Chocolate Orange Swirls

These cookies were inspired by Jake's love of all things chocolate and orange. They aren't really that hard, just a bit finicky to make the dough. Once that's done, it's simply slice, bake, and dip.

Chocolate and Orange dough:

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup butter, softened (you may need to add a bit more to make the dough come together)

1 cup sugar

1 egg
1 tsp orange extract

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 egg white, beaten

4 oz semi sweet chocolate, melted

Melt the unsweetened chocolate in a microwave on low, checking often so it doesn't burn. Stir and set aside to cool. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg and mix well. In a different bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Scrape 1/2 of the butter mixture into a bowl and add the orange extract, as well as orange food coloring, if you wish. Stir well. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and stir well until it forms a dough. If the dough is too dry, you may need to add a bit more butter until it comes together.

Add the chocolate to the remaining butter mixture and stir well, also adding the remaining 1/2 of the flour mixture. Again, you may need to add a small amount of butter and continue to work it through the flour until a dough forms. You will have two separate doughs; one chocolate, and one orange. Shape each one into a rectangle.

Place the chocolate dough on a piece of wax paper and roll out until it is approximately a 35x20 cm rectangle. Set aside. Repeat with orange dough. Brush the orange dough with egg white. Gently take the chocolate dough by the wax paper and turn over so that it is on top of the orange dough. Roll lightly with rolling pin and remove top piece of waxed paper.

Trim the edges to neaten, and then using the bottom sheet of paper as a guide, tightly roll up the dough from the long edge. When you reach the end, roll back and forth to seal the seam. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refridgerate for at least one hour

When ready to bake, remove dough from wrapping and place seam side down on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut 1/4 inch thick slices and arrange on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 F.



Once cookies are cooled, melt semi-sweet chocolate in microwave until smooth. Dip cookies one at a time, placing on a piece of wax paper to dry. Makes 2 dozen.

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How the Cookie Jar Began

I had never planned to become a foster parent. It was never an aspiration of mine. In fact, I became a foster parent purely by accident. At 21, I fell in love with my husband, who at the time ran a four bed therapeutic group home for teenage street kids.

At first he told me fantastic horror stories about the kids. What I didn't know was that it was a test-he wanted to know if I'd react like every other women he'd met and run for the nearest exit, vowing that I didn't want anything to do with any "instant family" of troubled teenagers.

I didn't flinch.

"Ya, well...SO?" I continued to sip my coffee, nonplussed. I didn't see what his point was. So some of them were into gangs, addicted to drugs, straight from jail or the street. They were still kids, weren't they? Besides, it wasn't like I was going to marry the guy. He was, after all, forty. That is SO old.

You can stop laughing now. It's really amazing what life throws at you, isn't it? I married him a year later.

Hubs wanted to make sure that I knew he was a package deal. His job was something I would have to be willing to live with, literally. The package included his then 17 year old daughter, too.

"Are you SURE you know what you're getting into?"

"Yes, of course!" was my reply-the reality was, I really didn't have a clue. I'd grown up in a small, sheltered town with two parents that are still married today. I never did experiment with drinking or drugs as a teen, and never was in trouble at school. In many ways I didn't have a clue how to even relate to these kids. How could I, a twenty something goody-goody church raised girl, make any sort of difference with a bunch of out of control street wise, tough teenage boys?

I sure wasn't going to be Mom. They had one. Big sister? I wasn't much older then they were. I somehow assumed that female role model of the house, but never really felt quite like the "Mom" figure I had suddenly become.

Suddenly, it dawned on me. I didn't have much (if anything) in common with the kids, but I did know one thing that was the key to a teenage boy's heart.

Food.

So, about 3 months after I moved in the house, I began to bake cookies. I grabbed a chocolate chunk cookie recipe from the back of a bag of chocolate chips, and one evening I whipped up a batch. The smell began to waft through the house, and before I knew it, my husband and all four kids were in the kitchen.

"Whatcha making?"
"You must've made a mix" (while looking for a package)
"I didn't know you could bake"
"Can I have one?"
"Oooo...what kind are they?"

The cookies were no sooner out of the oven when suddenly five pairs of hands pounced on them and retreated to the porch, where there was suddenly complete silence. I began to panic. Silence isn't good. Maybe the cookies are really, really bad. Well there goes my attempt at foster mom-hood.

"Everything okay out there?" I called hopefully.

"OH my GOD those are the BEST COOKIES I'VE EVER EATEN!"
"Can I have another one?"
"Why didn't you make these sooner?"
"Hey thanks, they are sooooooo good!"
"I didn't know you could bake!"

The next batch of cookies barely made it off the pan before they were snatched up as well. Hubs and the kids gorged themselves on cookies that night, laughing and licking the melted chocolate from their fingers.

From that moment on, I became the cookie baking Mom of the block. The kids knew that no matter what they did, they could depend on Hubs to provide a safe home and guidance, and me to bake them cookies. It became my way of showing them that I cared about them; by providing a bit of warmth and making our house a home away from their families. For ten years, I baked up a storm and over 80 kids, along with all our friends and family, gladly ate every single cookie.

After 10 years Hubs moved on to a different career and we no longer have foster teens living with us, but I didn't forget the power of the cookies. Finding myself suddenly working in a high school after almost 14 years of elementary aged kids, once again I was floundering.

There was a boy that some would consider difficult; he wouldn't often do what he was asked and it was a challenge just to get him to go to class, and then stay there for the entire period. One day we had a substitute. He took one look at her and made for the door, but I stepped in front of him and looked up at his big, hulking, teenager frame and look of "don't get in my way."

"If you can stay here, promise me you'll show up to class every day this week, on Friday I will bring you cookies," I declared. It was a gamble, really. I wasn't sure if this would work. To my surprise, he instantly perked up.

"Cookies?" His interest was piqued.

"Yes. I am the best cookie baker you will ever meet. Kids have been known to beg me for my cookies." Warily watching me, he sat back down and stayed the entire class.

Then showed up the next day. And the next. I kept my word and arrived with cookies for the entire class, but slipped him a few extra. So it went for the whole school year; the kids would come to class, and I'd bring them cookies now and then. In fact, I brought cookies to work just last week.

A small gesture to be sure, because in all honesty, they're just cookies. I don't really know why there's so much power behind such a small item. I've seen hulking teenage boys smile and become excited like they must have when they were small, hands hovering over the pile of sugary goodness unable to choose the perfect cookie. Some try to play it cool; no thanks, I'll just have one. Then they eat it and sheepishly come back to grab another. Once I brought a batch and a class was so full of teenage snark that I turned around and put them in the staff room instead. The next day a boy approached me with an apology, then looked up with huge blue eyes and asked tentatively,

"But...will you bring some on Monday?"

How could I possibly refuse?

Maybe I know the power behind that small morsel after all. It's not the cookies, really.

It's the love behind them.

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Witch Fingers and Eyeball Cookies

How better to celebrate a holiday than make some appropriately spooky cookies?  Not only do these cookies taste good, they also look a little eerie.  You can skip the red decorating gel if you don't want the ick factor for little ones, but it might be fun to add a little green food coloring gel to the dough to make it look even more 'witchy'.  Try making some eyeballs as well for a little variety and watch them disappear before your eyes!


Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 large eggs (1 of them needs to be separated)
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
5 tablespoons white sugar
Pinch of salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Cream together the butter, icing sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl. Add 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk, along with vanilla, and beat well. In a separate bowl whisk the flour and salt together, then add to the butter mixture and beat just until combined. Turn out onto lightly floured counter and roll into a ball shape; wrap in plastic wrap and allow to chill for about 1 hour.

Divide dough in half, keeping the other half chilled and covered in the fridge. Pinch of sections of dough and roll on counter so that you have a small log, about 3 inches long. Pinch up small sections of dough to form a knuckle, and shape "finger" accordingly. Using a skewer or toothpick, draw in lines to resemble wrinkles in the knuckles. Repeat until all dough is used.

Brush fingers with reserved egg whites and gently press in almond "nails".

Bake approximately 10 minutes at 350. When cooled, add the bloody bits with red cake decorating gel.

Variation: Eye balls....

Roll dough into small balls, set on cookie sheet and lightly flatten by pressing down on them with the palm of your hand. Press a green or blue smartie (M & M) into the center. Bake for 10 minutes at 350. When the cookies are cooled, add red outlines with cake decorating gel. To make pupils, melt a small amount of chocolate and using a toothpick or skewer, form a dot in the center of the smartie iris.

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Three Cheese Baked Ziti

Dead easy to make, cheesy and comforting, this quick pasta dish from October 2007 Every Day Food is a delicious item to have on a blustery day.

8 oz of ziti (or rigatoni works too)
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup grated Parmesan (the real stuff, not the saw dusty kind)
1 cup part skim mozzarella
1 jar (24-26 oz) pasta sauce..or about 3 1/2 cups
*I love Prego sauce the best.


Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente, the drain and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, and half the mozzarella. Salt and pepper to taste.

In the bottom of a shallow 2 quart casserole dish, spread 1/2 of the pasta sauce. Top with the pasta, then the ricotta mixture and the rest of the pasta sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheeses over top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted and crusty.

*the original recipe says to put the casserole dish on a rimmed baking sheet, probably in the event that the sauce spills over and drips a bit in the oven.

Serves 4...and is very yummy with a nice salad and garlic bread.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe comes from the Foods class that I am currently working in. At first I was a skeptic, because when I've used pumpkin in muffins or cookies before, I've ended up with a product that has a really wet, heavy texture. Not so with these! They have a slight taste of cinnamon and pumpkin but still maintain that nice light crumb as well.

**The original recipe used Canadian metric, so I used this chart to convert it to US equivalents.

500 ml (2 cups) flour

20 ml ( 4 tsp) baking powder

2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt

150 ml (2/3 cup) sugar

2 ml (1/2 tsp) cinnamon

2 ml (1/2 tsp) nutmeg

60 ml (1/4 cup) oil

2 eggs, beaten

150 ml (2/3 cup) canned pumpkin

150 ml (2/3 cup) milk

150 ml (2/3 cup) chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375 F

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl and stir. Add chocolate chips. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, oil, pumpkin, and milk. Stir well. Pour into the dry ingredients all at once and stir until just combined. Spoon into paper lined muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 1 dozen muffins.

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