From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

These just plain sounded good!

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies

Prep Time:

 10 Minutes

 

Cook Time:

 15 Minutes

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 24

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup Salted Butter, Softened
• 2 cups Packed Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 3 cups Old Fashioned Oats

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer) beat together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each one.

Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium sized bowl. Add it into the creamed mixture in 2 to 3 batches, mixing it until just combined. Mix in the oats until just combined.

Use your preferred size cookie scoop (or a regular spoon) to drop portions of dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, spacing them a couple inches apart. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until dark and chewy. If you'd like a crispier cookie, just cook a little longer!

Let them cool slight on the pan after removing from the oven, then transfer the cookies onto a plate for serving.

* Note: Add 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts to the flour mixture if you'd like a nutty flavor and crunch.

Share this Post

Book Trailer Monday...

     It's a good time of year to take photographs. I love the fall colors coming up and farming. Here's a new photography book to inspire new ways to look at your world. It's on order here at the library. \

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     This looked pretty yummy today....

Cinnamon Raisin Baked French Toast

Prep Time:

 15 Minutes

 

Cook Time:

 1 Hour

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 16

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 loaf Cinnamon Raisin Bread
•  Butter, For Greasing
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
•  Topping
• 1 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Raisins
•  Softened Butter, For Serving
•  Warm Maple Syrup, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

Unwrap the loaves of bread, then overlap the slices in rows in a well-buttered baking dish.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, then pour the mixture evenly over all the pieces of bread, soaking the bread as much as possible.

To make the topping, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl and cut it all together with a pastry cutter. Stir in the raisins.

Sprinkle the topping all over the casserole. Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate it for several hours or overnight.

When you’re ready to bake the French toast, preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the French toast for 45 minutes to 1 hour for a softer texture, or longer for a firmer, crisper texture. Cover with foil for the first 30 minute of baking, then remove it for the remaining baking time.

Serve individual helpings with butter and warm syrup.

Book Trailer Monday...

     Here's a book trailer that is actually done by the author himself, Don Calame. The book is Swim the Fly and looks very funny! I think I want to read this new series about adolescent boys :).

See what you think...

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     Here's a recipe to use up some of that zucchini you have in your garden or that you've been wanting to buy at the farmer's market. And, according to Janette here at the library, "It's the best thing ever!"

LikeComment

Fit-tabulous In case you didn't know... I LOVE pizza.. its my biggest weakness. I have to literally keep myself away from it because I could probably almost eat a large by myself (super thin cracker crust of course!). For any other pizza lovers out there, I highly suggest trying these zucchini boats! Great fun way to keep Friday Pizza night still in the house!  Share this post to bookmark the recipe on your page! Ingredients: • 3 zucchini, washed & split lengthwise & remove the ends • 2 tomatoes, Roma sliced fairly thin • 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded • 3 ounces parmesan cheese, grated • 6 fresh basil leaves, sliced thin • 2 garlic cloves, minced • 1 tablespoon olive oil • salt and pepper Directions: 1) in a bowl mix the garlic and salt and pepper. let stand for 20 minutes. 2) brush the zucchini with the olive oil, making sure to use it all evenly between the "boats". 3) sprinkle the parmesan cheese over each boat and then top each boat with the mozzarella. 4) place slices along the boats and then top with the basil. 5) place the boats on a foil lined pan and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Enjoy!

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     I can't resist when I see a new pumpkin recipe! I know it's not fall yet, but YUM!

{Pumpkin and Cream Bread}

Yield: 2 loaves (14 slices each)

Batter:

1-1/2 c. pureed pumpkin

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 whole egg

3 egg whites

1 c. all-purpose flour

2/3 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. Stevia Cup For Cup sweetener

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

Cream filling

8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 T. all-purpose flour

2 egg whites

1 t. vanilla extract

METHOD:

1. For the Batter: With an electric mixer, beat the pumpkin, applesauce, egg, and egg whites on medium speed until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, Stevia, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.

2. For the cream cheese filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, egg whites and flour until creamy and smooth.

3. Grease 2 8x4x2" loaf pans. Divide half of the batter between the two pans. Pour half of the filling in one pan and the other half in the second pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. Top with the remaining batter.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don't overbake or your bread will be dry on the edges. Cool and remove from pans. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

What's In Your Library Bag Wednesday?

     Hi all!! How is your summer reading going? Mine comes and goes. Sometimes I can read a lot, other times, there's just too much going on!:) So, I am wondering what's in your library bag this gorgeous Wednesday afternoon?...I just finished the Breathing Series by Rebecca Donovan, Reason to Breathe, Barely Breathing, and Out of Breath. Can I just say, "Wow." It was kinda deep and left me wondering what kind of a mom I was that I thought while I was reading it that it would be okay for my daughter to read about a relationship before I'd suggest this title with the abuse that it includes...
     I've read A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer and I've heard about abuse in the news, so I know that people abuse children...however this book is fiction, reading it, puts you in the mind of the victim a little and you fear and don't understand and hope and everything. And the abuse is not all physical. Parts were hard to read and imagine.
     But that isn't all these books are about. They are also about other relationships in Emma's life, her best friend, boys, her late father and her birth mother. Throughout the 3 books of the trilogy, Emma's life changes from one extreme to the next and you begin to wonder what else could happen to this young woman. But, that is what keeps you reading, so you can finally see how it all turns out.
     Not really my typical read. It was kind of heavy, but a good story that kept me on the edge of my seat guessing what was going on. Now I'm off to find something a bit fluffier!:) Have to have balance in my reading. How about you?

Book Trailer Monday

Here's an author talk with Lucy Christopher who writes Stolen, our young adult book club selection this month..

.

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

Here's one that I accidentally ran across, but it looks so yummy and easy I couldn't help myself! It's from Pioneer Woman, of course!

Skillet Chicken Lasagna

Prep Time:

 10 Minutes

 

Cook Time:

 20 Minutes

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 8

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 ounces, weight Bowtie Pasta, Cooked According To Package Instructions And Drained
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Sliced Or Diced
• 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning Or Herbes De Provence
•  Salt To Taste
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 jar Good Quality Marinara Sauce, 14-16 Ounce Size
• 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 cup Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
• 1 cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan
• 12 whole Basil Leaves, Chiffonade Or Chopped
•  Extra Cheeses And Basil, For Serving

Preparation Instructions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and herbs. Add chicken to the skillet and cook until golden brown. Remove the chicken to a plate.

Add onions and garlic to the same skillet and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add broth, then scrape the bottom of the skillet to loosen the bits. Cook for another 2-3 minutes to let the broth reduce.

Add marinara sauce and red pepper flakes, then simmer for 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the cooked and drained pasta, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil. Add the cooked chicken on top. Toss to combine, then add more of any of the above ingredients until the sauce is just how you like it.

Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan and a little basil on top.