My Word with Douglas E. Welch

No-bake (One Minute) Cookies

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:06:57 PST

Today's cookies were these quick, candy-like cookies made with oatmeal, cocoa and sugar.

One Minute Cookies

* 2 cups white sugar
* 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup margarine
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 pinch salt
* 3 cups quick cooking oats
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan bring sugar, cocoa, margarine, milk, and salt to a rapid boil for 1 minute.
2. Add quick cooking oats, peanut butter, and vanilla; mix well.
3. Working quickly, drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper, and let cool.

Links for 2008-12-01 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

Howstuffworks "How to Draw Buildings"

3 Batches Baked

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:31:20 PST

Chocolate Chip with Cocoa Nibs, Oatmeal with white Chocolate Chips and Oatmeal with raisins, dried cranberries and dried blueberries.

Links for 2008-11-30 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:00:00 PST

Peanut Butter Fudge Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network

Cookie Baking Begins!

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:56:33 PST

Update: Also made Good Eats Peanut Butter Fudge tonight. Yum!

Today I got started on the 80+ doz cookies I typically make for my annual Christmas open house. We have been doing this for almost 15 years now, so I have it down to something like an art form.

I mix and bake each day, typically completing 2-3 cookies batches each day. This year I am trying something a little different with a few of these early batches. I was listening to an episode of The Splendid Table with Lynn Rossetto Kasper and Jacques Torres about the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. They suggested allowing the mixed cookie dough to rest for between 24 and 36 hours before baking. Supposedly, this allows the flour to hydrate completely and results in a much better cookie. I usually mix and bake almost immediately, but I was interested to see how this changes the cookies this year. We shall see.

Today I mixed up 3 different batches of cookies. First was a a traditional Toll House Chocolate Chip using the recipe on the back of the Nestle's bag. I made one addition to this recipe of Cocoas Nibs. A friend gave me a bag of these a while ago and the last batch I made with them came out wonderfully. They give a rich chocolate flavor as well as a nutty crunch.

Next were 2 batches of oatmeal cookies (recipe) using the recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. In this recipe I do make a fairly significant change. It is never wise to fool with the proportions of a cookie recipe, so I don't add extra flour or anything. Rather, I change the way the cookie tastes by adding an additional 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/8 tsp of ground cloves. I tried this many years ago and love the way it makes the cookies taste. If I remember correctly, there was a spice cookie recipe next to the original oatmeal cookie recipe and I decided to see what would happen if I added the spices from one recipe to the other.

One batch of these cookies recevied white chocolate chips. This makes them easier to identify from the more typical Oatmeal Raisin cookies. The next batch added raisins but also 2 other dried fruits -- cranberries and blueberies. Rosanne had these in the cupboards for other purposes but they seemed an excellent addition to these oatmeal cookies.

Tomorrow Joe and I will bake these batches and see if they improve significantly over past years. Then we will mix up a few more. I still need to go get more butter, sugar, flour and nuts to keep me going, but it always a good feeling to have the first batch done.

Idyllwild Christmas

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:43:39 PST

Idyllwild Christmas
Originally uploaded by dewelch

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Idyllwild

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:38:08 PST

Idyllwild

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:36:59 PST

Idyllwild Town Hall

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:34:07 PST

Pandas for Christmas

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:14:03 PST

Ornaments

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:13:43 PST

Perfect bird a la Denise

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:07:39 PST

Sweet taters

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:06:41 PST

Turkey balloon

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:05:43 PST

Palm Springs Thanksgiving Morning

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:00:39 PST

Comfy Thanksgiving Morning

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:44:56 PST

Acorn muffins by Denise

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:04:47 PST

Snapping Green Beans for Dinner

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:03:01 PST

Christmas Cookie making begins

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:00:47 PST

Christmas cookie baking begins

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:59:28 PST

Thanksgiving Prep

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:58:17 PST

Douglas at LA Friday Coffee

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:07:06 PST

LAFC 11-21 #16
Originally uploaded by underseen

William (Underseen on Flickr) caught this nice picture of me as we ended our LA Friday Coffee with a stroll through the grove.

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh... Holiday

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:06:53 PST

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh... Holiday
Originally uploaded by dewelch

Off to the desert for Thanksgiving

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:12:21 PST

Off to the desert for Thanksgiving
Originally uploaded by dewelch

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Event: DWP Holiday Light Festival - Walk with us Dec. 6

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:06:45 PST

Last year we went to the DWP Holiday Light Festival on one of the nights where cars were banned. This walking-only night was amazing and we had a great time. Below is a note from our friends, Miguel and Sarah, planning to walk the Festival again this year on Dec. 6. there are almost 2 weeks of walking-only nights this year, so even if you can't join us, be sure to hit up one of the other nights. Full information is available on the DWP Holiday Light Festival Web Site at http://www.dwplightfestival.com/ .

Douglas

Hello gang! Forwarded below is the email that Sarah sent out to her Santa Ynez friends and her co-workers. We did this event last year and it was a lot of fun. We have picked a date to do it again this year. We will have the Christmas Corgi dog again this year (see link below). Those interested and available please let me know. Possibility exists also to meet up for early dinner before the walk. Even if you are interested but have a conflict for Dec. 6th, be mindful of the extended dates for the pedestrian exclusive period of the event. We have done the Light Festival by car (2 1/2 hour traffic jam wait to get to the front of the line, and then five minutes driving through the lights), by shuttle bus (stuck inside a sealed bus with scratched up windows and filled with people with runny noses and sneazing), on foot during times when cars were driving the route (lots of fumes and extra engine noise), and then last year by foot during exclusive pedestrian only times, and that last option is by far the best way to do it. And you can bring your dogs! (And those of you with horses, check out the site for exclusive horsey dates as well, something new this year I think.)

If you want to join us for the evening of December 6, let us know!

Feel free to forward this email to anyone who might be interested.

Sarah's email below...

Hi Guys!

We had so much fun last year we are doing it again! You are invited to
join us for a dazzling *walk* thru the Griffth Park Light Festival on
Dec. 6th, 6pm--we start walking.. 545pm we will be waiting at the
parking lot. Endless Summer Dogg will be lighting the way in her
harness of stars... (see the link below). She had loads of fun visiting
with our friends walking with us and other happy walking doggers. So we
encourage and hope you'll bring your paws, family, friends.. to join the
fun! Please drop me a note that you got this email at least, and if you
are interested I can forward more details as we get closer to the day.

Happy Holidays are here again!

Griffith Park Holiday Light Festival

Video of Summer Dog from last year

After Thanksgiving Deals at Amazon.com

douglas@welchwrite.com (Douglas E. Welch) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:11:27 PST

Amazon has announced the online location for their Black Friday deals. I don't really like that term, but everyone seems to have adopted it. Oh, well. You can find some deals already by clicking the picture below.

Black Friday Deals at Amazon.com