The Cookie Castle News
About Making Memories And Shakesperian Advice
IN THE NOV. 16, 2024 ISSUE
Royal Greetings From The Cozy Castle Kitchen
Food For Thought
Laugh of the Week
Product Review
— HomeHacks Rechargeable Salt & Pepper Grinders
Household Hint
Recipe Of The Week
— Crispy Polenta Sticks with Gorgonzola
A View From The Castle (News Commentary Blog)
— The Battle Was Won, But The Fight Has Just Begun
CookieQueen Entertainment
Cookie Queen Cookies & Cakes
Cookie Queen Cookbooks
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ROYAL GREETINGS FROM THE COZY CASTLE KITCHEN
Can you believe that Thanksgiving will be here in just 12 days! It’s my favorite holiday. I love planning for it … shopping for it. …. preparing the food …. inhaling the aromas of the roasting bird… enjoying the day with family and friends. And most of all I relish the memories of all the past Thanksgivings I’ve been lucky enough to celebrate.
Some of the recollections are joyous, some are sad, some are funny, some were life-changing. But like a scrapbook the faded pages are worth turning to savor, to laugh, to cry, and to hope that this year’s events will be amongst my favorites.
Every year - while maintaining as much of the tradition as possible - I like to try something new. That something this year is I plan to debone the bird. It’s a big project and it even requires needle nose pliers (to remove the leg tendons). Once you have just the meat only, you flatten it so that it is mostly is even, spread the stuffing over the meat and roll it up and tie it with string. Then after it roasts you carve it and everyone gets turkey and dressing in one slice. Doesn’t that sound interesting? My nephew Brian insists that I do a You Tube video of how’s done.
I hope it works. If not - it will go into the pile of hilarious Thanksgiving memories — among the many blessings to remember for years to come.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Don’t trust everything you see. Even salt looks like sugar.
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LAUGH OF THE WEEK
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PRODUCT REVIEW
I've bought several sets of automatic salt/pepper grinders. All have broken. These HomeHacks Rechargeable Electric Salt and Pepper Grinders -- so far -- are the best. They are sturdy stainless steel and the heavy-duty 95ml transparent reservoir allows you to easily monitor the spice level, so you know when it's time for a refill.
You don't have to turn these upside down to get them to work - just press the on button. They are easy to fill. It is also easy to adjust the grind to your liking with any of six coarseness settings to choose from. Nice to have the LED lights so you can see what comes out. All parts that come in contact with the salt or pepper are washable. They are rechargeable - so no batteries to worry about and the charge is long lasting -- they say up to a month but I imagine that will depend on how often they are used. My only complaint are the flimsy plastic "receptacles" they sit in so that salt or pepper does not get on your countertop or table. I'd prefer they were metal. I've found some nice small ceramic dishes to use instead. These would make a very nice Christmas gift.
$50 amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DFYSTFWN
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HOUSEHOLD HINT
I had to crumble lots of gorgonzola cheese to make the appetizer (below). Crumbling soft cheese can make a real mess ….. unless …..put the cheese and a fork in the freezer for three minutes. Then I took it out and started crumbling. Easy-peasy. No mess. Nice crumbles.
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Other helpful household hints can be found in the second edition of my book "Never Scrub Another Toilet- The Cookie Queen Tells you How to Keep your Castle Clean and Other Ways To Live Like Royalty."
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RECIPE OF THE WEEK
I am always looking for ideas for unusual appetizers. This is one I used for a breakfast I had for 10 friends on Thursday morning. Easy to make - but do them the day before. These would make a great appetizer for Thanksgiving — simple but unusual and not filling. The amount of each ingredient will depend on how many of these you want to make. Figure on two per person. You ever want to fill up on an appetizer.
Ingredients
Cold polenta cut into 3” by 1” sticks
Egg whites, beaten
Olive oil
Bread crumbs
Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Balsamic Glaze or Hot Pepper Jelly
How To Make Them
* Make your favorite recipe of polenta but use chicken broth instead of water for the liquid. Pour into a pan so that the polenta is about an inch thick. Allow to set overnight.
* Cut the polenta into sticks about 2.5” x 1” X 1”.
* Dip polenta sticks in beaten egg whites and then into bread crumbs.
* Fry the breaded polenta sticks in olive oil, turn so that both sides get crispy…..but not burnt! (I burned a few.) You may need to change the oil out a couple of times depending on how many you are frying. You can use them immediately or refrigerate over night and then reheat them in the oven on the day you plan to serve them.
* Place two of the crispy polenta sticks on each dish. Then top with some of the crumbled gorgonzola cheese.
* Squeeze on some balsamic glaze. Aldi’s carries it. Or serve them with Hot Pepper Jelly.
* You can serve them hot or at room temperature. I like them hot.
This is how the sticks should look before you fry them.
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A VIEW FROM THE CASTLE (News Commentary Blog)
The Battle Was Won, But The Fight Has Just Begun
I don’t want to be Debbie Downer. I waited a week before saying this so everyone who worked hard for and voted for Donald Trump could enjoy a celebration of the battle won.
And while I too have been basking in the thrill of a job well done I also am pragmatic and want to warn you — the fight has just begun.
While those of us who want to Make America Great Again have been sipping bubbly those who hate us …. who call us fascists…and Nazis…and racists are plotting to take down the King. They may try to kill him again. And they most certainly are trying to figure ways to stymie the will of the people.
They will ignore the fact that Donald Trump not only won the Electoral College he also won the popular vote which gives him a mandate to do all of the things he promised in his campaign for President. We the People expect him to keep those promises. The dastardly Democrats are trying to figure ways to thwart those efforts.
Right now their plan is to tell every disgusting lie they can think of to scuttle Trump’s cabinet and other administrative picks. They will invent every story their evil minds can concoct to prevent them from being confirmed. They lie awake at night inventing Fake News.
The same people who have lied to us for the past four years about Brain Dead Biden being fit as a fiddle, that the border was secure, that the economy was soaring, that inflation was all in our minds, that crime had not skyrocketed will now try to convince voters that we have made a mistake in choosing Trump.
And unfortunately those who believed all the other lies - that Trump was a Russian stooge, that they did not spy on his 2016 campaign, that the Pee-pee dossier was the god’s truth, that Trump really did say White Surpemacists were also “good people,” that Trump called fallen soldiers “losers,” and that there would be a “blood bath” if he were not elected will believe the new lies too. Haters will always hate — even when presented with proof like video tapes of what actually was said, and e mails from perpetrators admitting their perfidy.
My warning is this: don’t let your guard down for even a minute. Don’t trust them. Don’t forgive them. Don’t believe they will change. And be prepared to continue the fight.
If we allow the evil ones to win house and senate seats in two years the Democrats will do exactly what they did during Trump’s first term: they will find phony excuses to impeach him and vote against every thing he attempts to cut government spending and drain the swamp.
So — enjoy the euphoria while you can. Maybe until January. After then it will be —
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
William Shakespeare knew of which he spoke….er….. of which he wrote in “Henry V.”.
FYI: If you did not study Shakespeare and want to know exactly why these words are so prescient, go to https://interestingliterature.com/2021/09/henry-v-once-more-unto-breach-dear-friends-speech-summary-analysis/
where you all find this passage explained in detail.
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COOKIE QUEEN COOKIES
Reminder: If you plan to order Cookie Queen Cookies for Christmas -
my deadline is November 30th. See the list below for your options
Cookies. Cookies. Cookies. It’s one of the necessities when planning a wedding here in Western Pennsylvania. But not so in other parts of the country. I often deal with chefs at restaurants that hail from Southern and Western states and they ask me, “What’s with this cookie table at weddings?”
The custom is old world. European. Italian. Slovak. Cookies are expected. Back in the old country when a bride and groom would greet their guests to “collect” their gifts, they gave in exchange a small plate of cookies to take home. Many of these people who immigrated to the United States and mostly to the Eastern United States brought this custom with them.
You’ve probably wondered why little old ladies will stuff cookies in their purse before leaving a wedding reception. Now you know.
Anyway - it’s a nice custom and most area brides want cookies at their weddings. But how many should there be and what kind?
You know your guests better than I do. Are they cookie eaters or not? Are most of the guests in their 20s - these people usually are watching their weight. Are most of the guests men? Men like chocolate anything and they don’t like those dainty fussy cookies like Peaches. They want a brownie or a gob.
Are some of your guests children? They like smaller cookies - but lots of them.
Does the guest list include elderly women? They want the old-fashioned cookies like nutrolls, kolachi, pizzelles. And they want to take some home.
So - my stock answer is this: If you are having a sit-down meal and cake - then figure on a minimum of four cookies per person. Though - if you are Italian - you know in your heart it’s better to have too many than not enough, then figure on six per person. My cookies can be frozen IF there are any left over. If the cookies will be out before the appetizers are served, guests coming from the church will be hungry and will snarf down every cookie in sight and fill up and then they won’t eat the expensive meal. Try to discourage having the cookies out before dinner is served.
How many different kinds should you have? Not too too many because, when the nutrolls get raves and people start talking them up and then someone goes in search of a nutroll and there are none left - - bummer. It’s better to have fewer varieties and more of each cookie.
Here are some other questions often asked by prospective brides:
1. Do you tray cookies? Yes - but that costs extra for the trays and my time. I have spent six and seven hours traying cookies for big weddings. And you should ask at the reception hall. Some venues want to use their own trays for the cookies ... and they will charge you for this service. I prefer to tray them myself because sometimes folks who don’t know beans about cookies will put things on trays that just don’t go together.
For example, they will put anise pizzelles on a tray with other cookies. Once you put anise anything on the tray - all of the cookies taste like anise. Or they will put soft and crisp cookies together which means soon they all will be soft as the crisp ones absorb moisture from the soft ones. And then they all taste bad. And then there was the time that some dopey country club demanded that I have the cookies there on Friday morning for a Saturday evening wedding. As chance would have it, my singing group had a show at the same country club on Friday evening. Nosey as I am, I walked into the room where the wedding was to be held the following day and there were my wonderful cookies - already on uncovered trays with flies buzzing all over them.
2. Do you do “cookie favors” for the guests? Yes - and they are really nice. It’s a small box of six cookies. On the top of the box there is a pretty note thanking the guests for sharing this special day and then the name of the couple and the date of the wedding. These little boxes are usually a huge hit. One mother of the bride called me to say, “Those cookie boxes are all that people could talk about the next day at the post-wedding barbecue. Our out of town guests took them to their hotel rooms and enjoyed them late at night. Everyone raved about the cookies.” But I don’t do cookie bouquets? To get cookies to stay on a stick like that they have to be pretty darn hard. I don’t make hard tasteless cookies.
3. Do you make Peaches? No. No. Definitely no. I do not make anything that takes longer to make it than it does to eat it. Besides, have you ever seen how many of those half-eaten things get thrown out?
4. Do you make sugar cutout cookies? Yes - but only trees, stars and dog bones. My sugar cookies are so tender. If you want something with an appendage like a turkey neck or legs or arms they will break. Not doing those.
Current Cookie List
Amaretti $6
Amaretti (filled) $8
Apricot Delight $9
Biscotti $7
vanilla
almond
lemon
anise
Brownies $15
Chocolate Chip $7
Cho Chip/Pecans $8
Chipettes $7
Cho Macaroons $7
Coconut Macaroons $7
Cowboy Cookies $8
Fudge Dusters $7
Ginger Snaps $6
Gingerbread Cutouts $7
Gobs, Cho $8
Gobs, Pkin $8
Ladylocks $9 (8 oz)
LemonTarts (9)
Molasses Oatmeal $6
Molasses Raisin $9
Nutrolls $9
Oatmeal:
cho chip $7
plain $5
pecan/cc $8
apricot $8
cherry $8
raisin $7
Orange or Lemon (frosted) $6
PB OF $5
PB Cups $8.
PB Kisses $8 (new version)
PB CC $6
NEW PB Cup Cho Chips $8
Pecan Tassies $9
Piz - Anise $4
Piz - Vanilla $4
Piz - Filled $6
Pumpkin Cho Chip $9
Pumpkin Gems $7
Snickerdoodles $8
Snowballs $9
Sugar - Ch Chip $6
Sugar - Pecan $7
Sugar - Trees $7
Blue stars $7
Thumbprints $9
Chocolate
Lemon Cream
Raspberry Cream
Vanilla Cream (can be tinted in your colors)
Triple Cho Chews $8
Weecakes $6
Buckeyes $9 1
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COOKIE QUEEN CAKES
It is most important that your wedding cake taste good. You want guests leaving your reception to say, “That is the best wedding cake I have ever tasted.” That is why you have chosen THE Cookie Queen to bake the cake for your Special Day. My cakes taste really good. I do not specialize in elaborate decorations.
I specialize in making “one of a kind” cakes. I do not have a portfolio of cake photos because I simply refuse to do any cake design twice. Each cake is unique and is designed for YOU alone. If you have a photo of what you would like your cake to look like, please bring it to our initial consultation or Email it to me (cookiequ@verizon.net) prior to your consultation to save time.
Here is a selection of the most popular Cookie Queen wedding cake ideas:
1. A two-tiered “show” cake with the 10” bottom to be cut at the reception and served at the head table and the 7” top to be frozen for the First Anniversary. Undecorated double-layer sheet cakes are served to the other guests from the kitchen. This way everybody gets icing. There are no center cuts.
2. Filled cupcakes and Weecakes (mini cupcakes) are ideal because your guests can choose their favorite flavor of cake and frosting. The tiered cupcake stands are very expensive and I have found them to be unstable - so I no longer use them. If you choose cupcakes, I recommend still having a small two-tiered “show” cake to cut at the reception.
3. A selection of 9” cakes in many different flavors: You can choose the usual chocolate, vanilla, marble or anything else you might want to have: carrot, spice, chocolate-cherry, chocolate- raspberry, German chocolate, rum cream, lemon cream, pineapple cream, peanutbutter-chocolate or a choice of your own. Cakes are on display where guests can select their favorite and cut their own slice.
4. 8” cakes on each table - so the guests can serve themselves at each table. This provides dessert and eliminates the expense of table centerpieces. But - there sometimes is wasted cake with this method. However - any leftover cake can be frozen for use at a later time.
Prices: based on the batter, filling, frosting and number of servings you will need.
Floral Decoration: I will coordinate with your florist and have them design the flowers or I will work with your colors and design the flower decorations myself.
Frosting: I do butter cream or whipped cream only. If you wish a smooth rolled fondant finish, please select another baker. The fondant may look nice but tastes terrible. Also I do not use “white” chocolate. There is no such thing and “white chocolate” has a strange after-taste. (FYI: White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor. It is a mix of cocoa butter, sugar, lecithin, milk solids and vanilla. Chocolate liquor is the brown paste leftover after the cocoa butter has been extracted from the cocoa nibs.)
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COOKIE QUEEN ENTERTAINMENT
The Original Class Act has been entertaining audiences for the past 31 years. We sing. We dance. We act. We'll make you laugh and some times there will be a tear or two as well as we perform music loved by mostly older folks.
The Original Class Act is available for both daytime and evening performances. We come with our own sound system. All we need from you is an audience, a space to perform and a nearby room to change costumes.
Just like the old movie story - a group of friends got together to “put on a show” for the church fun fair way back in 1992. We presented an entire program of Cole Porter music.
The three-day gig stretched into 31 years as the phone never stops ringing. Everyone wants to book our group for a retirement home, nursing home, church dinner, a women’s club or lodge meeting, family gathering. We perform for political rallies and just like the late Bob Hope, we even do benefits to raise thousands of dollars for worthy causes and we often do benefit shows at the VA in Aspinwall.
The Original Class Act performs throughout the tri-state area for groups from 10 to 3,000.
The group’s extensive repertoire features more than 2,000 songs including Broadway hits, country-music tunes, religious favorites, movie themes, Disney songs, patriotic anthems, inspirational hymns, and holiday favorites for just about every holiday - Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, Oktoberfest and Thanksgiving.
All shows are choreographed and costumed with members of the group making most of our outfits. This is a very talented bunch - at least that’s what audiences tell us after giving us rousing standing ovations.
You can book us for a date by phoning 724-339-0920 or e mail us at cookiequ@verizon.net.
Here is a list of our current programs. You may request a song list for any program:
* American Salute - Features patriotic songs, music from the Big Band era, Rock ‘n’ Roll hits from the 50s - music Americans love to hear.
* Best of Broadway - Have a favorite show tune? It’s probably in this program which features hits from dozens of Broadway shows.
* Classic Cole Porter - You’ll hum or sing along on every number. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll reminisce.
* Disney on Parade - Features songs near and dear to the young and the young at heart from all your favorite Disney movies.
* Everything’s Coming Up Flowers - New in 2018 - We developed this program for a show we did at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. All of the songs mention blossoms of some kind - roses, daffodils, lilies, hyacinths, crocuses. Come “Tiptoe through the Tulips” with us as we celebrate the beauty and musicality of flowers.
* In The Good Old Summertime - A joyous celebration of summer with lots of familiar tunes.
* Irish Festival of Song and Dance - featuring traditional Irish favorites and some sing-along numbers too. We have new Irish costumes this year and can't wait to show them off.
* Love Changes Everything - Love songs from movies and musicals. As Cole Porter says, “Let’s Do It.” Time for romance and some song and dance.
* Lullaby of Bird Land - all songs that mention birds ….. blue birds, robins, doves, eagles, turkeys. A great program for springtime.
* Music From the Movies - Pick a movie - pick your favorite song. It’s probably in this show. Everyone’s welcome to sing along too.
* Oktoberfest - Get out your dancing shoes & warm up your pipes for a visit to old Germany. We bring the music, you bring the beer.
* One Woman, 20 Songs - A Tour de Force - Sometimes not all of our members are available for the date you want. Never fear - one of our members will be there. Pat - recently received rave reviews for her one-woman show. She sings, dances and presents a fashion show of costumes while performing her solos from each of the group’s programs. One attendee asked her, “Are you from Broadway?” Another told her, “I’d be willing to pay to see this show in Pittsburgh.”
* O Solo Mio - A Concert of Our Favorite Solos” - Members of The Original Class Act (and sometimes a guest performer too) have chosen their favorite solos to sing for you. There are songs from movies, Broadway, holidays and some inspirational music too. Maybe one of their favorites is one of your favorites.
* Showtime Showcase - This program features two dozen of our favorite numbers from all of the shows that we have done in the past 29 years.
* Let Us Lift You Up - New in 2022 - Traditional hymns and inspirational songs from Broadway and movies - including You Raise Me Up, El Shaddai, Scarlet Ribbons, To Where You Are, Roads, Lord of All Hopefulness, God of Our Fathers, The Lord's Prayer, O America, In God We Still Trust, All God's Creatures, Child of Peace, Hallelujah and songs from Sister Act, The Sound of Music, Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell and The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
* December Holiday Festival - The show features traditional holiday music, some sing-alongs and lots of glitz and glamour in the many costumes changes.
COOKIE QUEEN COOKBOOKS
The Cookie Queen has published three cookbooks: “Royal Recipes From the Castle of the Cookie Queen,” “Hassle Free Holidays” and “Never Scrub Another Toilet.”
To find out more about her books go to her Amazon Author’s Page:
amazon.com/author/thecookiequeen
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COOKIE QUEEN CLASSES
Did you know that the Cookie Queen teaches cooking classes? A gift certificate for a class here at the Castle would make a great holiday gift. I offer a whole host of classes from two to make bread to how to make pie crust to how to make dinner in 15 minutes. You can also design your own class. Tell me what you want to learn and I will teach you. And you can bring a friend or two.
But not more than 5 in a class. Fees depend on what we’ll be learning and how many will be participating. You can purchase a gift certificate by messaging me at cookiequ@verizon.net.
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This newsletter has been published weekly for the past 30 years. You can read some of the back issues on Substack. (
) Or message me for any back issues you'd like to read.