lemon clove cookies

 for those who have been asking and patiently waiting, i had a free moment. i give you the lemon clove cookie recipe, with and without sugar.

Lemon Clove Cookies
from McCormick's Cooking with Flavor

2 C flour
1/4 tsp ground cloves
dash salt
3/4 C (1-1/2 sticks) softened butter
1 C sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp lemon extract

1. Combine flour, cloves & salt; set aside.
2. Beat butter & sugar on medium speed until light & fluffy. Add egg & lemon extract; beat until well blended, scraping sides if necessary. Stir in dry ingredients.
3. Divide dough in half. Roll into 2 logs, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter, about 9 inches long. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
4. Using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on ungreased (or parchment covered) baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350* oven 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


Sugar Free Lemon Clove Cookies
adapted from McCormick's Cooking with Flavor

2 C flour
1/4 tsp ground cloves
dash salt
3/4 C (1-1/2 sticks) softened butter
1 C Splenda
1 Tbsp honey
1 egg
1/2 tsp lemon extract

1. Combine flour, cloves & salt; set aside.
2. Beat butter, honey & Splenda on medium speed until light & fluffy. Add egg & lemon extract; beat until well blended, scraping sides if necessary. Stir in dry ingredients.
3. Divide dough in half. Roll into 2 logs, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter, about 9 inches long. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
4. Using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on ungreased (or parchment covered) baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350* oven 12-15 minutes;cookies will not be browned. Cool on sheets 1 minute; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

a two-way street

I've been mulling over my first week on full-time status and a few incidents and passenger statements have really just wedged in my craw. Everyone thinks that they, themselves, are infinitely special and should be allowed to skip the screening process just on their say-so. Really? A terrorist would completely agree with you on that one. Right. Self-screening on the honor system. Go ahead, pat yourself down and just tell the police you have an IED strapped to your thigh. I'd give terrorists about 32.7 minutes to jump on that one and then everyone would blame the government for not protecting them again.

According to the Transportation Security Administration's Civil Rights Policy Statement, "the public we serve are to be treated in a fair, lawful, and nondiscriminatory manner, without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, disability, sexual orientation, status as a parent, or protected genetic information." What a mouthful. I have interpreted that statement to mean, "everyone," which expands back out to mean, "I am screening all of you to the same degree. None of you are exempt."

You have the right to be treated respectfully. While I cannot vouch for every one of the other 42,999 officers, everyone I work with treats passengers respectfully while maintaining the standards we are required to uphold. That little blue statement goes both ways.

* When you roll your eyes at me after I've suggested three times to put your cell phone through the x-ray machine and then you call me a bitch, you are the one out of line. Dude, I even said "please."
* When you slam your luggage on my hand and yell at me for "making you miss your flight" while I am trying to help you, you'll be unloading your belongings by yourself at the other end. I got up at 2am; I was here on time. I am not to blame for your initial tardiness.
* When you say to me, with your condescending smile, that I am ineffective and that making you disrobe completely before boarding your flight is a waste of your taxpayer dollars, I am more likely to remind you that There's Still Avis. And if you didn't wear 19 layers of clothing and boots that lace all the way up to your neck, accompanied by a collection of no less than 29 bracelets, necklaces, and earrings that could be used as paperweights, you would have far less to divest. Try one layer of clothes, a sweater, slip-on shoes, and pack the bling.
* If you can read your boarding pass and navigate the internet well enough to book a flight, you can read regulations on what to bring and what not to bring from TSA's website. Most airlines have links to that page from their websites as well. If you "haven't flown in years" and haven't educated yourself, then your bag check is your education.
* When you mis-read the website and decide that you can bring anything you like as long as it is in a plastic baggie, you will be given your options: go to the ticket counter and check your bag under the plane; mail each item to yourself at a ridiculous cost of $20 per item (the checkpoint mailers company is not in any way affiliated with TSA or any individual airport); take it out to your car if you can, or give it to someone who may have dropped you off; or voluntarily surrender it. That's right, I said surrender. No one is forcing you to throw it away. You can always just miss the flight, if your shampoo is really that important. Once you scream at me and throw that shampoo, you have just stepped into the bounds of "assault." Keep that in mind. Because if I'm not allowed to swear at you and throw things, I certainly will not stand by and wear my BarbieTM smile and let you. I can pretty much guarantee that my swearing will trump yours. Don't test me.
* Go read this. Then go watch that. Please step back and get your liquids, gels, creams, and aerosols out of my face. Even if it didn't happen here in America, it is still a legitimate threat. A terrorist can just as easily declare, "It's just hand lotion. What's so dangerous about hand lotion??? You people are so stupid."
* I am treating your grandmother with the utmost respect, but she is not exempt either. She may not want to harm a fly, but the truth is, other people in the world could care less about their elders, or family members who cannot protest or fight back. It's old news, but still relevant every day.
* When I tell you what is involved in the additional screening I am about to perform and ask you if you'd like a private screening in a provate room BEFORE we start, that is the best time to say yes. While you are still encouraged to tell me when and if you are uncomfortable, when we pick up all your belongings, haul them into a private (yes windowless) room and begin the process all over again, you can just hold on to all the complaining about how inconvenient it is to start over. You requested it.
* When you wrap wads of money in aluminum foil and tuck it into your underwear, I'm not going to ask you to drop your drawers to see it. I'm going to deny you entrance to the aircraft until you leave, with all your belongings, and remove it. Yuck. (And yes, I use hand sanitizer after handling money ALL THE TIME now.)
* When you deliberately wrap your box cutter or cologne in your dirty underwear to deter me from searching your bag, guess what? Your dirty underwear will be on display for everyone on the checkpoint to see. I will fan that bad boy out and run it through the x-ray so everyone can see what a pig you are. Then I will change my gloves, sanitize my arms and hands AND the bin AND the table befouled by you and move on with my day.
* Please do not attempt to interpret my x-ray images of your bag. You can't even see the screen. Crossing your arms over your chest, checking your watch, sighing dramatically and telling me that I am "a waste of time" does nothing more than distract me from clearing your bag. Most of the time I'm not even looking at the bag of the person making the loudest noise and insisting that "it's just a cell phone; my god, do you need better glasses or something??" So, um, yeah. It's not actually a cell phone and you wouldn't know, since it isn't your bag. I especially love to tell that passenger when it was a training bag and I actually caught a simulated IED. Eat that, buddy.

You have the right to be treated respectfully. And so do I.

caramel apple cake

from Easy Cooking the Costco Way, 2009

this cake was quite literally the perfect end to a fabulous fall day in our house. the sweet-tart of the apple combined with the creamy sweet caramel glaze had my i-don't-like-apples-boy begging for a second piece. the recipe calls for 5 apples, but i don't think i could have squeezed more than four into the pan without making it "apples with cake stuck to the sides." also, i baked mine in a bundt pan for look-at-me points. made the glaze look prettier than on a standard rectangle too.

cake
1 C packed light brown sugar
1 C granulated sugar
1-1/2 C vegetable oil (we use sunflower)
3 eggs
3 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2-1/4 tsp vanilla
4-5 granny smith apples, peeled, cored & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1-1/4 C chopped pecans or walnuts

1) preheat oven to 325* (300* for a dark pan). butter & flour a 9x13 pan.
2) beat sugars and oil until well blended and creamy. add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. stir together flour, and spices. gradually add to wet ingredients, mixing until just blended. stir in vanilla, apples & nuts.
3) bake for 50-75 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. a darker pan or bundt may take a bit longer with a lower temperature; check frequently. let cool in the pan (for 15 minutes and invert bundt cake onto serving platter.)

glaze
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C light brown sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 C heavy cream

4) melt butter in saucepan over med-low heat. stir in sugars and salt; cook for 2 minutes. add cream and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
5) poke holes in the cake with a wooden skewer. pour glaze over top. serve warm (divine!!) or at room temperature.

coupla camp'n recipes

at the behest of more than one reader, here are a couple of my kids' favorite camping recipes. judging by the number of requests for the soup, it looks like several families will be partaking of chicken noodle soup at our next pack trip!

*Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup*
2 C chicken stock/bouillon
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 clove minced garlic
2 C chopped cooked chicken
1 C sliced carrots
1 C sliced celery
1/2 C chopped onion
1 T parsley
1/2 tsp thyme
salt & pepper to taste
2 C dry egg noodles

home prep: (i always freeze the meat and veggies i take camping because they double as ice packs in the cooler that way. i can re-use their dishes if i have any leftover soup as well.)
1) cook, chop & freeze chicken.
2) chop & freeze veggies.
3) cook & cool noodles. store in plastic baggie.
4) if using chicken stock, freeze that in quart-sized freezer bags. if using bouillon cubes, never mind.
5) combine dry spices in small tupperware container or snack-size zipper bag.

camp prep: (either propane stove or over the fire)
1) heat frozen stock first, if necessary. otherwise, combine 2 C water & bouillon cubes, add 2 cans of soup. stir til combined.
2) stir in dry spices. add veggies & chicken. heat through. add cooked noodles last.
3) heat 'til bubbly; it shouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes on a good fire. serve with biscuits or toast. serves 6.

FABULOUS on a cold, rainy trip. you can change up the veggies to your family's liking, of course, and if you prefer your soup thinner, just add more liquid. we like ours thick enough that it doesn't run off the spoon on its own. you can easily convert this recipe to a beef stew by changing the stock, veggies, & meat, but keeping the same measurements.

*Backpack Fudge*
1/2 C cocoa
16 oz powdered sugar
1/2 C butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz cream cheese

1) combine butter, cheese & vanilla in a gallon FREEZER bag. when squished together, add cocoa & sugar.
2) pass around the campfire and knead in the bag for 30 minutes. knead carefully so the bag doesn't burst! spread in pan and let rest for about 10 minutes. cut & serve. makes about 1 pound. VERY good.

kate's eights 10-7-09

 8) i started this week out on a fair note: i got up with my first alarm on sunday, which has not been happening lately. just tooooo tired to get up. i decided to treat myself to dunkin donuts on my last sunday/friday and there i found my precious: pumpkin donuts. YUMS! the day passed without so much as a burp in my happiness until about 9:50, which was right before quittin' time. an elderly stick-in-the-mud decided to start an argument over facial wash. without all the he said/she said, it was too big for the carryon. the end. but he decided to throw a fit about it. i remained calm and unflustered until he asked me my IQ. my supervisor (bless you, you saint) stepped in and told the guy to get his things and go, and stood my ground for me as i paced like an angry lioness down the terminal. you may not like the policies that i enforce, but do not dare to insult my intelligence. the IQ tests that i have taken, (because i have had reason to take more than one) average out to 137. i didn't know that was good until yesterday, when someone said that score was "borderline genius." wow. thanks, dude.

7) tomorrow begins my Hell Week, since my shift changes as of sunday morning. so i work my regular shift thursday, friday, saturday.... and start my new shift sunday, monday, tuesday. it's gonna be a long-loooooong week. may the gods have mercy upon any soul who thinks to piss me off on tuesday. and then management will announce whether i'm lucky enough to get full-time hours - and change my schedule again.

6) i woke up hungover this morning from 2 glasses of wine. i can't be serious, can i???

5) i counted out another 1K campbell's soup labels yesterday. which brings my total thus far to 3100... and i still have more. fortunately, once i have caught up with the bag of summer labels, i will be able to keep up with the weekly dropoffs a lot better. boxtops total (which will be going into the mail this week) is about 2300. i think. i can't remember and i can't be arsed to go upstairs right now and look. not bad for, like, 40 hours of work! :oP

4) my mother said something positive. i almost fell down in shock. maybe this new presidency is good for her, i dunno. she received a $100 whole foods gift card from the wife of someone she works with. she earned this little gem for transferring the contents of a floppy disk onto a flash drive. i know.... can i get some of that kind of work?? so she calls me and tells me she doesn't want to go to "this whole foods place," even after i told her all about whole foods and how lucky she was to have that gift card. she sent it to me in the mail with a card that read, "i'm not thinking of this as re-gifting, i'm thinking of it more along the lines of paying it forward." wow, mom. you don't know how profound that really was... especially for you. BOOO-YAH! i got a whole foods gift card!!

3) there is a branch literally hanging by a thread in my tree. it is about... 40 feet up and over a set of power lines. we contacted the power company last spring when it splintered and they told us they weren't concerned with it. with today's extremely high winds, it is now leaning heavily on the guide wire between poles. that bad boy is coming down soon. i can feel it. i just wish there was something i could do, aside from fork out $2K that i don't have to have a tree surgeon hack the whole tree down. i'll prolly sleep in the girls' room tonight just to listen. i don't want to be woken in the night by a fire alarm. apparently the lines back here have a habit of setting the houses on fire when they come down. so say the neighbors. *shudder*

2) my baby had her first homecoming this past weekend. we found her dress by fluke during back to school shopping. it was the perfect size and price, so we snatched it up. friday night, the mavericks delivered a sound spanking to the visiting team (who were also wearing orange); the score was 36-12 at the beginning of the 4th quarter when we left in the rain. trombones don't much like rain. saturday, after getting the girlie's hair did, we drove to bria's boyfriend's house, and brad's mom and i paparazzi'd them for about a half hour before driving the two to TGIFriday's for dinner. they sat at their own table on the other side of the restaurant from us. we dropped the cuties off at the dance and i collapsed into bed. i understand that someone else retrieved them, because she was here sunday when i got home from work. she danced so much, she ruined the toes of her shoes. WoW. looking at the pictures of my daughter, she is so much a young lady... i hardly recognize her from her "everyday tomboy" look. *sigh* now i'm just nattering.

1) the temps are dropping and the soup recipes have been dusted off. we are looking forward to a night in the near future of setting fire to a lot of wood in our yard (possibly more delivered straight from above) and enjoying our firepit before it gets too cold to sit by the fire. this has been the shortest summer season i've ever known outside of the united queendom. it was still chilly enough to wear jackets in mid-june, and we busted out the winter coats for a day last week. *grump* and lars has outgrown almost all of his pants already. in two months. he keeps growing like this and he'll be taller than his big brother by christmas. yipe!

there's a daughter on her way home now and 3 other kids to pick up, then homework and dinner to begin... and then the boy scouts and i will be working on knots tonight. yay knots!

"hi. i'm New."

so i've raised my hand and volunteered for something again. at least this is something i can do while sitting on my butt in front of the tv. see? i'm making time for *me* to sit and relax! i know, i know... but someday i can put all these valuable service hours on a resume, right? yeah-no. not this one. see, this time, i've volunteered to be the Clippin' Queen. that's right, cow-tow and grovel at my feet which, incidentally, are covered with little scraps of trash. behold Her Royal Hiney, Queen Kater, counter and compiler of Boxtops for Education, Campbell's soup labels, and Tyson's chicken labels. oh, and more stuff that i have yet to discover, i'm sure.

so here's what i do: i open the collection boxes in the school lobby, check the expiration dates, count the labels, send them in, and the school gets money. easy, right??

i expected a pretty big haul after the summer months of diligent label-watchers such as myself. and then i got a 30 gallon trash bag half-full from the last label Queen. OMFG doesn't begin to describe it. if i didn't respect the position of the Clippin' Queen before, i sure as hell do now.

first and foremost, what, in the name of prince albert's socks, would possess someone to re-use a plastic zipper lunch baggie to send labels in to the school???? is this personal? because we can meet at the bleachers after school if that's all it is. you pack a ho-ho for little suzy and she brings half home in her peanut butter sandwich bag and you think it's all good to send that sticky bag in to school the next day full of labels that need to be counted? REALLY? that's taking recycling a bit too far. so guess what? i'm not counting it. your effort goes right into the trash.

speaking of "in the trash," those Boxtops have expiration dates. out of the thousands of Boxtops in my living room, i've tossed about $20 worth that are expired. those Pillsbury tube biscuits all expired in june 2009. so did a lot of Old El Paso products. no good, guys. products you buy this week have dates far into 2011, 2012, and even 2013. so, um, where are all these products coming from with dates of 2008, 2007, and even 2006? if the Boxtops expirations are *that* old, you prolly shouldn't be putting that food in your mouth. just sayin'.

being a mother of four, i can totally understand not knowing where the scissors are at every given moment. i have torn the labels off the cans and chunked those boxes up to collect the miniature $.10 school prize. however, could we at least make an effort to cut along those dotted lines that the company so lovingly provides on the label? the little fat Campbell's guy by himself is not the part needed, folks. on some labels that isn't exactly clear, but i really don't need the whole label. especially the food service labels that are the size of an 8x10 sheet of paper. scissors are our friends. just, you know, trim a little bit?

and our final public service announcement goes out to the people who are sending in just random food boxes. check what i got today: Little Debbie cosmic brownies, PastaRoni, Lipton dry soup, Popsicles, Mott's sliced apples (the sticky bag! oooh, fun!), Mini Oreo go-pak, Quaker granola bars, a single Quaker instant oatmeal packet, (insert store brand) toasted oat cereal, Fiber One, Annie's shells & cheddar macaroni (the club store size box), and Land-O-Lakes fresh eggs.... i'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that this family is either new to school and has no idea what "Boxtops for Education" or "Campbell's Labels" are or possibly is new to the country. either way, it looks like i have a flier to create.

after 15 (non-consecutive) hours, i have grouped the labels by point value into gallon-size zipper bags. seven one-gallon-sized zipper bags and a couple of quarts, to be exact. i have counted 2,000 water bottle labels, 3,600 boxtops, and less than 500 soup labels. (i have to cut most of the soup labels out myself because following the dotted lines seems beyond the ability of some label collectors). and after all that counting, i discovered that the water label campaign was finished in april 2009. i did those labels first because they were the most difficult - sticky plastic things that refuse to lie flat for counting. *sigh* that is what my efficiency got me.

and i've taken a leaf out of another Queen's book: i'm sending out for help. "wanted: someone who likes to sit and watch tv and count little sticky scraps of trash." hm. somehow i don't think that want ad is gonna generate much interest. i need to re-work that baby into something like: "assistants needed to sort school labels for cash redemption. no cold calls." that might work. just get here soon. please.

pumpkin pancakes

3 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C packed brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
3 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon*
3/4 tsp ginger*
1/4 tsp nutmeg*
4 eggs
1-1/2 C sour cream*
1 can of pumpkin
1 C milk
3/4 tsp vanilla

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, adding sour cream, pumpkin, milk and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Spoon a scant 1/4 cup batter onto a preheated, buttered griddle (or a heaping tablespoon for "silver dollar" size). Cook pancakes slowly over a low-medium heat for approximately 4-6 minutes, flipping after 3 minutes, when bubbles break on surface and edges are dry.

yields 36-40 regular pancakes

*for sweeter pancakes, substitute 1-1/2 C french vanilla yogurt for the sour cream and decrease the sugar to 2/3 C. you can also sub in 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice for the 3 spices listed here.

(this recipe feeds 6 dinner-size portions, plus two breakfast leftovers. usually. i don't bother with anything smaller , so i've converted all my recipes to "jumbo-size." you may need to adjust the amounts. or just keep a stack in the freezer! these are pretty thick pancakes too, so you might want to add a dribble of water or milk before cooking. sometimes i do, sometimes i don't.)