Blue Cheese Cookies?!

I know, I know---I sort of cringed when I saw the name of this recipe.
'Blue cheese' and 'cookie' have never been used in the same sentence before,
at least not in JaneWorld. And they should not.

Except for these flavorful morsels.
These little rounds would make a great cocktail...um, cookie?
They are savory, I promise, and would complement the taste of
just about any mixed drink or beer very well.

But no matter what else you choose to serve with these cookies,
they are a great appetizer and are very easy and quick to throw together.

How can they be quick, you ask, when they need to be rolled and cut out?

I'm so happy that you asked. These can be rapidly rolling-pinned (I think I just
coined another JaneWorld vocabulary word here) and cut out with a biscuit cutter or drinking glass, if need be; the beautiful thing is that they don't need to be perfect because
they rely on a great blue-cheese taste. And everyone knows that at parties,
people are not as picky, perhaps because of the alcohol, but at any rate, if
they're not precisely even or not exactly round, who cares?
Not all those half-soused guests of yours. They're just thrilled to get something
to gobble up so the booze doesn't go to their head too fast.

I threw about half the batch into a ziploc bag and bunged it into the
freezer so that at those holiday gatherings I'll have something to grab and share
when I've forgotten to prepare something, as I often do.

Blue Cheese Cookies
(adapted from pastry studio)

Ingredients:

6 oz blue cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup flour

Method:

Blend blue cheese, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor until creamy. Add flour and pulse until mixture just starts to come together and forms a clump. Gather dough and place on a piece of waxed paper. Flatten into a disk and place another piece of waxed paper over the top. Roll out the dough between the two sheets of waxed paper to about 1/4 inch thickness. Slide the dough, still between the paper, onto a baking sheet and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and gently lift off the top sheet of waxed paper. Use a 2 inch cookie cutter or a sharp knife to cut out cookies. Transfer to the baking sheets. You want the dough to remain cold, so work quickly.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes* or until the edges just start to turn golden, rotating baking pans halfway through.** Cool on a wire rack. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.


I came up 2 oz. short on the blue cheese (forgot the golden rule of double-checking the recipe and noting the amounts needed before going to the grocery store) so made up the difference with already shredded Colby-Jack cheese. This gave the cookies miniscule orange flecks that were quite attractive but didn't really show up after baking.






* Mine were done just before 15 minutes had elapsed so watch them carefully.

**I did not bother with rotating pans, etc. I just baked them one sheet at a time and they came out fine.

It's All Relative

It's All Relative

Do you have relatives in your life that aren't related?
People who, by cosmic mistake, aren't in your family tree but have always
been so involved in your life that they should have been kin?

It may be the luck of the draw but I prefer to think that these people
come into our lives by Design.

At any rate, I have been blessed with many such gifts, beginning when I was
very young. We lived in a neighborhood where everybody knew everybody else,
and it was devilishly difficult to get into any kind of mischief because
there was always someone glancing out a window to witness attempt at said
mischief, see who the perps were, and more than happy to place a
quick and informative update to your mother.

You don't find that kind of caring and neighborliness much anymore.
Most people don't know their neighbors well enough anymore.

Our street was made up of mostly retired couples whose grown children
were living out of the county or state or who were childless.
They were happy to serve as surrogate grandparents for
me and my two older brothers. This paid off well at Christmas
time, I must admit, but these days I just cherish those memories
of those older friends who wanted to be involved in our lives.
They bought cheapo fund raiser goods, attended band concerts and my
dance recitals year after year, when there was no official family ties
to enforce their attendance. They just wanted to. And it wasn't
because we were such precious lovable kids, either.
(I have to insert that since I signed the full disclosure contract,
but my brothers were sometimes fractious.
Not me. Never me.)

In later years, my family and I have inherited a warm and lovely couple that
also are in no legal way related but are certainly and emphatically
considered family by my children and I and the rest of the family.

My eldest brother had the great good fortune to marry a woman
with the greatest parents in the world (after our own, you know).
So they're my brother's in-laws. Jack and Wanda Allen have shown
us nothing but love and generosity and fun ever since
Jon married their daughter Cindy more than a few years ago. If good
people are the salt of the earth, these two are Maldon Sea Salt!

They are at every family get-together or holiday gathering we hold
because when we plan something, we can't imagine them not being there.
That's how beautifully our families have all meshed.
Wouldn't it be great if every marriage produced such close ties?

Of course, when we all get together food with a capital F is the main
topic of conversation. I find it a not-to-be-missed opportunity to get tried and
true delicious recipes. Did I mention that Wanda is a gifted and wonderful cook?

Wanda's Cauliflower Salad

Ingredients:

1 large head cauliflower, pulled apart into florets
1 lb bacon, fried crispy, then diced
1 medium green pepper
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip)
4 teaspoons sugar
1 cup cubed cheddar or colby cheese

Method:

Mix all together, stirring well. Refrigerate for 4 hours or more to let flavors blend.*



* I mixed this up this afternoon and had it for dinner about 2 hours later, and it was incredibly good, blended well or not so well.