The Plucky Housewives

I call these Everything But the Kitchen Sink cookies. I cant even remember when my mother first made these cookies!  They became the standard in our family, more so than chocolate chip cookies.   They still are the standard and my sister Cyndi is the master cookie baker on these.  I can count on any family gathering (including my brother's wedding) where these cookies will be available! I have made them as directed below.  They originally did NOT have raisins.  I added those, then changed it up to craisins.  I have added pecan pieces or walnut pieces as well.  (My sister and brother do not do nuts, so again, the original recipe my mother made did NOT have nuts in it as well). You can change it up any way you like....just don't remove the peanut butter.  It messes with the fat content! Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies 1 cup (2 sticks) of margarine 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 1 t vanilla ...

Yummy Magic Squares - often called 7-layer bars. First put out by Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk I first discovered these treats when I was living in Rockland County New York and working as a nanny.  A nanny friend of mine made them for a party.  I was surprised I had never had anything like them, considering all of the sweets my mother baked throughout my 23 years, thus far. These 7 layer squares are what they are - seven layers of sugary goodness.  You can substitute crushed oreo cookie crumbs for the graham cracker crumbs; you can change out the butterscotch chips for peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips; walnuts for the pecans or a variety of nuts; but really, it is what it is and it is very very yummy! Magic Squares: 1/2 c melted butter 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (can use vanilla wafer crumbs or Oreo cookie crumbs) Melt butter.  Add crumbs to melted butter and mix thoroughly.  Pat the mix into a 9 x 13 baking pan sp...

My daughter called me today.  Once again, it was for a recipe and one I had not included in their cookbooks.  That always happens!  So as I was typing out the recipe to send to her smart phone, I thought, "what the heck?"  Why have I not put this recipe on the blog.   So, here it is.... Its an heirloom.  She kept a cookie jar full of these at all times, for whenever any of her grandchildren came over.   It was collected by my cousin Todd years ago, when they sat grandma down and picked her brain for all of her recipes.   Ill post her bread recipe next week.  You'll enjoy it, with the handful of this and a spoonful of that....heirloom it is!  This one she wrote down and the original is now mounted and framed and on my cousin's wall.   Pretty special.  Its a tad different from your traditional tollhouse recipe, but it is oh so good. Grandma Geiger's Chocolate Chip Cookies ¾ c white sugar ¾ c firmly packed brown ...

Jane's Flapjack I mentioned to my son yesterday I was blogging about flapjack, he said, “I thought you just did pancakes?” Here’s my explanation for all of you who read the title and thought the same thing. We can all surmise that I am not blogging about a professional wrestling throw or the animated series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, or even the obscure Balmain bug.  And for my geek readers, this has nothing to do with a programming language.  Grayingham Lodge Lincolnshire UK I discovered flapjack on our recent trip to England.  We stayed in a lovely B&B in north Lincolnshire called Grayingham Lodge .  The proprietor, Jane Summers (who by the way probably goes down as #1 B&B host on my list) had the brilliance of placing these delectable caramel oat treats in a tin in our room.  We would eat them and come back the next day and there were more. When I arrived back in the states, I quickly searched out a myriad of recipes and attemp...