Lemon Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

Well, this recipe isn't from one of my mom's cookbooks - although I can't say for sure,  a few of the cookbooks do include a lot of prepackaged food recipes, and housewives of that time were no doubt looking for some way to spice up that plain old can of peas, but this isn't about peas, it's about making simple cookies. Simple soft yummy cookies!

I wanted to try this recipe for quite a while and this turned out to be the day. I had to work the 2am shift for two nights so it completely messes up my system since I'm not all geared up for it. I didn't have the motivation for anything with more than a few ingredients and wanted minimal cleanup.

You can find this recipe all over the web; the only difference is in the brand of cake mix they tell you to use.  The recipe doesn't call for vanilla, but I added a teaspoon anyways.

I had a No Name brand Lemon Cake mix so I decided to use that. Yes, No Name is an in-store brand name in Canada :) I lived in a town once that sold Beer beer too :)

Basically you get all the ingredients together and combine the sugar and cinnamon separately.  

Combine the cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of oil and 1 tablespoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture in large bowl. Mix until well blended. The batter will be really soft, but not sticky. It's easy to roll in your hands, but hard to make a perfect ball shape, but that's ok, the cookie dough will get flattened slightly.

Roll into 1 - 1.5" dough balls and then roll in reserved sugar-cinnamon mixture to coat.

Place on parchment covered (or greased) cookie sheet about 2" apart. Gently press down on the cookie with the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 8 - 9 minutes in a 375 F oven.  ENJOY! 

Lemon Cake Mix Snickerdoodles

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tbsp. sugar 
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon  
• 1 package Yellow cake mix (or whatever kind you want....like Lemon or Chocolate)  
• 2 large eggs  
• ¼ cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease baking sheets. 
2. Blend sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. 
3. Combine cake mix, eggs, oil and 1 tablespoon cinnamon-sugar mixture in large bowl with wooden spoon until blended.
4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2-inches apart on prepared pans. If desired, flatten balls with bottom of a glass. 
5. Bake 8 to 9 minutes or until set. Cool cookies 1 minute on pan. Cool completely on wire rack. 
6. Baking Tip: Use a 1 to 1-1/4-inch scoop to form dough into balls. For best results, bake one baking sheet at a time. If baking two sheets together, rotate pans halfway through baking.

Potato Carrot Mold with Tomato Sauce

Happy New Year!  I wish you all the love that can fill your heart, laughter that makes you pee your pants, and happiness that causes your cheeks to hurt!

The holidays are mostly over, I say mostly because I still have my Christmas tree up :) Who knows, I might keep it up until the snow melts!

I had a nice quiet dinner with my mom on Christmas day. We had Turkey and all the fixings. It was nice. I didn't know what to get her - there isn't much a person with terminal cancer needs except a miracle and more time, neither of which I can provide. My sister had a good suggestion, so I went with all the Christmas treats my mom loves (sardines, oysters, crackers, roasted nuts, etc) and put them all together in a gift tray. She seemed to like it :)

I worked between Christmas and New Years and I spent a bit more time crocheting. I'm addicted to it lately. I feel so old! haha - but I did make and sell 2 hats and a doggie jacket without trying and sent off 2 hats/2 headbands to Ontario. Seriously...I need a life ;)

Now, knowing I have no life, I decided it was time to make something from the cookbooks that was simple and would get me back to the crochet hook quicker. Just kidding...haha, I had a lot of potatoes to get rid of.

At first I figured I would just make the Potato and Carrot mold, foregoing the tomato sauce since it sounds like an odd combination, but really, the potatoes and carrots mashed together are just that, mashed carrots and potatoes and nothing special. But YUM, perhaps I just had a craving for tomatoes or something, but it was SO GOOD with the potatoes and carrots. I couldn't stop eating it! YUM YUM YUM.  I think this is my new way of eating mashed carrots/potatoes! It may not look all that appetizing, but it filled my tummy with love :)

I didn't follow the tomato sauce recipe listed below since I didn't have any canned tomatoes, but I did have a can of tomato sauce (not to be confused with pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, or tomato paste). I sauteed some garlic and then added it with onion flakes, salt and pepper to the sauce. It was simple and lovely.

The recipe calls for 3 medium carrots and 3 medium potatoes. Argg, I hate that. It's so arbitrary and I have no idea what the average medium potato/carrot size was n 1950's. I don't even know what the average is in 2015! So, best guess as shown above. 

I chopped them up nicely and boiled them in salted water until tender. They do look pretty sitting in the pot ready to go :)

I gave away my hand mixer to a guy I dated last year...didn't work out, move on, so I was left with the options of using my kitchenaid (umm...no) or unpacking my food processor (umm...no), so the immersion blender was the only other choice...and I'm happy to say that it works wonderfully for this!

If you don't know the average medium carrot and potato size in 1950, you may want to add more or less warm milk to the mixture as you blend. I added the cup full and it was a bit too much, but really, it only changed the consistency, not the flavour.

I put the mix in two casserole dishes to bake. They came out of the oven looking the same as they went in. There was no browning on top. Possibly due to the extra milk.

Ready for oven

Out of Oven

It's not the most appetizing of foods with the tomato sauce on it, but I recommend giving it a shot.


Potato Carrot Mold
Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook - 1950 (pg 482)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 medium potatoes
• 3 medium carrots
• 1 cup warm milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Pare potatoes and carrots and cook together in boiling salted water until tender; mash.
2. Add milk, butter, salt, and pepper; beat until fluffy.
3. Pour into greased casserole and bake in moderate oven (350 F) 20 minutes, or until browned.
4. Serve with Tomato Sauce.  For 4.

Tomato Sauce
Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook - 1950 (pg 490)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups canned tomatoes
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves, 2 tbsp fat
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook tomatoes, onion, and cloves together for 10 minutes. 
2. Melt fat, add flour, salt, and pepper and blend.
3. Add tomato mixture and cook 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
4. Strain.
5. Makes 1 cup sauce.