The Cookie Castle News
About Surviving The Power Outage And Our New Globalist Pope
IN THE MAY 10, 2025 ISSUE
Royal Greetings From The Cozy Castle Kitchen
Food For Thought
Laugh of the Week
Product Review
— Fantang Popup Plant Tent
Household Hint
Recipe Of The Week
— Caesar Sauced Chicken
A View From The Castle (News Commentary Blog)
— Was Pope Vote More Rigged Than The 2020 Presidential Election?
CookieQueen Entertainment
Cookie Queen Cookies & Cakes
Cookie Queen Cookbooks
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ROYAL GREETINGS FROM THE COZY CASTLE KITCHEN
Jenni and I survived the power outage last week. Finally got electric back on Sunday morning. A very long six days …although not in the dark. I have several batteery-operated table lamps and just kept recharging them at my neighbors’ houses.
One day last week while shopping at Aldi’s I saw some of the out-of-state repair guys buying food too as many of them sleep in their trucks and cook their meals on grills. I ran over to one of them and said, “If you come to my house right now I will pay you cash.” He laughed and replied, “That’s not how this works. We need a ‘ticket’ for where we go next.” I told all of the guys that I encountered we appreciated their assistance and we were praying for their safety.
A couple of days later — last Sunday — repair guys from York, PA were at my house when I got home from church at 10 a.m. It took them less than 30 minutes to fix the problem which had me out of power for six days. I was so happy to see them — I gave them each a box of Cookie Queen Cookies when they departed. And told them once again — “We are all praying for your safety and a speedy return to your families.”
Thank all of you who wrote or called to offer assistance and/or condolences to me during this period of — shall we say — adjustment. I appreciated all of the help I received from my neighbors — Jack, Maryann, Rita, Lori, Dave and Deb, Todd and Laurie, Tom, Amy — and my best friend Janet who not only offered support but she brought me 57 pounds of ice to fill one of my small freezers so that I could keep a few things cold and handy.
Surely I got in way more than 10,000 steps a day running back and forth to the neighbor’s houses when I needed to charge my cell phone and other appliances like my propane lighter for the gas stove top, table top lamps, vacuums.
It was a difficult time - but it could have been much worse. At least I had a roof over my head and was not living in a tent like some of those victims of the recent hurricanes. Always something for which to be thankful.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
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LAUGH OF THE WEEK
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PRODUCT REVIEW
I certainly could have used these Fantang Pop Up Plant Shade Tents last year. It was so unusually hot here in Western Pennsylvania that a lot of my plants — cucumbers, melons, zucchini, beans — did not do well even though I watered them sometimes twice a day. All of my plants are in 5 gallon buckets or cloth bags which dry out quickly. These tents would have given them much-needed protection.
They are a generous 28 x 28 x 32 Inches with a zipper on one side which makes access to the plants easy — to water, trim and pick produce.
But the best part about these particular tents is that they pop-up. They become a tent the minute they are removed from their zippered cases. There is no need for the time-consuming and sometimes very difficult assembly of metal sticks and ties to keep them in place and trying to figure out how to get all of the pieces in the right connectors.
Made of polyethylene material, they are breathable — allowing air and moisture to enter — to provide a comfortable growing environment for plants in hot summer.
They come with metal stakes to anchor them to the ground which helps to keep animals out. I also used them last night to protect some of my plants from a late and unexpected frost. I am going to need a whole lot more of these things.
$36 for two — amazon
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSKND539?th=1
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HOUSEHOLD HINT
If you buy produce that comes in mesh bags — do not throw those bags away.
I trellis almost everything I grow in my front-yard garden to keep the produce off the dirt and away from critters and bugs.
Once the cantaloupes, watermelons, cucumbers and zucchini start to grow I protect them by wrapping them in those
mesh bags that onions, oranges and lemons come in. Those things make great supports for the produce once they start to get large and heavy. I attach the mesh bags to the trellis so that the weight doesn’t cause the produce to fall off the vine before they are ripe.
I also use the mesh bags to hold dog hair which can be attached to the trellises or to the plants themselves. Dog hair is a good way to keep animals out of the garden. I also attach bags of dog hair to my apple and cherry trees to keep deer from nibbling on them.
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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
My best friend Janet was kind enough to invite me for dinner last week when I had no electric and this chicken dish is one thing she served. It is really wonderful and very easy to make. She also gave me enough chicken to take home for two more meals which was such a great time-saver. I reheated it one night in the microwave and one night I had it cold. Delicious on all three occasions.
Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup Caesar salad dressing (bought or homemade)
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
Parsley, snipped (optional)
How To Make It
* Preheat oven to 375°F and spray an 8×11½-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
* Pound 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts to an even 3/4” thickness. The pounding will also tenderize the chicken.
* Sprinkle the breasts (both sides) with 1 cup of grated Parmesan. Season with the pepper and place them in the prepared baking dish.
* Whisk Caesar dressing and sour cream in a small bowl. Pour over each breast then sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup grated Parmesan on top.
* Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the middle of one breast reads 150°F. Turn the oven to broil and broil the breasts an additional 2-4 minutes, or until the chicken turns golden brown. It can burn quickly, so watch it closely. When done, a meat thermometer should register 165°F.
* Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and allow chicken to rest 5-10 minutes. Sprinkled on some snipped fresh parsley before serving.
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A VIEW FROM THE CASTLE (News Commentary Blog)
Was Pope Vote More Rigged Than The 2020 Presidential Election?
So - yes - we have a new Pope and it certainly was grand to watch all of the pomp and circumstance leading up to the big “reveal” when we first got to meet Leo XIV — the guy from Chicago.
First time ever we have an American Pope. Not sure that is a good thing - it is too soon to tell. But if past is prologue, Pope Leo already has five strikes against him in my “Tempest” book:
1. He spent the past 10 years criticizing Donald Trump and all of his policies, ideas and statements.
2. He pushes the global warming hoax which now has been proven to be not only false but absurdly so.
3. He believes in no borders and says that all migrants should be allowed to live wherever they choose.
4. He said that taking the dangerous and unproven Covid vaccine was an “act of love.” Really?? This from a person who has no medical credentials! There have been 20,000 verified deaths (thousands more not yet verified) from taking the vaccine. I’d love to hear his comments now that the drug companies are pushing a new drug so people can rid their bodies of the spike proteins deposited by taking the vax.
5. And while I am not one to besmirch someone’s reputation — in addition to all of the Twitter (now X) comments from the Pope himself about the above points — unfortunately there are also a lot of news reports on the internet about how as a bishop he was responsible for either excusing or protecting priests charged with pedophilia. Several cases — not just one. And this — I believe — is one of the main reasons why the other Cardinals voted for him as Pope. They know he will protect those who are guilty.
These are all very disconcerting revelations about the guy nobody heard of until a few days ago. Gobsmacked is putting it mildly. Was this vote more rigged than the 2020 election? Inquiring minds want to know.
Now we can only hope that the new pope sticks to cleaning up the financial mess at the Vatican. The Vatican hasn’t published a full financial report since 2022. But the last set of accounts – approved in 2024 for auditing – showed a $94 million operating deficit. That is quite a big jump from the $38 million shortfall reported in 2022. The budget deficit had tripled since Francis took office, and the pension fund faces up to 2 billion euros in liabilities it won’t be able to fund.
One of the reasons for this predicament was the 2023 scandal over a $400 million real-estate investment that ended with a cardinal being convicted of embezzlement and fraud. You can read a fascinating story about Vatican finances here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/the-vatican-financial-mess-pope-francis-couldn-t-fix/ar-AA1Ei2kT
These financial issues should keep Pope Leo busy enough that he doesn’t have time to bash my President, stick his nose into our politics or tell us Catholics that we are required to welcome all illegals — even the criminals. When the Catholic Church learns how to manage its finances maybe it can tell us how to deal with ours.
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COOKIE QUEEN ENTERTAINMENT
The Original Class Act has been entertaining audiences for the past 33 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 33 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 - 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 - 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.
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COOKIE QUEEN COOKIES
Current Cookie List As of 1/25
Amaretti $7
Amaretti (filled) $9
Apricot Delight $9
Biscotti $7 (frosted white with red/green drizzle)
vanilla
almond
lemon
anise
Brownies $15
Chocolate Chip $7
Cho Chip/Nuts $8
Chipettes $7
Cho Mac $7
Coconut Mac $7
Cowboy Cookies $8
Fudge Dusters $7
Ginger Snaps $6
Gingerbread Cutouts $7
Gobs, Cho $8
Gobs, Pkin $7
Ladylocks $9 (8 oz)
LemonTarts $9
Molasses Oatmeal $6
Molasses Raisin $9
Nutrolls $9
Oatmeal:
cho chip $6
plain $5
pecan/cc $8
apricot $8
cherry $8
raisin $6
Orange or Lemon frosted $7
PB OF $5
PB Cups $8
PB Kisses $8 (with my ganache, not Hershey Kisses)
PB Cho.Chip $8. (New this year)
Pecan Tassies $9
Pizzelles - Anise $6/18
Pizzelles - Vanilla $6/18
Pizzelles - Filled $8
Pumpkin Cho Chip $9
Pumpkin Gems $7
Snickerdoodles $8
Snowballs $9
Sugar - Ch Chip $6
Sugar - Pecan $7
Sugar- Almond (Van frost with Toasted Almonds) $8
Sugar -Trees $7 (red/green frost)
Jewish stars $7 (blue/white frost)
Thumbprints $9
Chocolate
Apricot
Lemon Cream
Raspberry Cream
Vanilla Cream (can be tinted in your colors)
Triple Cho Chews 8
Weecakes $6
I also do Buckeyes - which are candy, not cookies. $9/12 (Dark or milk cho)
For Thanksgiving:
Pumpkin/Cream Cheese Pie (must return MY pie pans)
Pumpkin Roll
Carrot Cake
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.
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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 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.