Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jessica's latest creation for her home cooking assignment: soft and moist chocolate chip pumpkin cookies - what a wonderful way to get some additional Vitamin A!

Thank you also to "Roxygirl in Colorado" for her Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe on www.recipezaar.com

500 Pc. Making Friends Animal Puzzle

Here's the latest puzzle that we just completed. Sarah received this for a "white elephant" gift back at Christmas time. Sarah and I worked on it about equally and Eva and Jessica put in pieces here and there when they had the inclination. This was a 500 piece puzzle with the thick pieces that are so much easier to put together than some of the new puzzles with thinner pieces.

This particular puzzle was made by www.sunsout.com which has many other wonderful puzzles including some from Utah artist, James Christensen.

The link below goes to an article from the Harvard Health Publications talking about the benefits of encouragement while doing jigsaw puzzles. It does point out that encouragement is more beneficial than instruction as far as completing the puzzles. The jigsaw puzzle section comes under "cultivate social support." So jigsaw puzzles can help prevent memory loss and promote self-confidence. We've found it's better to have success with a good quality puzzle with fewer pieces and then work up to puzzles with more pieces. Sometimes there's a feeling to be over ambitious and we've ended up with a puzzle that just collects dust rather than collecting connected pieces.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Preventing_memory_loss.htm

February Food Co-op

Harvest Share $14

1 5-lb bag red potatoes
6 oranges
6 apples
2 green onions
1 red leaf lettuce
4 artichokes
1 pkg. mushrooms
1 bunch asparagus
8 kiwi
1 loaf Stone Ground's Artisan Wheat bread
1 16 oz. bag rice


Order by Friday, March 13th for pick-up on Saturday, March 28th.

Go to www.foodco-op.net for more info.

When we picked up our order this month, we overheard a couple of people trading. The one loved artichokes and traded kiwis for extra artichokes. The sign-off table had no objections to people trading as long as the individuals involved were accepting of the trade-off. I have found that we like to try the new things when there is the occasional item that we are not accustomed to consuming such as eggplant and some kinds of squashes. We are old consumers of asparagus and artichokes and love both.



Easy Tender-Crisp Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
1 large bowl ice water, about half full
1 large pan water, about half full

Rinse asparagus well and snap off ends. Place in bowl of ice water. Bring water to a boil in the large pan. Scoop out the asparagus and put in boiling water. Water will stop boiling. When water starts to boil again pour the asparagus and hot water into the large bowl of ice water. Carefully scoop out asparagus while still hot. Serve with butter or favorite sauce or enjoy plain.


This is our favorite way to cook asparagus as it stays a bit crisp and there's no mushiness.

Pudding Cups

Vanilla pudding, frozen berries and whipping cream. Mmmmmm........ thank you, Jessica!

Baked Chicken Breasts

Jessica cooked chicken for dinner last week.

First the boneless, skinless chicken breasts get a mayonnaise sauce topping.

Next they are coated with an Italian bread crumb/Parmesan cheese coating.

And here's the beautifully browned chicken breasts fresh from the oven. Jessica even checked the temperature to ensure that the chicken was cooked to at least 165 degrees F and it actually checked in at 167 degrees F and yes, the juices ran clear. The chicken was moist and tender with a mild flavor enhanced by the Parmesan cheese.

Turtle Town Puzzle

We recently completed this 500 piece puzzle with a lot of help from Sarah and some help from other family members.

Princess Academy with Full Cast Audio

Once Upon a Time I read Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. I loved it. Now I just had the opportunity to listen to the full cast audio presentation and I found myself enjoying the book even more than when I read it. The different actors presented a great rendition of this wonderful book with protocol, romance, suspense, singing, politics, commerce and much more including communication through Linder (a type of stone). So... if you haven't read the book I would now suggest listening to the book. Available now at libraries and bookstores around the world.

Join Miri and the other girls from Mount Eskel as they attend Princess school to develop and refine their skills in order to be in good standing to meet the Prince. What rewards will they receive if they are the chosen bride? What things will they give up if they leave their mountain home? How does going to the academy teach them about themselves and others of the kingdom?

Blueberry Pound Cake and Sauce

Blueberry Pound Cake
(thank you to Aug/Sept 2003 Taste of Home magazine and Nancy Zimmerman for submitting the recipe)

1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries*
*(if using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding to the batter)
Confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) (opt.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat together the sugar and butter, then beat in the extracts and then the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the baking soda and flour alternately with the sour cream. Lastly, fold in the blueberries. Divide into two greased and waxed paper-lined 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pans. Bake for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then turn out to finish cooling on racks. Sprinkle with the powdered sugar if desired.


Blueberry Sauce

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup cranberry juice concentrate
6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Combine sugar and cornstarch and concentrate, mixing until smooth. Add blueberries and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir and cook for a few minutes or until thickened. Serve warm or cold.

Blueberry Pound Cake

Blueberry Pound Cake-reminds me of something you'd find at a favorite friends home. Jessica made the pound cake and sauce for her cooking at home assignment last week.

Blueberry sauce to go with the pound cake.

Dark blue and purple delight.

The cake was soft and moist with a slightly crispy crust and the blueberries were evenly distributed through the cake. The sauce was thick and loaded with blueberries that were plump and not mushy.

Divine Dumplings

Dumplings in chicken soup-an example of great winter comfort food:

The five ingredients needed: flour, milk, oil, baking powder and salt.

The sticky biscuit dough.

Spooning the dumplings onto the boiling soup.

Mmmmm, puffy, fluffy dumplings that almost triple in size as they cook.

DUMPLINGS

1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP vegetable oil
scant 1/2 cup milk

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, oil and milk in a medium bowl. Add more milk (up to 2 TBSP) if needed to make a slightly sticky biscuit-type dough like for drop biscuits. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the pot of boiling chicken soup, spacing evenly. Cover and cook for 15 minutes with no peeking. Dumplings should plump up and rise to the top. Use a fork to gently pry up the top of a dumpling-it should not be doughy underneath. Cook uncovered a few more minutes if needed. Serve immediately. Makes 4-6 dumplings depending on size.