FW_Cookbook

Cookbook recs?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:04:12 GMT

I'm in the midst of updating my Amazon Wish List (since Christmas is a comin'), and I'm thinking of adding some cookbooks. Any suggestions? I'm mainly interested in vegetarian and lunch/bento books, but any good cookbooks are welcome.

Books I currently have: The Betty Crocker Cookbook, 365 Ways to Wok. Thanks in advance!

ETA: Your suggestions are all great so far :D Thanks again, and keep 'em coming!

Roast Chicken advice needed

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:04:47 GMT

I've got a chicken approx. 6-7lbs. I've got decent recipes. However, the request my husband's made is to figure out a way to cut down the grease that comes off of it.

Any advice/tricks?

I need snacks!

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:30:06 GMT

Me and several of my friends have last minute decided to gather tonight and allow Jon Stewart to rock our world with his Indecision 2008. Wankas, what awesome snack recipes would you recomend I make tonight? I'll be hitting the grocery store in 9 hours and will have about 3 hours of prep time.

Curried Spaghetti

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:40:49 GMT

Made this up out of what I had on hand one night. Some friends have told me this is an Orihime dish, others have liked it, so I'm offering it up.

Now, there's no real way to do this perfectly, you just sort of take the components and mix them to taste.

Soy Sauce
Curry Powder (I used red, but I'm sure whatever you've got on hand would work)
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Black Pepper

The above ingredients are your sauce, which you mix in the bowl you're going to eat out of. As I said, just sort of experiment until you get it how you want it to taste.

Put spaghetti noodles into a pot to boil. Do not use a lot of water. When the noodles are tender, crack a raw egg into the still boiling pot and mix into the noodles, then pour noodles, egg, and water into your bowl and mix into the sauce.

Enjoy.

No-mayo tuna salad

Thu, 29 May 2008 00:45:34 GMT

I hate mayonnaise, eggs, and sweet pickle relish, which pretty much rules regular tuna salad out for me. I've been making this version forever, but I hadn't actually measured how much I put in of what until I paid attention to what I was doing making it tonight so I could give someone the recipe. As such, this is all mostly my best guess. Experiment a little and see what works best for you.

14 oz albacore tuna in water (two of the larger vacuum packs)
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
1/3 cup poppyseed dressing
1 teaspoon Worcester sauce
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard
1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 large stalk of celery, chopped
1/8 cup green onions, chopped
pepper to taste

1) Mix everything in a bowl.

There's not too much you can do to hurt this recipe. Last batch I made I threw some lemon/garlic/oregano-seasoned feta cheese in when I realized after I'd started that I didn't have any lemon juice, and it came out just fine. In the past I've used sun-dried tomato ranch instead of poppyseed dressing, and that was pretty good too.

Potato Salad (from Better Homes and Gardens ca, 1965)

Mon, 26 May 2008 02:51:55 GMT

My parents have this really old, beat up cookbook that was a wedding present for them (they got married in 1969) and has been an old staple in our household all these years. Today, my dad made this amazing potato salad from it that is easily the best potato salad I've ever had. Your tastes may differ, but I think this one is really, really amazing. I think Dad added more eggs, given how many egg shells I found, but I'll post it exactly as it shows in the book.

I don't have photo, but think of deviled eggs or egg-saland. The one my dad made reminds me of egg salad in appearance

Potato Salad
2½ cups sliced and cooked potatoes (Dad used standard potatoes, but red potatoes are yummy too)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
½ cup chopped onion (Walla Walla sweets are best, but any kind of onion will do)
¾ cup mayonnaise
2 sliced hard-boiled eggs (Dad used at least three, and I think four... but two is what the recipe calls for)
salt, celery seed to taste.

Sprinkle potatoes with sugar teaspoon vinegar. Add onions and mayo. Salt to taste. Celery seeds as needed. Fold in eggs last. Chill. Serves 4.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Tue, 20 May 2008 19:48:41 GMT

I don't usually like sweet salad dressings or poppy seeds, but this one makes even the blandest California strawberries taste fantastic. This recipe is huge, and is good for a crowd.

1/3 cup plain vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 - 1/2 cup minced scallions
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup oil
1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
salt to taste
6-8 cups fresh spinach
1 pint strawberries
1/2 cup pecans, toasted in butter (or I just add them raw if there is no company)

Whisk together first 7 ingredients and add salt to taste.
Wash spinach, and trim stems. Tear spinach into bite-sized pieces. Wash and slice strawberries.
Toss the spinach with the dressing, then add strawberries and pecans on top (otherwise they will end up on the bottom of the salad).

Mama Whittaker's Christmas Sweets

Sun, 11 May 2008 01:02:40 GMT

From my lovely mother to y'all.

You'll need:
A massive amount of white chocolate, but your taste may vary
3 tablespoons each of vanilla and raspberry flavoring
1 tablespoon each of ground ginger and cinnamon
1/2 cup each of peanuts, almonds, cranberries, and diced dried oranges.

Melt the chocolate, then stir in flavoring and spices.
In a large flat baking pan (shape is your choice), spread the nuts and fruit as evenly as possible.
Pour chocolate mixture over nuts and fruit
Put in fridge until hardened
Remove from pan
Break into pieces (use something hard to do so if you can't do it barehanded or don't want to handle the candy too much)

Munch.

Finnish bread recipes for Tephra

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 18:25:36 GMT

I hope one -- or both -- of these will be the bread you've missed! Both are from Beatrice Ojaknagas' 'The Great Scandinavian Baking Book'.

Limpa:
1 package dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water (105*-115*)
1/2 to 1 c. light molasses (depending on how sweet a breat you desire)
4 c. whole milk, not brought to room temperature (the recipe says 'refrigerator temperature')
1 c. salad oil (I use canola oil)
1/2 to 1 c. light or dark brown sugar, packed (depending on how sweet a bread you desire)
3 t. salt
1 t. each finely crushed caraway seed, fennel seed and anise seed
grated zest of one orange
1 c. uncooked rolled oats
2 c. light or medium rye flour
9 to 10 cups bread flour or all-purpose, unbleached flour
warm molasses to brush the loaves

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water and let stand 5 minutes, or until the yeast begins to bubble.
Stir in the molasses, milk, oil, brown sugar, salt, spices, and orange zest, mixing well. Beat in the oats and rye flour. Slowly stir in as much of the plain flour as you can, making a stiff dough. Cover the dough and let rise until doubled.

Sprinkle the top of the dough with 1/4 c. plain flour, scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth, dividing into two parts if needed for easier handling. Knead 5 to 10 minutes or until smooth and shiny.

Grease 4 8" or 9" round cake pans or 4 9"x5" loaf pans. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and place into the prepared pans, smooth side up. Cover and let rise until almost doubled (about one hour). Preheat oven to 375*. Bake 35 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean. Cover with foil if it begins to brown too quickly. When done, place on to cooling racks and brush with the warm molasses.

Hapanleipa

3 packages dry yeast
4 c. warm water (105* to 115*)
7 to 9 c. dark rye flour
2 t. salt
Additional flour as needed for shaping

In a large bowl -- ideally a plastic one with a closing lid -- dissolve the yeast in the water. Add two cups of the rye flour and beat until smooth. Sprinkle one more cup of rye flour over the top, cover tightly and let sit in a warm place for 24 hours to ferment.

The next day, add two more cups flour and let stand again for 24 hours. The dough will have a pronounced sour aroma by this point.

Once the second fermentation is completed, stir in the rest of the flour (do not exceed nine cups) and the salt. Knead, preferably in a heavy-duty electric mixer, as the dough will be very sticky. With a dough scraper and damp hands, shape the dough into a ball and place into a bowl. Sprinkle the top with enough flour to make the surface dry and let rise for 1 1/2 hours in a warm place.

Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and divide into two parts. Lightly grease some baking sheets.

Shape the loaves into rounds by rolling the dough around until it resembles a giant chocolate drop. Place it on to the baking sheet with the point upward, lightly brush with water and sprinkle with more flour, then let rest in a warm place until the loaves are flatter and and the tops appear crackled.

Preheat the over to 350*. Place a large jelly roll pan on the bottom of the oven rack and fill it with boiling water. Bake the loaves for one hour or until firm, then wrap in wax paper or a cloth to soften.

Cookbooks

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:14:34 GMT

I have them -- roughly a thousand of them (probably more) with the oldest dating back to the mid-1800s. Handwritten, mass published, community, Indian, Kenyan, Syrian, Canadian, Dutch, Alaskan -- you want it, I probably have it.

A friend has suggested I share them online via Google Books, and while I like the idea I have no clue where to start. I seriously have at least a thousand, no exaggeration. Do I choose by year? Country? Format? Theme? Ingredient? Help me, FW_Cookbook! ~~You're my only hope.~~

. . .er, anyone need a recipe for anything?

The Best Cookbook You'll Never Own

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:14:53 GMT

Yes, Virginia, there really is a Mary Margaret ~~McMertz~~ McBride.

And sometime between 1958 and 1961, the American Homemaker Institute published this huge honking edition of The Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking.

As this was available in sections weekly/monthly at US supermarkets with S&H Green Stamps or Plaid Stamps, it's likely your grandmother or mother had/have some parts of this book in their recipe archives.

While some recipes may have to be adjusted (reducing fat and/or salt content) for today's healthier eating habits, what makes this book outstanding is the volume of recipes available and the fact that, at most, all one needs in terms of electric kitchen gadgets is a hand-held mixer and a blender. At over 1500 pages, the book covers subjects from breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes to diabetic cooking, cocktails, desserts, party planning, ethnic cooking (it's c. 1959 so don't expect too much in the dim-sum or vindaloo department, but it's not terrible either), dieting, teaching children to cook, kitchen tools, base recipes and plenty more.

The book can sometimes be found in used bookstores -- a friend purchased me the full set for $5, and I was able to get one for a friend for $15 at a used bookstore. Online it usually retails for over $50.

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:02:57 GMT

Please see here;

http://caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com/299971.html?mode=reply

If you have a recipe to donate for a good cause, please do!

Many thanks.

A Recipe Website with an Aesthetic Appeal

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:23:33 GMT

Recipes, cooking tips, other information, as well as clean and simple user face, make Open Source Food a gastronomic paradise.

Irish Soda Bread

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:03:17 GMT

This is an Americanized version of the traditional Irish Soda Bread.

4 cups sifted enriched flour
1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup butter (or margarine)
2 cups raisins
1-1/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix and sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Cut in butter (or margarine) with pastry blender or two knives until it resembles coarse corn meal. Stir in raisins. Combine buttermilk, egg and baking soda. Stir buttermilk mixture into four mixture until just moistened. Mold into a roundish shape, cutting a cross pattern (X or t) across the top. Bake in greased 1-quart pudding pan or casserole pan in moderate oven (375° F) 45 to 50 minutes until golden brown.

Variations:
Add caraway seeds to taste.
Substitute 1/2 cup molasses for 1/2 cup buttermilk (omit sugar).
Use half whole wheat flour and half white flour.

Tastes Like . . . Spice Cake

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:50:18 GMT

An unlikely ingredient makes a delicious cake. Unless they're allergic to tomato soup, don't tell them what it is until after they've enjoyed it.

Tomato Soup Cake

2 cups sifted cake flour
1 tablespoon baking power
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or mace)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 well beaten eggs
1 can (1-1/4 cups) condensed tomato soup

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Cream shortening; add sugar gradually; then eggs, mixing thoroughly. Add flour mixture alternately with soup; stir until smooth. Fold in raisins. Pour into 2 greased and floured 8-inch layer pans. Bake in moderate oven (375° F) about 35 minutes or until done. Frost if desired.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese
1 tablespoon milk
1-1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Soften cream cheese with milk. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy.

St. Paddy's Day Booze-Up

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:42:35 GMT

Peppermint Pattie

1 part Stoli
1 part Peppermint Schnapps
1 part Godiva dark chocolate liquor
green food coloring

Very sweet. Very delicious. Very intoxicating.

Grudgewank Bread Pudding

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:20:37 GMT

(apologies to Giada)

Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Sauce:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup amaretto liqueur
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Bread Pudding:
1 (1-pound) loaf panettone bread, crusts trimmed, bread cut into 1-inch cubes
8 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar

To make the sauce: Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Set aside and keep warm. (The amaretto sauce can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)

To make the bread pudding: Lightly butter a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange the bread cubes in the prepared dish. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, milk, and sugar to blend. Pour the custard over the bread cubes, and press the bread cubes gently to submerge. Let stand for 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bread cubes into the custard mixture. (Recipe can be prepared up to this point 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Bake until the pudding puffs and is set in the center, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon the bread pudding into bowls, drizzle with the warm amaretto sauce, and serve.

Honey Wheat Bread!

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:11:11 GMT

Culled from allrecipes.com; they have a lot of good stuff there, including a recipe for Irish apple pie I'm gonna try this weekend.

INGREDIENTS

475 ml warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
240 g whole wheat flour
10 g active dry yeast
6 g salt
80 ml honey
80 ml vegetable oil (NOTE: any kind of oil works; I used sunflower oil for this because it's healthier)
625 g all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add honey, and stir well. Mix in whole wheat flour, salt, and vegetable oil. Work all-purpose flour in gradually. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for at least 10 to 15 minutes. When dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a well oiled bowl. Turn it several times in the bowl to coat the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Punch down the dough. Shape into two loaves, and place into two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise until dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above pans.
Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.

Lazy chili

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:34:46 GMT

All measurements in this recipe are approximate. It was the result of a painstaking experimental procedure, also known as "If I buy a bunch of things I think should go in chili and cook them, does it make chili?" (The answer to this question is "Yes, though some purists may not agree that it is strictly chili.")

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 package sliced mushrooms
1/2 small onion (or purchase canned tomatoes with onion included)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
Olive oil
Molasses
Ground mustard
Garlic powder and/or minced garlic
Paprika
Cayenne pepper
Sage
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
Remove seeds and stems from peppers. Chop bell peppers into small squares.
Dice onion.
Chop mushrooms smaller, if you feel like it.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a medium pot. Heat. Brown ground beef. Drain. (This step can be skipped if you make the chili in a crockpot, but the author discourages it; while the end product tasted fine, the mixing created a fine-grained texture that the author found downright repulsive. If you don't mind that, however, all ingredients can be thrown into a crockpot, stirred together well, and left to their own devices until cooked through.)

Turn heat up to medium. Add tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, onion, and tomato sauce. Stir together.

Add about 3 spoonfuls of molasses (more or less to taste; the author likes sweet chili).
Add 1 good shake ground mustard, 1 good shake sage, 1 or 2 good shakes cayenne pepper, several good shakes of paprika, and salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. Stir in thoroughly and allow to heat for a few minutes. Taste sauce and add spices as necessary (Don't overdo it on the first round; you can add more, but you can't take any out. Keep in mind that the chili will be hotter after it finishes cooking, so if you're a spice wimp, go light on the cayenne).

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer. Allow to simmer until peppers are translucent and soft, stirring occasionally. Serve hot.

Makes dinner for 2-4, depending on the appetites of the people involved.

Amazing Bread Pudding

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:58:34 GMT

Following the pumpkin pie post ... I thought I would post this. It's incredibly easy to make, and I can say from my own laziness that it even works with non-stale bread.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding
serves 6

~unsalted butter, room temperature, for ramekins
~6 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
~1 cup raisins
~1/3 cup bourbon (optional; I don't think we used it)
~1/3 cup hot water
~1 fifteen-ounce can pumpkin puree
~4 large eggs
~1 cup granulated sugar
~1 1/2 cups milk
~2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
~1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
~1 teaspoon ground ginger
~1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
~pinch of salt
~1 twelve-ounce day-old loaf of brioche or challah, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
~confectioner's sugar, for dusting (we used unsweetened whipped cream instead, and that worked quite well)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter 6 10-oz ramekins or custard cups, and sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and set aside on a baking sheet. Place raisins in small bowl, and cover with bourbon, if using, and hot water. Let soak until plump (about 20 minutes); drain, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, granulated sugar, milk, vanilla, spices, and salt. Toss in the bread cubes, and stir evenly to coat; let stand a few minutes. Fold in the raisins. Divide among prepared dishes, pressing down slightly to make level.
3. Bake until custard is set in center (for the uninitiated, this is when you can slide a knife in and it comes out clean) and top is golden, about forty minutes. If the bread browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. To serve, unmold onto plates, and dust with confectioner's sugar. (Or add whipped cream. The made-from-hand, unsweetened kind. Really, it's sweet enough.)

There you go. Deliciousness!

Easy Spicy Breakfast Cereal

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:22:31 GMT

1 package quick-cook cous-cous
raisins
slivered almonds (unsalted)
curry powder (for breakfast, it's best to use mild or regular and not the hot/extra hot varieties, but YMMV,)

Follow the directions on the box of cous-cous, add curry powder (to taste) to the boiling water as the cous-cous is cooking.

Once cooked, stir in raisins and almonds. Add a little honey for additional sweetness, if desired.

Can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Smothered gumbo (okra)

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:47:43 GMT

My mother just visited me, and I was reminded of all the foods that I miss from home.

Ingredients:
(Note: I had to guess on these, as I generally add the tomatoes by eye, and always have the onion, celery, and scallion mixture pre-chopped as I use them with everything.)

1 Lb. gumbo, ends removed, sliced 1/8-1/4 in. thick
2-4 medium tomatoes (Creole if possible), chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
4-6 stalks scallions, chopped
garlic, diced
salt, pepper, etc.
fat
wide pan

Instructions:
1. Place your preferred fat in the pan and turn the heat to some level between "medium" and "high". Add onion, celery, and scallion, and saute. Add garlic and saute a minute further.

2. Add gumbo. Cook for five minutes.

3. Add tomatoes, lower heat to some level between "low" and "medium".

4. Cook until gumbo are no longer gooey. Season as you prefer.

5. Serve over rice, as a side vegetable, or keep for adding to thicken gumbo or corn soup.

Pumpkin Pie

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:03:55 GMT

I got yet another anonymouse comment on this recipe as posted on my livejournal today, so I suppose it's worth posting too. I gather I must have posted a link someplace non-journally commenting that the pie doesn't require eggs.

This pumpkin pie is very dense because it's actually a pumpkin pie as opposed to a pumpkin custard pie as is more common. I happen to prefer it, but that's possibly because this is the pie I grew up with.

Ingredients: 1 large (3½ C) can of pumpkin; ½ C flour; 4 C sugar; 1 T ginger; 1 t cinnamon; ½ t salt; 3 C milk
Filling: mix flour and sugar and add to pumpkin in large bowl; add spices and milk, stir
Bake: 15 minutes at 450°; 45 minutes at 350°

This makes two pies

Although the recipe technically only calls for two spices, I traditionally spice to taste. Allspice and nutmeg both go well with this.

You can make the pie a little richer by substituting half-and-half for part or all of the milk.

We always served this with fresh whipped cream.

Sausage and fennel soup with pasta

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:32:37 GMT

Ingredients:
2+ cups water as desired
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 lb sweet Italian sausage or sausage-flavored fake meat
2 cups/ 1 bunch of shredded fresh spinach leaves (frozen spinach is just fine as well)
1 bulb fennel (tastes a bit like anise, gives the soup an interesting sweet-spicy flavor)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small white onion, sliced
1.5 tsp minced garlic
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
14 oz. can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup your choice of rice or pasta (the recipe in the book specifies orzo, but it doesn't matter much)

Prepare:

1) Sauté sausage in a large skillet until well-browned, breaking into small pieces.

2) Cut ends off fennel, wash and dice the white part of the bulb.

3) Sauté onions, fennel, and garlic in olive oil until fennel and onions are soft. You don't really need to come up with a second skillet for this; I cooked my veggies in the bottom of the soup pot without any problem.

4) Add both cans of tomatoes, water, and broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.

5) Add sausage, green pepper, and pasta. Cook another 15 minutes or until pasta is done.

6) Add spinach and cook another 5 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 10

cookie: Butterballs

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:05:45 GMT

The original recipe for these calls for almonds, but I think they are scads better with pecans. I suppose they could probably be made with any kind of nut, really. But I like pecans.

creme:: 1 C butter
add:: 1 C sifted confectioners sugar; ½ t salt
stir in:: 2 C ground pecans; 1 t vanilla
add:: 2 C flour
shape into smallish balls (maybe 2-3 cm diameter) on ungreased pan
bake 15 minutes at 365 °
when done, roll in confectioners sugar and let cool

I usually don't so much "roll" them in the sugar as put a little sugar in a paper sack, drop a couple of cookies in the sack, and shake gently. You have to be gentle to avoid too much breakage, but that works pretty well.

Honestly, I don't know if you have to sift the confectioner's sugar, but it sure cuts down on lumps. If you don't have a sifter, you can use a mesh strainer for about the same effect. A sifter is actually a pretty handy baking tool, if you can get ahold of one. It gives you a lot better control when adding dry ingredients.

Oh, the recipe also says that you can substitute brown sugar for confectioner's sugar (in the dough, I presume). I've never tried that, although I suppose it would give the cookie a more butterscotchy flavor.

This recipe is also from my mother's little brown notebook.