Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

I've never like raisin cookies. You think its a chocolate chip cookie, and then bam, raisins! Last week I was talking with someone at work and they made a suggestion that was so simple. A substitute I have done several times in other recipes. Craisins! I love craisins, so it was the perfect solution. 

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 Butter Flavor CRISCO stick or 3/4 cup Butter Flavor CRISCO all-vegetable shortening

1-1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups quick cooking oats, uncooked

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup Craisins (or raisins if you're not adventurous)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

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Heat oven to 375°. Combine shortening, brown sugar, egg, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.

Combine oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix into creamed mixture at low speed just until blended. Stir in craisins and nuts.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto a well greased cookie sheet.

Bake one baking sheet at a time at 375° for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Do not over bake. Cook 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

Bacon Apple Cheese Sandwiches

I love love love these cheese sandwiches. I saw them on a TV show I used to watch all the time Real Simple. I love that show. I really need to find out when it is on these days so I can start watching it again. I found the directions for this sandwich on their website, but really I just use them as a general guideline. Here is how I make them.

Bacon Apple Cheese Sandwiches
French Bread
Cooked bacon
Green apple, peeled and thinly sliced
Provolone or cheddar cheese
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Slice and butter bread. On a grill lay the bread butter side down then a piece of cheese, bacon, apple, and another slice of cheese. Having cheese on both sides really helps to hold everything together. When the bottom is a nice golden brown, carefully flip the sandwich and cook on the other side.

The tricky part is flipping the sandwich so they don't fall apart. I use two spatulas. I put one under the sandwich and then the other on the top and then just maneuver until it is flipped.

The key thing I have learned is to make these sandwiches as thin as possible, because they kind of tear on the roof of your mouth. So when you slice the bread and the apples do it as small as you can, but still good enough to make a good sandwich.

How do you eat your spaghetti?

You know, the normal way. Noodles, spaghetti sauce with saugage and corn. Don't forget the garlic bread!
Yes, that is really how I like my spaghetti.

Cranberry Cake

I love this cake! I recently talked about it on my other blog. Click here to see that story.
Cranberry Cake
3 Tbs. butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup milk
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 Tbs. grated orange or lemon peel
SAUCE:
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup butter
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Cream butter & sugar. Beat in egg. Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg. Add to creamed mixture alternately w/ milk. Stir in cranberries and orange/lemon peel. Batter will be thick. Pour into a greased 11x7x2 pan. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. SAUCE: Combine ingredients. Cook & stir over medium heat until heated. Serve over individual servings of cake. Reheat sauce as needed.

My mother in-law cooks this in a square 9-inch pan, but I cook it in a regular pan so it will go further. I love the sauce. To get maximum coverage I usually cut my cake in half and layer the butter between the slices. The butter sauce will harden as it cools. I just refrigerate it and warm it for the leftovers. This cake is best when served warm. ENJOY!

No Dressing Please!

I am a picky, picky eater. So picky, that you could say that twice.
I am a picky, picky eater.
One thing that I will absolutely not eat is salad dressing. That stuff smells gross, looks gross, and tastes gross. So I stay clear of it.
Of course that can be a problem when we go out to eat. A few years ago we were at a work dinner and the waitress went around the room asking what kind of dressing everyone wanted. I told her none. She took that to mean no salad at all.
A few months ago we went out to dinner at a new restaurant. When I told her no dressing she asked if I wanted a lime instead. A lime? She thought it sounded like a good idea, so I tried it and I LOVED IT!
Now when ever we go out to eat and my dinner comes with a salad I ask for a couple wedges of lemons & limes. Do you know how many places DON'T have those! The waitress always will look at me funny and repeat my offer. So I guess I'm not also picky, I'm also UNIQUE in a freakish way.
This weekend we went to the Olive Garden. They usually just bring a big bowl with an already made salad with dressing already stirred in. So I told her now dressing and instead I wanted a lime & lemon. She must have not understood me because she asked if I wanted my dressing on the side. We got the best service out of her while I ate my salad. She kept checking back to see if I had changed my mind and did want dressing after all. It's so funny how people think they know what you want!

Holiday Divinity

My mom called, and she wants her cookbook back! I borrowed it before Christmas because I wanted to make Divinity. It was so good! I must warn you, this should not be made with a hand held electric mixer. When we made it, we burned the motor out on my mother in-laws mixer. We made a few more batches, but made sure to use the heavy duty Kitchen-Aid.

Divinity
3 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
Dash of salt
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup chopped nuts
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Boil sugar, syrup, water, and salt to hard ball stage or 250° on candy thermometer. Remove form heat; pour slowly over egg whites, beating constantly, until mixture has dull appearance (2 beater mixer - about 7 minutes;Kitchen-Aid - about 7 minutes). Fold in vanilla and nuts. Drop by spoonful on waxed paper-lined tray (as fast as you can).
Pull the eggs out a few hours before making this recipe. They will work better if they are at room temperature.

Why start another blog?

I already have 2 others. One is our family blog and the other is for our local LDSFS chapter. Our family blog was supposed to be about us, but I kept putting recipes on there. And really, that was okay. But I love to blog, so I have decided to dedicate a blog just to food. I love to cook. To me it's almost a form of art. I plan to post all of my favorite recipes and if I stumble across any great cooking tips, I will be sure to include them also.

Who is Sourbonk?

She is me! Sourbonk is actually two different names that I combined together. Years (and years) ago when I went to create an email address I wanted to be unique. To me that means it has to be something that is all me and it couldn't have any lines or numbers in it.

Sourbonk is actually 2 different nicknames. Sour was a nickname I had amongst my friends in Jr. High and into High School. It started with just me and one other friend, Sweet. We called ourselves "Sweet" and "Sour". I don't remember why, but I do know that my name was Sour because I liked sour candy. Eventually we added more to our group, although the only other one I can now remember is Sugar. But basically we stuck to food & tastes.

Bonk was my nickname growing up. My parents tell me that I learned to walk at a 10 months and I would "bonk" my head into EVERYTHING so they started calling me Bonk. Yes, my family still calls me by that name.

When I was creating my email account back in High School I couldn't find anything that I wanted. If I went with Bonk or Sour on their own I would have had to included numbers or lines like Bonk_1 or something like that. Finally in desperation (remember I was in high school at this time) I tried putting the names together and viola, Sourbonk was created.