Entry #676927, added on 11-19-09 @ 7:19 pm EST
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| if you give a mouse a cookie | Entry #676927 |
There is a dead mouse on my doorstep and Tony won't be back until tomorrow.
This mouse is but the latest victim of my cat Stormy. The problem is that I have a dead mouse on my doorstep and I'm not going to be able to move it because my rodent phobia includes post-mortem mousies. I know . . . I know, it is stupid and doesn't make sense, but then again, phobias are, by definition, illogical fears.
In any case, I could live with the dead mouse. It is outside after all and I could avert my eyes and step around it, but as you might imagine, my cat had other plans for the mouse. The problem is, it's raining. Stormy doesn't like to get wet and yet, she doesn't want to leave her fresh kill out there for some other animal to scavenge. So she is incessantly mowing at the door. Whichever side she is on, she wants to be on the other. Since she is part Siamese, she has a very loud and distinctive meow and short of allowing her to bring the mousie inside where it is warm and dry so she can disembowel it in my foyer, I'm really not sure how to shut her the hell up!
It has been a crappy, gray and rainy day here, so I came home and made a heaping Sweet and Spicy Ginger Stirfry for dinner. It was excellent, but the kitchen is kind of a mess now and I should be cleaning it up instead of rambling on here. I really would like to bake again tonight. There is something about the cool weather that makes me want to bake all those delicious goodies that I've worked so hard to eliminate from my diet.
Last night I made toffee squares. I took them into work today and unloaded them on some folks at a meeting this afternoon. They are tasty and not to complicated to make. Since I'm trying to avoid cleaning the kitchen, I'll even share the recipe.
Bottom Layer:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. flour
Top Layer:
2 eggs
1 c. brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. coconut
1 c. chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350. For the first layer, cream butter and brown sugar. Add flour and mix well. Press firmly into ungreased 9x9 pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Cool slightly.
For top layer, beat eggs until light. Add sugar and vanilla; blend well. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into egg mixture; mix until smooth. Add coconut and nuts. Spread evenly over baked bottom layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.
The recipe comes from one of those fund-raiser type cookbooks. This one was compilation of recipes by the ladies at my Grandmother's church. When my Grandmother died, the cookbook made it into the throw away pile and my father rescued it because it had his Grandma's recipe for sugar cookies. He gave me the cookbook and I made him cookies.
The recipes list the people who contributed them . . . Dorothy, Phyllis, Hazel, Delores, Mary Faith, Utha, Shirley, Mardell, Ruth, Alice, Evelyn, Mable, Mildred, Gussie, Ester, Louise, Margaret, Bertha, Gladys, and Clovia. They were a sort of extended family to my Dad and he grew up munching on their cookies. Most of my cookie recipes come from that book. Near as I can tell, there haven't been many innovations in cookie baking these past 50 years and I like the feeling of continuity I get from following these golden oldies.
Well, I guess if I'm going to bake anything, I'd better get the kitchen cleaned up.
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© Copyright 2009 Special Kay (UN: mkay at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
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Content Rating Notice: GC -- May Contain Graphic Content
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