Rick and I went to Old Town for lunch the other day and to check out the river. If you look at the photo below, see the ramp in the middle of the photo on the center/right, just to the left of a bare tree?? Well, that should be WAY out of water -- it's part of our river trail for walkers and cyclists.
This was sort of a puzzler. A tree with buoys and floats on it. Apparently it has something to do with canoers are a warning but the tree holding it up came out and is floating.
And I wouldn't want to be the people whose basement or ground floor was on this lower level.
I have a feeling they're doing some major clean-up about now.
But the pizza was nice and crisp! A great day to lunch out and check out our city.
Now, for something sweet! A number of you asked about the shortbread recipe I used and the molds.
Here's one of the molds. The are made by Brown Bag Cookie Art and I'm sure there are others. They are a nice stoneware, easy to maintain and clean. I can't tell you how these recipes would work in a vintage mold. I suspect the prep might be a little different but never having used an "original," I'd check another source.
If you don't have a mold you could probably roll/pat this out about a half inch thick, give or take, and use a cookie stamp.
Classic Shortbread
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and use cooking spray in your mold.
Cream 1/2 c. butter (at room temp) and 1/3 cup unsifted powdered sugar.
Add 1/4 t. vanilla
Work in: 1 c. unsifted flour
Press the shortbread into your mold and prick with a fork (which I forgot to do and it was fine). I tend to use my fingertips to gently pull the dough away from the edge just a bit, which I think makes it easier to unmold.
Bake 30-35 minutes or till lightly browned. Cool the shortbread in the pan for 10 minutes. Then loosen up the edges with a knife and turn pan onto a wooden cutting board. Immediately cut into serving pieces while it's still warm.
The Ginger version I also made has the same procedure and timing but slightly different ingredients. And this gets a little browner.
1/2 c. butter and 1/4 c. light brown sugar, mixed
Add 3/4 t. ginger (personally, I didn't think this was enough)
1 c. flour and
1 Tablespoon of cornstarch.
Yum!
Linking up with Let's Keep in Touch at Let's Add Sprinkles
46 comments:
That flooding is something else, isn't it? I feel bad for those who experience this. The rain and snow thaw is usually quite heavy at the farm, but it floods the farmyard and sometimes the fields. The house is usually dry. Here in the city, we are nice and high, so no flooding here so far.
I like your shortbread recipe. I don't have a mould, though. I have always wanted one so maybe this is the time to get one. I will let you know if I try the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
That flooding is serious! Last spring was bad for it here.
Wow! That is a lot of water Jeanie. I sure hope it starts receding quickly.
Wow. I heard about flooding on the news and didn't realize it was your way also. That water is really high. That buoy (the one wrapped around a tree) looks like something for boaters. usually where there's rocks, nesting birds or dangerous areas. And if that river gets any higher then those buildings will get flooded for sure. And boy once again that shortbread looks yummy. Thanks for sharing the recipes. I was going to ask for ginger one but haven't been on my blog for a day. But now I don't need to ask. Hope the water's receded, your basement stays dry and you have a great start to your weekend. hugs-Erika
That amount of water is terrifying to me! I hope it recedes quickly and everyone is ok after all of that. Now for that shortbread, I could eat my weight in that!
Flooding is such a scary thing. Years ago when my kids were little we got caught in a fast rising water situation and our minivan started to float towards the edge of the bridge viaduct. Some people ran in and pushed our car backwards and out of it....it was horrible.
I hope there is not a terrible amount of damage where you are! xo Diana
Love that pan and the shortbread looks delicious. Had no idea that flooding was so bad. Hope you get your leak fixed.
Your shortbread looks wonderful, the flooding not so good. Hope the water recedes soon and leaves minimal damage. The damage with the cookies would be to my waistline, but I do love a sweet nibble with my tea and these would be perfect.
Hope that water goes down SOON--that is some serious flooding, looks bad. Y'all got much planned for this weekend?
Flooding is always scary. I'm happy the floods here have subsided, and hope the same for your place. Thanks for sharing your shortbread recipes. Stay safe! Hugs, Valerie
That is some serious flooding. We have had quite a bit of localized flooding around here recently; fortunately none of it has directly affected us. Water is essential for life, but it can sure cause a lot of damage.
So much water in so many parts right now. This weekend will continue the woes. For our state right now it's in the north and eastern areas, where the Ohio flows. I often take the dramatic photos like you've done, and then splice them side by side to show the changes. I pity those in the midst of the devastation. Even after reclamation, it's so hard to get past water damage.
Have a great weekend, Jeanie. The recipe (and your dish!) look amazing. I love bread of most any kind!
I need to get one of these molds because I've been looking high and low for something like this! Hello Jeanie!
Yep I don't know about this Year of the Dog, she seems to be so troublesome for so many. Your poor city with the floods. The world feels at angst right now, or maybe it's just me after a hard week cleaning up to move into our new place, you can always find someone worst off can't you?! A plate of that shortbread would do the trick to cheer people up though - what pretty moulds!
Wren x
Hello, oh my that is awful flooding in the town. I am sorry about your basement too. We are having days of rain but not this much. I hope the water is receding now. The cookie mold is cool, thanks for sharing the shortbread recipe. Happy Saturday and weekend!
Floodings..we are still dealing with so many repercussions(not us personally)..but our little town..adjoining towns..and of course now the concern is on for this Spring.
:(
La Seine was like that June 2016 when we were there.
I don't have a pretty memory of it:( Not one ..we had no access unti the last day and then all was still wet..dirty..such a shame for such a gorgeous place.
I have your pans:) Keepers!
wow. That's some serious flooding.Glad to hear your home was spared. We're so fortunate that though we're only five minutes from the Atlantic, we (the city of New Haven, CT) is rarely flooded - and has never been flooded like that in my time living here. (I'm knocking wood as I write that.)
Pizza and shortbread. You really know how to hurt a guy, don't you?! LOL
Have a wonderful weekend ... we're off to NYC in a while to see Bernadette Peters in "Hello Dolly!" from third row center! Very psyched!
As always, thanks for sharing!
I would have been here sooner, but I’m still having phone and internet problems from the ice storm we had two nights ago. To make matters worse, my keyboard is acting up again. I’ll just stop before I get too frustrated and say how nice it is that your basement has quit flooding.
After you mentioned the flooding, I did a little internet searching (including WKAR) for videos and reports. My goodness. It did remind me that I met Diana (Oh!) during the Mississippi flooding back in whenever. I'd written about it, and she found my post while doing her own search for information. As I recall, it was my shoutout to midwesterners that appealed to her. :-)
That shortbread looks wonderful. Is the Brown Bag company still in business? The only thing I could find on what appears to be their site was an archive of previous cookie molds. All the ones for sale were mostly on Amazon or Etsy -- and the Amazon prices were sky high. $50 for a cookie mold? I don't think so. But on Etsy I found some for $15 or so. That seems more reasonable.
My favorite cutout cookie recipe -- which I've never used because it seemed to be incomplete -- was a butter and powdered sugar recipe. I'm going to pull it out and look at it again, because the cookies my mother made from that recipe were the kind I like: thin and crispy.
Love shortbreads. Might try to make them one of these days! Thanks for sharing. I am very impressed by the bowl with the pattern to make it even more genuin.
Oh those pictures are so scary! I'm thankful you are safe.
On the bright side, give me shortbread and hot tea and I'm a happy camper.
These are so pretty. I have not had good luck with shortbread. I hope you do not get flooded out.
Yikes, that is pretty scary! Sure love the molds Jeanie.....
Jeanie, the flooding looks so horrible and it cause millions of dollars of damage! I am saving your shortbread recipe! It looks so heavenly!
Glad it's stopped raining in your basement. Hope you can get the issue fixed soon, and it doesn't rain in your basement again.
I hope the only damage caused by all the flooding in your area is to buildings and trees. I mean, it's a shame about those things, but I hope no people got caught in it.
Wow, that's some serious flooding.
Hope all those people are ok, even though they will be cleaning their house for a long time.
I love shortbread, will have to try this recipe.
Have a great week Jeanie.
I've learned something about water since moving here. It's all powerful. Nothing can stand up to it. We are gearing up for flooding now. Old Muddy is at 34 feet today. Max flood stage anticipated is 40.5 feet (ten feet less than the record high of 47.5 feet in 2011). We live in interesting times.
OMGosh. I'm so sorry about the flooding in your area:(
Thanks for the shortbread recipe! Yum.
Have a lovely evening.
oh no Jeanie, how awful!! I can't believe you can make light about water in your basement I would be freaking out! Those poor people who are flooded, so sorry! Tough winter! Your shortbread looks and sounds wonderful!
Jenna
It's certainly been the weirdest winter weather I can remember! Glad you had a break and were able to enjoy some time out! I've never tried shortbread although I love eating it! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
So sorry about the flooding. Hope your home and Ricks are okay.
Thanks for the recipe for short bread - looks great.
Have a great week and stay dry.
Hugs,
Mary
My goodness now that is major flooding indeed, I feel so sorry for those who have been flooded out of their homes, such a shame.
The shortbread looks delish, haven't made any for ages so might give your recipe a try soon.
Have a fab week.
Love the molded gingerbread. I've never used a mold before but love the look. The flood looks so frightening. Hope everyone is safe.
The flooding in your city is awful! How sad. Cleaning up after a flood is so much work. I remember when our basement flooded when I was in high school. We had to throw out so much stuff as lot of the things in our crawl space were in cardboard boxes.
The short bread looks delicious!! Such a pretty pattern, too!
Wow.....that is a lot of water. Like you I would not want to be on that bottom row of the building. And the cookies look amazing. Cook on and enjoy the day.
Jeanie, I hadn't heard about the flooding! How awful. Parts of the country flooding, and other parts parching! Love your shortbread and molds. I've always been tempted by the molds but like to make my shortbreads smaller - so I can eat two or three instead of just one - using psychology on myself! :D
Oh no...I heard there was flooding up there. Hope you are okay.
That's a lot of water! :(
I have a very similar shortbread mold, but I'm yet to perfect my recipe.
The flooding all over the state is really scary. At least you have good pizza and cookies.
I am terribly sorry for al the suffering that is being experienced in your city. Stay safe
Oh, I love the moulds! I've never seen anything like them here. Thanks for giving the name of the company - I'll check them out. The cookies are so very pretty, and would make such a cool gift.
My goodness, the flooding looks quite alarming. I hope you and Rick are on higher ground! I always wonder about local regulations when I see pictures of flooding. Surely home building shouldn't be allowed in certain areas that are a flood risk, even though there'd inevitably be older homes which were built before people thought about stuff like that....?
Rick looks highly contented dawdling with the paper! :)
I do love to bake, and this recipe sounds scrumptious. These molds are in one word AMAZING!
Thank you for sharing the recipe with us!
I am so very sorry for the suffering and worrying that is going on right now in your city, Jeanie.
Jemma
I have small Brown Bag molds! They are Winnie the Pooh shaped molds I bought years ago when a craft store was going out of business. You have inspired me to take them out and use them to make some shortbread cookies for my grandkids, Jeanie. Your recipes sound easy and good! Thanks!
PS: the flooding situation in your is terrible! I feel so sorry for ll effected.
The year we moved to Colorado the communities north of us had terrible flooding from 20 straight days of rain, and it took years to resolve all the damage.
I'm sorry to hear about the flooding. It always causes so much damage. Your shortbread looks beautiful. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
xo Julia
wow, that is a lot of water! oye!
here we are still getting snow, but it looks like warmer days are here.
the thaw will begin.
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