Yummy Food and Yummy Weather

It has been a beautiful couple of days here in W.Tex. 72* with a slight breeze...perfect for sitting out on the patio! We've been working on installing a drip irrigation system for our potted plants, so we've taken advantage of the weather as far as getting that all set.

With the beautiful weather has come a great week of harvest for our container garden.

We've had a ton of okra as well as quite a few jalapenos. We've used our bounty in a number of dishes including some crunch jalapenos in taco cups. Of course, we have to make homemade fried okra. 'Cuz that's what you do when you have fresh okra!

Fried okra (and the fritters below) are great frozen and reheated in the oven at a later date. This makes for really easy meals later in the week, and you get to use all the okra you don't want to eat right away. However, as great as homemade fried okra is...we needed a change! I found this amazing recipe from pinterest here for okra fritters with grilled corn and goat cheese.

You must go print that recipe and make it ASAP. These fritters were uh-mazing. Seriously. Smoky grilled corn, fresh okra, and tangy goat cheese all melted together is about as close to heaven as food gets. Pretty sure.

We're totally going to try modifying the recipe next time. We may try these with a sharp cheddar and add in some jalapenos (from the garden)!

Freezing Fall Cookies

We are officially in the midst of football season out here in W.Tex! We've survived a home tailgating with all limbs still attached, and we're looking forward to many more this fall.

In preparation for more out of town visitors and football-watching, I've decided to pre-make a few cookie recipes and freeze them. When we have visitors coming, I can then thaw the cookies, prep, and bake without dirtying a bunch of dishes!

I absolutely love fall recipes. The pumpkin, cinnamon, and allspice smells that fill the kitchen are so relaxing! My mom loves fall, so our house was always so welcoming and homey during those months.

Here is how I freeze my dough for quick cookie-bakin'.

Freezing Cookie Dough

Step 1: Mix and Make
Make dough as directed. Bake whatever cookies you want to eat right then. Remember to save some dough to freeze!

Here, we're making some chocolate chip pecan cookies.

Can't forget the butter! Yum!

Done dough!

Step 2: Chill Out
Chill dough 1 hour. If this already isn't part of the recipe, chill for an hour. This firms up the dough so you can portion without sloppiness.

My nifty pampered chef covered mixing bowl right next to the Dead Guy Ale. Just chilaxin'.

Step 3: Prep Freezer
Decide what you'll be freezing in. I use mini muffin/tart pans to freeze my dough in. This keeps the cookies separate from each other. Also, if you end up with a soft dough that "melts" before its frozen, the mini muffin pan keeps a cookie-like shape.

Make sure you have room in your freezer for the cookies. I always have to clear some space to make sure this happens!

My mini muffin pans.

Step 4: Portion Control
Using a cookie scoop or two spoons to portion out your cookies. I use a medium scoop by Pampered Chef for the perfect size.

Medium pampered chef scoop. Perfect cookie size!

Voila! Perfectly proportioned cookies ready for freezing!

Close up. Look good enough to eat.

Step 5: Freeze Out
Freeze your dough for approximately 1 hour. I check after 30 minutes and rotate the dough. This assures even initial freezing. It also keeps your dough from freezing to the pans (makes the removal much easier).

No judgment, please. This is actually my freezer.

Note: below the muffin pans are the pumpkin snickerdoodles I froze the day before!

Step 6: Prep Containers
How are you going to store your cookies? Freezer bag? Food saver bag? Tupperware? However you slice it, it needs to be somewhat air tight and freezer friendly. I use freezer bags and freezer-safe glass/pyrex tupperware.

Label the container. For the freezer bags, I label with a sharpie. For my pyrex tupperware, I use a post-it taped to the top inside a baggie.

Make sure you include:
-Recipe Name (no mystery cookies!)
-Date Dough was Made
-Expiration Date (figure ~6 weeks from when dough was made)
-Bake Temp
-Bake Time (I add 2 minutes to my recipes)
-Special Prep (like rolling sugar, shaping, cooling, glazes, etc)

Baggie ready for filling. Note I put the expiration as 2 months instead of 6 weeks. I'm living on the edge!

Step 7: Fill & Freeze
Think about how you will be using the cookies. In groups of 6? 8? 12? 36? Fill your baggies or containers accordingly.

Time to freeze. Store your containers with like items (I keep all my cookies together toward the top of the freezer to avoid cross-contamination with frozen meats). Keep in  mind that you'll need to be able to see what the cookies are and how many you have. Rotate older dough to the front as you add more to avoid expiration.

Here they are! I froze mine in groups of 24. However, since they're individually frozen, I can take out however many I want/need!

Step 8: Enjoy
Decide how many cookies you want. Thaw cookies in the refrigerator on wax paper for 1 hour before baking. (Going straight from freezer to oven may work, but I get a little paranoid!) Follow the instructions from the bag and voila!