Food knowledge

Cream of tartar is one of those mystery ingredients you might have seen in your grandma's pantry without knowing what it's used for. After all, its name doesn't give you a clue—not like baking powder or baking soda. Yet just a touch of it makes a big difference in your baking and cooking. Here's what it is and how to use it in recipes, and even around the house. What is cream of tartar? First of all, it's not creamy. It's a dry, powdery, acidic byproduct of fermenting grapes into wine. Its sciency name is potassium bitartrate, aka potassium hydrogen tartrate or tartaric acid (hence the commercial name). But you can find it in the spice aisle labeled as plain ol' cream of tartar. It is a byproduct of the wine making process. What is cream of tartar used for? Adding a small amount of cream of tartar when you're beating egg whites—usually 1/8 teaspoon per egg white—speeds up the creation of foam and helps stabilize the structure of those miniscule air bubbles you're whipping up. In baking, this means mile-high meringue pies, melt-in-your-mouth meringue cookies, and angel food cakes that practically float off the plate. Why is cream of tartar in snickerdoodle cookies? It's what separates a tangy, chewy snickerdoodle from an ordinary cinnamon-coated sugar cookie. The acid in cream of tartar gives snickerdoodles their distinctive tangy flavor, and the chew happens because cream of tartar prevents sugar in the cookie dough from crystalizing into crunchiness. Science! How else is cream of tartar used in recipes? When combined with baking soda, it becomes a leavening agent (the stuff that makes baked goods puff up in the oven) by producing carbon dioxide gas. If you ever run out of baking powder, you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for 1 teaspoon baking powder. Add a pinch of cream of tartar to boiling vegetables to help them retain their bright, fresh color. A pinch of cream of tartar also helps stabilize whipped cream to prevent it from deflating. Make colorful, edible play dough! What can I substitute for cream of tartar? Use 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar to create the acidic effect of 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar in a recipe. What is cream of tartar's shelf-life? Cream of tartar keeps its freshness indefinitely, as long as you store it in a cool, dry spot. When in doubt, you can test it by looking at it and smelling it. It should look white and powdery, and it should smell mildly acidic. How else is it used around the house? Cream of tartar makes an effective non-toxic household cleaner all by itself or combined with other earth-friendly kitchen ingredients such as lemon juice or vinegar. Try these ideas: Metal polish: Add water to make a paste to polish stainless steel and aluminum. This also removes scratches on white bowls and plates caused by knives and forks. Copper polish: Add lemon juice in a 1:1 mixture. Rub on, rinse off. Poreclain sink, tub, toilet scrub: Add distilled white vinegar in a 1:1 solution. All-purpose scrub: Add distilled white vinegar in a 4:1 solution (i.e., 1 cup vinegar to 1/4 cup cream of tartar). This also cleans stainless steel sinks like nobody's business. #grandma #kitchenhack Original Origin Unknown

Confetti Chili

By Denice Campbell

Denice came to help us move and she made me this amazing and very tasty chili. We loved it so much my mom and me both asked her for the recipe.

3 pounds ground beef

2 cups chopped onion

brown together

2 taco seasoning envelopes

2 cans tomatoes with diced green chili's

2 cans tomato sauce

1 pound frozen corn

8 oz shredded cheese for topping.

Put everything except cheese in crock pot, and cook till you are ready to serve.

Serve with cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream.

Madeleines

By Amanda Campbell

From the Joyofbaking.com website. Love her!!!!! Cookie Club 2015

Madeleines Recipe:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter

1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar

2 tablespoons (30 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest (optional)

Madeleines: In a small saucepan, melt the butter and then keep it warm.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugars at high speed until the mixture is thick and pale in color (about 5-8 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest (if using). Then sift about one-third of the flour mixture over the whipped eggs and gently fold in, using a rubber spatula or whisk. Sift and fold in half of the remaining flour, and then sift and fold in the rest. (Do not over mix or the batter will deflate).

Then take about 1 cup (240 ml) of the batter and fold it into the warm melted butter. (This lightens the butter making it easier to fold into the batter.) Then, with a spatula, gently fold the butter mixture completely into the egg batter. Cover and refrigerate the batter for at least an hour or two, preferably overnight (can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days).

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Using a pastry brush, generously grease the molds of two - 12 - 3 1/2 inch (8.5 cm) Madeleine pans (preferably non stick) with very soft or melted butter. Then dust the molds with flour, tapping out the excess flour. Refrigerate the pans until the butter hardens (about 10 minutes). (Make sure the pans are well greased or the Madeleines will stick and be hard to remove.)

Drop a generous tablespoonful (can use an ice cream scoop) of the batter into the center of each prepared mold, leaving the batter mounded in the center. (This will result in the classic "humped or domed" appearance of the Madeleines.)

Bake the Madeleines for about 8 to 11 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers spring back when lightly touched. (Do not overbake these cookies or they will be dry.)

Remove the pans from the oven and immediately tap each pan against the counter to release the Madeleines. Place Madeleines on a wire rack to cool. Best served immediately but can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days or frozen for up to 1 month. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Makes about 24 - 3 1/2 inch (8,.5 cm) Madeleines. Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/madeleines.html#ixzz3tNbwuzdK Follow us: joyofbaking on Facebook

Neopolitian Cookies

Katy Butt Cookie Club

Ingredients:

1 cup butter softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tea vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tea salt

1 1/2 tea baking powder

Mix together: Separate in to 3 balls. To the 1st ball add 10 drops red food coloring and 2 tea of cherry flavoring and then mix well.

To the 2nd ball add 2 tea almond flavoring mix well.

To the 3rd ball add 6 squares of melted baking chocolate. Mix well.

Line a loaf pan. press balls flat first. Red first, then white then chocolate.

Chill overnight.

Cut in half legnthwise and then cut in to slices and bake at 350 on cookie sheet for 10 min.

Chocolate Cherry Blossom Cookies

Cookie Club 2015

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

2/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 Tablespoon (15ml) maraschino cherry juice

2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour (measured correctly)

16 maraschino cherries (drained and chopped)

24 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (optional)

Directions:

First, make sure you have enough room in the freezer/refrigerator because you'll need to quickly chill the baked cookies with the Hershey's Kiss on top in step 4.

Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Switch mixer to medium speed and add the the sugar, vanilla and almond extracts. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running on high, slowly drizzle in 1 Tablespoon of the cherry juice. Beat for 1 minute on high. Turn the mixer off and pour the flour into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer on low and slowly beat until a very soft dough is formed, then, with the mixer still running on low, add the chopped cherries. Beat just until the cherries are disbursed in the dough. Press the dough down to compact it and tightly cover with plastic wrap to chill until firm, at least 4 hours (and up to 3 days). If the cookie dough is not sufficiently chilled, your cookies will spread all over the cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (silicone mats preferred to reduce spreading). Shape the cookie dough into balls. Mine were about 1 Tablespoon of dough per ball. Make sure they're nice and smooth. If you find that the balls of dough are sticky and/or have gotten a little soft after rolling- place the balls of dough back into the refrigerator to firm up. You absolutely DO NOT want soft dough.

Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the edges. The cookies will puff up and spread slightly. Do not overbake. In fact, I only baked mine for 10 minutes. I prefer them a little soft. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then gently press a Hershey's Kiss into each cookie and quickly stick the baking sheet in the freezer or fridge so the warm cookie does not completely melt the chocolate. Let the Hershey's Kiss set on the cookies in the freezer/refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Remove from the freezer/refrigerator, then drizzle with chocolate: melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave, in 20 second increments, stirring after each increment until melted. I used a plastic condiment bottle to drizzle the melted chocolate chocolate; a fork or spoon work too.

Make ahead tip: Store cookies covered at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for 6 days. Shortbread cookie dough may be frozen up to 2 months; baked cookies may be frozen up to 2-3 months.

The Best Lemon Bars

By Lindsey Calkins Cookie club 2015

Crust:

1 cup butter softened

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups flour

Filling:

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 lemons juiced

4 eggs

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

In a med bowl blend crust and press in to a 9x13 pan.

Bake for 15-20 min or until firm and golden.

In another bowl, whisk filling sugar and flour together. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.

Bake for additional 20 min. The bars will firm up as they cool. After cooled you can sprinkle powdered sugar over them and cut them in to squares.

Lemon Cookies

By Karma Gardner

Cookie Club 2015

1 package lemon cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1/2 fresh lemon juice

powdered sugar

Mix first 4 ingredients until smooth. Chill for 2 hours. Roll in to balls. Roll in powdered sugar. bake on a greased cookie sheet for 6-8 min at 375 degrees.