Sugar Cookies

I love the sugar cookie recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookie Book. However, the two recipes they put in the 2002 edition of the cookbook are not as good as the recipe from the 1982 edition (but they have their place. The 2002 edition has a yummy lemon sugar cookie recipe that Dana LOVES) But here is the recipe from the 1982 edition:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup margarine or butter softened

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour (if I use whole wheat, I make it half whole wheat, half white and I add an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla flavoring)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and the vanilla and almond extracts. Stir in soda and cream of tartar. Add flour a bit at a time so you don’t make a mess as you mix.

The book says to refrigerate this mixture for at least 3 hours. I often make this one afternoon and put in a plastic bag in the freezer and use it later that week. Either way, you have to have chilled dough to be able to roll out and cut out your shapes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes. Let rest before removing from the cookie sheet (so they don’t fall apart). Cover in your favorite frosting or decorate as desired.

Olive tapenade!

There were many leftover olives from the holidays this year and we ended up with most of them. Dana wanted to try making “something like pesto” with the olives. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and tweaked it a little.

• 1 (10 ounce) can black olives
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Place olives, Parmesan cheese, and garlic (if using) in a food processor. Add olive oil slowly while running. Process until smooth.

The Tweaking: We had twice as many olives, so I doubled everything. Then instead of parmesan cheese, I used 3/4 of a brick of feta because I like the bite of it. I also put in a little black pepper. The finished product looks like mortar, but it tastes really good. We had ours on toasted French baguette, but it would have been good on crackers or fresh bread too.