I have gone to the dogs.

Me, the least domestic person I know, the person who vowed to never settle down, has a kid, a cat, a husband, and a knitting blog.

And now I'm posting recipes. Life, as I ever knew it, is over.

Ah well. Maybe another tattoo will cheer me up.


BUZZY'S DATE COOKIES FROM HELL: (Buzzy was my mother's nickname.)
Mix:
1/2 cup butter
2 beaten eggs
1 cup white sugar.

Heat in a good-sized skillet. (I use a #10 cast iron skillet.)

Add an 8 oz package of dates, cut into small pieces.

Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly. Your arm will want to fall off.

Gradually add 1/3 cup of flour, still cooking and stirring until thick, seven to ten minutes. At this point it will look like boiling vomit. You were warned.

Stir in:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts (I say pecans, she always said walnuts)
2 1/2 cups rice crispies (yes, rice crispies)

Mix it all into a sticky, unholy mess. Keep slightly warm so it doesn't congeal, and roll into small strawberry shapes, using greased hands. It's best to get two or three people at work on that, or you'll wind up with the rest of the gunk solidified in the bottom of the pan.

Roll them in red sugar, and pipe on little green leaves. (Lazy method, roll into balls and cover with colored sprinkles.)

Best eaten at room temperature.


I have no idea where my mother got this recipe (though it may come from her sister, the woman who makes sauce for Swedish meatballs with hot sauce and grape jelly). It's unlike anything else I've ever encountered. But if you have the patience to make it, a few little strawberries tucked into a cookie plate gives it real pizzaz, and you can play 'guess the ingredients' with people for hours.