Presidential Bake-Off

4 years ago, while spending a glorious summer in DC, I discovered the Family Circle Presidential Spouse Bake-Off. Each presidential election year, they solicit recipes from the nominees' wives for their favorite cookie recipe. They publish them, and the idea is that it will predict the winner of the election. As far as all the supposed indicia, this seems as likely as any other.

Laura Bush's submission from 2004 became a staple in my cooking, and is one of my favorite go-to recipes. I can't even count how many of them I made that summer, much less how many I've made since then.

So in the spirit of patriotic participation this election cycle, I baked all 3 recipes printed this year (Bill Clinton's recipe was include also, I suppose because Hillary was in the running so late in the cycle). I brought them in to work, and everyone I work with is sampling and voting (without knowledge of which cookie recipe belongs to whom).

Here are the contenders:

Bill Clinton's Oatmeal Cookies (with walnuts)

I was a little worried when I saw that I actually had to toast the walnuts and oatmeal, but this was actually a super-easy and low-prep recipe. The walnuts give it a nice touch of crunch and add even more flavor since they are toasted and they are a good cookies for all ages.

Cindy McCain's Butterscotch-Oatmeal Cookies

These were my favorite and the Family Circle favorite. They had just a bit of an interesting flavor, but still fulfilled my need for comfort food.

Michelle Obama's Shortbread Cookies

I had a real time with these. I don't know what I did wrong. After baking them as directed in the recipe, they were still gooey and not at all the right consistency for shortbread. I figured that the batch was a loss, so I might as well try baking it again. I put it through for at least another whole cycle (but I wasn't paying attention, so it was probably longer than that). However, they turned out great in the end. Bizarre, but I'll take it!

I also did half of it with the optional dried fruit and nuts, and half plain, so as to really try the whole recipe, with at least some variation. I went with dried strawberries and almond slivers (I thought it would go well with the almond flavoring in the bars). Finally, I used almond extract instead of amaretto - It was Sunday so there were no open ABC stores. :(

After a day of anonymous voting in my office, the result was surprising (at least to me). They were all perfectly tied! No clear winner in my office, but everyone agreed that they were all great recipes.

I may not be the best student, but I can be productive.

Studying for the bar sucks. Now that I've got that out of my system, I can update on all of my projects!

My herb garden is actually growing! I'm so proud. My little babies are getting big!

I also decided that I really needed to organize all of my cookie cutters. After pondering it for a few days and wandering the aisles at Wal-Mart looking for ideas, I decided to go with a filing system in picture/shoe boxes. While there is a little extra room on the sides, this actually worked out really well. I was pleased with the results. I can hide them from view, and keep them tidy! I really think that this will keep them easy to find as I need them. I used large index cards as dividers/labels.

I also finally gave in and bought giant (25lb!) bags of sugar and flour and bins to put them in. I has been putting off buying large quantities because I wanted to find the perfect containers for them first. I finally gave in and just bought what I could find. The containers aren't as pretty as the ones I dream of, but they seem to function really well so far. They are even more comfortable to work with than I imagined. Yay!

Over the weekend, I even got out of the house! A friend had a Belmont Stakes party, so we enjoyed Whiskey Sours (my fav!) and there was much merriment. I had planned to take the tartlets I was making for TWD, but as my earlier post mentioned, that didn't work out well. Because I didn't realize this until the last minute, I had to throw something together in a pinch. I had most of the ingredients for Bush cookies, and it's one of my stand-by crowd-pleasers. Unfortunately, I didn't have as many of the ingredients as I thought I did. So, it was 1/3 wheat flour (obviously, this was before my giant flour purchase), had no nuts,and had a combination of semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips and regular milk chocolate chips instead of the chocolate chunks I normally use. End result? Everyone still loved them, but I think that this recipe really is much better with chunks. I love melty hunks of chocolate.

Finally, I set up an Etsy shop, The Stepford Kitchen! I'm still working on getting up listings and setting up the shop itself, but I'm excited. I just worry that others won't love my food as much as I love making them. I'm focusing on sugar cookies, since they won't melt in the crazy heat this summer.

Really, really... TWD coming soon.

Laura Bush Cookies

I can't help it; I think Laura Bush is incredible. She's dignified and beautiful, and has all of the grace that I only wish I had. However, you don't have to like her in order to appreciate these amazing cookies!

Each Presidential election year, Family Circle magazine has a bake-off between the first lady candidates. 4 years ago, Laura Bush's recipe was definitely the landslide favorite! Her recipe has become one of my go-to recipes. It's traditional with a kick, and I think it's perfect (at least, it is with a few changes)!

Laura Bush Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies (with a couple Red Kitchen Aid changes)

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, at room temperature1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups light-brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups quick oats (not old-fashioned)

1-2 cups chopped walnuts

1 packages (11.5 ounces) chocolate chunks (~3 cups)

1-2 cups dried sour cherries

Heat oven to 350°.

With electric mixer, cream butter and both sugars.

Beat in eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla.

Add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and oats; slowly beat until blended.

Stir in walnuts, chocolate and cherries.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Makes about 8 dozen.