December 9, 2013

A Cheap and Easy Gift for That Hard to Buy for Person

We all have at least one. Sometimes it’s the grandparent that truly doesn’t need anything, but you still want to give them a little something. Or maybe you’ve been roped into an office gift exchange with a coworker you barely know. You’re seriously thinking about buying her a candle, even though you know she’s probably got 32 unburned candles from previous gift exchanges. Is there a friend far away that you’d like to know you’re thinking of them?

The answer is crack.

I should probably explain. It’s innocuous name is white chocolate Chex mix, but that takes a long time to say. Several years back, a friend started calling it crack, and it stuck. It is white and addictive.

My great aunt used to bring a giant tin of this over to my family at Christmas, and we loved her for it. She has since passed, and for several Christmases, there was no crack. Feeling nostalgic, I found a similar recipe, and tinkered with it so it would match hers. I gave a few bags to some of the men in the family, and now I get calls every year wanting to know if I’m going to give it, because if I don’t, others will step into the breach. I usually end up making at least two batches, if not three, for various holiday functions where there are sad faces if it doesn’t appear.

So, if you’d like to make someone’s holiday, make this, put it in a nice Christmas tin from Michael’s or A.C. Moore, and you’re set. If you can measure and stir, you can make crack. It keeps well for a couple of weeks in an airtight tin if you have to mail it or make it ahead of time. If you’re mailing it, layer in some wax paper for padding so you don’t have crack crumbs by the time it arrives.

Ingredients

3 cups rice Chex
3 cups Kix
3 cups plain Cheerios
2 cups roasted salted peanuts
2 cups pretzels (whatever of the myriad shapes you prefer)
2 cups M&Ms
24 oz. (1 pkg.) Vanilla Almond Bark

Directions

1.Lay down 2 large sheets of wax paper side by side. You’re going to pour the finished crack on this.

2. Use the biggest bowl in your kitchen, and measure the cereals, peanuts, pretzels, and M&Ms into it. Mix it up well with a large spoon.

3. Using a microwave safe bowl, melt the almond bark according to directions. This usually involves nuking it for about 90 seconds, stirring, and then heating in 30 second increments after that until melted. Almond bark is made to melt, so this shouldn’t be a problem. Just don’t don’t it in any trays they provide. I tried that once, and it was disastrous.

4. Pour melted almond bark over your bowl of Chex mix. Working gently but quickly with a spatula, fold the almond bark into the mix and coat it as thoroughly as possible. As it cools, it starts to set, making it harder to spread.

5. Once you’ve got the almond bark mixed in good with your Chex mix, then dump the whole bowl onto the wax paper in a big mound. Let cool. Once it has set, you can put it into tins. It will naturally break into chunks, but if you’d like them to be smaller, you can break them down some more.

December 4, 2013

A Newbie’s Guide to the CW: Wednesday-Friday

I’m back with my second installment of a newcomer’s CW guide. If you’re wary of the CW network, check out my blog on 4 myths about the CW. For the Monday and Tuesday shows, I covered them on Monday.

Wednesdays: Arrow & The Tomorrow People

Cousins Robbie and Stephen Amell headline Wednesdays on the CW.

This night is jokingly referred to as Amell Wednesdays. I think the more accurate description should be Amell Shirtless Wednesdays. The star of Arrow is Stephen Amell and the star of The Tomorrow People is his cousin Robbie Amell.

I guess the powers that be at the CW were afraid their regular female audience would lose interest in shows that were based on comic books with lots of action and explosions if they didn’t throw in a little eye candy. Whatever the reasoning, the poor Amell cousins are going to catch their death of cold for all the shirtless scenes they have to shoot.

These poor Amell boys can't even make it through the title credits before they've stolen their shirts.

These poor Amell boys can’t even make it through the title credits before they’ve misplaced their shirts.

On TTP, not having the last name Amell doesn’t even mean you’re safe, as fellow cast member Luke Mitchell has also been sans shirt a lot lately. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, per se, just pointing out that the shows are strong enough on plot that I don’t need the beefcake to tune in.

Arrow is about reformed billionaire playboy Oliver Queen. If you like Batman, Arrow’s storyline is one of the closest I’ve seen. He got stuck on a very nasty island for five years where people did bad things to him and he learned his family had done some equally evil things back home. He returns to Starling City and becomes the vigilante Arrow, with the help of his best friend Digg and the amazing Felicity, his IT girl and the best character on the show.

Laurel? Who’s Laurel?

The writers have been trying really hard to convince us his one true love is Laurel Lance (as the comic books dictate), but I’m sorry, the chemistry between him and Katie Cassidy, the actress who plays Laurel, just isn’t there. Oliver and Felicity, however—in the words of Sheldon Cooper, “Bazinga!”

Remember when Heroes was good that first season? The Tomorrow People has that sort of possibility.

I’ve also already described the plot of The Tomorrow People here. If you liked Heroes before it got terrible, then you’d like this show. Sadly, they don’t have a villain quite as amazing as Zachary Quinto’s Sylar, but then Quinto’s just an exceptional talent. I don’t think it’s been quite as good as Arrow was in its first season, but Arrow was exceptionally good right away. TTP is a solid first season show.

Luke Mitchell, center, keeps drawing me in, and note that the girl is still standing next to him, not the hero (far left).

I have to say, though, that although I like the lead Robbie Amell just fine, supporting actor Luke Mitchell is eating him alive on screen. Mitchell is just so dang charismatic. I’m not sure that’s good when Mitchell and Amell’s characters are in a love triangle together for the same girl. I know I’m supposed to be rooting for the hero, but basically I think Luke Mitchell should get whatever he wants. Like the previous shows, Arrow’s first season can be seen on Netflix, and the current seasons of both are on CWTV.com or Hulu.com.

Thursdays: The Vampire Diaries & Reign

That dance I did on Tuesday? I do it again on Thursday. The Vampire Dairies was the show that got me watching the CW. I had heard about it, and I had seen bits of an episode that someone else was watching. Quite frankly, from the outside looking in, I thought it looked juvenile and idiotic.

Just one of the times Entertainment Weekly put Vampire Diaries on its Must List. I finally caved.

However, I read Entertainment Weekly, and they could not shut up about this show. They kept giving it covers and feature articles and cross their heart swearing that it was good. This is the same magazine that kept pleading for people to watch Fringe and Parks and Rec, both underwatched gems, so I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. It was summer, and so I decided to do a little Netflix binging and watch seasons one and two before season three came on. People, this show is stupid good.

At its most basic it follows the lives of the two Salvatore brothers, vampires Stefan and Damon, and the woman they both love, Elena. There is much more here than a love triangle, though. The storytelling is wonderful, and you’ll fall in love with the characters.

Now in its fifth season, it is 100% worth it to go back and watch the previous seasons. You can just jump in if you’d like, but this show has a pretty deep mythology, and I can’t promise you won’t get lost, but they did at least just wrap up a long story arc and are starting a new one.

Price’s running gag that Elena is illiterate is just one of the reasons I keep reading his recaps. He loves the show as much as I do, but that doesn’t mean he can’t find plenty to laugh about.

While I think you’ll enjoy watching the past seasons, if you want a faster way to catch up that also happens to be hilarious, then read through Price Peterson’s photo recaps of the previous season’s episodes. Even if you do watch them, still read his recaps when you get the time. Half the fun of watching TVD is reading Price’s recaps the next day on TV.com. He also does shorter reviews of The Originals.

I mean, just look at that screen shot. This show is so pretty.

Reign I have gone on about in a couple of different posts, so I won’t bore you again, but this is another show that I don’t understand why everyone isn’t watching. Not only is it visually stunning, every week it takes the sort of risks that make my jaw drop. If you’ve enjoyed the insane story telling of Scandal, then you’d appreciate what the writers of Reign are trying to do.

Want Scandal the 16th Century version? Try Reign. Don’t worry, they’re not historically accurate enough to be boring.

Also not to be missed are Lily Sparks’ hilarious next day photo recaps. She gives Price a run for his money.

I still can’t remember this character’s real name because Lily calls her Peaseblossom, and that’s just way funnier.

Fridays: Go out and have fun; they’re not showing anything good.

Fridays is currently where they are running off episodes of shows that are already dead in the water. The Carrie Dairies airs at 8 followed by Nikita, but I don’t believe either of them will be back after January. They have two midseason replacements in the hopper, The 100 and Starcrossed, both of which look intriguing. However, I doubt they’ll put both new shows on Friday night. It’s more likely the whole schedule might get a shuffle. Friday nights is generally where they stick proven low performers. Ten bucks says Beauty and the Beast is headed there midseason.

So have fun and get watching!

December 2, 2013

A Newbie’s Guide to the CW: Mondays & Tuesdays

Hopefully I convinced you last week that the CW is not a network only for hordes of giggling teenage girls. Now that you know that it’s the home of interesting programming for adults, male and female alike, I’d like to guide you to some shows that you might enjoy. What better time to catch up and join in then during December and January, when all that is on is reruns anyway?

I’ll guide you through the schedule by day, and it’s easier than most networks. The CW only has hour long shows, and they only have two hours of primetime a night, for a total of ten shows.

Mondays: Hart of Dixie & Don’t Bother

Missing all the wacky citizens of Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow, Connecticut?

Did you love all the small town hijinks of Gilmore Girls? But, did watching Lorelei making poor life choices and forcing her daughter be the responsible one make you overly anxious and queasy? Good news! Hart of Dixie has all the lovable characters from Stars Hollow with none of the stress!

Try the lovable residents of Bluebell, Alabama. The outfits are better, and there’s less bad life decision stress.

HofD follows Zoe Hart, a NYC surgeon who inherits her father’s small town Alabama family practice. There’s a little bit about her patients, but mostly only so zaniness can ensue. Other main characters include Wade, the good looking, wise-cracking bartender; George the straight arrow lawyer; Lemon the southern belle antagonist that is so much fun you never really end up hating her; Annabeth the chipper, goodhearted friend; and Lavon, the former football star/mayor.

Half the fun of watching is seeing what they’ll dress Lemon in next.

There’s even a kooky couple that eventually get married and the groomsmen all dress up as Jedis and the bridemaids are elves. It’s in its third season. Past seasons are on Netflix; the current one is on CWTV.com or Hulu.com.

Ugh, even the title card for this show is terrible. How brave is your love? I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Beauty and the Beast comes on after HofD, but it’s horrible and soon to be canceled according to TV by the Numbers’ Cancellation Bear, and the Bear is rarely wrong. I’m shocked that it made it out of its first season, frankly.

Tuesdays: The Originals & Supernatural

If you thought Emily was dangerous with a red Sharpie, you’ll love watching Klaus’s reign of terror.

I do a little TV dance on Tuesday nights these two shows make me so happy. If you liked that first twisty delicious season of Revenge, with the dark plotting and shifting alliances, then you’d like The Originals. Okay, if you absolutely cannot watch another show about vampires, werewolves, and witches, then I suppose you might not like The Originals, but even then I feel like you should give it a shot.

The show follows three siblings: Elijah (the noble one), Rebekah (the passionate one), and their half brother Klaus (the wounded one that has a tendency to be more villain than hero). They are half of a group of siblings (the others are unimportant) that were the original vampires. Klaus also has the benefit of being a hybrid (he had a werewolf dad).

Besides the original vampires, the show has warring clans of witches, werewolves, and regular vamps.

Besides the Originals, the show has warring clans of witches, werewolves, and regular vamps.

The series takes place in New Orleans with numerous other supernatural creatures engaged in power struggles. All of that is fun window dressing, but the show is about these three and whether or not they are going to trust each other and come together as a family, or try to kill each other. The actors that play the three are just fantastic and mesmerizing.

For more delightful Originals mayhem, go back and watch them on The Vampire Diaries.

The siblings all began as villains on The Vampire Diaries, so if you want to see more of them (you will), you can watch back seasons of that show on Netflix. Otherwise, the current season of this new show is available on CWTV.com and Hulu.

I explained the premise of Supernatural last week when discussing shows for guys, so I won’t repeat it. If you like Sleepy Hollow, or if you ever caught Syfy’s Warehouse 13 (another blatant rip-off of the show), then you should like the original. Otherwise, I don’t know what to compare it to, because before I saw its imitators, I’d never really seen a show like it.

Fan favorites Crowley and Castiel. Both great with one-liners, not so much with wardrobe changes.

Fan favorites Crowley and Castiel–both great with one-liners, but not so much with wardrobe changes.

The only two constant characters from all nine seasons are brothers Sam and Dean, but the angel Castiel has been with the show since season four, and the demon Crowley I believe has been around just as long. I realize going back and watching eight back seasons (Netflix again) is a pretty large commitment, so if you want to just jump in, I honestly think you’ll be fine.

If you get bored in season one, you can laugh at Sam’s bad hair.

It’s worth going back, though. I think I joined in somewhere around season six, so I had to do some decent catch up myself. A warning: it took a little while for it to find its footing, so season one can be a bit slow. I can’t stress enough, though, how funny this show is. I usually watch it after my husband has gone to bed, and multiple times I’ve woken him up laughing so loudly.

Coming up on Wednesday: I’ll take you through the Wednesday-Friday shows. I know, you can hardly wait. The surest way to get me to shut up is to give one of these shows a shot 🙂

November 25, 2013

4 Myths About The CW

If you’ve followed this blog at all, you know I’m an avid watcher of The CW network. I get a good amount of heckling for being a vocal proponent of The CW. I’m fine with that because I know I’m enjoying a lot of good programming. However, it has come to my attention that my hecklers are sadly misinformed about The CW. The general public seems to be suffering from a number of misconceptions that I’m here to clear up. And no, the network doesn’t pay me anything; I just really like their shows.

Myth #1: The CW is for teenagers.

Which one is watching the CW? It’s more likely the mom is than the teenager.

The CW’s target market has never been teenagers. It is true that The CW has since its inception in 2006 targeted the 18-34 demographic. The network has purposely skewed young, but not under 18. Even this has changed in the past two years. According to the LA Times, the network has realized it had become a bit too niche and is employing more the strategy of aging with their viewers. The current median age of a CW viewer is 41.

Myth #2: The CW is for girls.

Supernatural is just one of a number of shows that appeal to both men and women.

First off, I used girls because most people say girls, but I think we’ve at least established the term should be women. Now, I’ll give you that the network skews female centric currently, but efforts have been made to correct that and even more are being made. The network’s longest running show, Supernatural, is absolutely a show that guys could like. It’s about two brothers that drive a muscle car around the country and hunt ghosts, demons, and other things that go bump in the night. It also happens to be hilarious and is done by the same people that do NBC’s Revolution. Plus, most of Sleepy Hollow’s best ideas were stolen from this show. I’ve introduced a couple of guys to Supernatural, and they’ve ended up binge-watching years of it.

Other shows guys might enjoy include Arrow (based on the DC comic) and The Tomorrow People (about an underground group with the powers of telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation). There’s also a midseason pilot called The 100 set 97 years after a nuclear war, about human survivors on a spaceship traveling back to Earth to recolonize the planet. So come this winter, four of CW’s ten primetime shows will guy-friendly.

Myth #3: The CW is the home of lame high school melodramas.

This is a reputation that the network earned with some poor programming choices early on and by letting a few shows that might have started off good air for too many seasons. Yes, the CW brought you the reboots of 90210 and Melrose Place, Gossip Girl (sadly I never liked this show for more than its wardrobe even when it was supposed to be good), and nine(!) seasons of One Tree Hill.

School’s Out: The CW is phasing out the one high school based drama it had left.

When Mark Pedowitz took over as the new network President in 2011, he made some dramatic changes in programming, which is really when I started consistently watching more myself. First off, you’re rarely going to see the inside of a high school these days. There is only one show that consistently takes place in a high school—The Carrie Diaries, which is a prequel of sorts to Sex in the City. Plus, Carrie’s on her way out. The CW only ordered 13 episodes this season, and once they’re done, so’s the show (TV By the Numbers).

There are more shows that feature a character or two that is high school age. I think the younger sister in Arrow is still in high school, but I’ve never seen her go to class. Two of the characters in The Tomorrow People are that age, but the majority of the cast is older. Even the cast of The Vampire Diaries has aged out of high school, not that they ever went to anything but an occasional school dance anyway.

CW shows are predominantly about characters in their twenties or early thirties (gee, that should sound familiar and like every other network). The one notable exception is the new show Reign, which is definitely about teens, and the network even made a better effort than normal to cast people that looked like teenagers. The show does not feel anything like a high school melodrama, however. The plot follows Mary Queen of Scots at the French Court when she first arrives to marry the Prince Francis. There’s no getting in with the popular kids or the normal sort of teen angst you’d find in the old kind of CW high school drama. Instead you have assassination plots, teenage girls weighing whether it’s a better move to become the wife of an old guy noble or the second mistress of a king, and Mary trying to win military support for her country when her only negotiating chip is her hand in marriage. I’d never really thought about what history was like when teenagers were ruling countries, but this show does, and it’s fascinating.

Myth #4: Nobody watches it anyway. I shouldn’t get attached because it will probably fold soon.

The CW is actually experiencing steady 9% year-over-year growth. The network’s numbers have also initially been hurt by the traditional Nielsen ratings system that only accounts for live viewing. Once DVR viewing and streaming numbers are added, its shows’ numbers often double. The CW has increased its digital streaming by 50% over the last year, and a full 40% of its audience comes from streaming (TV.com). Instead of being penalized for this, advertisers are finally waking up and realizing this is the future of how audiences are going to consume TV, so maybe it’s not such a bad thing that the CW has a jump start on its competition.

Its shows are doing well overseas, too. Arrow might be #63 in the US, but it’s currently the #1 show in the U.K., Hungary, and the Netherlands (Entertainment Weekly). Although I do wish Spain would stop propping up Beauty and the Beast’s numbers because that show is one of the few lemons the network has left.

Up Next: A newbie’s guide to The CW. Now that you know what The CW is not, I’ll introduce to what it is.

November 19, 2013

Cheating for Thanksgiving: Bread & Appetizers

Turkey Day is drawing ever closer, and we continue our series on how to make hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner as painless as possible. So far we’ve covered dessert, the sides, and the bird and dressing.

Bread

Of course these look homey and delicious. If you can keep an eye on them, go for it.

The people at Pillsbury would have you believe that the only bread choice at Thanksgiving is the canned crescent roll. I’m not even going to disagree that those little guys are tasty. However, if you go this route, here are a couple of things to note. First of all, if you get cramped for oven space, these bake just fine in a toaster oven. Secondly, please don’t bake them on a dark colored cookie sheet or you will burn the bottoms before the rest of it gets done.

Just so long as you don’t get distracted and they become carbon.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever eaten a burnt bottomed Pillsbury baked good. Yeah, it’s pretty terrible, isn’t it? It happens fast and you can’t really recover from it. Thanksgiving is a day when you’re probably a little distracted with all the dishes you’re cooking and guests that won’t get out from underfoot. Maybe this is not the day to cook to touchy baked goods.

My family for years has ordered butterhorn rolls from whatever bakery or nice old lady in the area is currently making them. If you have a favorite roll or bakery, I highly recommend this route. While you’re out running all your last minute errands on Wednesday, you can pick these up. Or, bread freezes just fine if you want to knock this task out earlier.

Lacking a favorite, I’d suggest Sister Schubert’s rolls. The line has a number of different options. Yeast, wheat, Parker House, biscuits, etc. I’ve had nearly all of the kinds offered from my local supermarket’s freezer section, and they’ve all been very good. I’ve also found they’re much more forgiving if you forget and leave them in the oven a minute or two too long. It takes a lot longer to burn the bottoms. Serve with real butter and a good preserve, and you’re golden.

Appetizers

Like all dinner parties, you’ll get guests that arrive fifteen minutes early and some that are a half an hour late. Plus, there’s always last minute things to attend to in the kitchen like carving the turkey and popping those rolls in the oven. Perhaps you don’t mind guests loitering in your kitchen wanting to know when dinner will be served, but it drives me bananas. The best way to keep them at bay is an appetizer table. I would suggest cold appetizers so you both don’t have to worry about keeping them hot or devoting precious oven space to their cooking. Here’s a few of my favorites.

Deviled eggs: It’s not an official family dinner until these have made an appearance. Lots of people put pickle relish in theirs, but I’m pretty sure that’s among the seven deadly sins. Mine are not pretty, but I guarantee they’ll taste amazing. My recipe is here. Regardless of how you make them, there’s one rule to make sure you follow: use older eggs. The fresher your eggs, the harder they are to peel without looking like a beaver went at them.

This is Midwest high cuisine. Don’t knock it until you’ve eaten your weight in it.

Cheese plate or cheeseball: In the Midwest, if you serve a cheeseball and Ritz crackers, you better be ready to step back quickly, or you could get caught in the feeding frenzy. I don’t know how many Thanksgivings in Indiana I attended where basketball players perfected their elbowing technique over a cheeseball. I have made several attempts to get the fine people of North Carolina to understand the beauty of spherical dairy products and failed. However, if I put out some fancy crackers, a horseradish chedder, salami, and maybe a wedge of brie, I have found Carolina basketball elbows to be just as sharp. If you’d like to try the Midwest delicacy, here’s a recipe.

Superbowl standbys: A layered bean dip or a big bowl of guacamole next to a mound of tortilla chips are usually reserved for game day celebrations. My mother-in-law has served bean dip on Thanksgiving for years, and it disappears in November just as quickly as it does in February. If you decide to go this route, make the bean dip (I’ve never really had a store bought one I thought was good), but Wholly Guacamole makes a really good premade one if you want to cut some corners there.

November 11, 2013

Cheating for Thanksgiving: The Bird & Dressing

Continuing in our series on how to make your life easier if you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner, this week we’ll be tackling the bird itself. If you missed the previous two posts, I’ve already given tips on desserts and the most common side dishes.

While the purpose of these posts is to show you how to make Thanksgiving easier on yourself, I would argue that you should spend the time you saved elsewhere on the turkey. The bird is the main attraction, yet often it’s the worst tasting thing at dinner. The biggest complaint I hear is that the turkey is too dry or bland or both. There are things you can do to assure a moist turkey, but the biggest is not to overcook it.

165=Done

I don’t know whose job it was to scare the public about salmonella poisoning, but if it was the USDA, I think it has to be the most successful government program ever. Not only is it extremely rare to find someone who will actually put stuffing in a bird anymore, there is a strong tendency to cook turkeys to the Chernobyl setting on your oven.

I remember the first Thanksgiving I hosted, I asked a long time cook how long I should roast my turkey, and she said something like 6 hours. I planned the timing of my meal accordingly, and was shocked when my meat thermometer told me that my turkey had reached the required internal temperature of 165 degrees in two hours. I’ve cooked 20+ pound turkeys and it’s never taken longer than 3 hours to cook it to 165 degrees in the thickest part of the meat. When your thermometer says 165—TAKE IT OUT!

It is cooked. It is safe to consume. Leaving it in longer is only going to make it dry, tough, and tasteless. It will not make the already expired salmonella any more dead.

The cooking time for a turkey will vary depending on how large it is and how hot your oven runs, so checking that meat thermometer is key. I have a wonderful Thermoworks one that you stick a metal probe on a long thin cord into the thickest part of the turkey thigh. Once the probe is in the turkey, you put it in the oven and shut the door right on that cord. The other side of the cord attaches to a small digital display. You can set an alarm on the thermometer so that it beeps not after an allotted amount of time, but when your turkey reaches the desired temperature. So I just set my display for 165 and walk away. When my alarm dings, I stick the probe a couple other places to make sure the turkey is 165 everywhere, and then I take the bird out. If you’d like to purchase this marvelous thermometer, you can here.

If you can master not overcooking your turkey, then you’ll probably be fine whether you do nothing else fancy to it at all. If you’d like to get a bit more complicated, then here’s my bird ritual. I am not really a big fan of turkey, so I think it needs some help.

Buy Fresh and Avoid Mutant Juices

I buy a fresh Butterball turkey. I don’t buy frozen turkeys because they take days to thaw, and I am not sacrificing that kind of fridge space for that long. Especially since I feel like no matter how careful I am, I manage to somehow get thawing turkey juice oozing somewhere I don’t want in my fridge, and that grosses me out. I don’t know if Butterball is better than other brands, but they are often the only brand I can find that is selling fresh turkeys.

Brining

Next, I brine the sucker. My sister turned me on to brining. It takes a bit more effort, because you have to soak the turkey in the brine in the fridge (always a challenge finding space for this, too), but it does make the turkey a lot more moist and flavorful. If you want a traditional brine, the Pioneer Woman has one here. I’m going to use a more unusual one this year because soy sauce as a marinade is always magic. Look for a brining bag, which is essentially a Ziploc big enough to put a turkey and the brine in together. Some grocery stores have them. I found one at World Market. You can also order them here. It’s still a good idea to put the sealed bag with the bird inside of a pot or pan to help you get it in and out of the fridge with less hassle.

Once my bird has had a nice soak, I’ll drain it and pat it dry with paper towels. Then I schemer it up good with butter for a nice crispy brown skin. Some years I stuff fresh herbs like sage, thyme, rosemary, and garlic cloves in the cavity and a bit under the skin. I’ll cut up some lemons and shove them in the cavity, too. Then I pop the turkey in at 350 and wait for my thermometer alarm to ring. A good turkey doesn’t take a lot of hands on time, but it does take preplanning and a number of steps.

Carving

After you take the turkey out, make sure you let it rest for 15-20 minutes so the juices can do their thing. As for carving the turkey, I’ll admit I have never done this myself. I have always handed it off to a willing guest. However, this You Tube video shows you how it’s done.

Dressing: The Sacred Family Dish

I don’t stuff my bird, so this is always made separate in my house. In fact, I put it on my side dish sign up, so I often don’t make it at all. Because of this, I have tasted many different kinds of dressings over the years. This seems to be the one side dish that people get the most violently opinionated about. Every family seems to have one way it must be done, period. If that’s the case in your house, then avoid the fight and make the dressing that has been decreed.

Photo from Foodnetwork.com

If you actually have a choice, Emeril’s Spinach and Artichoke Stuffing is easily the best dressing I have ever tasted. My sister made it one Thanksgiving when she was a vegetarian and we didn’t have turkey. She figured as long as we weren’t going to do things the traditional way, we should really get crazy and shake things up. You can use frozen spinach instead of cooking fresh spinach to cut down on the prep time. Every time I make it, people just gush over it.

November 4, 2013

Cheating For Thanksgiving: The Sides

Last week I started a series to provide some cooking tips to help readers actually enjoy their Thanksgiving. Remember, we’re aiming for turkey napkins here, not tablescapes. My husband accused me of making up that word. I only wish it were made up. This week we’ll continue to look at the Thanksgiving staples in a way that will look and taste good but not aim for Martha Stewart insanity. If you missed the post on pies, it’s here.

Delegate

The first way to make your life easier is to start handing out assignments. This is not being lazy or a bad host. In fact, it took me a long time to realize that guests feel better if they are allowed to contribute something. Some guests are stubborn and will inform you they are bringing that one thing they always make that doesn’t go with anything on your menu. Fine, let them make it—fighting and confrontation is not going to make Thanksgiving less work for you.

If you have a set list of things you want, it’s also not unreasonable to give some guidelines. My Thanksgiving guests are just nerdy enough that I do a Google Doc online sign up with slots for the basics: sweet potato dish, pumpkin pie, rolls, etc. so I make sure all my staples are covered and I don’t end up with 5 pans of brownies.

If you’re worried about non-cooks, offer sign up options like a bottle of wine or a cash contribution towards the turkey. You know your guests, so you know what they’d appreciate or find offensive. Sharing the load not only makes things easier for you, but it also gives individual cooks their opportunity to bring their killer mashed potatoes and feel helpful. If you don’t like Google Docs, there’s also meal organizing sites like Perfect Potluck.

Sweet Potatoes

These are my personal favorites. My grandmother used to buy the yams, peel them, roast them, let them soak in some magical syrup for at least a day, etc. I still am not sure what all she did to them, but while they tasted amazing, the process was intense. Yeah, don’t do that.

Much like the pumpkin, canned sweet potatoes are your friends. If you eat yours straight up, like my Grandma did, then it’s worth it to cook the sweet potatoes yourself. I’ve never been to any other Thanksgiving were the sweet potatoes weren’t made into a casserole or smothered in marshmallows. If you’re going that route, just buy the canned. I generally go for the cut up kind in syrup that Bruce’s and Pricilla’s sells, but for a bit more money, you can buy straight organic sweet potato puree.

Once you have the canned sweet potatoes, this Streuseled Sweet Potato recipe is quick to prepare and has been a Thanksgiving stand by for me for years. I make it year round because we like it so much. Despite being a Cooking Light recipe, guests always accuse me of feeding them candy. I’ve had more than one person ask me if it was the dessert.

Mashed Potatoes

I have always been a firm believer that if you have sweet potatoes then mashed potatoes are redundant, so I never serve them. However, I seem to be in the minority here, so I’ll concede to popular opinion. If you insist on both, or if you family just prefers mashed to sweet, there are a few ways to make it easier.

First, don’t do instant potatoes. Draw that line in the sand now. Like the frozen pie, it’s the choice of a fatigued mind and your guests know the difference. If you don’t want to make them, there are many a fine refrigerated and frozen mashed potato product available. Just read your labels and make sure they’re using real potatoes. I’d also advise buying the one you’re considering serving and doing a trial run a couple weeks before as a side with your weekday dinner. Rumor has it the Simply Potatoes brand is good.

If you decide to make your own potatoes, there are a few corners you can cut. First, buy red skinned potatoes and don’t peel them. Your mashed potatoes will be a bit more rustic, but a lot less work. Secondly, don’t make your own gravy. Making your own gravy is the worst. It can be done well and successfully, but it is also the last thing to come together and it’s a tricky technique. Making perfect, rich, lump free gravy is hard to achieve when Uncle Lester is hovering in the kitchen. Heinz jarred turkey gravy is tasty and error proof.

Even if you do all that, I always have the trouble of keeping mashed potatoes hot. They come together at the last minute, and the heat of the potatoes is what melts your butter, etc. They cool awfully fast, and I don’t have that perfect Crockpot size that all my elderly Midwestern relatives seem to have for the express purpose of keeping mashed potatoes hot at family gatherings.

My solution has been to make this Creamy Mashed Potatoes recipe of my Grandmother’s. The potatoes are great by themselves, but I don’t fuss at my guests if they put gravy on them. The added half and half and cream cheese also helps them stay moist over longer periods. She shared it with me, touting its wonders because you can make it a day ahead of time and then just stick it in the oven. That is indeed wondrous for a mashed potato recipe. It also has the benefit of coming out of the oven nuclear hot. I never worry about it going cold before guests can eat it.

Green Bean Casserole

If you like it, just make the classic. I’ve tried fancy versions, but they taste wrong. The basic recipe is very straightforward; I don’t really know how you could make it simpler.

Cranberry Sauce

This is another instance where I’ve made many a fresh cranberry relish that never gets touched. You know what does get eaten? That crazy jellied stuff from the can. You know why? It’s basically sugar. I’m a foodie, and I like the canned stuff, too. I think people also like a known commodity. They know what the canned stuff tastes like, but there’s no telling what’s lurking in your fancy homemade relish.

Other Options

At this point we start to get into personal taste. I see a lot of proposed menus with brussel sprouts on them, yet I know very few people who like brussel sprouts. I’ve only been to one Thanksgiving with the reviled vegetable, and I’m pretty sure I was the only one that ate them.

Corn in some form is another I’ve seen quite a bit. I’d go one of two ways with that. Either buy some Green Giant microwavable pouches of niblets in butter sauce (super easy choice), or make the never fail corn casserole that uses a Jiffy cornbread mix.

May I suggest a lettuce salad? It’s easy, colorful for your table, and honestly most Thanksgiving menus could do with a few lighter dishes.

Still to come: Turkey, dressing, appetizers, bread, drinks

October 28, 2013

Cheating for Thanksgiving: Cooking Tips to Make Your Life Easier. Part 1: Pies

Thanksgiving is just a month away now. The cooking and women’s magazines are already starting to appear at the supermarket checkout, mocking you with their Martha Stewart perfection. This early, you might even still have delusions of grandeur and the ambition to try pheasant under glass. On Thanksgiving Eve, you’ll be tearing out your hair, though, screaming “What does ‘under glass’ even mean? Martha Stewart is Satan! Satan!”

So, to avoid the eleventh hour mental breakdown, let’s just decide now to take the easy way out, shall we? That doesn’t mean your Thanksgiving dinner can’t look nice and taste good. It just means you’ll enjoy it instead of hating everyone around you and the horse they rode in on.

For the next month, I’m going to be doing a series of posts on how to make some of the Thanksgiving staples, but making it easier on yourself. Our first order of business is the pies. While everyone generally has a pumpkin pie, the second one is a wild card. In the South, it’s pecan, and I’ve also often seen apple. My family always insisted on blueberry.

There are certain ways you can cheat on pies, and ways you can’t. For the love of all that is holy, do not purchase a frozen grocery store pie. People often get tired after all the turkey and sides, and say, “Oh, I’ll just buy a pie.” There’s a reason I’m doing this post first: priorities. While you’re still sane and fully rested, think about it. Which do you want to taste good–your dessert, or your creamed corn? Um- hmm, that’s what I thought.

Crust: The crucial decision

No one likes to make it, and I’m here to tell you, you don’t have to. That’s right, don’t make your own crust. Yes, yes, it’s better if you make it yourself, but it’s time consuming and a royal pain in the butt. The key is which premade you go with.

Don’t use any of the frozen ones or any of the crusts that come already in their own tin. Not only do they all taste terrible, it’s also the first give away that you bought a store made crust. People see that cheap aluminum and the perfect uniformity to the crust edges and they’re already sighing with disappointment.

Use Pillsbury’s roll out crusts from the refrigerator case. No, do not save 50 cents and buy the store brand of the same product. It doesn’t taste as good. You’re already cheating here; buy the Pillsbury. They’re the closest to homemade I’ve tasted, and the real key here is you put it in your own pie plate and crimp it with your own little fingers. People assume you made it, and honestly, that’s half the battle. I get just as many people raving about my crust when I use the roll out crusts as when I make it from scratch.

Don’t make a fruit pie.

Fruit pies are just more work, especially apple. If Aunt Bertha Jane thinks it just isn’t Thanksgiving without apple pie, then sweetly inform Aunt Bertha Jane, “I couldn’t agree more. I’ll put you down for bringing apple pie.” If it’s your decision, don’t make one. Don’t cheat and use canned apple pie filling. Apple pies are for when you’re only bringing apple pie, not when you’re also hosting and cooking a bird.

Pumpkin

Roasting a pumpkin isn’t difficult, but remember, were not doing Martha’s Thanksgiving here. This is what the good people at Libby are for. Buy the canned pumpkin. If you really want to blow their minds, don’t even make pumpkin pie. Make pumpkin gooey butter bars. No one will miss the pie. A note about that recipe: don’t add the second stick of butter in the filling and only use 2 cups of powdered sugar instead of a pound. Paula can get a bit excessive. I promise they’ll still be sinful.

May I suggest pecan?

One of four (yes, 4) chocolate pecan pies I made around Thanksgiving last year with Pillsbury crust. They’re that popular. Doesn’t that crust look deceptively homemade?

If two pies are needed, I highly recommend the pecan pie. It comes together quickly and is a crowd pleaser. Plus, then you have two one-crust pies, using up your Pillsbury crust pack. This Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe is what I use, and every Thanksgiving it goes quicker than the pumpkin. I didn’t do this with the pie pictured, but have found roughly chopping the pecans makes it easier both to slice and eat.

Don’t forget the whip

As a matter of fact, I do buy this in the 3-pack. No, it never goes bad. Whip makes everything better, people.

My family still insists on Cool Whip, and I can’t talk them out of it. Real whip that I beat myself is usually what I prefer, but on Thanksgiving Land O Lakes whipped cream from a can is more than okay.

October 21, 2013

Fall TV 2013: Early Winners and Losers

About a month ago, I wrote a couple of posts about the new dramas and comedies I was most excited about. It was a season full of promise, and I was. . . aw, forget the dramatic set up. If you’ve been watching TV at all you know this year’s pilots are pretty terrible. If you haven’t yet tried any of the new shows, let this post serve as a guide so you can avoid the lemons.

A lot of pilots are just plain terrible, so I try to watch a show at least three times. If it shows even a hint of promise, I’ll extend it even more grace than that. I do this because some of my favorite current shows not only had bad pilots, their whole first seasons were cringe worthy. Yeah, Parks and Rec and Supernatural, I’m talking to you.

Shows that are dead: If you were planning on watching or have sitting on your DVR Lucky 7, Ironside, We Are Men, or Welcome to the Family, don’t bother. All of these shows have already been canceled, and with good reason. The first two looked so dumb I wouldn’t even watch them. We Are Men should have been called: We’re really good actors that somehow got stuck in a really horrible comedy about men acting like idiots and we’re firing our agents. Welcome to the Family showed some early promise but quickly descended into two fathers screaming a lot.

Shows that have already received a full season pick up: The Blacklist, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Millers, Mom, The Crazy Ones, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Michael J. Fox Show, and Sleepy Hollow. The Michael J. Fox Show got a full season order from the beginning, so that doesn’t necessarily reflect how well it’s doing (numbers aren’t great). It should be noted that Sleepy Hollow didn’t just get a pick up, it’s already been officially been renewed for season two. The reason for the unusual order isn’t just the mega numbers SH is bringing in for Fox. It’s also because SH is only going to have a 13 episode season, so the original thirteen had likely already been ordered. Renewing it was the equivalent to Fox ordering a full season pick up (the additional 9 shows) of a normal show.

Shows that have had more scripts ordered but haven’t officially been picked up: Dads, Sean Saves the World, Trophy Wife, The Goldbergs, The Originals, The Tomorrow People, and Reign.

All of that news comes from either TV.com or TVline.com. I read ratings news briefs so you don’t have to. Yes, I’m a TV nerd!

So, those are the facts, but which of these shows should you actually watch? Below is the nitty gritty on each of the shows I’ve watched and my take on whether they deserve your time and DVR space.

Yep, these are good.

The Blacklist: A crime procedural that doesn’t really do anything I haven’t seen before, but boy do they do those clichés really, really well. The show holds my attention every week, and James Spader smirks so well I’ll easily watch him for several more episodes before I get bored.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: I was actually predisposed to not like this one, not being a big Andy Samberg fan. Darn if it hasn’t been increasingly funny with each passing week. Not quite a Reno 911, not quite a Parks & Rec or Office, it has a magic all its own with an amazing cast. I was pleased to find it’s not “The Andy Samberg Show,” but a smart ensemble comedy.

Trophy Wife: I was very excited about this show, and I feel it has delivered. It’s consistently funny and the cast is excellent, even the unknowns and the kids. I wish they’d let Bradley Whitford be a little bit funnier like I know he can be, but otherwise I have no complaints. Each of the wives and their kids have interesting story lines and well developed characters for a show just a few episodes in.

The Originals: Admittedly, this hasn’t been quite as wonderful as I had hoped, namely because one of the main characters has spent almost every episode stuck in a box, which is getting a bit tedious. However, it’s still one of the strongest new shows this season and has helped the CW score some of its best Tuesday ratings ever paired with Supernatural. I’m loving this spin-off because I already know these characters from The Vampire Diaries, but I’d be interested to hear how someone who hasn’t seen TVD feels about it.

The Tomorrow People: Now I generally keep an open mind when it comes to the CW, because I’ve become quite fond of a number of their shows. Even so, I’ve been amazed at the quality of their pilots this season. In a fall when the main networks are feeding me dud after dud, the CW has given me three great new shows. The Tomorrow People is about a group of super humans with the three T’s (telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation). These powers manifest around puberty. Then it’s a race to see if the underground group the Tomorrow People will find you first to help you or the government group Ultra will hunt you down. If you can get past the terrible names of the opposing groups, it’s an interesting show that reminds me a bit of Heroes back when it was good.

Reign: I’ve only see the pilot for this, but it was impressive. It’s very loosely based on a young Mary Queen of Scots and the political scheming of the French court. If you are looking for historical accuracy, I’ll remind you that this show comes on the CW. However, it’s filmed in Ireland and is visually gorgeous. I also actively lusted after a number of the dresses the characters were wearing. I’d probably keep watching for the eye candy alone, but Mary is very likable, there’s obviously a lot of court intrigue and romance afoot, and Megan Follows is the villain. I cannot pass up watching Anne of Green Gables play an evil queen.

Please, spare yourself and the children. These are terrible.

Dads: I’m very unclear why Fox has ordered more scripts for this show. I’m also puzzled why Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi agreed to participate in this show. You’ve probably already heard that its jokes are racist and sexist. They also happen to be profoundly unfunny. Despite early bad reviews, I watched this three times for Seth Green, but it really is as bad the rumors claim.

The Millers: Creator Greg Garcia (My Name is Earl) and Will Arnett should be a winning combination, but it’s not. I couldn’t even get through a whole second episode before I deleted this from my DVR. It’s basically another show about a family shouting at each other. Also, Will Arnett plays the straight man, which is a waste of his talent for comedic insanity. Arrested Development this is not.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: I’ve already abandoned the original recipe of Once Upon a Time, but I decided to give the spin-off a shot. The trailer intrigued me, and it stars Naveen Andrews (Sayid from Lost). My eyes! My eyes! I wish I could unsee this show. The CGI was so horrendous that you had to wonder if they were doing it on a Commodore 64. I didn’t even know it was possible to have CGI that bad anymore. Combine that with bad acting and even worse plot, and I feel like I should send a sympathy card to Naveen Andrews.

Back in the Game: I like Maggie Lawson (Psych), but if you replace Shawn, Gus, Lassie, and the rest of the Santa Barbara gang with a grouchy James Caan and a bunch of clichéd kids, I lose interest fast. Oh, and then they spent way too much time on actual baseball. I take a book to baseball games, so that was the final nail in the coffin. If you like baseball and old codgers, you might not find it as dreadful as I did.

Eh, they’re okay.

Sean Saves the World: Like in the case of The Blacklist, this show isn’t really doing anything new, but I have laughed a good bit. Part of why I’m still watching it is the great cast. They’ve collected a lot of my favorite side characters from other shows and put them all together: Lt. Dangle from Reno 911, Ivy from Smash, Tommy from Ben and Kate, Lester from Chuck, and Jack from Will and Grace.

The Crazy Ones: Another show with a good cast, which is saving it from DVR deletion. There have been some funny moments, but they’ve made Sarah Michelle Gellar kind of lame. You’ve got Buffy, there, CBS. Use her. They also need to dial Robin Williams back about 20 notches. I really like the supporting cast in this series, though. If they’d use Hamish Linkletter and James Wolk more and Williams less, they could have a good show. Robin Williams’ brand of comedy was funny about 20 years ago.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: If there’s anything the world has learned from Firefly, it’s give Joss Whedon some time. You can’t build a complicated world with an ensemble cast of unknown actors and expect it to happen quickly. Give Whedon time, and he will not only deliver a great show, but he’ll likely launch those unknown actors’ careers in the process. I won’t list the examples because it would take too long. I’m a little worried because Whedon isn’t personally writing this series, but his brother is, and Joss promises he’s checking every script. So, the magic might happen a little slower, but I’m still hoping for the best. Right now it’s sort of a zany incident of the week procedural with a shadowy reference to Colson’s time in Tahiti thrown in at the end of each episode. The Whedon humor is there, but nothing’s gelling yet.

The Michael J. Fox Show: This is a rare example where the pilot was really good, but now it’s just so-so. I laughed myself silly through the pilot, mostly because the comedy was kind of dark, and didn’t shy away from issues Fox faces with his Parkinson’s. However, it’s become a basic family comedy that’s good for a few laughs each week, but isn’t anything special.

Mom: It’s a common refrain this season—this show lacks originality but has a good cast and is decently funny. Anna Farris and Allison Janney are great, but they need better material before this show could be called a must watch.

Sleepy Hollow: I haven’t been quite as taken with this show as the rest of the world is. It has improved from an almost comical first two episodes, but I’m still not completely sold. I like the two leads, especially Tom Mison as Ichabod Crane. But comedic gems Orlando Jones and John Cho are both being underused, and one is dead already. Well, you’re never sure if someone is dead for good in a show like this. My biggest beef, though, is that I’ve already seen this show. It’s called Supernatural, and they did it way, way better.

Super Fun Night: I love Rebel Wilson, and there have been a few moments I have laughed really, really hard. Unfortunately, this show has also made me depressed a couple of times, which is not what I want in a comedy. I’d also like to see this mostly female cast have more of a goal than clubbing and moping about guys. I want to see Rebel succeed, but I also want Suburgatory to come back, and SFN has not been a worthy placeholder for the 9:30 timeslot. I’d recommend giving it Back in the Game’s slot so Suburgatory can return. I’m glad so many ABC executives read this blog.

Still to premiere: Dracula this Friday on NBC and Almost Human Nov. 4^th on Fox.

So, what have been your favorites so far? What have you already sent to the great DVR in the sky?

October 14, 2013

Tips for Making Great Cookies

Cranberry Macadamia Nut Butter Cookies–some of my favorite cookies to make.

Of people who enjoy cooking, there are usually two types of people: bakers and non-bakers. For a long time I considered myself an overall good cook but a non-baker. I had friends who could make cakes that rose from their glass stands like sky-scrapers, but mine always seemed to resemble New Mexico architecture—squatty and unattractive.

I’m stubborn, though, so I’ve put a lot of work and trial and error into becoming a better baker. I wanted to make desserts and breads that both tasted amazing and looked beautiful. So, a decade and a half into my passion with cooking and baking, I thought I’d start sharing some of my cooking secrets, starting with cookies.

Goal: The best possible tasting cookie

Solution: Use the good stuff. You know how Papa John is always reminding us “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza?” Yeah, it works the same with cookies.

1. Use real butter. Some bakers swear by unsalted, but I like salted sweet cream.

2. Use real sugar of the kind specified. Use white when it asks for white. Use light brown when it asks for it, dark brown, muscovado, turbinado, light or dark corn syrup, golden syrup, etc. Each is different, and the recipe asks for a different sugar for a reason. If you substitute something else, that’s fine, but don’t expect it to taste the same.

3. When a recipe calls for chocolate chips, buy a high quality. Nestle or Hershey is not high quality, and certainly not generic. Ghirardelli makes great, widely available chips that aren’t much more than Nestle. Even Walmart has Ghirardelli. I prefer their milk or bittersweet (dark) to the semi-sweet. They also make a good baking cocoa. For butterscotch chips, Nestle is acceptable if you don’t want to special order. Guittard makes a great mint chip that World Market stocks, as well as several other specialty flavors that can be ordered on Amazon. The Prepared Pantry make amazing cinnamon mini chips (also Amazon), but only order them in the winter, otherwise they’ll melt into a giant cinnamon blob en route.

4. Make sure your nuts are fresh. Nuts go rancid quickly in your pantry, so store them in your freezer.

5. Make sure your spices are fresh, too. Your nose is a better indicator than date here. Spice Nazis might tell you to give every spice the heave ho after six months, but if you’re keeping them away from heat and light and bought them fresh from a store with good turnover, you can keep them longer than that.

5. If it says add zest, add it! Zests are crucial to any recipe that call for them. I’m amazed at people who leave them out. Buy yourself a good microplaner, and zesting is a breeze. Dried zest from a jar is not an acceptable substitute.

6. Use a high quality vanilla and more of it. I prefer the taste of Mexican vanilla, also now easily obtained at even Walmart. Usually when it calls for one teaspoon, I use two.

Goal: The best possible looking cookie

Solution: You have to decide if this is more important to you than taste. While some of the solutions work simultaneously with the previous list, the most sure fire way to get a pretty cookie is to use Crisco instead of butter. It’s what makes store bought cookies so pretty, but butter is what makes a homemade cookie taste better than a store bought one.

1. Substitute Crisco butter flavored sticks for the butter in your recipe. This is it. This will make the biggest difference in how your cookies look. They won’t taste quite as good, but they’ll look perfect every time.

2. If it calls for baking powder, make sure your powder isn’t more than 6 months old. Smell doesn’t matter here. When you open the can, date it, and be aggressive about throwing it out. I prefer Rumford brand because it’s aluminum free. Baking soda is more forgiving.

Goal: Getting from batter to finished cookie

Solution: Have the right tools and know thy oven.

1. You don’t have to have a cookie scoop, but I’m a big fan. They come in multiple sizes and help you get more uniformity. It also is just an easier delivery mechanism than a spoon and your finger.

2. A decent cookie sheet goes a long way, too. If it bends on its own, is rusting, or cost you less than $10, it’s probably a crap cookie sheet. Airbake does make nice cookie sheets, but I prefer professional half sheet pans because they are useful for tasks other than cookie baking. Don’t use a non-stick sheet. They are usually very dark and only result in overdone cookie bottoms.

3. If you used real butter, you probably don’t need any non-stick help, but on the occasions you do, use a baking spray with flour or parchment paper. I like Pam Baking better than Baker’s Joy, which gets very messy.

4. OXO’s cookie spatula is hands down one of my favorite kitchen tools and a must have. It gets under absolutely anything.

5. For the actual cooking, cookies can take anywhere from 7 to 14 minutes, depending on the ingredients and your oven. No one can tell you the exact time your cookies will take. You have to know your oven. To learn your oven, make a basic batch of chocolate chip cookies, and take sheets out at 8, 9, 10, & 11 minutes and see what ones you like best once they’ve cooled. Once you know how much time a cookie takes, write it directly on your recipe until you feel like you know what a cookie should look like when it’s done. A good general tip for any oven is to rotate your cookie sheets (both front to back and top and bottom rack if doing two sheets at a time) about five minutes into your cooking time. Every oven has hot spots, and this helps facilitate more even baking.

Got any cookie issues? I’ll try to help. Leave a comment if I didn’t already address a common problem you have with your cookies.

Lara S. Chase

Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Author of The Gamayun Prophecies

A Cheap and Easy Gift for That Hard to Buy for Person

A Newbie’s Guide to the CW: Wednesday-Friday

A Newbie’s Guide to the CW: Mondays & Tuesdays

4 Myths About The CW

Cheating for Thanksgiving: Bread & Appetizers

Cheating for Thanksgiving: The Bird & Dressing

Cheating For Thanksgiving: The Sides

Cheating for Thanksgiving: Cooking Tips to Make Your Life Easier. Part 1: Pies

Fall TV 2013: Early Winners and Losers

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: