Here in western Canada, Meyer lemons weren’t easy to come by until fairly recently.  Ever since I had my first taste of one a couple of years ago, I’ve been hooked – and I look forward to the “citrus season” so I can buy up as many bags as I can.  This, of course, means I’m practically overdosing on them by the middle of February…I’ve frozen them, cooked with them, made lemon jelly,  baked every kind of lemon treat you can imagine, and juiced them into lemonade and green tea (in the dead of winter, there’s something about a fresh glass of sunshine – it’s even better than during the summer!).  Still, I keep buying them as long as I can…and time is running out now.  Very soon I won’t be able to get them again until November.  

Fortunately, besides freezing (which I will post about soon), there is another way to preserve lemons for the long term – by using salt.  The recipe is simple, although the preserves themselves require a bit of subsequent babysitting.  I’m planning to use my lemons alongside baked fish and in spinach and mixed green salads.     

Salt-Preserved Lemons  

3 small organic Meyer lemons, washed, stem ends trimmed, sliced into thin wedges   

¼ to ½ cup coarse salt (use Kosher if you have it)  

Line the bottom of a clean 1 pint glass canning jar with 3 tablespoons of salt.  Snugly pack in a layer of lemon slices, then add another 3 tablespoons of salt.  Keep adding layers of lemon slices and salt until you have reached the top of the jar.  The top layer should be of salt.  Tightly close the lid of the jar and place it in a cool, dark place (mine is in a closet).  It is a good idea to make a note of the date you started your preserves as well as a reminder of the projected end date (3 weeks later) and tape it onto the outside of the jar.  Once a day, you must shake the jar to combine the salt and lemon slices.    

Twice a week, ensure you open the lid of the jar for a few minutes to let the contents “breathe.”  After 3 weeks have passed, the jar must go into the fridge, where it will keep until the next citrus season!  (You’ll eat them long before that, I’m sure!).  Before serving the lemons, remember to rinse them in water to get rid of excess salt, and remove the seeds if you haven’t already done so.   

What is your favourite way to use up lemons?  

(Recipe adapted from http://www.simplebites.net/spiced-preserved-lemons/)  

When I was young I loved watching my Mother cook. I was perfectly content to spend hours in the kitchen chatting with her, watching her glide around the kitchen. She never used a cookbook and always seemed to know exactly what to do, how much to use and when something was perfectly cooked just by the smell or way it looked. I would ask her questions like, “How did you learn to make this?” or “Why did you add that?” And she would willingly answer every question. She enjoyed having me there with her as much as I enjoyed being there. 
   

My Mother in the kitchen I grew up in circa 1958, with our dog Sandy. 

My Mother was not a baker, she cooked, And she only cooked out of necessity. She would always say that she hated cooking. I found this odd since she was a wonderful cook. I grew up in a mostly blue collar neighborhood in the late 50's. My father drove a delivery truck for a large wholesale baking company. My Mother was a stay at home Mom. She was a wonder with finances and my brother and I now as adults, when reminiscing always fondly say, “we were dirt poor but thought we were rich.” That was all thanks to my Mother and the wonderful home she made for us.

Any desserts we had in our home came from an Italian bakery that our family adored. My Father was Italian and my Mother Irish. By all accounts we were raised Italian, my Mom cooked Italian food every week. She learned the recipes from my Italian Aunt who was born in Sicily. I still to this day make those same recipes. The only thing my Mother made was lemon meringue pies at Easter. She made two of them and we would have to wait till next year to get another one. They were gorgeous! She made mile high meringue and it was always pretty as a picture. I remember the first time I made one long after I got married and I was a nervous wreck. Now I make them all the time and all my older siblings love it when I do and so do I because I always hear choruses of, “Oh! They look just like Mama's!”

  My Lemon Meringue Pie. Mama would be proud.

When I was ten years old, my sister bought me my first cookbook. I was delighted and immediately made chocolate chip cookies. They were a hit with my entire family. By the time I was fourteen I was baking all sorts of goodies all the time and to my surprise, my Mother loved this. She was my biggest fan. When I grew up, married and left home I discovered I was making my own traditions. My favorite was my Christmas cookies. My tradition was to add one or more new cookies to my yearly repertoire. I would give friends and family trays of cookies for gifts and my Mother just loved it when she got hers. She would always say, “I don't know where you got this baking talent, certainly not from ME!”

  My Fruit Tart. Mama would be amazed!

I am a big advocate of bringing your children into the kitchen with you. Granted I don't remember my Mom letting me do anything but watch, actually I take that back. I do remember being the Romano cheese grater. But even just watching I took in so much, not even realizing it. The big difference between me and Mama? I LOVE to cook!! I adore being in the kitchen, putting simple ingredients together to create wondrous things to savor. I am an excellent cook, baker and canner. I give all the credit for the love and talent I have for culinary arts to my Mother. Encourage your children or grandchildren to cook, create, bake and watch, you never know, you may be raising the next Julia Child! When I was in Junior High School and High School we could still take Home Ec. Classes but in many school systems these are not offered any longer. So it is even more important to share these lessons with our children at home. The memories and love alone are worth the time it takes to share a recipe. I am grateful beyond words to have these wonderful memories of time with my Mother. Happy Holidays from Itzy Bitzy Farm.

Visit us at www.itzybitzyfarm.com

There was a time when the Pillsbury Bake-Off was a REALLY Big Deal; before television was taken over by reality shows and food challenges. Everyone, even noncooks watched the Bake-off.  Like the swallows in Capistrano or the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C., the Bake-off returned year after year. Back in 1949, it didn’t start out to be a national treasure.  I wonder how many years the company thought it might last. The original contest known as the Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest was a classy showcase for Pillsbury flour.  It was advertising directed to America’s homemakers.  The first Bake-off was held at the elegant Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and was hosted by CBS radio personality Arthur Godfrey.  A legal entry had to use Pillsbury’s Best Flour in her recipe. Yes, men are welcome to enter, but the only male champion won in 1996.

Humans have been cooking since fire first burned a roast, and most likely humans have been comparing the flavor of their roasted wooly mammoth against their neighbors' for just as long. Through the years there have been competitions for chefs, but what genius to have a contest for Mrs. Average American.

Originally The Pillsbury Bake-off was an annual contest, but since 1976 it has been held every other year. A staple on CBS until 2002, the list of Bake-Off hosts is a list of our changing times: Arthur Godfrey, Art Linkletter, Bob Barker, Gary Collins, Willard Scott, Alex Trebek, PhyliciaRashad, Marie Osmond. Apparently the all-important demographics hit even this venerable institution.  It was not broadcast from 2004 – 2006, and since then the Bake-Off has bounced around looking for a permanent home. 

Can you guess the decade?     

Starlight Double-Delight Cake - Yes, the early 50s- where else would we be but the Starlight Drive-In

Accordion Treats - had to be late 50s, when Lawrence Welk and his group entertained us weekly

Golden Gate Snack Bread - Hippies were all over San Francisco in the late 60s

 Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie – 1980, what can I say? We were all out growing our vegetables                          

Salsa Couscous Chicken – late 90s – Mexican and Middle Eastern –  America was discovering international was more than French croissants

Pumpkin Ravioli with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream - this year’s winner says a lot about the current trend for combining sweet and salty or savory in our food

If you want to see the entire list check out http://www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff/About/History 

For the current top prize of $1,000,000 I might be convinced to cook up something tasty before the next contest rolls around. 

I don’t know the real reasons for creating the Bake-off but I can speculate.  Here’s what I think:

1.  After World War II there was optimism in this country.  The U.S. still had a can-do spirit but there was also an emotional letdown as women returned home to babies, housework and cooking meals day after day.  All these duties essential but none carried the aura of helping defend the country. Women needed to feel useful again and what a wonderful way to do this by showcasing one of women’s creative talents

2.  Some advertising ex was tired of the food his wife was fixing and wanted her to find new things to cook.

3. Cake mixes were starting to become popular and Pillsbury needed to sell more bags of flour.

That’s my top 3 guesses why the Pillsbury Bake-off has been popular for so many year.  What are your thoughts?

Every February in recent years, a few months after my deer has been hung and cut up, I’m left thinking of ways to use the non-steak cuts, the portion of the deer normally ground up. My wife’s Venison Meatloaf is unstoppable, Venison Chili is a seasonal favorite, but towards the end of the winter, we’re still inevitably left with around 25 pounds of ground venison.

Evenings when I fend for myself at the dinner table, when Gwen’s away for work, I’ll slip in charcoal-grilled venison burgers, but that’s an admittedly acquired taste that I’ve come to really enjoy and look forward to but would never feed to someone I love. Doe deer burgers are usually pretty tasty to me now, but I remember well eating deer burgers as a young boy and loathing every bite; the deer I have in mind was not exactly processed in optimal conditions, from what I remember.

The desire to find new methods for consuming those extra pounds of ground meat, coupled with my father-in-law’s yearly surplus of awesome-tasting deer snack sticks, made me first get serious about jerky, snack sticks, and making sausage in general. Curing seemed like a cool process, and I wanted to take the plunge.

The three necessities I needed were, in order of importance, a grinder, sausage stuffer, and smokehouse. There are ways to get around the smoker (you could smoke in a normal smoker, or even bake in the oven). But to make 21 mm snack sticks, which I knew I wanted to do, I’d need a manual crank stuffer, and a preferably electric, high-power grinder. And a smokehouse would allow me to slow-smoke the meat like it deserved.

Mad Cow Cutlery had all three, and what I ended up with was the TSM Electric #12 Meat Grinder, a 1 hp beauty that gets after it to the tune of 330 pounds per hour; the TSM 5 lbs. Stainless Steel Sausage Stuffer; and the TSM 30-pound Country Style Insulated Smokehouse.

Later on, Mad Cow Cutlery sent over a gambrel and an assortment of meat processing supplies, which will play a role in our larger vision of processing lambs, pigs, and eventually, I hope, cattle. We later found a used 30-by-60 stainless steel table at a restaurant depot that we bargained for $175.

It’s the logical next step for us here in the GRIT offices. We’ve done chickens, turkeys, deer, squirrels, pheasant, quail and other small animals, but to process our own livestock is an idea that I know I’ve aspired to do ever since I processed a chicken out at Hank Will’s Prairie Turnip Farm, smoked the bird, and tasted the delicious meat that my own hands had taken from pasture to table.

Also, to depend upon and pay a third party to process and package one of my animals seems to me like I’m missing an important part of the circle. Besides, my forefathers did it; why should I pay someone to do it?

But a foray into sausage making was a meaningful and significant first step. Using 9 pounds of my whitetail doe ground venison, 5 pounds of Hank’s ground Mulefoot pork, and 1 pound of GRIT Publisher Bryan Welch’s ground beef, we made 10 pounds of summer sausage and 5 pounds of snack sticks. The first time around, we opted for LEMs seasoning packets, but I think we’re getting more comfortable with the idea of curing and how this particular smokehouse works, and someday soon we’ll start tinkering and using a custom ingredient set.

The Mad Cow equipment performed wonderfully: grinder chewed meat up and mixed it at the same time; the stuffer allowed us to stuff slowly at 21 mm so the casings didn’t break, and the smokehouse smokestack was giving off an aroma (using apple wood) unlike any I’ve smelt before. Cured, smoking sausage is a beautiful thing, a fact proven by my great-great-grandfather and Native Americans all the same.

Next time, we discovered, a little extra pork fat might make the meat a little less dry. It had a great flavor, and even a wonderful texture, but we were reminded that store-bought beef and pork are far different than farm-raised beef and pork, which are significantly leaner. Funny thing, that all those recipes you find just assume you’re using store-bought, fatty pork and beef.

I have to admit, I felt a great tinge of confidence and pride when Hank brought the finished product in a day after we made it, we split a piece, and an hour later we were still feeling fine in the belly and were still upright working on the magazine. We’d successfully cured our first batch of sausage. 

Bottom Photos (5): courtesy Karen Keb

I’m a charcoal guy. While I’ve used gas grills and gas smokers in the past and been completely impressed with the ease, taste and inexpensive fuel, I prefer to do my own outdoor cooking over charcoal. So when the people at All Seasons Homestead Helpers agreed to team with GRIT and give away one of their Brinkmann Smoke’N Grill charcoal smoker/grill combination, I was excited for our readers. You can enter this GRIT Gear contest for free at our GRIT Gear Sweepstakes webpage. 

There really is nothing like firing up a charcoal grill or smoker, filling the air (or neighborhood, if you’re in town) with the aromatic, familiar smell of burning charcoal. Even more wonderful is throwing on a pork shoulder, or a similar cut, and slow-cooking it for several hours while you go about your Saturday. 

And it doubles as a nice little charcoal grill. Before I got a Smoke’N Grill, my only charcoal grill was a little Weber Smoky Joe, which does great and is super efficient when I’m just cooking for me and my fiancé. But when I want to have the pals over to listen to a ballgame, cook a little food and shoot the breeze, I need something bigger. This product really does provide a good option for both charcoal grilling and smoking. 

One of the first things you notice is that the lid does not fit completely tight on the frame of the smoker – there’s a small gap between the lid and frame of the grill. That’s all part of the design, though, as the smoker/grill depends on the bottom-up draft of air to heat the water pan and provide the flavorful smoke that slow-cooks the meat. The heat indicator is also super nice to have, as all you need to do is check the indicator from time to time. Just be sure the needle is in the “Ideal” range and add some charcoal or soaked wood chips if the temperature is dropping (I suggest apple wood chips). A couple of times smoking and you'll know exactly how many briquettes you need to throw on the fire in order to bump the temperature back up.

And there are two chrome-plated steel grills for 50 pounds of cooking capacity, which is plenty for me at this point. 

Retailing at $170, this charcoal smoker/grill combo is perfect for those of us who enjoy cooking over charcoal, be it grilling or smoking your meat. 

I’ll never forget the taste of the first cut of meat I prepared on mine; about 6 hours smoking a 4-pound Mulefoot pork picnic shoulder from one of Hank Will’s pigs. I’ve never tasted better pork.

Thanks to All Seasons Homestead Helpers for both their dedication to supplying Rural America with a variety of products to help around the farmstead – from canning equipment to kitchen composters to meat processors – and to the readers of GRIT with this fantastic giveaway.

No Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation ... will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.

– M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

I love baking bread.  It's one of the first things I started making from scratch and it's so worth it.  I was pretty young when I started my baking career.  I remember making bagels and other delicious bread with my mom when I was in jr high.  I've been baking ever since.  I mostly focus on breads since I don't have much of a sweet tooth.

There's just something about homemade bread, it tastes so much better than store bought, it saves money, and it provides a connection with the past.

When I first started making bread I make traditional recipes made with fresh yeast.  After mastering those recipes I decided to tackle artisan breads using the delayed fermentation method from The Bread Baker's Apprentice.  When I'd learned to make delicious artisan bread, I started learning more about grains and starting grinding my own grain for baking.  I then turned my attention to learning to make sourdough breads.  The thought of using wild yeast was fascinating to me.  Not only are sourdough breads tasty and delicious, but they're much healthier as well.

I find making bread enjoyable and deeply satisfying on a basic level.

Perhaps it's being able to make something delicious for my family.  Or the wonder of mixing flour with yeast and water and kneading it into a delicious loaf.  Maybe our emotions are nourished as well as our bodies when we form a hands on connection with what we eat. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I know that it's something I'll be doing for the rest of my life.

Do you have an activity you do that is deeply satisfying to your soul?

I can also be found at Chiot's Run where I blog daily about gardening, cooking, local eating, beekeeping, and all kinds of stuff. You can also find me at Not Dabbling in Normal.

When it comes up in conversation that I make everything from scratch, including butter, bread, pasta, etc., I often hear, "Oh, well, if I had time for that I would, but I'm so busy." I must admit, it's not that I have more hours in the day than everyone else, I have two almost full-time jobs (that's two full-time jobs, not two jobs that equal one full-time job) and write for four blogs. We grow some food, can and freeze food in the summer, sugar our maple trees, and keep bees. We don't have kids running around which saves us time, but I still have to make the best use of my time in order to get things done. Mr. Chiots helps out a great deal as well, although since we own a business, he spends between 60 and 80 hours a week working as well. We both work from home, which saves us time commuting and allows us to monitor certain projects during the workday. 

I must admit, I love to cook, always have. I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, chopping vegetables, kneading bread, churning butter. Being in the kitchen is usually relaxing for me, and it's a great creative outlet. It's kind of like gardening; you can let your mind wander while your hands do the work. That being said, I don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen each night – I have to get my blog posts written! Over the years I've developed ways to make the most of my time in the kitchen, and today I'll share what works for me. After spending some time cooking, you'll start to develop your own techniques that work well for you. 

Cooking from scratch doesn't mean being a "foodie" and having sun-dried tomatoes, capers, truffles, white wine sauce and pancetta in the pantry. It's no wonder people buy canned or pre-made items, if they feel "cooking from scratch" equals gourmet meals with all kinds of dishes. There are times when I make gourmet meals with exotic ingredients and many components. Most of the time, in day-to-day life, we focus on eating good quality simple meals consisting of a few ingredients, often all in one dish. 

The best way I've found to save time in the kitchen is to keep it simple. Forget what you've learned about meal components and what makes a "healthy" meal. Cooking from scratch can be overwhelming if you feel you need to have meat, a few veggies and a fruit for each meal. When you make meals from scratch, you can focus on making nutrient-dense foods so you don't have to be cooking/eating as many different dishes. For example, when I make tomato soup, I use my home canned soup (made with tomatoes, celery, onions, parsley) and I add equal parts chicken stock and some butter to the soup (bone stocks add loads of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and nutrients, and butter, especially pastured milk butter, adds lots of healthful fats to your meals). I also add spices and herbs, often Italian spices, fresh basil, dried oregano, parsley (herbs also add vitamins, minerals and trace elements). Often I'll top the soup with some grated raw milk cheese and a side of crusty sourdough bread topped with lots of butter. Because I'm getting so many vitamins and minerals from what's in the soup (spices, herbs, bone broth, butter, vegetables), I don't need to add anything to this meal; I'm getting tons of nutrition from one hearty bowlful. 

Learning to cook good, simple food is a beautiful thing. Realizing that you don't have to have a meat, two vegetables, a fruit and bread to have a "complete" meal is liberating. It opens the door to creative casseroles, stews loaded with all kinds of goodness, or meatless meals that are surprisingly filling and delicious. Learning to put your vegetables/fruits into the main dish saves tons of time. Instead of having chicken with side of rice, peas and carrots, how about making a pot of chicken and rice, with everything in one dish?!   

You save time by cooking everything together. You can add broth and extra spices that add extra nutrients to your food. Not only do you save time by not cooking four or five different things and having four pots on the stove, you also save money and so much time washing pots. Double or triple that recipe and you'll save even more time.  

Doubling the recipe is another technique I often employ to save time. It doesn't take much longer to double a batch of soup, to make an extra pan of lasagna, or to double a batch of bread. You can freeze the extras in meal-sized portions for your family and have quick meals ready to go on busy days. Spend a lazy Sunday afternoon making two or three pots of different kinds of soup, and you'll have a couple weeks worth of lunches or dinners out of the way. Not only will you save time by not having to cook every night, you'll have quick meals in the freezer ready to go. I often quadruple my bread recipes (generally making two double-batches) so I have a nice stockpile of bread in the freezer for the summer months when I don't feel like baking. 

Learning to creatively turn leftovers into new dishes is another great way to save time in the kitchen. If you don't mind leftovers, you could just make up big batches of things and eat on them all week, which we often do for lunches. Dinners often call for something different though, so I try to find ways to be creative with our leftovers. For example, if I decided this week I want roasted chicken and potatoes on Sunday evening, I'll roast an extra chicken and extra potatoes that evening. I can make a big batch caramelized onions to use with the leftover chicken all week while it's roasting. I now have a whole chicken, extra potatoes and a big container of caramelized onions to use for future meals during the week. Monday we can have chicken quesadillas, filled with roasted chicken, onions, greens and salsa. Tuesday we can have chicken pizza – pizza topped with chicken, sun dried tomatoes, olives, peppers and onions. Wednesday we can have BBQ chicken sandwiches, topped with onions and cheese with a side of baked potato fries (made from those roasted potatoes). Thursday evening we can enjoy omelets with chopped potatoes, onions and cheese. Friday a hearty chicken vegetable soup made from the bones and extra leftover chicken (you can make this any night of the week after you pick the chicken off the bones and freeze it). 

Make sure you have fun with your food. Let your kids pick out a new fruit or veggie at the grocery store. Have one night a week called "smorgasbord," make it a meal of all the leftovers in the fridge that need eaten up. We have at times had meals like this made up of: baked beans, fried plantains, pizza, salad, green beans, etc. Make "leftover" pizza, topping your pizza with whatever leftovers you find in the fridge (we've had some surprisingly good pizzas topped with odd items). Make it a game, and your family will love it. 

Learn to make some quick or on-the-go meals. When we're out late and are hungry, having a quick meal you can make within 15 minutes of getting home will save you from eating out (plus carrying a few snack whenever you leave home helps as well). Eggs make the perfect quick meal, they're healthy, and they cook up in a flash. Fried or scrambled eggs with some homemade ketchup and toast topped with preserves. How about English muffin egg sandwiches when you need a portable meal to take with you as you run out the door? And don't forget about the humble peanut butter and jelly; very delicious, nutritious and portable. We often have tomato soup as a quick meal, or something from the freezer. 

Do you have any great time-saving tips to share? How about some creative ways to use up leftovers?

It’s no secret that I’m not a great cook – adequate, yes, but I’m not really interested in cooking. I’d rather be outside working on the farm than in the kitchen whipping up meals. But after hearing the phrase time and time again, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach,” I thought I’d never find a man who would accept my lack of culinary skills. So how did a woman who can't wield the mighty saucepan, who looks at a cookbook and her eyes glaze over, find love? Was I doomed to days of loneliness because my flambés don't flame and my soufflés don't rise? No, ladies, I'm here to tell you, for those of us who are less than adept in the kitchen, there is hope.

Last 4^th of July, on Red Pine Mountain, we had a lazy day. Thunderstorms rolled through, rain teemed down upon the roof, and it was chilly and damp necessitating a fire in the wood stove. And, while I sat reading a book, lazily reaching down to pet the dogs sleeping by my side; I listened to the hum of activity in the kitchen. Mountain Man was preparing our holiday feast; homemade potato salad, barbecued chicken, fresh asparagus and apple tart. The most wonderful aromas made my mouth water in anticipation.

How do you find a man like Mountain Man who enjoys cooking? You have to have a strategy. First, search for a man who had a wonderful relationship with his Mother. He spent time with her in the kitchen munching on cookies fresh from the oven, licking cake batter spoons and being the first to sample delectables cooked by his Mother's loving hands. His appreciation for all things culinary will have been inculcated over the years.

Then search for a bachelor who has been on his own for a number of years and is used to cooking for himself. Not a bachelor who runs to the local eatery for his meals, but one who loves to entertain and delight his friends with his newest creations. He knows the difference between a microwave and a pressure cooker, has his personal preference in cookware, and spices adorn his shelves.

Okay, you've found that perfect bachelor. What next? How do you keep him from relinquishing the cooking duties to you?

Well, here’s my secret. I didn't set out to have it happen this way, really I didn't, but when it comes to cooking, everything I touch goes up in flames.

My attempts to surprise Mountain Man with grilled chicken:

Then I set the oven on fire while attempting to cook lasagna.

Mountain Man surveys another one of my burned meals. "You expect me to eat this?"

That was it. With the thoughts of our farm going up in smoke and our fire extinguisher needing to be replaced, the hungry Mountain Man was more than happy to reclaim his kitchen.

And once again, he’s smiling and happy. And me, well, I'm content to be reading my book sitting by the fire; which is nicely contained within the wood stove.

The snickerdoodle has been around a long time. Depending on who you believe, the snickerdoodle came from Germany, or is Dutch in origin, or perhaps got its start in New England. According to one source, “The Joy of Cooking claims that snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln, which means ‘snail dumpling.’ A different author suggests that the word ‘snicker’ comes from the Dutch word snekrad, or the German word Schnecke, which both describe a snail-like shape. Yet another theory suggests that the name comes from a New England tradition of fanciful, whimsical cookie names. There is also a series of tall tales about a hero named ‘Snickerdoodle’ from the early 1900s which may be related to the name of the cookie.”

I’ve varied my snickerdoodle cookie recipe many times in an attempt to bake the perfect cookie. But in many ways, the basic recipe IS the best cookie, with some minor variations that involve tricks more than ingredients.

Tip No. 1: The texture of your cookies will benefit greatly from hand mixing the dough, as opposed to beating with a mixer. I don’t know the technicalities behind this, but I know I’ve seen this advice several times and I’ve tried it myself, and it DOES seem to make a difference. Try your snickerdoodles both ways, and see what you think.

Tip No. 2: Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. The obvious? Not only is it easier to mix the butter by hand when it’s soft, but having these ingredients at room temperature also benefits the final cookie texture.

Tip No. 3: Be sure your baking soda and cream of tartar are fresh. Outdated ingredients will compromise the final cookie.

The Recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs (use large, not extra-large)
2 tsp vanilla
2-3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbls. sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 400. Mix the butter and shortening thoroughly (by hand!) … yes, it is a strange feeling to cream by hand. But hey, the pioneers must have done it, right? I don’t think they had any hand mixers in the 1800s.

After you’ve mixed the shortening and butter, add the sugar and cream further. Add eggs and vanilla.

In separate bowl, mix the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small plastic bag. Shape dough into rounded teaspoons – I make mine a little bit larger because we like big cookies – and shake balls lightly in plastic bag with sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. I use parchment paper and airbake cookie sheets for the most even baking.

Bake 6-10 minutes, depending on your preference. If you prefer a crispier cookie, then bake for 8 mins or more. I baked mine 6-1/2 minutes for a soft middle; be sure this timeframe suits your oven temperature. When the cookies look like they are beginning to crack on the top and they look moist between the cracks, it’s time to take them out. Let sit on the cookie sheets for a minute or two while they finish baking, then remove from sheets. Makes about 6 dozen.

Be adventurous and experiment with your sugar coating. I’ve added nutmeg, allspice, ginger, etc. It all depends on your taste preference!

Snickerdoodles store well in airtight containers at room temperature. I don’t know if they freeze well, because they don’t last more than 3-4 days around here.

Happy Snickerdoodling!

Fully 49 states received snowfall in the last week. Even rural Georgia – Odom’s Idle Acres – found itself covered in 4 inches of beautiful, powdery, Bing Crosby song-inspiring snow. For most it is just an excuse for a day off work or out of school or a reason to slick up the garbage can lid and head for the nearest hill. But for those who see snow as an epicurious test to our homesteading skills it is the perfect reason to make up a batch of Snow Cream.

Snow Cream is akin to ice cream tasting almost as good but definitely twice as much to make. Not to mention the way mother nature does most of the work as opposed to a more traditional method of freezing a custard mix as a first step.

So how do we make this Snow Cream? It’s really quite easy. Needing only a little dairy, some sugar and vanilla flavoring/extract, the largest ingredient is just outside the front door: fresh snow.

Word to the wise, DO NOT try to use snow that is within footsteps of your coop or in the goat pen or where your dog typically finds respite.

But why does snow lend itself to this treatment? Well, let’s think about ice cream for a second. Ice cream is basically a collection of tiny frozen crystals of milk/egg/vanilla/sugar beaten together with air. Snow is fluffy frozen water crystals. So it would serve to reason that all we need to do is add the flavor to try and match one of Baskin-Robbins 31.

Okay, time to get all nerdy real quick.

Because snow has different ratios of water to air based on outside temperatures, wind speed and velocity there is no tried and true recipe for Snow Cream but rather a suggested method. You can fill in your own blanks and add your own flavoring as desired.

INGREDIENTS (based on 1 gallon of Snow Cream)

1 gallon fresh, white snow
1 cup milk
0.5 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla

The directions are nothing more than mix all your ingredients together and freeze for an additional 10 minutes to harden.

I added some chocolate syrup to my first bowl and then added some homemade strawberry jam to my second bowl.