24-jalapeno chocolate chip cookies

To cap off the month’s theme of favorites I made jalapeno chocolate chip cookies. This is the department’s hands-down favorite. I mean, I get the appeal. This is the cookie I was going to make last week before I got horribly sick on Thursday. I had already written the week’s selection on the board on Wednesday and then… I did not bake on Thursday. I barely got out of bed.

My stamina remains in the toilet and I have to be careful how much I do.

However, knowing that these are a crowd favorite, I did not want to disappoint a second time. My brain went off this morning at 0619. Again. I don’t think I’ve slept past 0700 since last week. There was also a hospital meeting at 0730 AND the 4th quarter awards at 1030. I did what any other workaholic would do, I got up and mixed the cookies. The first tray went into the oven at 0715. The meeting began and went on. Thank goodness for Zoom. I engaged when I was asked to engage and offered up ideas for the group. The meeting ended at 0815 and the last tray of cookies came out at 0832.

Neat.

However, I noticed that the cookies were not baking up to their usual cookie-ness. They were tender and flat. I think the baking soda is going bad, although I JUST BOUGHT IT in December. At least they tasted the same.

The jalapenos were not very hot at all. I had gotten them for free from a farmer I know back in September. I processed them to freeze them for use in cookies. I did have them come to room temperature before baking.

When I dropped the cookies today and rewrote what the make was on the board, one of the other nurses told me that some people were hot about no cookies last week. Especially, no jalapeno chocolate chip cookies last week.

Oh, well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Cookie Thursday 2/8/24-cheese straw cookies

Continuing on February’s theme of Tracie’s Favorites, cheese straw cookies.

I know, I just did a cheese month in January. Yes, there is still that much cheese.

I don’t care. This is what Tracie asked for.

I did ask qualifying questions. Whether what she had in mind was pepper jelly thumbprints, cheese straws, or pimento cheese straws. She chose straight-up cheese straw cookies.

Okay then.

All of these three cookies have the same base. Flour, butter, and shredded cheese.

It is the application of how much and what to do with it that is a bit different.

These are not a roll-out cookie. So there will be no chilling of the dough. As always, I am going to be doubling down on the spices. The recipe I am using asks for 1/8 tsp garlic powder. Um, no. I don’t think so.

Since I will not be rolling these out, I will use my smallest cookie scoop to portion out the dough balls. And bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven.

There is also the question of how crispy do I want to make these bakes? The longer the cookies are in the oven, the crispier they get of course. But I want a bit of chewiness to them.

The cheddar cheese should not be bagged cheese. There are anti-clumping ingredients added to the cheese when it is packaged. I will be grating my own.

Also, my grater was last seen while making Christmas dinner. I have looked everywhere. Either it got thrown out by mistake, or broken and then thrown out, no one knows. Moment of silence for one of the OG wedding gifts. It served me well for over 25 years.

I bought a new one. Did you know that they are not dishwasher-safe? Probably explains why it broke/got thrown away/ran away.

Cookie Thursday 2/1/24-Fudgy Cocoa No-Bakes.

New month, new theme. The theme for February 2024 was going to be favorites. And then my favorite nurse in the department put in her resignation. 😦

I mean, I know why she put in her resignation. She isn’t treated very well by management. Sound familiar? But she’s an amazing nurse and an amazing circulator. She always has the patient’s best interest in mind, no matter if that goes against the OR culture. Frankly, the department will be diminished without her.

The theme for February will be Tracie’s Favorites.

As I’ve written before, there were a few bakers at the beginning of Cookie Thursday is a Thing, and one by one they all dropped. Tracie has been involved with much of my planning and discussing of the monthly themes.

Although she never got behind the most popular CTIAT cookie, the Jalapeño Chocolate Chip Cookie. She has always seen it as vegetables in the cookies.

I am starting this month’s theme of Tracie’s Favorites with one of her most requested cookies- the fudgy cocoa no-bake. These go by a bunch of different names. Peanut butter oatmeal stacks, school lunch special but I call them fudgy cocoa no-bakes.

This is one of the recipes that is a good repeat. Quick and easy to make and they last forever. If they last that long.

This is the cookie that I made to bring to the in-person day at school. Speaking of school, Tracie has always been my number 1 cheerleader for school. That isn’t going away, but conversations at the hospital are.

Cookie Thursday 1/4/24- Happy Birthday, Cookie Thursday is a Thing. It is NINE years old this month!

Happy birthday to Cookie Thursday is a Thing.

Believe me, when I started this, I had no idea I would be able to sustain it for NINE freaking years!

Besides my 25-year marriage, this is the longest I’ve sustained something outside of work.

The theme for the month is Why is There so Much Cheese?

The cheese drawer is packed. And we got cheese from my brother-in-laws.

Every make this month will be cheese-related.

I wrote down 8 of the cheese recipes, including one of the department favorites, on gown cards and I walked around and had my coworkers pick.

A little gamification for the birthday celebration month. I could have made the 4 favorite cookies of the department, but there is SO MUCH CHEESE.

The make for this week is feta and spinach sconelets.

These are just little bite-sized scones.

Coincidentally I’ve not made these in about 6 years but they still made it onto the best list with one vote. Maybe this is a celebration month after all.

Cookie Thursday 12/28/23-the last cookie of the year, toffee crackers

This is the last Thursday of 2023. That means it is the last Cookie Thursday is a Thing or 2023.

It was also a very big day for my mom. She was going to have surgery. And I was going to be her helper in the OR, and, more importantly, her driver.

Okay.

So I make cookies on Wednesday.

But what holiday cookie to make to keep up with the theme?

I went to my baking pantry to find inspiration.

What I didn’t find was the club crackers that I had. I must have put them somewhere else.

But I did find tea cookies. That’s what it said on the package. These were similar to naked hobnobs. See also, biscuits in Britain.

After finding them in the pantry, I decided to make toffee crackers with chocolate on top. This also goes by the name Christmas Crack.

Oven 350-degree Fahrenheit

1 c butter melted

1 c brown sugar

cook together until boiling and boil for 5 minutes

The entire package of tea cookies on a cookie sheet, laid out in a single layer.

It is best to do this while the butter and brown sugar are doing their thing.

Top the cookies with the toffee, making sure to cover all the corners.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Pull from oven and top with chocolate chips, about 1 cup. Wait until the chocolate starts to get glassy before spreading the now melty chocolate over the toffee-covered cookies.

This recipe also works with saltines, club crackers, Ritz crackers, graham crackers, matzoh crackers, and pretzels.