put the cookies pretty close together, they don't spread much.

Bake for 40 minutes. Leave the cookies on the sheet to cool, or transfer to racks using a spatula - they're fairly breakable at this point.

They keep very well in an airtight container, as long as you don't eat them all up or let anyone else know where they are! ;)

Thank you Karen!! :D

[K9karen]

I can cook almost anything and wing it. Nobody died yet! :)
I'm a lousy baker, except for make from scratch chocolate chip cookes and that took a few years to get it right.

I also make geat reservations....:D:D:D

[Taz_Zoee]

Like Karen said, I CAN cook, but I don't like to. I prefer to bake. I've become pretty creative with my baking. But the bad part is I MUST have a recipe. I'm horrible and "winging" it. Last night I baked white chocolate coconut cookies. They are very good. :) And I have my brownies that I make (two different kinds) that I am expected to bring to work potlucks or family functions.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I never learned to cook but I probably could if I had to. I love baking though but I haven't done it for a long time. My family used to love my oatmeal rasin cookies, chocolate chip cookies, christmas cut out cookies, and my snowball cookies. Now I just don't have the time, the desire, or enough people around me to enjoy them with me.

[Catherinedana]

I have to drop the humble act here and say that I am a FABULOUS cook. I make things up as I go along and some recipes which we enjoyed tremendously are forever lost in the ethers because they came and went from my head that quickly - I don't write things down because they are supposed to be fleeting.

My husband dances with his feeties while he is sitting and eating my dinners. . .ah yes, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! Unfortunately, we both have a bit too much stomach! :rolleyes:

I think that cooking is a bit like any talent - sometimes it comes naturally, sometimes it is learned (like with recipes) but it takes practice to get it PERFECT!

By the way - I can't bake anything more complicated than chocolate chip cookies. My baked desserts are a nightmare. . .but thank goodness for that in many ways!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I love to cook and I'm half decent at it. I'm not sure what I cook best, but my favorite meal to cook and eat is chicken cordon bleu and asparagus. My favorite thing to bake is carrot cupcakes.

[Casper]

Oyster, have you tried Spaghetti O Tacos? :D


No, but you just gave me a hankering to try them out. :-D I guess I know what I am fixing for supper tonight!

[Asiel]

Great Meatloaf. Also great Buttertarts and Jelly Rolls.

[happylabs]

I like to cook and my kids and family all say I am a good cook so this is tough to pick one recipe.

I will say my homemade macaroni and cheese is one thing my daughter always requests when she comes home from college. I make it from scratch with a white sauce and all and more than one type of cheese.

I love when my daughter comes home from college because she really appreciates my home cooking. :) :love: :)

[Genny]

I'm not known for cooking in my family..lol My Grandmother and my Mom have always been the ones that cook the meals for everyone. I know how to cook some stuff--like I can make anything that comes out of a box and it comes w/ instructions lol and I can make good desserts...but I'm not that great at makin homemade foods. I can make tacos though...like homemade ones...they're awesome!!

[cassiesmom]

the thing I make best is reservations :rolleyes: I'm not a cook.

[Twisterdog]

I make excellent baked chicken, and pork roasts. Not bad turkey, either.

What I cannot cook is fried chicken. I can fry boneless breasts, but to fry a whole chicken - legs, thighs, breasts - no way. It's usually burned on the outside, raw on the inside, and the coating falls off.

[CountryWolf07]

Buckeyes! :)