During my junior and senior years in high school and summers in college, I worked at Lone Tree Retirement Community in Meade, KS. Mostly I worked in the kitchen as a “dish washer”, but the title was a bit of a misnomer. My job description, had it ever been documented, would read like this: Responsible for everything related to serving meals to 90 residents … except cooking. Setting tables, prepping desserts and drinks, serving each resident, clearing tables, cleaning dining room aaaand washing all the dishes were some of the things on my to-do list for each meal. It was physically exhausting for obvious reasons, but it was mentally exhausting as well. Each resident had different specifications for his or her place setting. (e.g. Elizabeth is on a 1500 calorie diabetic diet/likes half-strength Postum at dinner, full-strength at supper/prefers to drink from a red cup/will yell at me if I don’t serve her first … ) Just worrying that I would accidentally give a diabetic resident a regular dessert kept my stomach in knots most days. Despite its challenges, it was not a bad job and I generally enjoyed the company of the residents and my co-workers.

I have some really nice memories from my time working at Lone Tree. One thing I especially remember is the tasty carrot orange cookies the cooks would occasionally bake. I am not certain what brought these cookies to mind a few days ago, but once the idea was stuck in my head, I knew I’d have to try to recreate them. As I recall the cookies, I think I would now find them a little too sweet. So I’ve modified the basic recipe, found at allrecipes.com, to pump up the flavor and balance the sweetness.

This is one of the rare recipes in which I actually prefer to use white sugar instead of maple sugar. I’ve made them both ways and I like them both, but I feel fresh carrot is just too delicate a flavor to hold up to the power of maple.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did back during my days working at Lone Tree.

Soft Carrot Cookies with Orange Zest Glaze

Ingredients

For cookies
* 1/4 cup unsalted butter
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup mashed cooked carrots
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
For Glaze
* 1 cup confectioners sugar
* Zest from 2 oranges (don’t skimp on the zest!)
* 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice. (“fresh squeezed” is important. You CAN taste the difference)
* 5 packets True Lemon (this is an important ingredient!)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line cookie sheet with baking parchment.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla and carrots.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture.
4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly golden. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. To make the glaze, put 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar and 5 packets True Lemon into a medium bowl.
7. Zest two oranges into the bowl with the sugar.
8. Add orange juice. Mix until smooth.
9. Spread onto the cooled cookies. Store in an airtight container.

Special thanks, once again, to Nate Kauffman for another beautiful picture.

Around this time of year, when daytime temps hover in the high 30s and the overnight lows still drop below freezing, maple trees start to wake from their dormancy and prepare for the growing season. To fuel new growth, the tree releases its stored sugar which makes the sap sweeter than any other time of year, averaging around 2 or 3 percent sugar content.

Ever since I have been interested in maple syrup and its production, I’ve wondered how maple sap might look and taste. Although I have visited several sugar shacks* and seen the syrup in production, I never had the opportunity to see and taste maple sap right from the tree. That is until last Sunday, when Nate surprised me by taking me to the Morton Arboretum for their maple tapping program.

My previous experience with sap was limited to the sticky, resinous stuff produced by conifers, so I was quite surprised when I finally got a look.

Untitled from karen kauffman on Vimeo.

It looks just like water and the sweetness is barely noticeable. This makes sense, considering it IS just water with a tiny bit of sucrose. What can I say, common sense occasionally eludes me. :-)

* In this context, a sugar shack is a small, well-ventilated shelter where maple sap is boiled into maple syrup.

As we close in on Thanksgiving, I want to take a few minutes to express my gratitude to some wonderful people.

I’m thankful for Kristi.
If she reads this post, she may be surprised to discover that her question about spices, asked mostly in passing, was the encouragement I needed to pick myself up, get back in the kitchen and start blogging again.

I’m thankful for Sally and Roger.
Of all the virtues I could list about these two, I will just mention the one that is most relevant to this post; they know how to throw a party. Their most recent party, a potluck, was a good excuse to work up a new recipe (which we’ll eventually get to, I promise.)

I’m thankful for Will.
Let’s be honest; I try really hard to impress him. So many times, I have pushed myself just a little further because of him. At Roger and Sally’s party, I held my breath as Will sampled my contribution to the potluck: Coriander Maple Corn. His response: “this is actually really good.” I turned to goo.

I’m thankful for Olive.
She showed me that one’s day job need not interfere with one’s dream.

I’m thankful for James.
He is a shining example of what it means to dedicate oneself to excellence. Many years ago he challenged me to give my best to even the smallest and most insignificant of projects. I am working to make this a way of life.

I am thankful for Nate.
He held me, prayed with me, comforted me and encouraged me as I worked through a difficult career transition that threw me off my stride and knocked me off my feet. Cue Bette Middler; he helped me rediscover joy.

And now, here is the recipe that was inspired by Kristi, Sally, Roger, Will, Olive, James and Nate. I hope you enjoy it!!

Coriander Maple Corn

3 ½  Tbs. whole coriander seeds
1 ½ tsp. black peppercorns
12 whole cloves
1 cup popcorn kernels
¾ cup grade B maple syrup
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 cup maple sugar
1 cup salted butter
1 tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla

Popping corn

While you may use microwave popcorn (natural, unbuttered) for this recipe, I recommend popping the corn on your stovetop instead. This gives the popcorn a nice toastiness  you just don’t get from the microwaved stuff. I won’t bore you with instructions on stovetop popcorn. You’ll find a really good tutorial here. (skip the salt, as you’ll be adding it to the corn later.)

Prep

Measure and set aside all ingredients.
Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Read all instructions.

A note about tools

Be sure to use either a silicone scraper or wooden spoon for stirring. The success or failure of this recipe depends on preventing crystallization of the caramel. Silicone and wood discourage crystal formation more than metal.

Onward

1) Grind spices. I use a dedicated coffee grinder for this. You can also use a pestle and mortar, but it is harder to get a really fine grind this way.

2) Preheat oven to 250°.

3) In a heavy, 3 qt. sauce pan, melt butter over low heat, add maple sugar and stir until combined.  Let the maple sugar dissolve a bit before adding remaining ingredients.

2) Add maple syrup, corn syrup, and ground spices. Stir just until combined.

3) Bring ingredients to a boil undisturbed over medium heat to 250°.

4) Remove candy thermometer then add baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will foam. Let this foaming subside a bit.

5) Pour the caramel over the popcorn.

6) Fold the caramel into the popcorn, making sure the corn is coated evenly. The caramel should be smooth and shiny. Here is a good explanation of how to prevent crystal formation.

7) Spread popcorn onto baking sheets and place in oven.

8) Bake for 45 minutes, turning corn every 15 minutes.

9) Before you put the corn in the oven for the third time, sprinkle with sea salt.

10) Remove corn from oven and let cool thoroughly before placing in an airtight container.

Thanks to Nate for another stunning picture.  I married well, folks.