‘Better Homes & Gardens’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Potato Chip Cookies {Better Homes & Gardens}

June 18, 2012 · Narrative

“Oh man, these are the best cookies I’ve ever had.”

‘Tis very high praise indeed. Especially when it comes from someone who is not even related to me. Although he refers to me as Aunt Cate. “Because you’re more than just a friend. Is that ok if I call you Aunt Cate?”

Of course. Commence heart swelling.

He’s one of Nick’s friends, younger than him by just six months, and is one of my favorites, because he is well-behaved, polite, and a good friend to Nick. A combination that is not always easy to come by. He has a voracious appetite, and I can usually find him in my kitchen, asking for a snack or two or six.

Last year, his mom asked him, “Who’s the best mom you know?” “Nick’s mom!” he answered, taking her by surprise, because she, no doubt, expected a different answer. I have since been downgraded to the number two spot, in favor for his own mom, but these cookies might have edged her out again.

I remember my own mom making potato chip cookies for my sister and I when we were kids. The concept has been around forever, and there are countless varieties, even new fangled riffs that include pretzels and coffee grounds. I’ve made a different version of them before myself too, and it’s a good go-to cookie because it’s easy to make, totally kid-approved, and you likely have all the ingredients on hand to whip up a quick batch whenever the mood strikes.

This version is from the folks at Better Homes & Gardens, and is super light and flaky. Or as Nick’s friend proclaimed last week, they’re “the best cookie.” Or at least until the next batch hits the kitchen counter.

If you missed yesterday’s post, be sure to comment for your chance to win a nice stash from Tori Spelling’s new jewelry line.

Tomorrow? Time for more art.

PS If you’re looking for more recipes for potato chip cookies, Martha Stewart is actually featuring them in the July issue of Martha Stewart Living (as seen in this pin here on my Cookies board on Pinterest).

June 18, 2012 – Bonus Photo

How is it possible that it’s already time for our End-of-School Rainbow Cake Party?

…

Read More

Pin It

Recipe: Cinnamon-Nut Spice Cookies

September 8, 2011 · Narrative

My loves, I am exhausted. The last three weekends have been insanely busy, and this week has been filled with non-stop rain, including a 24-hour period of torrential downpours. Our downtown is once again flooded and it breaks my heart as I see homeowners and businesses put out even more ruined furniture and belongings on the curb for the garbage men. Mother Nature, I don’t know who did what to you, but we could seriously use a break. My cell phone kept going off with text messages from the police department today about road closings, and school busses get delayed. On the plus side, it’s perfect napping weather. Not for me, of course. But if one was so inclined, this would be the week to pull down the shades, snuggle under your blanket and catch some extra zzzs. In fact, right after I hit publish, I’m hitting the sack early. I’m just a wee bit spent.

It’s been downright chilly here this week. Like sweater and soup weather. New Jersey never has been one to sashay lightly into the next season. It slams you in full force ’till you’re spinning around in the closet, not knowing which season you’re dressing for. But that did mean some delicious New England Clam Chowder for lunch today, in support of one of our local Mom & Pop delis that lost everything in their flooded basement after the wrath of Hurricane Irene.

And my darn web site. Some of you are seeing updated posts, which is awesome. Some see last week’s 9/1 post, “Summer’s Last Hurrah” as the last published post. I have had a number of people look at it to figure out what the heck is going on and it is making my head hurt. It’s been a problem since the last week and so far, we haven’t stumbled on the solution.

My whining notwithstanding, I somehow found the energy to bake two batches of cookies tonight. Mostly because it was a leftover night. Which means extra time for other things. These are still, nearly five years later, one of my favorite cookie recipes. The first time I made them was way back in January of ’07. If you haven’t made them yet, for shame. You can make up for it now though. I won’t be mad.

Not sure if I’m going to pop in over the weekend. I have an unexpected free day Saturday after a class cancellation, and our Back-to-School Rainbow Cake Party is on Sunday night. If I don’t, have an awesome laughter-filled weekend. I plan on doing much of the same. xoxo

September 8, 2011 – Bonus Photo

This afternoon, Madeline dragged all her chairs into the living room and set up a little snack area for her and her stuffed animals. This was the rest period after an impromptu concert to David Guetta’s “Where Dem Girls At.” Love her spirit….

Strawberry and Goat Cheese Bruschetta

September 14, 2010 · Narrative

The name for this tasty little appetizer is all wrong. It really should be called a Crostini, because the only thing that resembles Bruschetta is the fact that it includes a piece of toasted bread. After that, the path from this picture to Bruschetta sharply diverge. But I digress.

As I planned the menu for our guests for Sunday night’s dinner, I started going through a stack of clippings on the kitchen counter, and once this recipe caught my eye, the appetizer was a done deal.

To be quite honest with you, I am not a fan of plain old naked strawberries. The kids, however, go through a ridiculous amount of them, pint after pint, devouring their juicy goodness when they’re in full season. As for me, while I don’t like them on their own, strawberries, as part of something else, are quite alright. And in the case of this recipe, they’re more than alright, they’re magical.

There’s something unique about strawberries that, when added to other ingredients that just don’t make sense, they come alive. Such is the case of the Strawberries Pazzo that I love so much, and this Crostini (as it will be henceforth known) is exactly the same thing. I mean, really, who thinks to put goat cheese with strawberries? I’ll tell you who… the folks at Better Homes & Gardens magazine. Thank you and amen!

Between the creaminess of the goat cheese, the sweetness of the strawberries, the peppery bite of the arugula and the crisp bite of the toasted baguette … well, eating this well for only a few minutes worth of work should be criminal. But since it’s not, there’s no reason (well aside, from gluten and allergen issues) that you shouldn’t make these. Do. Celebrate the last little bits of what’s left of summer strawberries and give these a go. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

…

Summerfest 2010: Blueberry Peach Smoothies

August 17, 2010 · Narrative

I’ll be the first to admit that when I saw that this week’s ingredient for Summerfest 2010 was stone-fruit, I was a bit thrown. I should like stone-fruit, right? I barely eat it, although plums and pluots are an exception, let alone cook or bake with it. What’s a girl to do? I almost passed on participating this week, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that.

The August issue of Better Homes & Gardens has a wonderful feature on peaches, 50 Ways to Eat a Peach, including recipes for Peach and Tomato Pasta, Blueberry-Peach Focaccia and a delicious Panna Cotta with Peaches in Lime Syrup. I toyed with the idea of making something from their offerings, and then I thought about perhaps making some sort of stone-fruit topping to go over ice cream or frozen yogurt. But an email arrived this afternoon from Beth that had this brilliant shade of purple in it, by way of a Blueberry Peach Smoothie. But of course!

For dinner, the kids and I packed up our picnic blankets, frisbee, soccer ball and our cooler of food and headed to the park for a little picnic. Something we haven’t done in awhile, and the perfect end to a summer’s day. And really, WHY IS IT that picnics get relegated to a weekend activity? I think we should work on changing that. Who says we can’t have fun during the workweek too? It was still warm outside, but not too warm. The kids can run around and get their crazies out. No worrying about crumbs or spilled food. Peace and tranquility served up with a big side of ahhhh.

And when we got back home? Blueberry Peach Smoothies all around. This was a new recipe for me, and I’m a little on the fence about it. It features Greek yogurt, and I haven’t made a smoothie with that yet. I’m still mulling over if I actually like it enough on its own, let alone mucking with our favorite protein smoothies. It’s not bad, but you really have to like Greek yogurt for this one.

Need more stone fruit inspiration? Check out the links from my fellow food bloggers below. In the meantime, a few pics from our picnic, and I’m off.

See that yogurt there? Two minutes after this shot, SOMEONE spilled it all over the blanket, just barely missing my phone and keys. What was I just saying about no worries about spills?

When Nick saw Madeline rolling around in the grass, he grabbed the camera, laid down in front of her and started shooting.

While Nick and I were playing soccer, Madeline perched herself on the cooler and played little cheerleader, alternating between cheering for either Nick or I. Then when she got out onto the field, we were ordered (and I do mean ordered) to do the same….

Burger Potato Bites

May 27, 2010 · Narrative

When The Neighbors come over for dinner, oftentimes The Neighbor Husband can be found in the kitchen with me, cooking up some new recipe that he uncovered, and tonight was no exception. This time, it was a recipe for Burger Potato Bites, a little appetizer he found online from Better Homes & Gardens.

They are pretty cute little bites and while they might have been originally intended to be served as appetizers, their petite size make them perfect for little fingers as well. Instead of using bread on the bottom, the burger sits atop a waffle fry. After polishing off ~~way too many~~ a few, we decided that these could be made even better by topping with a waffle fry too, that way the burger bite is easier to handle if you put ketchup on yours. Oh and a little bit of salt too. I love the cuteness of the whole thing, but thought they were a little underseasoned.

They look fun with the little slice of red tomato on top, don’t they? Unfortunately I don’t think any of us know what the burgers actually *taste* like with the tomato on top since my tomato fiend of a daughter went through and picked the slices off the top of each burger and gobbled it up. I’m sure they were just delish though. She was pretty happy.

Project 365
May 27, 2010, Photo #102

The kids were super silly tonight. And this was even without sugar.

…

Peanut Butter Cream Sandwich Cookies

July 9, 2009 · Narrative

OMG, don’t you just want to lick your screen? I know I do. What I’d really like to do is head downstairs to the kitchen and snack on one of these babies while I tell you about them, but I can’t. They’re all gone.

I had pulled this recipe out of my to-try pile a few weeks back, putting it more towards the top of the pile because I thought it would be a good recipe for Nick to make (and eat!). A friend mentioned recently that he is partial to sweets that have peanut butter in them, so I remembered this recipe and finally got Nick busy baking.

The recipe comes from the November 2008 issue of Better Homes & Garden magazine. The cookie part is your basic criss-crossed fork tine peanut butter cookie recipe, nothing out of the ordinary there. But smack two of them together with some creamy peanut butter filling in between and you have a whole different animal.

The farmer’s market that we go to has a bakery that sells their goods there and they make a Nutter Butter cookie that is to-die-for. I mean, honestly, it illicits moans with the very first bite. Their cookie is much flakier, lighter and has oats in it. This filling could definitely pass for what they use, so I’m on a mission (all in the name of research for you guys!) to find a recipe to recreate the cookie part. This isn’t it, but still delicious nonetheless.

People’s tastebuds always interest me. More so in how different they can be. I took a plate of these to the office, and they were gone the same day. I think that might be the fastest something has disappeared from there. But the peanut-butter loving friend’s feedback? He said they were good, but rich. I don’t know if rich is the word I would use to describe these, but you definitely have to like peanut butter. I mean, really, two peanut butter cookies sandwiching a layer of peanut butter cream, there’s no getting away from it. But as long as you’re a pb fan, you’re golden. Nice crunch to the cookie, creaminess from the inside, just all around good. Happy munching!

…

Christmas Baking: Cinnamon-Nut Spice Cookies

December 23, 2008 · Narrative

Last Christmas, when I was pregnant with Madeline, I wanted something. Desperately. Cinnamon-Nut Spice Cookies. I was dying for some, and more importantly, for someone to make me a batch because by that time in the pregnancy, my energy was waning quite a bit. Forget waning, my energy had gotten up and left the room completely. No one came to my rescue with a batch of these cookies, and I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I made the batch myself. And didn’t share. So there.

I first discovered Cinnamon-Nut Spice Cookies in January 2007, from one of those Special Interest Publications during the holidays from Better Homes & Gardens (I love the holiday magazines!). They were very similar to a bakery cookie that my mom and I l-o-v-e, and a heckuva lot cheaper. Nicholas and I made them this weekend, both because I love them so, and to include as part of our cookie giving crusade. In the picture of the tray up there, they’re in the middle row, far left (you can always click on the picture to see it bigger).

The recipe could not be simpler, and I think the perfect finish for them (but I ran out of steam this go ’round) would be to drizzle a little confectioner’s sugar glaze over them. Yum. Every year, for me, there is one stand-out cookie recipe that takes the prize as the Cookie of the Year, and this was the one for 2007. I’ve yet to find the one, the stop-the-presses one for this year, and only have a week to go! Do you have one that took the Cookie of the Year distinction for ’08?

Light with a slight crisp, cinnamony sugary and airy and perfect … for your holiday cookie trays, pregnancy cravings or my favorite reason … just because!

…