Drop Sugar Cookies

Recipe from Carolyn Nielson

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together 2 minutes:

2 c. sugar

1 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. shortening

Add:

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix in:

1 1/2 tsp. each baking soda, baking powder, salt

5 c. flour

Scoop or roll dough into 1.5 inch balls, then roll balls in sugar. Regular sugar works, but I like coarse sugar better. 

Smash them flat. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-11 minutes. 

Notes:

These freeze well. I put them in a small container with wax paper between.

The key to making these cookies taste fantastic is to underbake them a decent amount--no hint of brown except maybe on the very bottom. If they get fully baked, they're crumbly and dry and sad. Pull them out while they still look puffy and a little doughy and you think they're not done yet. Move them to a rack after a few minutes, then let them cool into chewy, buttery, yummy cookies.

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash/Pumpkin Soup from Sheryl Beckham - Whangarei, NZ

1 cube butter

1 large, sliced onion

1 large peeled & sliced potato

1 small peeled & chopped pumpkin (or butternut squash)

1 tsp ginger

4 cups chicken stock

2 tomatoes

Salt & pepper to taste

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Melt butter in pot. Add onion, potato, ginger, tomatoes and bullion dissolved in hot

water. Then add salt, pepper & nutmeg. Bring to boil. Add pumpkin/squash and simmer 30

minutes. When soft, put in blender until smooth (or use an immersion blender). Serve with a little cream and fresh ground nutmeg.