What's YOUR favorite cookie?

USA Today has a sidebar feature called Snapshots where they'll give a cute little graphic and some kind of statistical data.  The other day, they featured a survey on cookies.

 I guess it should come as no surprise that the chocolate chip cookie was the favorite--by a whopping 53%.  Yeah, I like chocolate chip cookies, and prefer the homemade variety (of which there seem to be about a million variations).  For my money, the very best recipe comes right off the Nestles morsels package.  Yup, the good old Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie.  If I'm making chocolate chip cookies (which I do only about every other year), there's no reason to try another recipe.  This one comes out perfect every time.  (No lie!)

Next up, was the peanut butter cookie at 16%.  I happen to have the perfect recipe for that one, too.  It was given to me by a friend of my parents.  I must have been ten at the time, so for her to take the time to write out that recipe and give it to me meant a lot.  And the fact that I'm still making that version (mumble, mumble, mumble) years later, is a testament to the quality of that recipe.

I was disappointed that my favorite cookie, oatmeal (no mention of raisins and walnuts) came in at #3 with 15% of the vote.  Oddly enough, I don't have a favorite version of this recipe.  For years I made the version listed in my Betty Crocker cookbook (okay, mostly I ate the raw cookie dough--but those days are long gone), but it's not the best.  I've never really found the ultimate oatmeal cookie recipe, but I have discovered that commercially made oatmeal cookies are generally horrible, and any homemade oatmeal cookie recipe is bound to be infinitely better. (And if you've got a great recipe, please share it.)

Next up on the list:  sugar and/or shortbread with 11% of the vote.  I love shortbread, and have made a sugar cookies, but must admit not often.  (I think because I may have singed the shortbread.)

What I found amazing was that the "other" category was only 5%.  Does that mean that Oreos are NOT America's favorite cookie?  (Does Nabisco know this?)

What's YOUR favorite cookie?

Christmas Goody Basket

 One of the most fun gifts to give (and get) is a gift basket.  Not one of those assembled in some factory in China, but one that is put together with items selected just for you.

As is happens, I just LOVE to assemble these kinds of gift baskets.  Unfortunately, my "give-to Christmas List" has gotten smaller over the years.  (Bummer.)  But already I've started accumulating things for someone special on my Christmas list.  In fact, in no time, I've accumulated enough for at least two baskets.

I can't tell you how much fun I've had on my hunt for cool stuff, and I can't wait to see the look on my friend's face when she gets her Christmas goody basket.

What would you like to see in such a basket?

A card for every occasion

I can't be the only person around who is appalled at the cost of greeting cards.  What used to cost a dollar or so, now costs at least $4 to wish your friends or loved ones a Happy Birthday, Anniversary, Thank You, or just to send a Thinking Of You card.

Okay, I admit it, I'm cheap.  Apparently, a lot o f other people fee that way, too, because I now get (and give) many electronic cards.  I've got a subscription to Jacquie Lawson's online greetings.  They're wonderful animated cards that feature flowers, animals, and nature.  Just wonderful.

 But there are still occasions when I want to send a REAL greeting card.  The cards I send out the most are Thank You cards.  I get the majority of them at yard sales and most of them are blank cards,  You name it, I probably have a blank card on it.  Flowers, cats, dogs, fairies, I must have 200-300 blank cards.  (It's always tough to choose.)  But for Birthday Cards, I usually make them myself. 

I have to admit, I love to receive "made-it-myself cards."  My sister in law makes gorgeous cards.  She must have one of those little die cut machines.  She makes all her cards and it must take hours.  She uses different papers, textures, and rubber stamps with embossing ink.  I always anticipate the cards she sends for holidays and birthdays.

My brother has a computer program that lets him make cards.  He recently made a thank you card for someone and wondered if he was going to look "cheap" with his DIY effort.  But the words he wrote were from the heart and the card was lovely.

I'm not real "crafty," so my cards aren't all that elaborate, and I mostly give them to my immediate family.  My husband set up a template in Abobe Illustrator, and I can choose the graphics and wording myself. That means the cards I make I can personalize.  I like to use my own photography (like this picture I used for this year's Father's Day Card.)  And I get a lot of pleasure putting these cards together.  Usually, it takes between 20-40 minutes to pull one off.  (Mostly because I don't do it often enough and forget how to use the program.)

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a card freak.  I save them.  In fact, I have every birthday card I've received since age eight.  I keep holiday cards.  My favorite Christmas card is from my Grandfather, who's been gone more than 25 years now.  Every year, I take out the last card he sent me and put it up with the current year's holiday greetings.  I look at his handwriting and I miss him, but because I have that card--he's still with me. 

Maybe I'm a nut to hang onto these cards, but they don't take up that much room, and it's nice to revisit those happy occasions when someone thought of me. 

Garden Update

I've blogged before about my wonderful garden.  This is the first true veggie garden I've had in years.  (Uh, about 25 years.)  I planted my little plants and lovingly nurtured them. (This picture was taken in June, before everything took off!) 

Of course the first assault on the garden was the hail storm.  For about 15 minutes my little garden was pelted first with huge raindrops, and then huge hailstones.  I feared my little heirloom seedlings were doomed--likewise the beans.  (Those are bean leaves to the left.)  The broccoli and Brussels sprouts had huge holes in the leaves, but they, too, survived.

Then just as the Brussels sprouts were starting to form, we had a visit from Mr. Groundhog.  Mr. Groundhog roared through my little garden like an angry tornado, eating the broccoli and every leaf he could reach on the sprouts. (That poor first plant reminds me of a very skinny person with a big mop of hair.)

Since the beginning of the summer, I'd heard horror stories about the tomato blight, which is actually a mutation of the potato blight that devastated Ireland in 1844.  Word on the street was that the blight was attacking plants from big-box stores.  Whew!  I bought my plants from a small farm market, and grew my heirloom tomatoes from seeds.  I was safe.

NOT!

Last week I noticed the leaves on the tomato plants were turning brown.  Since then, some of the tomatoes have spots and some are just falling off the plants.  Boo hoo hoo!  All my hard work--and the blight still got my darlings.  Still, we are eating the tomatoes (and cutting off the bad bits) and they are soooooo much better that those hothouse ones at the grocery store.  And hopefully, I'll have at least a couple of heirloom tomatoes, too.

Gardening can be heartbreaking.  But I'm already making plans for next year's garden.

The beginning of the end?

I’m convinced this summer was cursed—at least as far as yard sales goes. But this weekend I did better than I have in almost a month. I scored at the very first sale of the day with two cute little picture frames I have a special use for. Also, I got a CD of the best of Gershwin for a mere 50 cents. (Have been wanting to hear Rhapsody in Blue after rereading Jeanne Ray’s wonderful novel EAT CAKE. That tune has a special place in the book and it just seemed fitting to get the CD.)

But the prize was the hand-painted salt and pepper shakers. I thought they were pretty and at only a dollar, a bargain, too.

We left our comfort zone and traveled a good part across the state because we wanted to go to lunch in one of our favorite Irish pubs (Coleman’s in Syracuse. I had the chicken pub pie. De-lish!). There seemed to be a lot more sales in Syracuse than in my area, so I went to as many as I could. Of course, by the time we got there, most of the sales had been picked over. But I still got some Made In England cork coasters (from Harrod’s no less) with views of London.

I also got a very cute butterfly hairclip for the vast fortune of ten cents, and this lovely little rose bowl—which cost only a quarter, so I can’t say that the prices weren’t right.

But all and all it was yet another disappointing “junking” weekend. Labor Day often means the beginning of the end of yard sale season in this part of the country. 

Bummer.

Mr. Groundhog Returns

Much as I'm a fan of the movie Groundhog Day -- I am NOT a fan of groundhogs.  Let us walk through the mists of time to remember what happened about a decade ago . . . (insert a little harp music here).

All those years ago, we had an unwanted visitor in our garden.  He would take a dip in the pool, walk up the steps, walk around the pool, and sun himself on our little garden bench.  We thought this was kind of cute . . . until he started eating all our flowers.

It turns out, Mr. Groundhog lived in a hole in the arborvitae that grows on the west end of our yard.  My husband Frank was furious--as at the time, the garden was his domain.  We live behind a farmette and Frank passed through the magic door (a space between the arborvitae) into the farm and found that Mr. Groundhog had been feasting on their crops.  One phone call and an hour later, a Havahart trap arrived behind our yard.  An hour after that, Mr. Groundhog had been captured.  He was taken away and we never knew (but did suspect) his fate.  And our flowers flourished for the rest of that season.

Bunnies have been the bane of my bean crops, eating them down to the dirt.  But this year, we sprinkled (and rather liberally) dried blood and consequently are having the best pole bean season ever.

All was well until last night.  I was sitting there reading in our enclosed porch when Chester jumped onto his little box all attentive.  Omigod!  There was a skinny groundhog walking on the concrete deck, heading toward MY CROPS.  I shot out of my chair, hands clapping, and new Mr. Groundhog fled into the arborvitae and I flew out the door to reassure myself that all was well in the garden.

IT WAS NOT.

The pride and joy of my Brussells sprouts had been severely chewed!  And, in fact, one of the leaves had been ripped from the plant.  As it happened, I'd been bragging to my Dad earlier in the afternoon that the first plant was growing by leaps and bounds--and that it was nearly four feet tall.  We had been out picking beans just a couple of hours before I discovered my poor sprout plant had been savagely CHEWED!!!!!

As we looked closer, we saw that one of the broccoli plants had not only been chewed, it had been stripped!  Yum-yum!  Mr. Groundhog had been having a lovely vegetarian dinner and apparently enjoying himself immensely--hence his return for a second meal of the day.

Look at the close up of my Brussels Sprout plant (my pride and joy) where he ripped off the leaf--and note the sprouts are just starting to form.  (Aren't they cute?)  Leaves are one thing, but he'd better not nibble my sprouts.

Of course you know, this first offense will not be taken lightly.  This means war!  First, the last of the dried blood has been spread.  Next up, taking a look at the farm behind us.  If their crops have been decimated, another call to the owner is in order.

Mr. Groundhog, you are no Punxsutawney Phil and this is not Gobbler's Knob.  If you know what's good for you, you will make like Elvis and leave the area.

For good.

And what critters are dining in your yard?

UPDATE:  Mr. Groundhog returned later this afternoon and completely destroyed four of the five Brussels sprouts plants.  We are buying a trap.

Where have I been?

I haven't posted much this summer.  In addition to there being very few sales--and therefore I've bought very little . . . I've been preoccupied with  other matters.

The biggest being my elderly father being admitted to a nursing home.  Why is he there?  He went to the hospital in early July suffering from dehydration.  That small problem escalated and during the 17 days he was there, he developed severe bedsores--FIVE OF THEM.

Now, he's in a nursing home.  My mother stays with him from 8-10 hours a day.  In the meantime, I'm taking care of their home, their errands, their shopping, their laundry.  Did I mention I have a home of my own?  Oh, and I have a job, too.  (Luckily it's a job with flexible hours.)

So I haven't posted much.  But I'll try to do better.  And will post something else later today.

What happened to all the sales?

The yard sales have been a huge disappointment this year.  We're talking TERRIBLE, which is why I haven't posted in a while.  So is it any wonder that sometimes the best thing I can find on my weekly travels is a vegetable?

Last week, after wasting too much gas and not finding anything fun at the yard sales, we stopped at a farm stand and found the world's most perfect cauliflower.  Even better--it was only a dollar!

I LOVE cauliflower and I have a really easy recipe that uses only three ingredients.

Boil as much cauliflower as your family can eat.  When it's almost done, remove it from the boiling water and place in an oven proof dish.  Sprinkle (or dump on) it with your favorite cheese.  (I've used Parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella), and then sprinkle (or dump on) seasoned (or unseasoned--depending on your preference) breadcrumbs.  Bake at 360 until the cheese melts and the breadcrumbs are golden brown (10-15 minutes).

Yum!

A PIECE OF THE PAST

You never know what you're going to find when you go out junking, and lately the pickings have been mighty slim. But last weekend I found a piece of Western New York history in the little town of North Rose (which is NOT in Western New York).

One of my favorite hunting spots is a little church-run thrift shop. Okay, I haven't found anything spectacular there, but they always seem to have something I need or, more importantly, want, and for not much money. Last week's gem cost me all of a quarter.

The Arts and Crafts movement was very big in East Aurora, NY back in the early 20th century, thanks to Elbert Hubbard, a writer, publisher, artist and philosopher, and his Roycroft Press. The village became famous for its artisan shops, and the beautiful Roycroft Inn.

The inn originally opened in 1905 and closed in 1938. (It has since reopened (1995) and has rooms furnished in the arts and crafts style, and a wonderful restaurant.) It's lovely, as is the whole village. (Which is also the home of Fisher-Price Toys.)

What's that got to do with me? I've been fascinated with the whole Arts and Crafts movement (we have a lot of books on it) and so I was psyched when I found a Roycroft Inn butter pat, made by the Buffalo Pottery Company, and dated 1925. Just to have a piece of the not only the inn, but of the whole Roycroft past, is really cool. It just so happens I have a number of other butter pats and have hung them with mini plate hangers. This one's going right over my desk.

What pieces of history are you pleased to own?

Finally--Roses!!!

Several years ago, my husband bought me two climbing roses; one yellow, one red.

Mr. Yellow Rose never did very much, and, sadly, passed away after a valiant two-year struggle to live. Mr. Red Rose managed to hang in there, but never did very much.

Until this year.

My husband has been threatening to yank out Mr. Red Rose because I'd get one, maybe two blooms a year. Whereas my heirloom rosebush explodes into bloom in late June and keeps blooming (although not quite as enthusiastically) all summer long. In contrast, Mr. Red Rose was a real non-performer.

This year looks to be different. After an attack of aphids, I was afraid I wouldn't get any blooms. But, Mr. Rose has been diligent and rewarded me with the first rose of the season. And now there's a second one about to bloom. Not only that, but there are six more buds forming.

Wow--this is a real rose extravaganza -- or at least compared to years past.

Maybe I should threaten to yank all the non-performers. That might give them incentive to bloom, too.