Happy Mother's Day!

I wish all mother's a happy Mother's Day today. May you feel the love and appreciation you deserve.

We went to my sister's time share in San Clemente today for mother's day. I didn't think the sun would come out with all the pre-June-gloom we've been having but it did manage to be a really nice day. The kids frolicked by the water and had to change clothes on more than one occasion. Each sister brought some food for our potluck lunch. In addition to making a salad (as was my "job" today... we always change it up), I felt like trying out the cupcake idea that Robin Sue had on her blog, Big Red Kitchen. She suggested putting cookie dough into the cupcake before you bake it. Hers came out so darling and delicious looking! I have been wanting to try it since I read her post.

I am NOT a baker. I mean I can bake. And it usually turns out fine if not pretty good. But it rarely looks really beautiful or is to-die-for in taste. I am much better at the savory stuff. I just don't have the patience or something with the baked goods. The other issue I had today was that I was trying to frost the cake with 2 little ones trying to "help" and little time left and a shower and packing up (anywhere you go with 2 small kids you need to "pack" as if for a vacation) so I rushed with the frosting.

I had asked Robin if the cookie dough was doughy or cooked through and she said cooked through. I really like cookie DOUGH sometimes so at Robin's suggestion, I cooked the cupcakes for a few minutes (about 1/3 of the way) before taking them out and plopping in the dough. The problem with this is that the cake batter had begun to rise and I then deflated it. Also, I may have over-filled the cups as the batter oozed out around the whole pan. The cupcakes never did rise again to their full height. But the cookie interior WAS just slighty under-done and chewy. Thanks for all the tips Robin! I just wish mine was as pretty as yours!

As you can see, I made a red velvet cake (just from a box... lazy... and I kind of like box cake sometimes) with cream cheese frosting (from scratch) and the cookie you ask?????? Ohhhhhhh THAT is a secret! I could NEVER tell!

Okay... I am bad at secrets and there is no real point in keeping it. The cookie dough I decided to use (partly for color and partly due to the ingredients) is a sour dough cookie. It is made with sour cream. Not commercial sour cream. No "Dollop of Daisy" but cream that has gone bad/sour. DO NOT throw away old cream! I keep it for months. It smells putrid and disgusting and sometimes thickens and clots. It is really really gross BUT makes for the best damn cookies ever! The recipe is from my great grandmother and hails from her homeland in Norway. I will share it with you in a later post. My whole family dies for them. It is the best mother's day gift I can give to my grandmother.

The red velvet cake and sour cream cookies made pretty companions and tasted quite good too. I wish they were prettier but then again I never professed to be a baker. No "Daring Baker" here! Maybe one day.... We'll see....

Once again happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers and happy beginning of the week to all the rest of you.