Sugar Cookies

Mom. The sound of that word brings an immediate release of stress to my life. If mom is around, I know things are going to be ok. If mom is on the phone, I know whatever problem I have will be worked out. If mom is ok, then I am ok.

I made my mom these sugar cookies – classic, sophisticated and comforting. Just like Mom. My mom is a retired teacher and guidance counselor who now does full-time counseling for a living. Yet she always has time to teach and counsel me and for that I am eternally grateful. She’s the shoulder I lean on after a bad day, the first person I call when I’m off of work for the evening, and my first lifeline I turn to if I need some advice.

To all you mothers out there – thanks for all you have done, continue to do, and will do for the livelihood of your kids. Thanks also for the many things you forbid us from doing and will discourage us from doing in the future because odds are, you know what’s best for us. And thanks for being there when we don’t heed your advice and have something broken, hurt, or lost due to our ‘independence.’

A plate of sugar cookies may not mean much but I imagine no gift in this world could represent the gratitude kids have for their mothers. I know it doesn’t in my case. So I just thank God for her every day.

I love you Mom. Thanks for always being my biggest fan.

Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Charlotte Cooks Again (I halved the original recipe amounts and played with my ration of sugar to powdered sugar due to a shortage of the former.)

1 stick butter
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup powdered sugar
1 well beaten egg
½ tsp. salt
½ cup oil
½ tsp. vanilla
2 cups + 2 tablespoons flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cream of tartar

turbinado, sprinkles or colored sugar for sprinkling

Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and salt – mix well. Add the oil and vanilla. Mix well. Sift the flour, baking soda soda and cream of tartar and add to first mixture. Mix well. Drop teaspoons of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with either a glass or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with colored sugar or, as I did, with turbinado sugar. Cook for about 11 minutes in a 350 degree oven. This recipe made about 3 dozen cookies.

Giant Chocolate Chips Scones

I have now been up since 3:55 in the morning and I am still watching coverage of the Royal Wedding. And I continue to try and figure out how to incorporate the words 'betwixt' and 'troth' in my daily vocabulary.

It took me about three days after Prince William and Catherine announced their engagement to decide to take off work on the day of their wedding. It took about two more days to confirm that I would spend the morning watching TV and enjoying a real British breakfast. It took about two seconds - after Googling "English Breakfast" - that I decided I should rethink this plan since baked beans and toast are not as refined as I was hoping.

Then, it was announced that the wedding would begin at 11 am. London time. I admit, after doing the math, I thought that this fun-filled plan might not be the best idea. But no, as a real-life-princess (Just ask my father. And Robbie. They will confirm my status.), I had to stay committed to the future Princess Catherine. So, I roped my parents into going to the beach for a long weekend for our own celebration (Robbie, meanwhile, is studying copyrights, securities regulations and other fun topics). We had English muffins, tea, strawberries and cream* and of course, scones. As I understand it, British scones tend to be dainty and petite and include something healthy like dried fruit and lemon zest. In light of this, I Americanized them by tripling their size and filling them with chocolate.

*A note on strawberries and cream. If you have never had strawberries and cream, you must go to the store immediately, pick up some heavy cream, slice some strawberries and have a bowl. Now I understand what all the fuss is about at Wimbledon. The sweet strawberries combined with the rich cream create this thick, delicious bowl of richness. It makes anyone feel like royalty. And will make you wonder why anyone would have 2% milk when you can have 36%.

Giant Dark Chocolate Chip Scones
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

3¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups (about 12-oz) package dark chocolate chips
2 cups chilled heavy cream (may need an additional splash of cream)
melted butter for brushing on top
Additional sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Stir together flour, ½ a cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl (make sure it’s a fairly large bowl and, ideally, a little shallower than normal so you can do all of the kneading, flattening and cutting in one place). Pour cream into flour mixture, stirring just until ingredients are moistened. Add a bit more if needed to completely incorporate the flour. At this point, you can turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead gently. I did this in the same bowl, kneading for about two minutes with flour-dusted hands until a soft dough forms. Flatten the ball into a circle and cut into 8 triangles. Transfer triangles to prepared baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake about 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.