Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009

A new cookie recipe is always welcome in my kitchen

I love a good surprise, especially when it comes to food. So, when I ate two of the Rhubarb Cookies made from the recipe below, I made all kinds of smacky noises -- I'm glad I was standing in my kitchen with nary a witness in sight -- and licked up whatever crumbs I could find. It was like eating two tiny, moist iced cakes. Delish!

The cookies arrived thanks to Kelly Turner of Freeburg. She works at Southwestern Illinois College in the Public Information and Marketing Department and got the recipe from a friend of her sister's. I highly encourage clipping this recipe. And if you don't like rhubarb, you'll never know it's in this cookie.

RHUBARB COOKIES

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut up fine

1 cup raisins

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup nuts (Kelly likes walnuts)

Combine first three ingredients in a saucepan and cook 6 to 10 minutes; cool. (Consistency should be soft but not too mushy.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add rest of ingredients. Mix together and drop by teaspoon on to a greased cookie sheet.

Bake 15 minutes. Frost with a confectioners sugar frosting while still warm.

I make jam the old-fashioned way: Cooking it down without pectin. But, I also have made the following recipe, which is far faster and produces a good quality jam. This recipe is on the back of the package of Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin. It's one of the least labor-intensive ways to make jam with fresh fruit and produces five one-pint jars in about an hour. (But, that time does not take into account hulling and cleaning the berries.) Look for the pectin near the canning supplies at most stores.

STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 package (1.59 ounces) Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin

4 cups crushed strawberries

Place the sugar in a large bowl. Add the Freezer Jam Pectin and stir until mixed. Add the crushed fruit to the pectin mixture and stir for 3 minutes.

Ladle the jam into clean jars or freezer-quality plastic containers, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Apply the lids and let the jam stand at room temperature for 30 minutes or until thickened. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or put in a freezer for longer storage, up to one year.

Here's how to reach me: Phone, 239-2664; e-mail, sboyle@bnd.com; or write, Suzanne Boyle, Belleville News-Democrat, P.O. Box 427, 120 S. Illinois St., Belleville, IL 62222-0427.