Cookie of the Day Off and the Wonderous Mirro Cookie Press

Of all the cookies (all 3 of them so far) Spritz Cookies were the only ones that my mother ever made.  She would try a few new things now and then but these were an every Christmas kind of thing and they are for me too!  One of the interesting things about these is that they are made using the Mirro Cookie Press

This is of course not my own Mirro Cookie Press

Every year my mom and my brother Dan (I suspect the others eventually joined us but I for some reason don't remember them) and I would gather together in the kitchen and make these tasty cookies.  The only problem with them and the wonderful press is, the cookies look nothing like what they are supposed to and they still do not to this day.  A few years ago I misplaced the booklet that came with the cookies and have tried many other spritz cookies, none lived up to the ones we would make in the kitchen in Bayport (if there was any cookie dough left to bake).  Through the wonder of the internet all I needed to do was type in Mirro Cookie Press Spritz Cookie Recipe and viola!  So here it is in all its glory (and total lack of shape).

Not my cookies!

2 1/4 cups sifted all purp flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder together.
With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until mixture has very small lumps. It will resemble pie crust but not as coarse.
Measure the egg in measuring cup - add water up to 1/4 total volume. Add egg and vanilla and beat mixture very well.
Fill Mirro press - form cookies on ungreased pan, bake (375degrees) for 10-12 minutes. Remove at once to cooling rack.

Shortening of course means butter to me!

Shrimp Filled Deviled Eggs And The Church Chicks

Tonight, I am meeting with a group of my Lady friends for what is called "The Church Chicks".  Some in the group disapprove of this name but I am rather fond of it.  Michael likes to call it "The Dinner Divas"which I think sounds far worse.  We get together about once a month at someones house and everyone brings something to eat or some wine (you can never have enough wine).  You never know what will show up or how many ladies will come but somehow it always works out.   We sit around drinking wine, eating great food and visiting.

Every time I go, I think ahead of what to make but always wind up in a panic situation on the given day.  This time is different!  I decided to bring deviled eggs.  Now southerners claim ownership of deviled eggs but I, a confirmed Yankee, have always eaten deviled eggs.  My mother and grandmother (both definitely Yankees) made deviled eggs and I have seen deviled egg recipes on a food blog I follow from the UK.  I suspect deviled eggs are not really southern.

SHRIMP FILLED DEVILED EGGS

COOKS.COM

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6 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 cup Miracle Whip
1 teaspoon French's mustard
dash Tabasco sauce
salt, to taste
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
6 medium cooked shrimp, finely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped

Cut peeled eggs lengthwise into halves. Slip out yolks; mash with fork. Stir in Miracle Whip, mustard, Tabasco, garlic powder and salt; taste and adjust seasonings.
Stir in shrimp and minced green onions. Fill whites with egg yolk mixture, forming a slightly rounded top, or pipe through a decorative pastry bag or cookie shooter.
Arrange on a serving dish.
Cover tightly and refrigerate.
Garnish with paprika and chopped fresh parsley before serving, if desired.
Yields 12 deviled eggs.
Submitted by: CM
 
So I started with this.  Miracle Whip is not allowed in this house, we are Hellman's through and we only use brown mustards (ewwww yellow mustard is only allowed at the ballpark!).  The only other adjustments I made were some pepper and minced yellow onion and capers to replace the green onions.  I pulled out the old Mirro Cookie Press and viola, they even look good!  I quess the best part was they are pretty dern tasty!