How are you? We arrived home, unpacked, and settled back into our home after our Vermont trip. It was so nice to see friends and family out there. It had been too long. We came home with several new mugs, cups (yunomis), and a sweet teapot. All made by Richard Aerni.
ArtPrize2021 has opened in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Several artists who are friends of C2C are exhibiting there this year. Here is a blog that you might not have seen with regard to this year’s jurors. https://www.artprize.org/blog/meet-the-artprize-2021-jurors.
Need help understanding this years’ voting rules? No APP necessary. It is very different from other years: https://www.artprize.org/blog/explore.-scan.-find.-award.-artprize-2021-prize-format.
It’s Fall in West Michigan. Time to start thinking about autumn baking and soups. I follow Joy Wilson’s food blog. Last week, she shared a cookie recipe that I had to send your direction. It’s on my to-do list for baking this fall. They sound yummy. Since, it sounded so good, I am giving you the full recipe here instead of a link:
Joy sounds like your best friend in her blog and outlook on life. I needed to share what she says about them, “Today’s cookies are a hybrid of two of the most popular cookies here on JtB: Everybody’s After School Cookies and Dad’s Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are admittedly more of an after school cookie so the invitation (and it’s a good one) is to keep a batch of frozen cookie dough balls in the freezer to bake off every afternoon as your soul calls for. You don’t have to be in school to need an after school cookie. For these Oatmeal Apple Cookies, we’re keeping the browned butter, of course. We’re adding dried apples and swapping butterscotch chips for dark chocolate. Not a bad idea in the bunch.” (JtB stands for Joy the Baker.)
BROWNED BUTTER OATMEAL APPLE COOKIES
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR THESE OATMEAL APPLE COOKIES:
• Both browned butter and softened butter
• Granulated sugar and brown sugar
• All-purpose flour (though a gluten-free one-for-one blend also works well!), baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and cinnamon. Cream of tartar will give the cookies an added chewiness and softness.
• Old-fashioned oats though quick cooking oats are just a delicious in this recipe
• Large eggs and vanilla extract
• Dried apple pieces, coarsely chopped to bite size pieces.
• Optionally you can add finely chopped pecans and butterscotch chips. I can also imagine chopped walnuts and dark chocolate chips being delicious. There’s no wrong move here.
• Another optional move is coating the dough balls in cinnamon sugar – like a loaded snickerdoodle.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butters melted to browned and cooled to room temperature
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups diced dried apples
- 1 heaping cup butterscotch chips
- 3/4 cup finely diced pecans
For Coating:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- a big pinch of kosher salt
Instructions:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl with electric hand beaters cream buttes with the sugars and beat on medium speed until aerated and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minutes between each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as necessary.
- In a large bowl whisk together the oats, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once to the butter mixture and beat on low speed. Remove the bowl from the mixing stand and stir in the dried apples, butterscotch chips, and pecans. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or transfer the dough to plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
- Just before baking, place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl whisk together sugar, cinnamon and salt.
- Form the dough into 2 tablespoon balls. Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each ball about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake until golden and puffed for about 12 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking. Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Uncooked dough can be portioned (not rolled in sugar) and frozen in balls first on a baking sheet, then in a freezer safe bag. Bake cookies from frozen for 14 or so minutes.
For me, Fall is the time to begin again. It has always felt like the best time of year to do this rather than January 1. So, this week begins a renewed effort for getting exercise and stretching. I am taking a mindful mediation class virtually combining Tai Chi and Yoga. Plus, walking three times a week. Two times a week on the elliptical machine and weights. It seems do-able. What are you doing with regard to fitness? Send me a note. I would love to learn what works well for you.
Enjoy these beautiful days and take good care, C2.
