Either way you’ll be screaming my name!
I have a new obsession….Gooey Butter Cookies, but more about those in a bit.
When I was making the dough for the deal breaker of my weight loss tonight, I got to thinking about cooking and what it is to me; the thoughts that cross my mind, what I’ve learned from my family and friends along the way. For instance, I do not scrape a bowl clean of its batter without hearing my grandmother Solloway in my head every single time “Shawn, you get every single speck of batter out of there. Don’t leave one drop. I don’t want you messing up my cake!” Needless to say there wasn’t much licking of the beaters once I was old enough to cook in her house. I also can’t crack a hardboiled egg without thinking of an argument I had with my dad over the easiest way to get the shell off. His way was to crack the shell into a million tiny pieces; mine was to just make sure I got under that thin skin/membrane, no matter how big or small the cracks in the shell it will come off easily. I’ve recently learned neither is better. Per John’s Aunt Mickey, older eggs peel easier than fresh ones. That’s a really good one to know ahead of time, especially when making deviled eggs for 50! Mickey’s advice got me to thinking about some other great truths of my kitchen.
When cooking veggies like mushrooms, onions and peppers, cook /sauté for 8 minutes covered (no peaking!!) over medium heat, no more no less, they’ll come out perfect every time.
Low and slow on the grill is the way every time. The meat is done when it is done, NOT when the timer goes off.
Spend good money on at least one good pan. I have one and only one non stick (coated) pan. I am the only one allowed to use it. I don’t even like to let John wash it. The same holds true about knives and a really good stand mixer. (Love ya Cathy Brown)
If you are making a soup or stew and it gets too salty, cut a potato or 2 in half, drop it in. It will soak up some of the saltiness. If your soup or stew is too thin, add instant mashed potatoes a little at a time to thicken it up.
Something that is a given: Red wine and chocolate are a blessing sent to earth straight from heaven, nothing else goes as well together, nothing ever will! I should know. I add red wine to anything I’d add beef broth to. It adds a depth of flavor that can’t be beat. That and I always seem to have some around…a-hmmm.
EVERYONE can cook, it just takes patience and practice. Don’t be afraid to stray from a recipe. If you don’t like an ingredient substitute something that you do. If it doesn’t work out, try it the way it was written..You never know! I try to view most recipes as suggestions. They are the baseline or guide for what I want my end result to hopefully achieve or exceed. If you think you can’t cook, try baking. Some people excel at different aspects of cooking in general. You don’t have to be good at all of them. I’m quite mediocre at most and damn proud of it thank you very much.
Ok, so the reason this all came about. Gooey Butter Cookies. Any Paula Dean fan worth their salt (or mayo or butter) in the kitchen knows of her Gooey Butter Cake. Well this is a twist on that recipe and ever so easy to make! I am now completely obsessed with making these. You can make any flavor or combination that you desire…or that Duncan Hines offers in their cake mixes. My problem is that I made a huge batch of lemon flavored cookies on Sunday….they are gone. So I figured that meant I must try to make a new batch..No wait..2 new batches. Tonight I have whipped up one strawberry and one double fudge. I think in honor of Halloween I’m going to get a little Frankenstein with it and combine a few of them together….daring...I know!!!
Now please, go get the 6 ingredients together that you need to make these, you most likely have everything in your pantry and fridge already. Then proceed to yell my name in praise for introducing you to these moist little bites of gooey perfection or to curse me for ruining your sleek slim little waist line that you’ve worked so hard to keep. If it’s the latter, shut it, put a cookie in your mouth and enjoy, you can stuff yourself on celery tomorrow to make up for it!
Gooey Butter Cookies (via Food Network)
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 stick butter, at room temperature
- 1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract - 1 (18-ounce) box cake mix
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.
NOTE:
· 2 hours chill time is NOT a suggestion!! Follow it or you’ll have very sticky fingers
· I didn’t need to add the powder sugar sprinkle after
· The Lemon is good, Strawberry ok, Strawberry/Fudge real good (think chocolate covered Crunchberry) and the Fudge- out of this world!
