Taking Refuge in Cookies

Benjamin Franklin once said that “some people are weather-wise, some are otherwise.”

Being weather-wise requires sensitivity to nature and a willingness to watch the weather; it requires a reverence for the workings of nature.

When one is an RVer, to be weather-wise is a necessity, especially in the dead of winter.

“Every wind has its weather,” noted Francis Bacon. Winds carry moisture over the earth’s surface and announce the coming and going of weather fronts and systems.

According to weather lore, winds from the east or northeast are the bearers of severe weather. Weather experts say that easterly winds represent the counterclockwise movement of air around a low-pressure system, an extremely unstable depression in the earth’s atmosphere.

“When the wind is in the east, ‘tis neither good for man nor beast.”

Early weather watchers knew that weather blown in by southerly winds was not much better.

“A wind from the south has rain in her mouth.”

But since weather systems move from west to east, winds shifting to the west or northwest after a period of rain or snow announce clearing conditions in a few hours.

“When the wind is in the west, then the wind is at its best.”

When the winds have been too severe, we have sometimes chosen to hunker down in the campground for a day or two. Those were the times I might catch up on the laundry if we were traveling, write a letter, curl up with a good book, or, better yet, bake some homemade cookies.

SNICKERDOODLES
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix butter, sugar and eggs together. Then mix other ingredients and stir into the butter mixture. Chill dough. Roll into balls the size of small walnuts. Roll in mixture of 2 tablespoons each sugar and cinnamon. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven until lightly browned but still soft.

CHOCO-MINT SNAPPERS
1 pkg. semisweet mint-flavored chocolate chips
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 3/4 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt chocolate chips over hot water; remove from heat. Combine butter, sugar and egg in a bowl and beat until creamy. Blend in melted chocolate and corn syrup. Mix together flour, soda, cinnamon and salt, and stir into butter mixture gradually. Shape dough into balls, about 1 tablespoon each. Roll balls of dough in sugar. Place 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 12 minutes. Let stand a few minutes before removing from the pan.

ENGLISH TOFFEE BARS
24 square saltines with unsalted tops
1 cup butter
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces of semisweet
chocolate chips.

Grease a 13 X 9-inch baking pan. Arrange saltines right side up in a single layer in the bottom of the pan. Melt butter and sugar in saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil; boil 3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Pour over crackers; spread evenly with spatula. Bake 5 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes or just until top is set; sprinkle with chocolate chips. Let stand about 5 minutes until chips become shiny and soft, then spread evenly over top. Cool completely. Cut in 2 X 1-inch bars. Store covered in refrigerator.

PRALINE GRAHAM
CRACKER COOKIES
24 graham crackers (separated at indentations)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 sticks of butter
1 cup nuts, finely chopped

Lay divided graham crackers on greased cookie sheet. Melt butter; add brown sugar and bring to a rolling boil for exactly 2 minutes. Add nuts to syrup. Pour syrup over graham crackers. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven 10 minutes. When cool, put on cookie rack.

PETER PAN BALLS
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and sugars. Add peanut butter and egg. Mix dry ingredients together and work in. Add vanilla. Shape into small balls; place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 10-12 minutes.

And when the cookies are all baked, the laundry done and the letter written, look out the window and see what the weather is doing—even no wind at all is a weather sign worth noting. “No weather is ill when winds are still.”

HINT OF THE MONTH: No unsweetened chocolate? Use 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa plus 1 tablespoon shortening or butter in place of each 1-ounce square. No semisweet chocolate? Same as above, but add 3 teaspoons of sugar.

Marian Platt’s regional narrative cookbook of Washington’s Sequim Valley, From My Kitchen Window, can be ordered by sending cash, check or money order for $25 (includes tax and handling/mailing costs) to Marian Platt, 434 Chicken Coop Rd., Sequim, WA 98382. Phone (360) 683-4691.