Pilgrims' Cranberry Corn Cookie

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I want to be a Pilgrim.  We celebrate today because the fearless Pilgrims adventured across the ocean in search of freedom.  Sometimes, I’d like to leave this land and cross the Atlantic and start anew.  Don’t we all?  I don’t want to be a whiner, but the past year and half has often been filled with straight up sadness.  Strapping on some buckle shoes and a bonnet and making a pilgrimage to a new territory sounds oh so appealing.  (Okay maybe not the colonial outfit but the trip would be nice.)  However, if I did up and leave my Dad and Mom here, I’d feel a deep, painful knot inside.  So I guess my desire to be a Pilgrim just leads me back to the purpose of this holiday – to give thanks for what we have. Thanksgiving has always been a tradition at our house where the whole family, plus a few dear friends, gathers throughout our dining and living room.  Nana flies in from Chicago each year and it just wouldn’t be the same without her standing over the sink all day elbow deep in a 20-pound turkey, pulling gizzards and livers and other turkey organ bits out and seriously making me consider my choice as an omnivore.  My mother and I will have a perpetual, feisty debate about who sits at what table, where, or if we can squeeze everyone around the dining room. And my father would spend the day making stuffing and a cranberry chutney sauce, then he’d turn the gross slimy turkey liver into this delicious chopped liver paté  – which as a toddler I devoured – and at noon he’d run to El Pollo Loco to pick up 12 containers of mashed potatoes and one of their mac ‘n cheese that he loved to snack on for lunch even before the big feast.  But this year, he’ll probably lie on his bed or on the couch if he makes it downstairs.  I’ll try and encourage him to help me make real mashed potatoes, and maybe he’ll last a few minutes.  But then he’ll retreat back to the couch and I’ll put the Macy’s parade on for him to watch, at which point he’ll probably wander into the kitchen a few times, happily teary-eyed due to an emotional reaction to whatever musical number just played.  The life of the severely brain-injured is one of lethargy, confusion, depression, and extreme emotion.  I’m sure the smells coming from the kitchen and my Mom, Nana, and I buzzing around will trigger the Thanksgiving-day feeling in my Dad – but I can’t expect him to hop off the couch and make chopped liver.  My wish is that he would.  Maybe not this year, but I have to keep hoping.  It’s hard to see the silver lining in the face of such sadness – but I have to be thankful for him here to love and cherish and cling to those happy, and real moments, no matter how sporadic.  And I’m deeply thankful, every minute of my life, for the most incredible father I had for 25 years – the best dad in the world.  I will never stop giving back to him. 

Whew, okay drying my eyes.  Back to the Pilgrims.  Just as we are only as good as the people who influenced us in our lives, our Pilgrim ancestors were only successful because of the help of the Native Americans of our land!  When the winter chilled their colonial bones, the Native Americans taught the settlers how to harvest corn and preserve it through those cold, East coast winter months.  They also introduced them to the ever-present cranberry which was constantly incorporated into Native American cuisine long before the pilgrims landed.   It is this reason that both the cranberry and corn are a part of our Thanksgiving table today.  So I tip my bonnet to the Native Americans and I’m whipping up a Pilgrim Cranberry Corn Cookie to honor this holiday.  And if it’s good – a new tradition will sit aside our pumpkin pies at the dessert table. Enjoy! 

(that photo is of Daddy and Nana, carving the bird, Thanksgiving 2004)

 

Preheat oven 375°

 

INGREDIENTS

1 package of Instant Corn Muffin Mix

¾ cups whole-wheat flour

1 stick unsalted room temperature butter

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup milk (I used 2%)

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup + 1 tbls dried cranberries

((you see the bag of Nestle lurking in the back there?  I thought adding white chocolate chips would be nice!  it still might be - but the cookies are sweet and perfectly crisp and the chips might just be overkill.  I give you full chip-freedom.))

1st)  Whisk together corn muffin mix + wheat flour.  (The mix equals 1 1/2 cups).  And set aside.  (I did not include the usuals in this step: baking soda, baking powder, and salt because the corn mix already has it in there!  love it.  I give thanks to time-saving tips.)

2nd)  Beat the butter and the sugar together...

3rd)  ...until it's nice and fluffy like Jenny after a bath.

4th)  aw.  And then add your egg and beat well.  

5th)  Measure out your milk and drop the vanilla in there.

5th)  Now add it sloooooowly to the egg/butter/sugar mix otherwise it'll splatter all over the place.

6th)  Beat it reeeal fast once the milk is blended just to blend it even more cause the butter gets a little lumpy when competing with it's dear dairy cousin. 

 7th)  Now slowly add in the flour/corn mix mixture.

8th)  Once blended drop in your cranberries

9th)  Mix it together well and then drop onto your lightly greased baking sheet.

10th)  Bake for about twelve minutes, or until golden brown and edges are crisp.

11th)  Yeah they spread out.  Maybe that's why they're originally destined to be muffins. But they came out deliciously thin and crisp!

12th)  So the next batch I did I baked on a cookie sheet that was about 1 inch deep.  That helped keep them in cookie form!!!

 Daddy said, "They're GREEAT!"  (Tony the Tiger said that once too but I swear my Dad was being thoroughly genuine... even though he looks a little... skeptic.) 

These will be a lovely addition to your Thanksgiving table.

UNDERCOVER Cocoa Cookie!

I remember when I first sampled the sweet, surging rewards of coffee.  I was a freshman in college and my best friend was addicted to Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee swimming with cream and sugar.  I was apprehensive to try real thing – this was something only grown-ups drank and I was the sort of 18-year old who was too much of a goodie-two-shoes to try anything beyond “frappucinos,” let alone real coffee, or even… alcohol.  (okay maaaaybe I lived on the edge a touch and drank a Smirnoff Ice or two in the dorms, but that was as party-girl as I dared to be.  In fact, I was quoted once with saying, “I’ll never put anything burning in my mouth...” two weeks of junior year in Boston and that changed reeeal fast.)  However, one monumental morning I took a few sips of my friend’s concoction and went skipping to class on a caffeine surge and instantly adopted the drink into my own routine along with the freshman-fifteen.  I couldn’t go without it every morning and have since lived my life amped up.  Except now, I like it black.  Like my m-- Labrador.  Is it bad that I feel everyday needs to be jolted with a little caffeine?  And I seem to be drinking more of it since I spend so much time attempting to be productive in coffee shops.  I feel like I can’t write without it, I feel like I can’t speak without it, and as a long-distance runner and avid cardio kick-boxer, I now feel like I can’t exercise at my peek performance without it!  (this is ever since I was turned onto GU and Triple Threat Power Bars. Ooohhhh I’m buzzing just thinking about them.)  Regardless, please say I’m not alone in this!!! Or if I am, well not worry, I have found a way to disguise my addiction!!!!!!!  Oh yes, enter the UNDERCOVER COCOA COOKIE!  I have baked a chocolate cookie that packs a caffeinated punch.  It’s the perfect sugary, rich bite to give you that extra jolt without stopping at Starbucks for the third time in one day.  So make this cookie and you’ll save enough Starbucks lattes to buy a small vacation home in the French Alps… you’ll burn off all the caffeinated calories in a surge of energy leaving you svelte and super-model material… and you’ll have them at the ready to lure and trick your man into staying up all night with you to watch the sunrise.  Okay so maybe this is my fantasy cookie.  Any way you take it, black, or with cream and sugar, this cookie is sure to Amp. You. Up. enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 cup of granulated sugar

½ cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 large egg

¼ cup room temperature brewed coffee

1 cup milk chocolate chips

¾ cup slivered almonds

 

Preheat oven to 350°

1st)  Whisk together dry ingredients.

2nd)  Beat butter and sugars together till creamy.

3rd)  Add vanilla extract, one egg, and coffee.

4th)  cream it all together slowly or the coffee will splatter and you'll have a coffee stain on your shirt! then you've blown your cover!!!

5th)  Slowly whisk in dry ingredients...

6th)  blend until creamy and lovely

7th)  Now add the almonds for a little protein and extra energy (fyi: nuts are a good source for this), and the milk chocolate chips (for the cream in your coffee).

8th)  Stir it up til well incorporated!

9th)  Drop the coffee balls onto your non-stick cookie sheet10th)  Let 'em percolate in the oven for 10-12 minutes...11th)  Once baked and the edges look slightly darker, transfer them to a wrack to cool.12th)  And now - the best part of wakin' up, is a cookie in your cup!!! hah

The Good/Bad Date Cookie

I don’t really go on a lot of dates.  I know, it’s okay – I’m shocked too.  But it’s sort of true!  A real classic date-night is a rare occurrence in my daily planner.    I seem to swim in a pool where the fish like to hook up but an actual dinner scenario is out of the question. However, when the rare instance that a real date presents itself… for example, “hi, Anne – I’m an adult with a sufficient bank account and would like to take you out to a nice dinner.” My head sort of explodes a little and I start swiftly pacing around my room nervously shaking my hands as if they had just announced on the news that a group of Martians who all look like Matt Damon just landed in town and I have 23 minutes to decide what to wear before they knock on my door and abduct me.  In other words – the actual initiation of being asked out on a date is so out of my world that I become a little neurotically anxious.  Just a little.  And why, really?  It’s silly.  It’s just dinner!  (At least to start.)  And I’m real good at eating.  So that’s nothing to stress about.  I guess the worry lies in everything else that happens when you’re with another human being:  communicating.  Will talk be interesting? Boring? Funny? Exciting?  So lame that I start staring at the fork and contemplate if mermaids really did use them to comb their hair and if so could I sneak it in my purse and head to the bathroom for a quick touch up?  Did mermaids exist?  Right.  Back to the person sitting across from me who liked me enough to treat me to something lovely.  *smile* As all these questions marinate in my brain pre-date night, I filter my anxiety into baking the “Good/Bad Date Cookie,”  with a combination of ingredients that when in perfect balance can enhance any date.  That way, no matter if the date was good, bad, mind-blowing, or mediocre – I’d at least have something sweet to comfort me in the end! 

INGREDIENTS:

2.5  cups all-purpose unbleached flour

1  tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2  sticks room-temperature butter

1  cup brown sugar

3/4  cup granulated sugar

2  room temperature eggs

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

sprinkling of cinnamon sugar

1  cup chopped dates  (Buy the PITTED kind!)

1  cup semi-sweet chocolate chips  

1  cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°

1st)  chop the dates into small pieces.  Warning, as most dates can be... this is a bit tedious cause they're so sticky.  After chopped, set aside.  

2nd) Whisk together dry ingredients:  flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  

3rd)  Using the mixer, cream the butter.

4th)  Then beat in the white sugar, followed by the brown sugar.  Scraping down the sides as necessary.

5th)  Once all creamy and sugary together, add the eggs, one at a time.  Followed by the vanilla.

6th)  Now gradually add in the dry ingredients...

7th)  Now add your dash of cinnamon-sugar as the last bit of flour gets blended.  (Dates go well with a little spice. ;)

8th)  Now comes the fun part!!!  Throw in the semi-sweet chocolate chips and the nuts.  (Use semi-sweet, they're not too sweet... not too dark, but somewhere in the middle is just right.)  And use pecans, because dates always go well with quality nuts.  ;)

9th)  Drop in the dates!  Dates are a sticky situation, so use your fingers to separate them and drop into the batter.  Let it blend, then drop some more in.  

10th)  I resort to the old wooden spoon to make sure everyone is mingling happily together and well incorporated.

11th)  Now drop into rounded tablespoons onto your cookie sheet!  (p.s. this dough is AMAZING.  If you actually make it to the baking part I'll be impressed.)

12th)  Now, bake for 10-12 minutes or until browned and the edges appear a lightly crisped.

13th)  Remove from oven and let cool on the sheet for a couple minutes.   and oops!  These guys got bigger than I anticipated under the heat (usually not something to complain about) but for future notice, space your date-cookies out a bit. :)

14th)  Transfer to wire wracks to cool completely.   (There was a dozen.  I ate one.)

15th)  And finally, enjoy!!!  Now that's one guaranteed hot date. ;)