Specialty Cookies: Meringue Buttons

These tiny meringue buttons are delightful on their own or as a garnish for other desserts. Try placing them on top of cakes and cupcakes, or using them to top cookies. You can make them larger or smaller, if you wish, depending on what, exactly, you intend to do with them.


Ingredients


2 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder


Preparation


Heat oven to 200°F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Do not use wax paper. It smokes in the oven. Do not use foil. It sticks to the meringue.


In a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric beater at medium speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time, beating at high speed, until all sugar is dissolved and you have stiff and glossy peaks. Do not attempt to use meringue that does not form soft peaks in this recipe.


Fit a decorating bag with a decorating tip of your choice. I've used a plain decorating tip for the buttons in the picture, but you can use something with more of a pattern to it, if you desire. Pipe the meringue onto the parchment paper. You can make them larger or smaller, as you desire. My meringue buttons are about 1 inch across. If you make them this size, you'll get 50 to 60 buttons. Larger buttons will result in fewer cookies.


Bake meringues for 45 to 60 minutes, until meringues are firm and lightly browned. It is important not to allow them to over bake, so watch for the browning once they have been in the oven for 45 minutes. when you see the bottoms start to brown, remove from the oven.


Allow meringues to sit on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove carefully with a spatula. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.


Sprinkle meringues with cocoa powder before serving. When meringues are completely dry, you can store them loosely covered at room temperature, but do not place them in an airtight container.

Easy Side Dishes: Tortellini Salad

Fresh herbs are great in this dish, so use them if you can. If you absolutely cannot find fresh herbs, substitute 1 tbsp dried parsley and 1 tsp all other dried herbs for the fresh indicated in this recipe.


Ingredients


1 package cheese tortellini
½ cup cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
4 tbsp olive oil
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered (optional)


Preparation


Cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and place in a large bowl. Cook peas according to package directions. Drain and add to the tortellini. Add parsley, basil, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and olive oil. Toss lightly until tortellini is covered in olive oil.


Cover and chill until ready to serve. Toss salad again immediately before serving. Add quartered cherry tomatoes on top, if desired.

Drop Cookies: Cookie Sandwiches

These cookies have a delicate caramel flavor. Use only butter, not margarine, in the filling. Margarine will not develop the same richness of flavor that butter will. In the cookie itself, however, you can use margarine if you like.


Ingredients


For the Cookies
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour


For the Filling
2 tbsp butter
1¼ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 tsp milk


Preparation


Cream brown sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and blend until smooth. Mix in flour until you have a soft dough. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to make handling the dough easier.


Heat oven to 325°F. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on a prepared cookie sheet. Flatten these balls with a fork dipped in flour. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Remove immediately from the cookie sheet and cool completely on wire racks.


When cookies are cool, it's time to make the filling. Place the butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter is golden brown. Remove from heat and immediately mix in all other filling ingredients. Blend until smooth, then allow to cool slightly. Don't allow it to cool completely or it will become too hard to spread.


Spread about 1 teaspoon of filling on the bottom of one cookie. Top with a second cookie, making sure the bottom of the cookie is the side that touches the filling. Press cookies together slightly, then set aside on a wire rack. Repeat with other cookies.


Allow all cookies to sit until filling is set.


This recipe makes about 12 to 18 sandwich cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yeast Breads: Basic Focaccia

This delicate Italian bread is typically round and flat and topped with rosemary and olive oil. There are endless opportunities to customize focaccia bread, but this basic version is a good place to start. Focaccia bread makes excellent sandwiches, especially grilled sandwiches.


Ingredients


1¼ tsp bread machine or quick rise yeast
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 egg
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried rosemary, crushed


Preparation


Place yeast and flour in a large bowl. Mix well, then add sugar and salt. Mix well again. Add water, butter, and egg. Mix until a loose dough forms. Turn this dough out onto a floured surface and knead until you have a sough that is soft and elastic. This will take about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a clean, nonmetal bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp towel.


Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size. This will take about an hour. Punch down the dough to remove all air bubbles. Grease a large cookie sheet. Place dough on the cookie sheet and roll or press into a 12-inch circle. Cover loosely and allow to rise until light and doubled in size, about 30 minutes.


Heat oven to 400°F. Uncover dough and use your finger to poke holes in the dough that are about ½-inch deep and 1-inch apart. Drizzle the 4 tbsp of olive oil over the dough. Sprinkle with rosemary. Bake dough for 20 minutes, until dough is browned and sounds hollow when tapped.


This bread will keep for up to 4 days if your store it in an airtight container.

Drop Cookies: Orange Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are soft and tender. They also melt in your mouth as they combine the delicate flavor of oranges with the sweetness of chocolate. This recipe uses semi-sweet chocolate, but you can substitute milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even white chocolate. If using white chocolate, you might even want to dye it different colors based on the occasion. Use your imagination.


Ingredients


For the Cookies
⅔ cup sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1⅓ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp orange zest


For the Glaze
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¼ cup butter
2 tbsp light corn syrup


Preparation


Heat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg and blend well. Add remaining cookie ingredients and combine until you have a soft dough. Shape into 1-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly. You can use the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar to do this if you want.


Bake cookies for 8 minutes, until cookies are slightly browned. Cook 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack and cool completely.


While the cookies are cool, prepare the glaze. Using a chocolate melter or saucepan on the stove, melt all glaze ingredients together, stirring occasionally. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Dip half of each cooled cookie into the glaze. Allow excess chocolate to dip back into glaze. Set cookie on wax paper. Repeat with remaining cookies.


Allow glaze to set completely. This can take 2 to 3 hours on the counter. You can shorten this process considerably if you place the cookies in the refrigerator. Either way, don't serve the cookies until the glaze is fully set.


This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. They will keep for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container. If storing, place wax paper between layers of cookies so the glaze doesn't cause them to stick together.

Easy Side Dishes: Cheesy Stuffed Potatoes

Potatoes always make an excellent side dish. Combine them with cheese, and they're downright delicious. These stuffed potatoes are easy to make with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen.


You can turn this simple dish into a full meal by adding a side salad.


Ingredients


4 large baking potatoes
2 tbsp butter
1 cup cheddar cheese, divided
½ cup sour cream
2 tsp dried chives
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried parsley


Preparation


Heat oven to 400°F. Scrub potatoes until they are clean. Pat dry, then pierce skin several times with a fork. Bake for 1 hour, until potatoes are easily pierced with a knife. They must be thoroughly cooked for this recipe.


Remove potatoes from oven and allow to cool slightly. Reduce the temperature in the oven to 350°F. Using a sharp knife, slice off potato tops. Scoop out the inside of potatoes, keeping shells intact. Place the pulp in a large bowl. Set the shells aside for the moment.


Mash the potato pulp until you have mashed potatoes. Add butter, ¾ cup cheddar cheese, sour cream, chives, salt, and pepper. Spoon the mashed potatoes back into the potato shells, packing it in and allow it to overflow the shells a bit. Use all the filling you have.


Place potatoes on a baking sheet. Top with remaining cheddar cheese and dried parsley. Return to oven until cheese is melted and potatoes are heated through, about 15 minutes.


This recipe makes 4 potatoes. You can prepare these the day before you need them, if you like. Simply don't bake them for the second time. Place in the fridge overnight until you're ready to bake. You'll need to increase the baking time to about 30 minutes.

Snacks & Appetizers: Taco Chicken Fingers

This is a quick and easy way to serve fried chicken. There's no breading, so nothing to slide off in the fryer. Fry them up, dip them in butter, and roll in the coating. Simply and easy.


For frying the chicken, you can either use a deep fryer or simply pan fry the chicken. As long as the chicken is cooked throughout, it doesn't really matter.


Ingredients


1 package tortilla chips
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
8 tbsp butter, melted


Preparation


Crush the tortilla chips until you have a bunch of fine crumbs. You'll need about 2 cups of crushed chips, so you may not need to use the entire package. Place the crumbs in a large bowl. Add chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and cumin. Combine well and set aside. Place melted butter in a shallow dish and set it aside as well.


Slice the chicken breasts into strips. 4 or 5 strips per chicken breast is sufficient. You can deep fry these in a fryer, cooking them for 8 to 10 minutes at 365°F, or you can pan fry them over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes. It doesn't matter, as long as your chicken is cooked thoroughly.


Drain chicken on paper towels. Dip the chicken in the butter you set aside earlier. Immediately roll in the tortilla crumb mixture. Place on a serving platter. Repeat with remaining chicken strips. Serve immediately.


This recipe makes enough chicken to feed 4 people. It doesn't keep well, so don't make extra.