Crispy Thin Sugar Cookies

I could never figure out why my mother would give us cookies and lemonade for a snack because the sweet cookie would make the drink taste extra sour. Now that I've reached the age of reason . . . sort of . . . I rather like the contrast between nibbles of sugary cookies and cold, tart lemonade. This isn't one of my mother's recipes but it always reminds me of her.

Crispy Thin Sugar Cookies
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup solid shortening
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degree. Vegetable oil spray baking sheets or use parchment paper.

Beat the sugar and shortening together until well creamed. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients to form a soft dough. With either a cookies scoop or tablespoon, round out a ball of dough about one inch in diameter. Dip the ball of dough into the cinnamon/sugar mix and place topping side up on the baking sheet about 2 1/2 - 3-inches apart to allow for spreading.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cookies should rest for a minute before removing them to a cooling rack. Cookies are fragile but well worth the trouble.

Now that would be a great school principal . . .

A Speech Every American High School Principal Should Give.

By Dennis Prager.

To the students and faculty of our high school:

I am your new principal, and honored to be so. There is no greater calling than to teach young people.

I would like to apprise you of some important changes coming to our school.

I am making these changes because I am convinced that most of the ideas that
have dominated public education in America have worked against you, against
your teachers and against our country.

First, this school will no longer honor race or ethnicity. I could not

care less if your racial makeup is black, brown, red, yellow or white. I
could not care less if your origins are African, Latin American, Asian or
European, or if your ancestors arrived here on the Mayflower or on slave
ships. The only identity I care about, the only one this school will
recognize, is your individual identity -- your character, your scholarship,
your humanity. And the only national identity this school will care about
is American.

This is an American public school, and American public schools were created

to make better Americans. If you wish to affirm an ethnic, racial or
religious identity through school, you will have to go elsewhere. We
will end all ethnicity, race and non-American nationality-based celebrations.
They undermine the motto of America, one of its three central values -- e
pluribus Unum, "from many, one." And this school will be guided by America's
values. This includes all after-school clubs. I will not authorize clubs
that divide students based on any identities. This includes race, language,
religion, sexual orientation or whatever else may become in vogue is a
society divided by political correctness.

Your clubs will be based on interests and passions, not blood, ethnic,

racial or other physically defined ties. Those clubs just cultivate
narcissism -- an unhealthy preoccupation with the self -- while the purpose
of education is to get you to think beyond yourself. So we will have clubs
that transport you to the wonders and glories of art,
music, astronomy, languages you do not already speak, carpentry and more. If the only
extracurricular activities you can imagine being interested in are those
based on ethnic, racial or sexual identity, that means that little outside
of yourself really interests you.

Second, I am uninterested in whether English is your native language. My

only interest in terms of language is that you leave this school speaking
and writing English as fluently as possible. The English language has united
America 's citizens for over 200 years, and it will unite us at this school.
It is one of the indispensable reasons this country of immigrants has
always come to be one country. And if you leave this school without
excellent English language skills, I would be remiss in my duty to ensure
that you will be prepared to successfully compete in the American
job market. We will learn other languages here -- it is deplorable that most
Americans only speak English --but if you want classes taught in your
native language rather than in English, this is not your school.

Third, because I regard learning as a sacred endeavor, everything in this

school will reflect learning's elevated status. This means, among other
things, that you and your teachers will dress accordingly. Many people in
our society dress more formally for Hollywood events than for church or
school. These people have their priorities backward. Therefore, there will
be a formal dress code at this school.

Fourth, no obscene language will be tolerated anywhere on this school's

property -- whether in class, in the hallways or at athletic events. If you
can't speak without using the f-word, you can't speak. By obscene language
I mean the words banned by the Federal Communications Commission, plus
epithets such as "Nigger," even when used by one black student to address
another black, or "bitch," even when addressed by a girl to a girlfriend.
It is my intent that by the time you leave this school, you will be among
the few your age to instinctively distinguish between the elevated and the
degraded, the holy and the obscene.

Fifth, we will end all self-esteem programs. In this school, self-esteem

will be attained in only one way -- the way people attained it until
decided otherwise a generation ago -- by earning it. One immediate
consequence is that there will be one valedictorian, not eight.

Sixth, and last, I am reorienting the school toward academics and away from

politics and propaganda. No more time will be devoted to scaring you about
smoking and caffeine, or terrifying you about sexual harassment or global
warming. No more semesters will be devoted to condom wearing and teaching
you to regard sexual relations as only or primarily a health issue... There
will be no more attempts to convince you that you are a victim because you
are not white, or not male, or not heterosexual or not Christian. We will have failed if any one of you graduates this school and does not consider him or herself inordinately fortunate -- to be alive and to be an American.

Now, please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country. As many of you do not know the words, your teachers will hand them out.

Fast Treat for a Sunday Evening . . .

Most Sundays, I have time to think about and then execute some treat for the family's dessert. Like all of us, however, time has a way of getting used before we've managed to maximize it's use. There are many variations of this type of recipe but it never hurts to post/repost it as a handy reminder.

Rich Chocolate Citrus Fudge Cookies
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soad
1/2 cup melted butter (not margarine)
1 tablespoon freshly-grated orange zest
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 devil's food chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate pieces/chips
1/3 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line with parchment paper or vegetable oil spray baking sheet with one-inch sides.

Combine all the ingredient in a mixing bowl and mix until ingredients are well-combined. The dough will be somewhat stiff. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes and check by inserting a wooden pick into the cookie. If the pick comes out clean of crumbs, it is done. Be careful, however, to not over cook and dry out the cookies. Cool for approximately ten minutes and then cut into 1-1 1/2-inch squares. Before removing from pan, dust surfice with sifted powdered sugar. Makes about 5 dozen cookies depending on the size you cut them.

Ideas . . .
Instead of the powdered sugar topping, you can drizzle with an orange icing.
Glaze with a vanilla or chocolate glaze and sprinkle with finely chopped nuts.
Scatter chocolate chips over the surface of the cookies as soon as it exits the oven and then spread them out into an 'icing' as they melt. Refrigerate before cutting.
Cut plain squares of the cookies and top with vanilla ice cream and sliced strawberries.

Return from College . . .

When we drove our daughter to college almost four years ago, it went through my mind that we would have to tote all her belongings back again when she graduated. I sighed because it is always a project packing and moving for any situation. What I didn't consider was the fact that what she initially took down to college would expand and grow over the four years! She took up cooking so added pots, pans, mixers, baking pans, and bottles and bottles of spices. She had items leftover from numerous projects. She added more media needs for her classes. New clothing came into her closet but old stuff didn't aways get disposed of promptly.

Yesterday, we discovered this in person as my daughter came home from college for good. She called several times during the week to bemoan the fact that it just wasn't going to all fit. I didn't take it seriously as she was finishing finals and a bit down at leaving school. We got there and . . . it was an impressive stack of boxes . . . and boxes . . . and boxes of stuff. Fortunately, I am an expert at puzzles and that is what packing the van entailed, fitting everything into spaces. I was almost conquered with the three boxes of clothing but quickly unpacke them and filled in the 'cracks' between the rest of the stuff. I made it fit!

It will be a few days before my daughter can reach her bed without dodging around boxes of as yet still packed items but I have hopes and already declared that it has been moved to her room and is no longer my problem - just keep the door shut when company is over!

Continuing Kitten Saga . . .

 

Two kitten are being adopted thus the complacent expressions. The orange cat has some rodent catching in his future but I imagine that once his new owner holds him for two seconds, it will be love at first sight and a very much-loved kitten. The placid gray one got a perfect fit - she is going to live in a convent! No vows, just love, food, and a home.

June 6, 1944 - Need we say more?

 

Sharing some favorites . . .

"The holy passion of Friendship is of so sweet and steady and loyal and enduring a nature that it will last through a whole lifetime, if not asked to lend money."
-- Mark Twain

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
-- Sir Winston Churchill

"If Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at the age of 22, it would have changed the history of music... and of aviation."
-- Tom Stoppard