Lemon Cookies Make Sweet Treats

Whenever I make a dessert or cookie, my first inclination is to choose something with chocolate.  Otherwise, what is the point of all that work and calories?  But my second choice would be something with lemon.  Anything flavored with the little yellow citrus fruit just seems really refreshing, and seems to be liked by everyone.

So when I promised to make a batch of cookies for the Barber Institute table at the Millcreek Mall Chocolate Chase, Hilary Matthews’ recipe for Lemon Cookies really caught my eye.  Plus, I thought that it would give those who don’t care for chocolate another tasty option.

I will admit that I was a bit skeptical when I saw the recipe. I mean, it only has three ingredients (not counting the powdered sugar you dust on after baking).  But I just happened to have the first ingredient, a box of lemon cake mix, so I forged ahead.  After adding eggs and canola oil, I had a cookie batter.

As instructed, I dropped spoonfuls onto the baking sheet.  I don’t know why I expected to end up with a ball cookie, but this batter really spreads when cooking.  That’s okay, just don’t put them too close together.  The recipe says they cook quickly—8 to 10 minutes—and that is certainly true.  The cookies were best with a slightly golden color around the sides.

I only had about an hour between getting home from work and heading off to an evening appointment, but I managed to get these cookies assembled, baked and out of the oven in plenty of time.  These treats were light and fluffy with a perfect mix of the tart and sweet.   A real delight—even for the most dedicated chocolate lover!

By Mary Cuneo

Linguine with Clam Sauce

One evening last week, I was trying to think of something to make for dinner.  I decided to turn to the Angels in the Kitchen cookbook to help me come up with some new meals to prepare.  I opened the book, and one of the first recipes caught my attention right away.  It was Kevin Cuneo’s Linguine with Clam Sauce dish. The recipe was simple and easy to follow.

The first step was to cook the linguine.  Meanwhile, as the linguine cooked, I began to drain the clams.  When you make this dish, be sure to set the juice aside to be added in later!

The next step was to heat the other ingredients in the sauce pan.  Then I let the clam juice, pepper, basil, oregano, and salt simmer in the pan with rest of the ingredients.  After a few minutes of simmering, I poured the mixture over the linguine and sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top.  I also added lemon wedges when I served it.

With a fresh salad on the side, the meal reminded me of a summer dish.  I will definitely make it again, but maybe next time I will prepare it on a warmer day.  It’s a perfect recipe because it is very light and won’t leave you feeling too full afterwards.  The recipe yields more than enough…it could have fed an army! The best part is that it doesn’t take too much time or preparation to make.

 By Marion Frederick

Pork Chops for Two

Recently, my boyfriend and I have been on a kick of trying new recipes and creating more interesting dinners for the two of us.  When we came across Basil Baked Chops for Two submitted to the Angels in the Kitchen cookbook by Irma Kapsar, we just had to try the recipe.

We decided to make a date of it and cooked our meal together.  Being Italian, he can’t help but throw a little of his heritage into every meal.  So we swapped out the dried basil for some Italian herb.  This dish turned out to be a perfect blend of seasoning, with garlic, pepper and our own special twist of Italian herb topped with baked veggies!

As the pork chops cooked for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees, we contemplated a side to our main course.  He wanted pasta, but I said that garlic herb seasoned rice would complement the meal a little better; he reluctantly agreed.

It was nice to spend an evening together cooking and in the end we were left with two juicy, veggie covered pork chops and a side of rice; a meal that made our taste buds tingle!

By Ashleigh Jackett

A Very Colorful Dinner

Since one of my many health goals is reducing the amount of red meat in my family’s diet, I am always looking for good chicken options.  That’s why I was so happy to see the recipe for “Chicken, Tricolor Peppers and Fettuccini” submitted by Anne DeLuca.  The fact that it looked pretty quick and easy was an added bonus.

As you might guess from the title, the main ingredients called for are green, red and orange peppers.  After preparing the recipe, I ran into Anne who said that she has actually made this with just about any fresh vegetables that she has on hand, including carrots and celery.  I think that’s probably true, but the peppers seem to provide so much color to make this dish appealing.

The first step is to chop the boneless chicken breasts into cubes, which is just a tedious task.  I wish some enterprising butcher would think to do that already and sell chicken pieces ready to sauté.

Next, the recipe says to “lightly season.”  I’m not sure I’ve ever done this in my life.  I cook with the principle that more really is more, and sprinkle just about everything with a healthy dose of pepper, garlic powder and crushed red pepper.  I figured that we would already be getting enough salt from the chicken bouillon that is added later.

Once you start cooking the chicken, this dish comes together pretty quickly.  In an effort to save time, I used minced garlic from the jar, but do think that it is worth the time to chop up some fresh cloves.  I also used parmesan cheese from the jar—which complemented the other ingredients well—but would probably opt for freshly grated if I had the time.  

This dish is pretty enough for company, and got “two thumbs up” from the family taste testers.  If you don’t pile on the pasta—always a temptation—this meal is pretty healthy for you, too.

By Mary Cuneo

White Pizza Party at School

Who doesn’t like pizza, especially at school?  Imagine the students of Room 122’s surprise when I informed them white pizza was on the menu for math class.   First we double checked to make sure we had all the ingredients.   

Mackenzie led the group since she submitted the recipe for “Mac’s Plain Pizza, Just Cheese”  to the Angels in the Kitchen cookbook. She told us step by step directions on how to prepare the pizza.  She stated the most important part to making white pizza was “no red sauce!”

First, we started with Betty Crocker Pizza Crust package. Then we spread the dough on the pans evenly and had to wait for the dough to rise.

In the meantime, we measured the cheese and melted the butter.  We used cooking spray to be sure the crust did not stick to the pans. We also decided it would be a good idea to spray our fingers so the dough did not stick to our hands, either.

Next we spread melted garlic butter on the dough. After that, it was time to add the cheese!

We made a few improvements to the recipe by adding parmesan cheese and sprinkling parsley on top. 

Once the cheese was on, we added the parsley and placed pizzas in the oven.  We waited for the pizza to bake as the delicious smell of it filled up the room.

After about 15 minutes, we took the pizza out of the oven.  Once we tasted our first bites of the pizza, we decided it was well worth the wait!

By Jamie McAlister and Room 122

Something Fruity and Sweet for After Dinner

It’s a known fact that when friends get together, they eat.  So when my friends that I attended college with decided to make a trip from Buffalo and Rochester to visit me in Erie for the weekend, I knew I better start planning a menu that they would enjoy.

I decided on making ham and cheese pretzel sandwiches as one of the meals.  But what better way to finish off a meal than with something sweet?  That’s when I turned to the Angels in the Kitchen cookbook.  I wanted to make something that they may never have had before.  As I paged through the book, I saw Helen Sorensen’s Rose Marina Salad.  I’ve had it maybe once or twice before and loved it, but never have I made it myself.  So I thought I’d give it a shot.

I went to Wegman’s to gather some ingredients.  And if you’ve ever been to Wegman’s, it’s pretty much always crowded in there and you almost always see someone you know.  I wasn’t really in the mood to grocery shop, so I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.  When I arrived back home, I set all the ingredients out on the counter, only to realize that I  grabbed one can of mandarin oranges off the shelf instead of two! 

Luckily for me, I have friendly neighbors who had that ingredient I needed (if you remember from one of my previous posts, I had to borrow an ingredient then too).  Then I cooked the orzo noodles (which look more like rice to me!) and mixed those with everything together except the mandarin oranges and crushed pineapples.  Those go in after the mixture has had a chance to chill and thicken. My mixture seemed more “soupy” than “pudding-like” as it says in the cookbook, so I was a little nervous about that.   

In an effort to be slightly healthier, I substituted Splenda for sugar.  After all, it’s going to be a weekend of eating and catching up.

This morning, I took the mixture out and added in the fruit.  My guests won’t be arriving until later in the evening, but I just couldn’t help but to have a little taste.  The mixture ended up thickening and it tasted just as delicious as I remembered.  My dad suggested placing some cherries on top for taste (not that it needs it) and it also ended up making the dish look really nice.

This recipe was pretty simple and would be great for a dinner party or any kind of gathering.  I can’t wait to see what my friends think of it!

By Lindsey Scutella

Weight Watchers-Friendly Treat

Trying new recipes is always fun.   Sometimes you discover new recipes, and sometimes you find a twist to old recipes.  So when I got the Angels in the Kitchen cookbook, I was excited to see what I would find! 

One of that challenges I have is adjusting them to my personal weight loss program.  The Baked Pineapple recipe submitted by Patty Hellenschmidt  seemed like a dish that would be easy to adjust, and it turned out to be a very successful transformation.   This dish is fruity and sweet and has the traditional comfort food ingredients.  Even with the changes I made, the dish still maintained its comfort food taste.   

The following substitutions were made to the recipe to help make it a little more healthy:

•  Egg Beaters replaced the whole eggs
• Splenda replaced the sugar
• Melted light butter replaced the full stick of butter

Going to the Weight Watchers website, I was able to transform Patty’s altered recipe to come up with a points plus value of half the amount it would’ve been, had I not made the substitutions. 

This delicious side dish and/or dessert is perfect for those wanting to shed some extra holiday pounds.  It is great served warm and can be served cold as well.  

By Bonnie Johnston