Peanut Butter Cookies

Do you ever randomly smell something (even when there is no explicable reason for the smell) and start to crave it immediately? This is how this recipe came to be...

It started when I thought I smelled peanut butter. It only lingered for a moment, but the craving persisted for the rest of the day. Then, my colleague came to work with a peanut butter bagel the next day. Next, we started talking about peanut butter cookies and it was all downhill from there...or uphill (depending on how you look at it). Thankfully, I have ready-made taste-testers at work, many of whom are foodies themselves.

Giz has posted Dorie Greenspan's recipe for Peanut Butter Crisscrosses before. That recipe makes for crunchier cookies than this recipe, which comes from The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook. This cookbook is one I regularly turn to for recipes.

Peanut Butter Cookies


1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp each basking soda and baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. In large bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy; beat in brown and granulated sugars. Beat in peanut butter and eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla until smooth.

2. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add all at once to butter mixture and stir until blended.

3. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (15 ml) and roll into balls; place 2 inches (5 cm) apart, on parchment paper-lined or greased rimless baking sheets. With fork dipped in flour or granulated sugar, press each to make crisscross pattern and flatten to 1/2 inch (1 cm) thickness.

4. Bake in 350F oven for 10-12 minutes or until firm and edges and bottoms are golden. Transfer to racks; let cool.

Verdict: Craving fulfilled!

House Success & Prince Edward County

Oh oh...Giz has moved from gentle requests, "gee, it would be nice if you posted..." and "are you going to post tonight?" to "are you going to blog ever again?" and "why are you taking pictures of food if you don't blog anymore?" (ouch...the last one stung).

Ok mom -- I'm going to post.

Things have been busy. We found a house! We've got a couple of months until we move in. But, we're slowly making a dent in the things (e.g., trying to sort out an attic that is currently reminiscent of the "before" pictures on Clean Sweep).

I'm looking forward to being into a home of my own and am particularly excited about the amount of cupboard space in the kitchen.

**No, Giz, this isn't a covert way of me saying that you should go out and buy me more kitchen items**

I can see myself being busy with little projects for quite a long time. The current owners love antiques. Like this chandelier...


I think I'm going to be replacing the light fixtures pretty quickly.

I'm also interested in moving this island...or more accurately, penninsula, to the far wall.


I don't really understand their choice of configuration, nor the bum-shaped counter top. Does anyone know anything about these bum-shaped counter tops and whether there is something positive about them that I am missing?

How difficult is it to move an island that is stuck to the floor? It just doesn't make sense to me to have this space. I guess it's supposed to make it an eat-in kitchen. Ideally, I would like to move the penninsula and put on a new counter top that doesn't hang over the cupboards very much.


So, as I was saying, a number of projects for me to stay up at night thinking about. But, the house is in good condition. The lady that lives there is clearly a very tidy (read: obsessive) person, who hasn't skimped on repairs. Here's just one of her 3 closets that are all filled with clothes wrapped in clothing bags.


I'm very relieved to be done the house search process.

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R and I went to Prince Edward County last weekend. You may remember Giz and I blogging about our trip to that region last year around this time.

This time, we went to visit the very popular Sandbanks Provincial Park. It's so popular, that when we knew we wanted to go camp there during Labour Day weekend, R woke up 5 months to the date at 8 am (the earliest you can make your camping booking) to make the reservation.

The campsites are about average, as far as Ontario provincial parks go. But, the big draw is the beach, which is one of the nicest beaches in the province. The sand is very fine and the water crystal clear.


Beautiful sunsets too!


Because the weather was so beautiful, we spent most of our time at the beach. But we did take some time to go around the county on our last day in the region.

Last time Giz and I were in the county, we didn't get a chance to buy any cheese. So, R and I stopped in to the Black River Cheese shop.


The website explains that this company was started in 1901 by local farmers and is still a small production facility dedicated to preserving a tradition of making superior cheese.


We stopped off at County Cider. Unfortunately, they were sold out of their Waupoos Premium Cider that we like (the LCBO in town was sold out too). We bought a bottle of the County Premium Cider, but its flavour is much weaker.


We also visited Black Prince Winery. The winery markets itself as being dedicated to crafting fine, accessible wines showcasing what the area has to offer. I've only sampling the wine, so far. But, was actually quite impressed with the taste. Usually, when I sample wine the thought in my wine-novice head is, "yup, tastes like wine". But, when I sampled this wine, I immediately wanted to taste some more.



The 3 hour car ride home gave also gave me the opportunity to finish up a knitting project (Entrelac Cloth) I had started quite a while ago. With summer coming to an end, I'm starting to get the itch to knit again.



I do have actual food posts to share -- but, I'll leave it there for now.

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NOTE for Kelly Blechertas -- I don't have access to your blog and, therefore, have no way to contact you regarding your Random Acts of Kindness gift. Please email me at bloggingwagon(at)hotmail(dot)com

Cauliflower Pancakes

Lots of company planned over the next couple of weeks so in true foodie frenzy, my freezers have to be filled with prepped food for any eventuality that may arise. What can I say - this is my obsession. But then you understand this don't you. You're the same as I am - cookbooks all over the livingroom, grocery list on the fridge so you don't forget anything, the good silverware is getting polished (who ever invented silver in the first place) and just general Giz type chaos. I'm sure Psychgrad can attest to this. You know that old expression - we become our mothers - enough said.

Today I stopped in to my local market to find HUGE heads of cauliflower at $1.00/head. It's not even part of my vocabulary to say no to a good find like this. I decided to make cauliflower pancakes to serve as a side to at least one of the meals for guests.

Ingredients

1 medium to large head of cauliflower
3 large eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons olive oil

Cut the cauliflower florets and boil in water until tender
While still warm, mash the florets. Add eggs, bread crumbs, salt and pepper


Shape the cauliflower into smallish pancakes and fry in olive oil on medium heat.





These freeze well and can be warmed up in the oven at 300 F for about 15 minutes.



If you're into easy and tasty - this is it. You can also use broccoli or a combination of broccoli and cauliflower.