Impossible Maple Snickerdoodles or How to Make Maple Sugar Experiment (someday)

Okay I am a huge fan of snickerdoodles. I will probably become diabetic because of them. If I see them then I have to have them. My nana made them for me when I was a kid and they were best. I have never tasted anything like them since. So when I saw these Maple Snickerdoodles I was pumped. But then I saw the price for Maple Sugar...No way in H E double hockey sticks am I paying 20 bucks for a pound of sugar. 

So I am going to learn it the old fashioned way. Then I will go out in the woods with my camping gear and try and replicate the process out there. I am adding acquiring (from nature) my own maple syrup and turning it into maple sugar like the Native Survival Guy onto my Bucket/Mission List.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons real maple syrup
1 egg
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup maple sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup of white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and maple syrup. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients until just mixed. In a small dish, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup white sugar and the maple sugar. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and roll the balls in the sugar mixture. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies will be crackly on top and look wet in the middle. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Italian Wedding Soup Experiment 1

This recipe is by Giada De Laurentiis who is on Everyday Italian via Food Network.com. All credit and copyright is theirs. I am posting this recipe so I don't have to find it again. My wife loves Progresso Italian Wedding Soup so we are going to try and clone it and this recipe will be the first one we try in a progression towards our own Italian Wedding Soup. BTW there is a video on the website for the recipe that you can get to here.

We love the Food Network site in general so if you want recipes then definitely check it out. My wife used to do all the cooking but now she cant see so well so I am trying to learn hence the blog.

So here is the recipe that we will review and mutate towards  a recipe that tastes great or just tastes similar to the Progreso.

Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

Ingredients

Meatballs:

1 small onion, grated
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 large egg
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 slice fresh white bread, crust trimmed, bread torn into small pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
8 ounces ground beef
8 ounces ground pork
Freshly ground black pepper
Soup:
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole would be a good substitution)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Soup:

12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound curly endive, coarsely chopped (1 pound of escarole would be a good substitution)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To make the meatballs: Stir the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese, beef and pork. Using 1 1/2 teaspoons for each, shape the meat mixture into 1-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a baking sheet.

To make the soup: Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and curly endive and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the curly endive is tender, about 8 minutes. Whisk the eggs and cheese in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the soup in a circular motion. Gradually drizzle the egg mixture into the moving broth, stirring gently with a fork to form thin stands of egg, about 1 minute. Season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.