Cookies! Nutter Betters

Soundtrack:  Anything by Sir Mix-a-Lot

You know how this goes, it is after work and you are craving Peanut Butter Cookies and a little nookie. Or is that just us?  Well we can help you with the former and you can use these cookies to get the latter.  So get on it.  The cookies that is. 

Tom searched around and found a few hundred peanut butter cookie recipes. Since he's actually good for a few hundred cookies, that coincidence worked out well.  Your gonna need a tool. No not that tool, a stand mixer.  Otherwise you'll have to stir until your arm falls off and you might need that arm later. 

Engage your inner Nutter and get your supplies ready. These are from scratch, so you kitchen lightweights are going to have to sit this one out.

Supplies:

Unsalted butter – 5 sticks

Creamy peanut butter – Big Tub

Quick oatmeal oats.

White Flour – 2 cups

Baking powder 2 teaspoons

Baking soda – 4 teaspoons

Sugar: white, light brown, and/or dark brown - 2 1/4 cups

Eggs - 2

Cinnamon

Vanilla

Powdered sugar

Set the pound (or so) of unsalted butter out to warm up to room temperature. In a medium sized bowl mix the flour, two teaspoons (that’s the little spoon) of baking powder and four teaspoons of baking soda. If you had to drag the baking soda out of the bottom of the fridge then you should probably consider buying a new box. Whisk (stir briskly) that mixture to thoroughly mix together the magic powders and set it aside.
Set your hotbox to heat up to 350.

Drop the pound of butter into the bowl of your mixer, and add in a cup of creamy peanut butter. Add more (up to say a half cup) if you want it more peanuttie.  Yes "peanuttie" is a word. This is the big flavor deal with these cookies. A glob of peanut butter one way or the other won't hurt anything, so feel free to experiment.  We know she will. 

Since this only has a pound of butter so far, we need to get the calorie count up, so add in 2¼ cups of sugar.  White, light brown, or dark brown in any combination is fine.   Yes, we are still talking about sugar.  Use what you gots, sugar-wise.  All it will change is the flavor, and it will still be a killer cookie, so knock yourself out. Drop the sugar into the mixer.  Turn the stand mixer on.  As it mixes, if the sides of the bowl in your mixer are getting all gloppy, then scrape it down from the sides.  Only use your finger to scrape the bowl if 1.) no one is watching and 2.) the machine is off and unplugged.  Your probably gonna need that finger later too.  Safety first.  Better yet, use a rubber spatula, machine OFF. 

Toss in two eggs (no shells please) and mix again. Yeah, next time you will want to start those on low speed. WAY less mess that way.  

So mix in the eggs and add a few good shakes of cinnamon and then a nice splash of vanilla. Add in the flour mixture by thirds until it is all in there. You may have to scrape the sides again, machine OFF. Now if you went crazy with the peanut butter, here is where you would add an extra quarter cup of flour and mix it in.

The dough will be really light at this point, so we add two healthy cups of oats, use the “quick oats” or the slow ones, but if you are going to use the slow ones whip out the chefs knife and give the oats a few rounds of chopping, or run them in the food processor for a few short quick bursts.  You might be used to a few quick short bursts, it’s okay.  Mix those oats in and you are ready to bake.

Now scoop the dough out onto greased or buttered cookie sheets lined up like soldiers  ready to load.  If you care at all what these look like or how easily they will be to assemble, then use an ice-cream scoop or big spoon to keep the cookie size more or less consistent. Bake at 350 for about 10 to 12 minutes. If they start to burn, then that was too long, duh.  Set ‘em out on racks to cool.

To make the filling, clean your mixer bowl and toss another stick of butter in your mixer (awesome, right?).  You can use either melted butter or room temperature butter. Mix with an equal amount of creamy peanut butter and then add powdered sugar until you think it is good. Start with a cup and a half of powdered sugar and then taste and add, taste and add, until you like the taste. 

Now this is complicated. To build the Nutter Betters, take a cookie and put some peanut butter sugar goo creme on it.  Put another cookie on-a-topa the first cookie to make a goo sandwich. Repeat till all the cookies are cookie sandwiches.  Try not to eat them all standing there in the kitchen, it is embarrassing.  

Now about that nookie...

Go find your Significant Other.  Have them close their eyes and stick out their tongue. Open a cookie sandwich and slide the cookie creme down their tongue.  We hope you can take it from there.  We know we can. 

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Pack your own food onto airplanes, the Chef's way....

So if you can't stand airline food, and who can?  This article discusses some tasty ideas.  For example, freeze shrimp in a container overnight, and put cocktail sauce into 2-ounce (TSA-friendly) containers.  By the time you're completely uncomfortable and flirting with the stewardess, the shrimp should be defrosted.

You can also pre-cook pasta (do NOT go beyond al dente!  Ever!) and then ask the flight attendant for some tea water (minus the tea) to heat the pasta.  Genius!  Add some feta and cherry tomatoes.  Nosh.

2-ounce containers of yogurt can be frozen and then defrost as your groped through security.  Don't forget to wear your special undies!  

Tomato salads!  Fruit salads.
Get creative.  We like to bring extra-stinky cheese.  Okay don't do that, we will laugh at you on the evening news.  Just a little.

Bento Lunch Boxes

When we were kids, we had to carry our food in the skin of the animal our parents removed it from.  We walked to school in a Stage 1 Smog Alert, uphill, both ways.  My how times have changed! 

As our focus here is usually on teaching fellow underarm-scratchers how to cook, it isn’t very often we have the opportunity to delve into matters of children.  Seems like we found the right person to help us change that!

A friend of ours, Lorelei Cress, has been posting to Facebook the lunchbox-bento boxes she makes for her daughter “E” and is consistently impressing the hell out of us and anyone that sees them.  They are super-cool pieces of food art, and are just plain FUN as well.  So we asked Lorelei for an interview…

MMS: How did you get the idea for the bento boxes?

Lorelei: It's important that your readers understand that the lunches I make for E aren't technically bentos at all - they only take inspiration from them. I honestly don't remember when I first got the notion - but I know I saw pics online (probably through someone's FB post, but possibly on Flickr) of really cute bento-style lunches, read that Japanese mothers do this as an expression of love for their children, and thought it was something unique I could do to show my love for E and make healthy homemade lunches more fun. After looking at some blogs by American mothers who are doing their twist on Japanese bentos, I became more confident that I could actually pull it off with my time and budget constraints. 

MMS: What did/does E think of them?

When I just asked E what she thinks of her lunches, she said "They're beautiful!" She likes to take a peek at them every morning before I close up the lids of the boxes and ooh and aah over the contents. I tell her she has to eat at least some of the veggies in order to eat the dessert, and so far, she has complied (she knows if she doesn't, she won't get dessert in the next lunch!). 

MMS: Did you get any specialized tools to make them? Special foods?

 
I did acquire a lot of tools - the ones I use the most are the metal cookie and vegetable cutters to cut veggies, fruit, cheese, etc. into shapes and/or create designs. I need to get some more cookie cutters so that I have more seasonal shapes available - I have tons of leaf shapes and a few Christmas shapes, but nothing particularly spring-ish or summery. Sometimes I've been forced to improvise and cut shapes by hand, and the results have often been amusing. I hope to get better at that as time goes by!

I also get a lot of use out of the sandwich cutters that cut the sandwich into shapes while sealing the sides so the filling doesn't leak out. Ones I don't use as often but still love are the Japanese egg molds that make a hard-boiled egg resemble a bunny, bear, heart, fish, etc., colorful food picks shaped like animals, leaves, etc., silicone cups to hold blueberries, Goldfish crackers, etc., and shaped sauce bottles/containers for dressings, dips, etc. Bento supplies can be found on Amazon, E-bay or through Japanese/Asian specialty stores online - but pay attention to shipping costs before purchasing, which can be equal to the value of your merchandise!

As far as foods go, anything miniature is perfect for bento boxes. Small fruits like berries, grapes, clementines or satsumas, petite apples (you can find small Gala, Jazz, and others by the bag at the grocery store), Forelle pears, kumquats, etc. are all wonderful. Baby bell peppers, broccoli florets, grape or cherry tomatoes, snow peas, sliced cucumbers, baby carrots and celery sticks are great ways to get some veggies in. Grocery stores sell containers of mini muffins (multiple flavors in one package!) and mini cupcakes that are perfectly sized for kids' lunches. Sara Lee makes mini burger buns that are great for small sandwiches, and Smuckers Uncrustables frozen PB&Js are great to have on hand for those days when you don't have time to make a sandwich (which for me, are far too many!). Sometimes it's a challenge to have enough fresh produce to create variety in her lunches without wasting some due to spoilage. If you can get your produce from a local farmer's market, it'll last longer.

MMS: How many have you made? 

So far I've made 89 bento-inspired lunches for E - four per week since she's started school, with the exception of sick days and vacation days. Fridays are "pizza day" at school, so I give myself Fridays off and let her have pizza for lunch.

MMS: How do you come up with new ideas?

Some ideas for designs have come from other lunches I've seen online, and some have been inspired by the weather/season, holidays, and sometimes just by what I have available. For instance, I had a little red wax heart that I'd cut from her Babybel cheese and thought it looked a little like a cat's nose - and I had cheddar and swiss cheeses to make the face, mane and whiskers, green gumdrops and yellow sprinkles for eyes, a little strip of grape tomato for a mouth, and voila! A lion.

I have been stuck in a rut ingredients-wise, and need to branch out so that she gets more variety. Some friends have sent fabulous ideas for vegetarian sandwich fillings, and I have yet to try many of them. Usually it's time constraints that keep me from doing more experimentation. I need to find a way around that and prepare stuff in advance so that I have it on hand and don't have to try and make it AND assemble it the morning of.

MMS: Any fun stories about the boxes?

I've heard that some of the teachers who supervise at lunch time and some of her classmates make a point of checking out her lunches every day, so that's nice to hear. And of course, my friends on Facebook always have sweet things to say - usually something along the lines of "Will you make my lunches, too?"

Thanks for your interest!

Thank you Lorelei!  Your food art is AMAZING!

Pictures:

Bento 6 - Vegetarian bologna & cheese pocket sandwich (with cheddar cat cutout), broccoli and cherry tomatoes, Babybel cheese, apples. Snack: clementine and mini blueberry muffin.

Bento 8 - Peanut butter and honey sandwich with cheese flowers, Babybel cheese, grapes, snowpea "leaves" and bell pepper flowers and butterfly. Snack: clementine and mini blueberry muffin.

Bento 36 - Uncrustables sandwich with cheese stars, apple slices, carrot sticks and cherry tomatoes, Babybel cheese. Snack: mini cranberry orange muffin and clementine. Dessert: chocolate Teddy Grahams.

Bento 41 - Uncrustables sandwich with cheese stars, grape tomatoes, celery sticks and orange slices. Snack: mini pumpkin spice muffin and apple slices. Dessert: Meiji "Pucca Choco Pretzel" from Japan.

Bento 44 - Uncrustables sandwich with cheddar gingerbread man, checkered apple slices, celery and carrot sticks and Babybel cheese. Snack: green seedless grapes, mini cranberry-orange muffin. Dessert: Meiji "Hello Panda" chocolate-filled cookies from Japan.

Cost of cheap beef now higher than good beef!

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Stick it to The Man!  Make sure you check prices when shopping for those steaks.  USDA "Select" grade beef is now higher priced than "Choice" and Choice is what you want! 

Link

How to turn a Tenderloin into Filet Minon steaks!