Quick, Easy and Delicious Lemon Cookies

Thinking back to the Mom I was 5 years ago verses the Mom I am today I can only smile. It was certainly easier to keep the house clean, keep everyone on schedule, get everyone to wherever they needed to be, cook, bake, clean and keep up with laundry... when the kids were younger.

I had all three kids in under 5 years. (Just 2 days short of being able to say 'four' years!). But I can honestly say we are far more busy and it's harder to keep up now that the kids are 16, 15 and 11. Still - I see how quickly time is passing us by and the kids will be off to college soon and this is the one shot that I have to raise them the way I believe they should be raised... and cookies are part of that lifestyle.

:)

Every child should know the comfort of freshly baked cookies. Even if the Mother or Father work full time, have 7 kids and a hectic schedule. If you have 20 minutes, make these cookies. SO SIMPLE even your 7 year old can make them.

Lemon Cookies

1 package dry lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c canola oil

Mix with a wooden spoon until blended. Scoop or spoon into balls and flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake on parchment or ungreased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes. Let cool 1 minute and remove from pans to cool.

In the meantime prepare a simple glaze;

1 c powdered confection sugar
2 T lemon juice
colored sugar spinkles

Mix the powdered sugar with the lemon juice and drizzle or spoon it on the warm or cool cookies. While the icing is still wet sprinkle with yellow sugar crystals.

Fried Chicken Hints

One of my top 10 foods would probably include fried chicken. I love KFC but we rarely eat 'out' (which includes both restaurants and fast food) so I typically only get KFC once a year - on the road on our way to Myrtle Beach for our annual vacation to the coast! When I was pregnant with our oldest child I craved KFC throughout my entire pregnancy. Unfortunately we were young and dirt poor and living in Southern California... land of high rent and credit cards. We could barely afford to buy groceries, much less wasting money on fast food so needless to say I went the entire 9 months without being able to give in to my KFC craving.

I do make fried chicken here at home about once or twice a year. I start to think about chicken with a side of mashed potatoes, gravy and big fluffy biscuits. Yum! What a great cold weather comfort meal. There are a few hints to fried chicken and I thought I would just brain storm a couple for you.

• *Soak the chicken pieces in a salt water mix or in buttermilk for at least an hour or two before using. I let them soak all day or overnight.
  
• *Use self-rising flour for a thicker crust.
• *I like a simple mixture of flour, salt and peper with a touch of paprika for color and sometimes a teaspoon or two of a chicken seasoning mix like Montreal or similar.
• *Dip your pieces in a beaten egg, then dredge in the flour mixture. Set on foil or waxed paper and let set for at least 10 minutes. It's even better if you can refrigerate or freeze them for 10 minutes to help the breading set.
  
• *Make sure your oil is hot when you add the chicken. If your oil is too cold the breading will soak up the oil and become a greasy mess that falls off your chicken. 350 degree's is good.
• *Do not let your oil become too hot! Your chicken should be able to cook in the oil for at least 20-25 minutes for each side without becoming too brown or burnt. If your chicken burns within 5 minutes your oil is too hot. You want a nice golden brown color.
• *If your chicken looks 'done' within 5-10 minutes per side it means your oil was too hot and the inside of your chicken is still raw.
• *If you find you have dark colored breading and raw insides, pop your chicken into the microwave and finish cooking that way. When you remove it, let it set for about 5 minutes to finish cooking. Reheat your oil and BRIEFLY re-fry your chicken just to get it crisp again.
• *Drain on paper towels and serve.

Chicken Breasts in Lemon Cream Sauce

*edited to add a photo and comments*

Chicken seems to be a staple in most homes (ok, those that aren't vegetarian). It's so quick and easy and can be made in so many ways. Still... don't you find that you are looking at a chicken breast at 5:00 pm and thinking; "What in the heck am I going to do with it this time?" LOL. Here is a quick and simple sauce to go with it. Lemon and chicken is a winner... cream sauces and chick are winners. You can't go wrong!

Chicken Breasts in Lemon Cream Sauce

6 T. butter divided
12 oz. mushrooms, sliced
4 boneless chicken breasts
salt & pepper
flour
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. heavy cream
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 t. white pepper

Saute mushrooms in 3 T. butter until tender; set aside. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; dredge in flour. Melt remaining butter in skillet, add chicken and saute 5 mins. on each side until golden brown. Remove from skillet and keep warm.

Add broth to skillet scraping up brown bits. Bring to boil; reduce heat simmer until reduced to 3/4 cup. Stir in cream and lemon juice. Cook over med. heat until slightly thickened. Stir in mushrooms, white pepper and salt to taste. Add chicken and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce is thickened.


*edited to add*

I made these tonight and I wanted to add a couple tweaks I made to the recipe. I used a mixture of seasoned bread crumbs and flour. I loved it. It smelled so good! I couldn't wait to eat. We also like our sauces nice and thick so I added a couple tablespoons of flour to 1/3 c water and then whisked it in to make the sauce thicker. It was perfect. Served with broccoli because I knew the sauce would taste excellent together on the plate... and it was!

Homemade Chocolate Pie

The other night my daughter wanted a chocolate pie for dessert. I told her she should make it herself using a simple pudding mix, but we found we didn't have any chocolate pudding mixes. Not a big deal to make it from scratch but it's not something she wanted to do. Her smile and her "please Mom?" of course made me grin. Yes... she got her chocolate pie. I like to freeze this one - as my family likes it partially frozen when served. You be the judge for your own family!

Chocolate Pie

* 3 T unsweetened cocoa
* 1/3 cup flour
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 3 egg yolks
* 1 cup water, divided
* 2/3 cup milk
* 2 T butter or margarine
* 1 t vanilla
* baked pie crust


Mix cocoa and flour in saucepan over low heat and whisk in about half of the 1 cup of water, just enough to make a smooth paste. Blend in the sugar and the beaten egg yolks and add remaining water and milk.
Continue cooking over low or medium low until it starts to thicken. Stir and whisk constantly and be sure to get the bottom and edges. When thick remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter. Pour into a prepared crust. Chill. Serve with whipped cream!

Shrimp Portofino

Anything that has shrimp, artichokes, garlic and lemon is going to rate high in my book. When I found this recipe online I had never tried this dish before. Oh, I've had similar - as it's a cross between shrimp scampi and shrimp alfredo... but it's neither.

Although it says to serve with rice or pasta I really love my shrimp... with shrimp. LOL. Seriously though, looking over this recipe I would be more likely to use the ingredients as a marinade and then skewer the shrimp on bamboo sticks with quartered artichokes and whole mushrooms and then grill them briefly over a hot flame.

I can just taste how delicious that would be! So, whether you want to serve this the traditional way, over pasta or rice, or make it into a kabob... I'm happy to add this one to my collection and hope you are too!


Shrimp Portofino

16 medium mushrooms
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup butter, melted
12-16 large shrimp, cleaned
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed, peeled, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
4 slices lemon
2 tablespoons parsley


Saute mushrooms and garlic in butter until almost tender. Add shrimp and saute until shrimp is cooked, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook the shrimp or it will be dried up and chewy. Add the rest of the ingredients except lemon and parsley and heat through. Serve over pasta or rice. Garnish with lemon slices and parsley.