More often than not, I cannot leave well enough alone. Whether it’s where a vase sits in the living room, the recipe I can kick up a notch, or even the fonts on this blog – if I think about something for a little too long, I have to change it, make it better.

A few weeks ago you may have clocked a change here on B&B – I finally found some fonts I well and truly loved. So I went back to my developer’s emailed instructions, and patiently set to changing them. Thank the sweet Lord for Chris Graver, is all I have to say.

Chris created the backbone of Bluebonnets & Brownies, took a Photoshop-created mock up I made, and turned it into a reality. He’s an excellent designer, and all around good guy. Every time I email him, he responds cheerily, and he’s always happy to help.

When I decided to mess around with those fonts, I messed a few things up. Chris came to the rescue quick as he could, and fixed it all without even the mention of what I might owe him. I couldn’t let that go by without some sort of thank you.
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Post tags: baking, cherries, cookies, Desserts, nuts, oatmeal, pistachios

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It’s true. We’re nearly at the end of September, and most schools have been back in session for a month already. Not having kids returning to school to mark the occasion, it’s almost scary to me how quickly the month flew by.

Not long ago, I was enjoying one of my favorite snacks – apple slices dipped in peanut butter – when it occurred to me that the flavor combination might make a pretty phenomenal cookie. Once an idea like that gets into my head, well, there’s no stopping it. I could think of nothing else!

Peanut Butter and Apple Oatmeal cookies were born. The addition of oatmeal gave these cookies the body they need, while the peanut butter and apples come together in that same perfect after-school-snack union that I love so well.
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Post tags: apples, baking, cookies, dessert, oatmeal, peanut butter

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This weekend is the first in a long time that we a) have a working kitchen and b) didn’t have any plans. I said to James mid-week, “So far, we don’t have any plans for the weekend. Let’s keep it that way!”

Instead, we decided to spend the weekend sleeping in, and planning things we’d like to cook. I made my first trip of the season to our town’s farmer’s market, spending plenty of time reveling in the beautiful produce all around me and talking the ears off a couple of farmers.

For the first time in far too long, I went through some of the cookbooks that happily live on their own shelves in our new kitchen. Last night for dinner we had spicy chicken tacos. Later this week we’ll have chicken enchiladas, and on Sunday, our friends Maggy and Andy are coming over, and I plan to teach Maggy how to make tamales.

But today, today is for baking. James got up super early to start a loaf of English farmhouse bread in our bread maker. And as soon as I’d crawled out of bed and had a cup of tea, I knew what was on my radar: These scones.

When Maggy and her mom made them a month or so back, she was lovely enough to save me one when I went to visit at her place the following day. Far better than anything Starbucks or Cosi could have offered me, I gotta say: oatmeal in scones is a revelation of deliciousness. And I knew that as soon as I had a working kitchen again, they had to be made.

I could have stuck with the raisins, but I happened to pick up some gorgeous black cherries at the farmer’s market. Too many to eat on their own, really. They were begging for a baked good, really they were.

Add to that I have 3 large lemons kicking it in my fridge, I think we’ve got a party.

I followed Maggy, Sharon, and Pam’s recipe to the letter, except for the lemon and lemon juice. My adaptation is below.

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Post tags: black cherry, lemon, oatmeal, scones

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Ranger Cookies are possibly better than Oatmeal Raisin cookies. And I gotta be honest, that’s really saying something for me. I found the recipe in my new version of the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.

It’s a great book to have around for all your cooking basics. I got the version that is spiral bound, because I like to have a general cookbook that I can open flat and don’t really care if it gets covered in food.

Every time I flipped through the book over the last month since it came in my happy little Amazon package, I somehow landed on the page with these Ranger Cookies. I don’t believe in coincidences.. Fate was telling me to MAKE THESE COOKIES.

Well, thank you, FATE! With coconut, mixed dried fruit, and oatmeal, these cookies are the win. And you only need one or two of the little guys to curb your sweet tooth.

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Post tags: coconut, cookies, dried fruit, oatmeal

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I have written my very first recipe. I was so so nervous about making it, so much so that I’ve put it off for weeks, and refused to take photos while I made it, for fear that I would jinx the results.

I looked at a bunch of different recipes before I started writing (because really, it’s kind of hard to reinvent the wheel), including a recipe I’d used for years, and a few vegan recipes.

So this is a mixture of all those different recipes, tweaked and twisted to fit my personal tastes. James and I made the batter last night, and then had the bread vs. muffins debate.

Personally, I prefer banana muffins, because it’s easier to pick up and go. They tend to actually all get eaten. With bread, you have to find a knife, and slice, every time you want a piece. I’m a busy woman, people. No time for this! So bread doesn’t get finished around our house. Muffins do. It’s bad to throw away food, right?

I’ve only got the one photo of our last muffin. Next time I make it, I’ll take photos of the process and repost. In the meantime, here’s the recipe…

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Post tags: bananas, bread, muffins, oatmeal

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Look at those lovely flecks of orange Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice goodness. I first saw these specialty Hershey’s Kisses at Target in a pre-flight snack rush. I grabbed them on impulse. Who knows when you’re going to find a novelty like that again?

Plus, every time I find something amazing at Target, if I don’t buy it, I can never find it again. Anyone else have that problem?

Of course, I had one or ten of these immediately, straight out of the bag en route to San Antonio. They are really good. But really sweet. I couldn’t eat too many without feeling a bit sickly. But I just knew they had potential. While hanging out at my sister’s down in San Antonio, lots of different yummies got made (there was a 1st birthday to celebrate, after all), and the yummies included sugar cookies by the kids’ paternal grandmother. Cookies! I thought.

And away we go…
The first thing I should tell you is that this recipe was adapted from Pam Anderson’s “Saucer Sized Oatmeal Cookies”, which appears in her cookbook, Perfect Recipes for Having People Over. I can’t say enough about this book, or the author. I love them both!

First, throw your Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s Kisses (really, you can use any Kiss you want) into the freezer for a couple of hours.

Then start by assembling your ingredients, and preheating your oven to 350F.

The Players :: All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Old Fashioned Oatmeal, Eggs, Salt, Butter, Sugar, Dark Brown Sugar, Dried Cranberries, Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s Kisses, Vegetable Oil and Vanilla Extract (last two are not pictured because I’m a ninny that forgot to shove them into the shot).

I measured out about 1 cup of Kisses into a dry measuring cup. Then, peel all the wrappers of those little lovelies, and throw them into your food processor (or have fun chopping by hand!).

Pulse them a couple of times until you get some smallish chunks.

You’ll need three medium sized mixing bowls. If you have a standing mixer, the bowl that comes with that should be one of them. Start by combining the dry ingredients in one of the bowls.

1 1/4 cups of all purpose flour.

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.

3 cups of old fashioned oatmeal. That’s one of the three there.

Mix them all together in a happy little dry-ingredients party.

In your second bowl, combine the wet ingredients and salt.

Crack 2 large Eggs into a bowl.

Add 1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract. Sooo lucky, I had exactly 1 teaspoon left in my bottle.

Fractions lesson! You need 3/4 a teaspoon of Salt. That’s 1/2 a teaspoon plus 1/4 teaspoon. Didn’t you know baking is really just chemistry and math? I swear they should teach more chemistry classes with baking.

Throw the salt in, and then beat all the ingredients together until well mixed.

Now melt 1 3/4 sticks of butter (14 tablespoons, if you have to do it by hand, like I did. Nightmare! Next time, I will double and triple check that I have sticks of butter in the house.)

Pour the butter into your 3rd mixing bowl, or the standing mixing bowl, if that’s what you’ve got.
Pam’s recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. However, because of my lack of stick butter, I had to use some of the tub butter that already has canola oil in it to make it spreadable. So, I only used 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Add 1 cup packed Dark Brown Sugar.

And 1 cup regular Granulated Sugar.

Start up that mixer and let it go to town. When it’s well-combined, slowly add in the egg mixture and let it go until smooth.

Now add in your flour/oats mixture a little at a time, folding in with a spoon rather than using the mixer.

When well combined, it’s time for the star ingredients! One cup of dried cranberries, and the pumpkin spice kiss chunks.

Fold together until well mixed. You’re ready for the oven, baby!

Use a cookie scoop, or a large spoon, to create dough balls that are on the larger side. Pam doesn’t call them ‘saucer-sized cookies’ for nothing.

James came up with a little trick to help the parchment paper stay on our baking trays. He shot a little cooking spray onto each tray before laying the paper down. It stayed in place the entire time we baked. Clever, my man is!

You’ll want to bake these at 350F for 16 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack, and let cool for as long as you can resist biting into one of these babies.

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Post tags: cookies, cranberries, Hershey's Kisses, oatmeal, pumpkin

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