2nd Cookie - Pebbernodder

Okay - so it doesn't look like much now, but this is just the dough that I mixed up last night.

This is 2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
5 cups flour
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground cardamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

I really like these with a nice cup of tea.  Crisp. Spicy.  Little gnocchi puffs of cookie!

I'll bake these off tonight and mix the next batch up - and no, I haven't decided what.  Probably snickerdoodles.

Oh!  And just an FYI.  I don't know where the recipes came from.  My mother taught me them when I was very young and I wrote them out on recipe cards - so I don't have the original sources to credit.  So if you know that and would like me to add that to the post - just drop me a comment or email.

Also - since most of the cookies take a day or so to finish, I'll edit the original recipe post to add the finished photo once they're done.

Yay cookie time!

First Cookie - Rum Balls

So tonight I start baking for the holiday.  Usually my DH and I gift cookies - and it has to start somewhere.  What better place to start than with rum balls?  They have to age a little bit to mellow the rum - then they turn practically into a cordial - crisp sugar outside, chocolate walnut inside and a rum center.  Personally, I'm not a fan, but he says they're good - so I will make them.

2 boxes Nilla wafers - crushed
2 cups chopped walnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup dark rum
2/3 cup corn syrup

Crush the wafers, add the cocoa and walnuts.  Mix it up to get it all incorporated.  Start adding the rum and syrup - a couple tablespoons of each at a time.  Depending on the humidity you may use it all or not.

Roll into balls and coat with colored sugar.  Place in airtight container and let them sit for at least 3 days if not longer.

Enjoy!

To Be or Not to Be

Alright - so just how often do you get to start off with Shakespeare!?

So it's been awhile, but I had to take care of some things and make a decision about whether or not to continue my blog.  I ran for office, and got elected.  So I thought perhaps I should not blog.  But after giving it a lot of thought - and realizing that I actually do refer to this blog for photos, recipes, etc. - and hearing from my family about how they actually were reading the darn thing.  I decided to keep it going.

Especially since Christmas is coming and I have cookie baking to do!

So there it is.

If you're looking for political talk or anything like that, please go to my facebook page (facebook.com\councilwomanhitselberger).

If you're looking for baking, knitting, dogginess, commuting, traffic, architecture, nature - you're in the right place!

So there you have it.

Sharon a Rose

Usually I find public plantings boring and dull. But at my train station a few years ago they planted several Rose of Sharon bushes which are doing quite nicely. 

They've been in bloom for over a month now and are only just starting to slow a bit. As we start autumn, it is so nice to see these blossoms in the darkness of the morning.

They remind me that summer is only a few months (and few snow storms) away. 

Spider Party

Last night I think the spiders at the train station must have had a party because this morning there were more webs up then I have ever seen before. Was it the full moon?  The chilly temps causing them to cast their webs for fewer bugs? Or a big spidery get-together?

I'd like to imagine that one of their spider friends caught a ride up on the train from the city, so they all hung out all night and someone proposed a web spin-off, resulting in this artful display. 

Okay, maybe not, but it looked pretty spectacular glistening with the morning dew. 

Floating Frost

Autumn is only a few days away but the frost came early to the train station. When this icy mist hit the train, it froze on the surface of the windows and cars, crackling into icy patterns, then melting. 

Last year by this time we had already gotten a frost at our bucolic manor, but so far this year I've only seen its' icy grip in the shadow of the mountains where the station is. 

Part of me is looking forward to the cool season ahead. The other part of me is dreading the work that comes with it. 

Maybe that's why there are so many holidays in autumn. It keeps your mind off of the chores. 

Manhattan Skyline

Sometimes people say to me that working in the city with all that concrete must be hard to look at all day. Given that most New Yorkers never look up, I'd agree. 

But I have a tendency to look up. There's more to see then just buildings.