One Teaspoon From Disaster

It's back-to-school time, if you can believe it. I am prepared because I have no one to send back to school yet and I have seen backpacks and other supplies in the stores since 4th of July. These two things have made me mentally ready for this.

But if you aren't, a quick way to fake it is to have a nice after-school treat to mark the start of another year in the classroom. Fill the cookie jar with snickerdoodles!

I realized I have never made these before (so I wanted to) and on my cookie scale (which I keep in my head and refer to often), these seem somewhat of a healthier choice, well below chocolate chip, though slightly above oatmeal raisin. Plus a little sugar burst helps during homework time.

Snickerdoodles
Ingredients:
1 C. butter
1 ½ C. white sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
¼ tsp. salt
Equal parts (couple teaspoons of each) white sugar and cinnamon, mixed

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar, adding eggs one at a time, until smooth. Sift together flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. Stir dry mixture into creamed mixture; blend well. Roll dough into ping pong-sized balls; roll each ball into the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 or 9 minutes (soft in the middle, a little brown on the edges) at 375 degrees.

Have you ever noticed how expensive appetizers are when dining out? It's up there with dessert and mixed drinks. I love crab cakes, which fall into the aforementioned category, and thought I'd try my hand at making them.

Easy. There's nothing to it.

Assembly time is quick and I froze mine for a later for an even quicker dinner prep. (Thaw before cooking). These can be made at any size (I formed palm-sized patties to serve as an entrée; about half that size would be good for appetizers.) You can garnish with a tartar sauce or another type of dip, but I found mine pretty tasty without anything extra.

Crab cakes
Ingredients:
3, 6-ounce cans crabmeat, drained and flaked
1, 6-ounce package chicken-flavored stuffing mix
1 C. shredded mozzarella cheese
¾ C. water
1/3 C. reduced-fat mayo
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. chopped green onions

Directions:
Mix unprepared stuffing mix with all ingredients. If mixture isn't sticking together well enough, add a little more mayo. Shape into patties. Refrigerate one hour before cooking, or freeze for later (thaw before cooking). To cook, heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook crab cakes about three minutes on each side.

Here's a quick veggie side dish to give you a little reprieve from same 'ol same 'ol salad at dinner.

Take advantage of cucumbers that are in abundance now and whip up this easy recipe.

There's nothing to it and it goes well with most any entrée. I used dried dill, but I'm sure fresh would be even better. I served my dish cold (because warm cucumbers seems odd), but this could be eaten at least at room temp rather than chilled.

Cucumber side salad
3-4 large cucumbers, mostly peeled and sliced
1 C. white vinegar
½ C. water
½ C. sugar
dill, to taste

Directions:
Place cucumbers in a bowl. Next, combine vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Pour over cucumbers and add dill. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour.