30 Helens agree… texture, is important – peanutbutter cookies

it’s sunday. you can’t go to a dinner you would like to go to, so make something sweet to take your place. peanutbutter cookies, you know the ones… a bit more affordable because they’re made with shortening instead of butter; are soft and have that brown sugar comfort thing going for them. this is my grandma’s recipie and I hope she’s cool with me sharing it with you. I never got to meet her, but I really cherish being able to share the food she used to make for her friends and family (like my mom, who passed it on to me). try these and see why.

½ C short’nin’
½ C raw peanut butter (no salt or sugar)
1 C brown sugar (demerara is best)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour (½ C all-purpose and ½ C whole wheat is nice)
¼ tsp soda
¼ tsp salt

. cream the short’nin’ with the peanut butter
. add the sugar, vanilla and egg
. in a separate bowl, mix the flour, soda and salt
. sift the dry ingredients into the wet stuff and mix well
. roll the dough into balls (large egg size) and flatten with a fork on the cookie sheet. these don’t really spread out much when you bake them, so only squish ’em down to about 3/4″
. bake in a preheated oven for ten-ish minutes at 375. they should be goldenish but still a bit soft in the middle. texture is important.

BREAKFAST SALAD – feb fifth fenty felve

this morning I stumbled upon something so obvious, but so, so good:

BREAKFAST SALAD

I turned this

(which is good as is, but please, try this take on it)

. chop two massive (or more smaller) potatoes into chunks roughly the size of hubbabubba squares.
. get them in a big pot of slated water and boil ’em until tender but not falling apart – we’re not mashing these.
. while the toes are wubbling away, get a big frying pan on medium high heat. when it’s hot enough to instantly steam a drop of water, throw down some thick cut, streaky bacon.
. season with garlic powder, paprika, and pepper. the bacon will be best if you only flip it once (something me ma showed me). when the bacon is at your desired floppy or crispy goodness, drain on paper towel and set aside, but SAVE the grease in the pan.
. when the potatoes are finished, drain them in a colander. allow the heat inside them to evaporate the residual water, then carefully slide them into the hot bacon grease in the pan. You may need or want to add some additional bacon drippings, or butter, or oil because we basically want to do a very hot and quick fry on these suckers. stir as needed, you know, to get good gold coverage.
.while everything is getting hot and bubbly, finely chop half an onion and a small handfull of fresh parsley.
. also get yet another frying pan, smaller this time, on another burner and on a medium heat, let it get nice and hot.
. thinly slice some tomato into those gorgeous jeweled discs, and then again in gummybear-sized pieces.
. when the soon-to-be hasbrowns are almost at that lovely golden fried state, throw the onions in along with a bit of salt and the same seasonings that went on the bacon.
. of course, you’re really on the ball and excited to eat, so you’ve also got a carafe of coffee on the go, perfectly timed to be poured just after you serve breakfast. (I reccommend ethical bean – classic roast… it’s like chocolate cake)
. crack one or two or five eggs into the smaller, super hot pan atop some butter. quickly crack pepper on them and put a lid on the whole deal.
. have a small amount of water on hand and near the stove.
. chuck the parsley in the potatoes, stir and turn off the heat.
. drop about a teaspoon’s worth of that water in the eggs frying and get the lid on quick. the steam will cook the tops of the eggs but in a way that you can still get that gooey yolk happening. don’t leave them long… the hot hot pan should cook them in under two or three minutes. (miss mia taught me this, and I’m forever in egg-debt to her)
. drain the potatoes in a colander inside a bowl or on paper towel.
. get them eggs out of the pan and onto two plates. dump on some of the now drained hashbrowns, the tomato gems, and crumble the bacon on top of that.
. pour the coffee.
. grab your favourite breakfast salsa, ketchup, hot sauce, whatever.
. cut up the eggs beneath all the other goodness and mix it about in a glorious messy fashion until most of the bits have coated each other.
stuff your eager, drooling face with it.

for a nice breaky for two you will need:
2-4 good sized potatoes
6 rashers streaky bacon
bacon grease
butter – for frying
2-5 eggs (free run and organic is always best)
garlic powder
paprika
fresh cracked pepper
salt
1/2 an onion
fresh parsley (it really does make a difference)
1 tomato

* if one were to be so bold, so hardcore, so good with multitasking,  as to make and add hollandaise to this…
one may kersplode at the table.