Hermit Cookies

"Soft, fruity, spice-flavoured drops"

It's been a busy few weeks so I haven't been able to post. Well, that's not entirely true...while I don't own a smart phone, I'm never very far from internet service...but I was busy! I baked cookies 2 weeks ago, for Halloween, but the recipe didn't come from any of my mom's cookbooks. I had made more Jack cookies.  And well, I moved again... this time in to a condo in the same building as my mom. The landlord was nice and didn't make me sign a lease. So that's handy! But...what I found out with all the moving of stuff is that I lost my (one and only and favorite) aluminum baking sheet, so the cookies I made last night were made in cake tins :) Took a bit longer being only able to bake 6 at a time, but it wasn't all a waste since I watched a couple episodes of Person of Interest.

I gathered up the ingredients while Reese and Carter were trying to make their way to FBI headquarters with Quinn. Lots of gunfire with HR chasing them down.

With the sound of explosions and gunshots, I mixed the butter and shortening together and then added in the brown sugar, blending until smooth. Once done, I mixed in the 3 beaten eggs.

Reese and Carter made it to the NYC Morgue! Hahaha, great place to store a guy for a short time.  I would of thought the morgue vaults were sealed better so smell didn't leak out - which would make it harder to breathe...but I'm thinking I'll only get a chance to see the inside of one once and I won't be alive to talk about it.

I added in the flour and then stirred in the nuts. I just love how nuts and raisins (and other things too!) look sprinkled over cookie batter all waiting and ready to be mixed in :) It's the small things that make me happy.

Reese kissing Carter doesn't make me very happy.  Romances always work better in TV shows when you are always waiting. Once a couple gets together part of the fun goes out of the show.  Thankfully, my little issue with that romance was taken care of in this episode too! Oddly, I'd really like to see Reese with Shaw, I think that romance could actually be fun and not kill the show. Sorry to see Carter go. Hahah, this isn't a spoiler, I'm quite a few episodes behind.

OK, back to the cookies!  The dough had to chill for 1/2 hr to an hour, so I watched some more Person of Interest while I cleaned up the dishes.

Preheated the oven to 375 F and used a scoop to measure the batter. I'm too lazy to use two teaspoons like they suggest.  The directions say to bake them on a greased cookie sheet, but I found they are greasy enough and do not need anything extra.

Overall the cookies are pretty good. The chopped dates seem to melt, so you only really bite down on the raisins and nuts.  They were soft and yummy.

I don't know if I would make this recipe again. I'm not sure if it was me or the recipe, but I guess I expected them to be more puffy and not as flat. Sorry cookie...hahah, my reason for not making you again is not your taste, but how you look. I'm shallow as all that!

Hermit Cookies
Robin Hood Flour Prize Winning Recipes - 1947 (pg 86)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup soft butter
• 1/2 cup soft shortening
• 1 cup seedless raisins
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 2 cups sifted ROBIN HOOD FLOUR
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. Measure butter and shortening into mixing bowl. Wash and dry raisins, chop dates and nuts. Measure and combine.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices. Cream softened butter and shortening until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, mixing until creamy. Add beaten eggs and combine thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and fruits and nuts. Mix well. Chill dough 1/2 to 1 hour.
3. Drop chilled dough from teaspoon, 1 inch apart, on greased cookie sheets.
4. Bake 375 F (Moderately hot oven) for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cookies from pan. Place on wire cake rack to cool.

YIELD: 4-5 dozen cookies.

Rustic Apple Pie

It's been a busy few days. I decided to hop in my truck and drive 8 hours to visit family and friends. The drive through the mountains would of been beautiful, but it was a rainy day and the clouds/fog pretty much covered all the views.  Wasn't worth stopping to take pictures, blek! :(. Hopefully the drive back will be spectacular! I'll let you know next week. :)

So, realizing that I haven't made anything for over a week, I let my granddaughter decide what to make. Haha, yes, I had the foresight to pack a few of the cookbooks with me :) She chose apple pie since they had a whole bunch of crab apples, but they didn't have shortening. So...off to the store ...

The kids helped me make the pie and it wasn't until it was finished that I remembered I should be taking pictures...ahh, well...I did get a picture of the finished pie...so that is something!  I call it 'Rustic Apple Pie' - even with the mixed up weave of the pastry strips, it still turned out pretty enough to make the kids proud :)  And it tasted great too - thankfully, since I got a bit worried that the crab apples might be a bit too tart!

I followed the instructions as posted, except I found there really wasn't enough liquid in the pastry to have it hold together so I added probably about 2 more teaspoons of water, and it was VERY thin when rolling out, but that was me....I should of paid more attention, I don't think the recipe for SWEET PASTRY was meant to be for a double crust, so after separating the dough into two balls,  I cut the second ball in to strips to cover the top.  

Everyone liked the pie and it was simple enough to make, and I think fairly foolproof.  So for that reason I would probably make it again (but double the sweet pastry recipe for a bottom and top crust).

Sweet Pastry 
Rich and sweet for fancy tarts
Robin Hood Flour Cook Book - 1947  (pg 90)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup sifted Robin Hood Flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp shortening
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp cold water

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift together flour and salt into mixing bowl.
2. Add sugar and mix well.
3. Cut butter and shortening into small pieces and add to flour mixture.
4. Blend together thoroughly, using pastry blender (or two knives, cutting in with scissor-like motion). Butter and shortening should be well blended into mixture.
5. Beat egg yolk slightly.
6. Add lemon juice and water.
7. Add a little at a time to the flour mixture, blending in lightly with a fork.
8. When adding liquid, drop it here and there over the mixture so it will be better distributed. Mixture will be crumbly.
9. Turn out on to lightly floured bakeboard or pastry cloth and press together into ball.
10. Knead for 15 seconds (turn dough over 4 or 5 times)

Apple Pie 
First choice - with all the family 
Robin Hood Flour Cook Book -  1947 (pg 95)

INGREDIENTS

(For Eight-inch Pie)

• 4 1/2 cups thinly sliced apples
• 1/2 to 3/4  cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp butter

For Nine-inch Pie

• 6 cups thinly sliced apples
• 3/4 to 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare pasty as in General Directions for Two-Crust Pies (page 94)
2. Wipe, quarter, core, peel, and slice apples, then measure
3. Combine sugar and cinnamon (amount of sugar depends on tartness of apples)
4. Arrange apple in layers in pastry-lined pie plate.
5. Sprinkle each layer with sugar and cinnamon.
6. Dot top layer with small pieces of butter.
7. Cover with top crust
8. Place pie on lowest rack in oven preheated to 450 F (very hot oven)
9. Bake 10 minutes and then reduce oven temperature to 350 F (moderate oven) and bake for 30 - 35 minutes longer.
10. Serve warm or cold.

Note: I didn't make the Two-Crust Pie Pastry, so I ignored Step 1 - General Directions for Two-Crust Pies (page 94) But I will post them at some point :)

Canadian Cheese Supper Ring

"Could be Canada's spotlight quick bread - combination of her native products"

Yummy in my tummy!

I'm more of a savory kind of girl, so for me, this works. At first I wasn't too sure about the addition of curry in the recipe, but it turned out well. I don't really know if you need to add it though, since I'm not 100% sure I can even taste it with the 'nippy cheese', but I like how it coloured the dough.

On that note,  I cheated a wee bit on the recipe.

My cheese wasn't super 'nippy'. All I had was a blend of pre-shredded cheese (Mozza and Cheddar) that I had in the freezer. So, I sprinkled a few chili flakes along with a tiny amount (1/4 tsp or less) of chili powder onto the cheese ... and I used butter instead of shortening. Hey now! I'm moving! My house is a mess and I don't want to buy more ingredients.

My verdict: It was yummy, easy, and attractive looking.

I'm going to add this recipe as a 'Keeper', I can imagine the possibilities with pizza fixings or cooked chicken and feta perhaps. Mmmmmm. I wouldn't be embarrassed to serve it to guests.

Lets get started and gather up the ingredients!

Add the 3 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp curry powder to 2 cups sifted Robin Hood flour (It is a Robin Hood flour recipe after all). The recipe says to sift it all together, but I just stirred it with a fork. Haha, I'm lazy that way when making simple biscuits and things.

Add the butter (shortening) and blend in with a pastry blender or knives. I just used my fingertips. Blend in until mealy (grainy) feeling.

Add in the milk and stir gently with a fork until blended. It was a bit sticky at this point for me, so I dumped it out onto a floured surface.

After sprinkling the top with flour, pat down into a rectangle shape about 1/3 inch thick.  The directions mention adding the cheese, rolling and then moving to a baking sheet, but for me, it seemed more stable putting the dough on the greased cookie sheet first.

Sprinkle with cheese (optional chili flakes and a bit of chili powder).

Roll along the long end, like a jelly roll. Join the ends together in a circle. I stuck one side into the other so that the cheese mix was a bit more evenly distributed otherwise, the joining section would have more dough and less cheese. If that odd sentence makes any sense!

Cut the dough, every 2 inches around the outside, leaving the dough intact along the inner edge.

Once cut, gently twist each section on its side.

And bake, 450 F for 15 - 20 minutes....and...wait for it... Voila!

Canadian Cheese Supper Ring
Robin Hood Flour Cookbook 1947 - 1953  (pg 49)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups sifted Robin Hood flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp milk
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2/3 cup 'nippy' cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Grease large cookie sheet.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and curry.
3. Cut shortening (butter) in to small pieces and add to dry ingredients.
4. Blend together until mixture is mealy, using pastry blender (or two knives, cutting in a scissor-like motion).
5. Gradually add the milk, stirring lightly with a fork.  Mix only until a soft dough is formed.
6. Turn on to lightly floured bakeboard or pastry cloth and knead gently for 10 seconds.
7. Gently roll out with floured rolling pin or pat out with hand to 1/3 inch thickness to form rectangle.
8. Sprinkle grated cheese evenly over rectangle.
9. Roll up like a jelly roll.
10. Place on greased cookie sheet and join ends to form a circle.
11. With floured scissors, cut roll in sections about 2 inches apart cutting from the outside of the ring two-thirds of the way towards the centre.
12. Twist each slice slightly on its side so that one cut surface is toward the cookie sheet.
13. Bake at 450 F  (very hot oven) for 15 - 20 minutes.
14. Serve hot

Note: Makes a nice accompaniment for a supper salad. Good with butter and jam.