Chief Kandiyohi endorses “Indian Summer Cornmeal Cookies.” A third hand is also raised in delight.

INDIAN SUMMER CORNMEAL COOKIES

“Celebrate Summer in the middle of Autumn with these tasty cookie buttons. The grainy texture of cornmeal dances with the sweet kiss of sugar, while a gentle crunch of sunflower seeds provides a sensory delight.  A tasty cookie and a perfect way to embrace Summer’s brief return.”

¾ cup Butter

¾ cup Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1½ cups Flour

½ cup Cornmeal

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

¼ teaspoon Salt

1 cup Sunflower Seeds

¼ cup Turbinado Sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar.

Mix in egg yolks and vanilla extract.

Mix in flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

Mix in sunflower seeds.

Take a Tablespoon sized ball of dough and roll it in the turbinado sugar.

Place the balls of dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookie bottoms are lightly browned.

 

Makes about 36 cookies.

Revised Source: “Cornmeal Sunflower Crunch Cookies” recipe found on page 35 of my cookie cookbook, “Today is a Great Day for a Cookie,” as always available for free download at www.CookiesbyDave.com.

 

For the last several weeks, we have been saying goodbye to our cardboard child star, Macaulay Culkin. Today, we say goodbye with a Dave’s Favorite Coffee Drinks in Willmar, Minnesota awards show, nicknamed “The Coffees.”

Why a coffee show? In short, because Willmar features incredible independent locally owned coffee shops, we will soon be moving, and cardboard Macaulay needs to go.  So without further adieu, “The Coffees!”

First stop, cardboard child star Macaulay Culkin presents the award for “Best Free Coffee”… and the winner is (drum roll)…  Cub Foods.  The easiest grocery store to find my kids, in case they wander off.

Next up, the award for “Best Low Cal Coffee Drink” goes to (drum roll)… Cornerstone Coffee’s “Vanilla and Cinnamon Coffee,” featuring sugar free vanilla syrup, cinnamon spice, and cream.  This drink is delicious and logs in at only 70 calories!  Plus, stopping in at Cornerstone, we were able to see our friend Swede Johnson, who was also enjoying some hot coffee on a cold day.

Speaking of cold days, it’s time for the “Best Frozen Coffee Drink,” which goes to (drum roll)… LuLu Bean’s “Coffee Blended Coffee.”

Oops, it appears as if that jokester Macaulay has made his fellow presenters bust out in laughter.

This has been quite an awards show, but it is time to draw to a close. Our final award, “Best Themed Beverage” goes to (drum roll)…  The Goodness Coffeehouse’s absolutely delicious and locally named “Chief Kandiyohi Caramel Latte.”

Now, it’s time for our little 8-year-old cardboard cutout friend to take a nap, but of course he’s too hyped up to fall asleep.

It’s also time for a final hug goodbye…

and for Macaulay to begin his new life (along with his ‘80s friend, ET) at The Goodness Coffeehouse.

It has been an epic coffee flavored day, but we still have our memories and used coffee cups strewn on the floor of my car.

Now, it’s time for me to rest. Oh dear, I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon.

PS – The coffee tour of Willmar was also the final item on my “Willmar Bucket List.” Now, I live life with no regrets.  #RegretFreeLife

 

So here I am, sitting here all alone on a chilly Thursday night in a quiet house with nothing much to write about. Yep, I’m at a loss for words.  I know shocking, right?  Well, this got me to thinking about last Sunday night.

 

There we were as a family preparing to leave the Caribou Coffee parking lot. We had just finished up a long afternoon of house hunting.  We were tired.  We were excited.  We were nervous.  We were ready to finally make a move.  First things, first however, we all needed a good night’s sleep.  Unfortunately, this meant that the boys and I would pile into one car and head back to our current home two and a half hours away.  Charlene would spend the week in our new city working hard and finishing up the details on buying a new home.  It was time to say goodbye for the week.  A long week.

 

Charlene said her goodbyes to the boys and we packed them into my car. I walked Charlene over to her car and turned to give her a hug and a kiss goodbye.  That’s when she wrapped her arms around me and hugged with abandon.  It was one of those perfect hugs, the type where she wraps her arms over your shoulders and drapes herself over you.  So total.  So loving.  The perfect way to say what needs to be said, without ever saying a word.

 

Tomorrow night, I will see my beautiful bride again. I will have another chance to see her face.  Listen to her voice.  Feel her touch.  Until that time, I will just have to remember her hug.  Somehow, that’s more than enough.

 

Click on the link for a video of my evening’s companion, a 6-year-old masked wall climber named Ben…  Wall Climber

After the initial fear and exhaustion faded, an appreciation took hold of me.  At 6-years-old, my Ben will soon grow older.  This moment will soon fade.  It’s a moment to cherish.  A moment to hold.

Now, I just need to figure out the true identity of this masked man, in anticipation of future trips to the ER.

 

“BETTER LATE THAN NEVER” ITALIAN COLUMBUS DAY COOKIES

“When Charlene and I lived in Philadelphia, Columbus Day was celebrated as a sort of Italian heritage day. As a result, I have renamed these traditionally Italian Christmas cookies after a more appropriate holiday. Sure, I’m a day late in their delivery, but at least I didn’t sail to the wrong continent. #MaritimeFail #Enjoy”

COOKIE INGREDIENTS

¼ cup Butter

½ cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1¾ Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

 

ICING INGREDIENTS

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon Milk

1 container of Green, Red, and White Sprinkles

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar.

Mix in eggs and vanilla extract.

Mix in flour and baking powder.

Take a Tablespoon of dough and roll it into a 6 inch long rope.

Twirl the rope of dough into short cone shape (see photo below).

Place dough cones onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms are browned.

Let cookies cool completely.

 

Stir together the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk.

Dip the tops of the cookies into the icing.

Place the icing topped cookies onto parchment paper.

Before the icing has set, top the cookies with sprinkles. Don’t wait too long or the icing will dry and the sprinkles won’t stick to the cookie tops. The sprinkles will just bounce off and you’ll be sad.

Let icing set completely.

 

Makes about 22 cookies.

Revised Source: “Italian Christmas Cookies” recipe forwarded to me by my co-worker, friend, and fellow cookie aficionado Caryn Marcus

I’m sure that good ‘ol Chris Columbus brought along plenty of these cookies, as he sailed off toward the edge of the world.

 

Yesterday, our church had a fun Sunday School activity designed to introduce kids to older congregants. Sort of an intergenerational mixer. Well, as my sons (6-year-old Ben and 8-year-old Sam) headed off to meet folks, I gave them a bit of advice (credit to the television show “How I Met Your Mother” as the source, but somehow I believe the advice is archetypal and hardwired into each of us at birth). I used Sam as an example to start, “The easiest way to meet new people is to walk up together and Sam, you would say to the new person, ‘Have you met Ben?’ Direct the person’s attention to your brother and then leave. Later, Ben you do the same thing for Sam.” Ah, the seeds of a timeless icebreaker planted. Kids, go off into the world, meet new people, multiply, and prosper.

Observing me giving this advice to my kids, a friend noted that I had just taught them how to pick up women. Yes indeed, but more importantly, I taught them how to be a good Wingman. Priceless.

Ben and wingman Sam (middle) practicing the game “Have you met Ben?” with our friend Mary Lou Arne at church coffee hour. Note, while refining your wingman techniques, if never hurts to be in a safe environment among friends and free coffee.

[Side note: I absolutely love this picture. Mary Lou is such a great friend and see her smile reflected in young Ben is truly priceless.]

 

A look at the cookie’s cream cheese innards.

CREAM CHEESE FILLED PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES

“It’s that time of year, the time of year to jump on the pumpkin bandwagon. Pumpkin this, pumpkin that. It’s all pumpkin, all the time, and it’s all good. In this case, pumpkin makes the perfect pairing for snickerdoodles, where pumpkin’s naturally cakey cookies mesh perfectly with a plump snickerdoodle. Throw in some yummy cream cheese filling and a hint of ginger in the coating and all aboard the Tasty Train!

One word of warning however… okay, make that two. When making these cookies make absolutely certain that you chill the dough as directed. Soft dough will make the assembly process for these cookies seem like a glimpse into Hell itself. Also, leave yourself lots and lots of time. These bad boys take patience to assemble, but with a ticket on the Tasty Train included, it is well worth it. Enjoy!”

 

COOKIE INGREDIENTS

1 cup Butter

1 cup Sugar

½ cup Brown Sugar

¾ cup Pumpkin

1 Egg

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

3¾ cups Flour

1½ teaspoons Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ teaspoon Nutmeg

 

FILLING INGREDIENTS

8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened

¼ cup Sugar

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

 

COATING INGREDIENTS

½ cup Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

½ teaspoon Ginger

Dash of Allspice

 

Cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar.

Mix in the pumpkin.

Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.

Mix in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Chill the dough for at least one hour.

 

Mix together the softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract.

Chill the filling for at least one hour.

 

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice.

Set aside.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Take a deep breath.

Take one Tablespoon of chilled dough and flatten it into a small disk in your hand (make sure the disk is not too thin).

Place a ½ teaspoon dollop (great word, eh?) of chilled cream cheese filling onto the middle of the small dough disk.

Wrap the dough disk up and around the cream cheese filling, as to completely encase the cream cheese goodness.

Roll the newly sealed dough between your hands to form a ball of dough.

Roll the dough ball in the sugar and spice coating.

Exhale.

Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Repeat until you have about nine balls of dough scattered around the baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes or until the bottoms of the snickerdoodles are lightly browned.

 

Makes about 62 cookies.

Revised Source: “Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles” recipe, as found on “therecipecritic.com.”

 

I happily arrived at the breakfast table with a platter full of piping hot chocolate chip pancakes. My glee was however short lived, as my 8-year-old son Sam jumped up from his chair and ran to the kitchen saying, “I need to get some of that Crown Royal syrup!” Yes, straight from glee to startled to raw parental concern. “Sam, I’m sure that it’s Noon somewhere, but really? It’s only 8AM.”

Thankfully, Sam returned from the kitchen with Mrs. Butterworth in hand (thankfully the bottle version and not the full female). That’s when I recalled my recent “Cookie of the Week” post featuring “Maple Crown Royal Cookies.” That’s also when I fully realized the unintended consequences of Maple flavored liquor baking ingredients. Who knew that Mrs. Butterworth drinks the hard stuff?

 

Tension has been mounting in the house, as cardboard cutout Macaulay Culkin’s final day in our house is fast approaching. As a result, we decided to blow off a little steam and head out for a drink.

Hey, hold it right there! I know what you’re thinking, “Dave, he’s under 21. What are you doing taking him to a brew house?” Well for your information, Macaulay is actually 35-years-old. He just has aged really well. In fact, I would say he doesn’t look a day over 8.

Don’t judge Macaulay!  What happens in Minnesota, stays in Minnesota.

Tonight was the night for an annual tradition in the Paulsen House. Yep, it’s that time of year for school conferences and my annual visit to now first grader Ben’s classroom. Time to find out once again that (1) he is doing fine in class and (2) he gets along well with others, but (3) he tends to talk a lot. (Clearing my throat) “Uh, do you realize who his father is? My poor son obviously suffers from the same chatty genetic disorder that plagues me.”

Yes, it’s time for the annual confirmation that the apple does not fall far from the tree. In this case, a very chatty tree.