Still working through my A batches of favorite cookies! This following apple bar recipe is great for cutting into small servings or treating like a dessert and handing out plates with generous slices and a scoop of ice cream on top. Personally, I would go for English Toffee ice cream to enhance the apple taste but wouldn't turn down vanilla.
Apple Spice Bars
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cups peeled and thinly sliced green or pie apples
Freshly grated zest from one lemon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Icing
Powdered sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Lemon juice to form a thin icing.
Cream the shortening and sugar together until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, and vanilla extract. Blend well into shortening/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, apples, zest, and pecans.
Spread the mixture into a 13x9x2 baking pan. You can grease the pan, use vegetable oil spray, or line it with parchment paper.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-25 minutes depending on your oven. Cool on a rack. While still warm drizzle over a lemon glaze and let set before cutting into serving pieces.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
To the point . . .
“Americans and other Westerners who want their families to enjoy the blessings of life in a free society should understand that the life we've led since 1945 in the Western world is very rare in human history. Our children are unlikely to enjoy anything so placid, and may well spend their adult years in an ugly and savage world unless we decide that who and what we are is worth defending.”
― Mark Steyn
― Mark Steyn
Some Great Thoughts on Labor Day!
Labor is a powerful medicine.
St. John Chrysostom: Homilies. (14th century)
Labor is our portion lest we should make this world our rest and not hope for the hereafter.
St. John Chrysostom: Homilies. (14th century)
To labor is to pray. (Laborare est orare.)
Motto of the Benedictines. (16th century)
He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.
St. Bernard: On Consideration (12th century)
St. John Chrysostom: Homilies. (14th century)
Labor is our portion lest we should make this world our rest and not hope for the hereafter.
St. John Chrysostom: Homilies. (14th century)
To labor is to pray. (Laborare est orare.)
Motto of the Benedictines. (16th century)
He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.
St. Bernard: On Consideration (12th century)
Thinking of Christmas Baking in September . . .
Yes, I'm thinking about what cookies and treats I would like to make for the holidays when it is only the first week of September. If you stop to think about it, the last four months of the year always fly by and you find yourself in January before you know it.
As I put together my lists of wants and wishes for my Christmas baking, I thought I'd share them with you. This year, I am going through my recipes literally starting from A and see where it all goes from there. These cookies add a festive flair to cookie plates with their bright, white coating of powdered sugar.
Buttery Almond Balls
1 cup butter - no substitutes!
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
1 cup toasted almonds, very finely chopped*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the flavorings and orange zest and continue until mixture is fluffy. With a wooden spoon, blend in the flour and almonds.
Form the dough into small balls and place 1/2 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes depending on size of the cookies. They should be golden on the bottom and lightly colored on top.
Let rest for a few minutes before removing them from the baking sheet as they are more fragile warm. Roll in powdered sugar and complete cooling on a rack.
*To toast nuts, spread them out on an ungreased baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven. Depending on the nut, they can burn if not monitored. When they start to scent the air, check and see if they have the toasty flavor you want. Cool before using. I toast my almonds unblanched.
Ideas . . .
Half the nuts and use the tiny chocolate chips in the dough.
Toasted, ground walnuts are a nice change.
Use ground peanuts and coat the baked and cooled cookies in melted chocolate.
Reduce the nuts by 1/4 cup and add finely chopped, candied fruit in its place.
As I put together my lists of wants and wishes for my Christmas baking, I thought I'd share them with you. This year, I am going through my recipes literally starting from A and see where it all goes from there. These cookies add a festive flair to cookie plates with their bright, white coating of powdered sugar.
Buttery Almond Balls
1 cup butter - no substitutes!
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
1 cup toasted almonds, very finely chopped*
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat the butter and sugar together. Add the flavorings and orange zest and continue until mixture is fluffy. With a wooden spoon, blend in the flour and almonds.
Form the dough into small balls and place 1/2 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes depending on size of the cookies. They should be golden on the bottom and lightly colored on top.
Let rest for a few minutes before removing them from the baking sheet as they are more fragile warm. Roll in powdered sugar and complete cooling on a rack.
*To toast nuts, spread them out on an ungreased baking sheet and put in a 350 degree oven. Depending on the nut, they can burn if not monitored. When they start to scent the air, check and see if they have the toasty flavor you want. Cool before using. I toast my almonds unblanched.
Ideas . . .
Half the nuts and use the tiny chocolate chips in the dough.
Toasted, ground walnuts are a nice change.
Use ground peanuts and coat the baked and cooled cookies in melted chocolate.
Reduce the nuts by 1/4 cup and add finely chopped, candied fruit in its place.
No two sides to women's lib according to the anti-life factions . . .
At the Democratic Convention this weekend, a ProLife group quietly laid out flowers to remind people of the evils of abortion. An eleven year old girl was holding a crucifix and praying when some of the anti-life factions started screaming at her. I'm posting the link of the full story but you have to wonder about the mind set of adult women who would degrade a child because she doesn't agree with their view of life. The conservatives get smacked with 'tolerance' when we disagree but the tolerance is surely one-sided. Having been a child once, myself, I'm here to tell you that screaming at me wasn't likely to change my mind about anything! How sad that when a young girl is strong enough to take a stand - and isn't that what the women's life movement was supposed to be about - she is berated because she did stand firm on a personal conviction. All I can think when I hear things like this, females demeaning other females, that they should consider the fact that they, too, were once 'fetuses' and might thank God their mothers decided to let them be born.
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/09/03/democrats-begin-celebration-of-abortion-at-obama-convention/
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/09/03/democrats-begin-celebration-of-abortion-at-obama-convention/
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