Check Yourself!

As the beginning of October is upon us, I've had too many stark reminders that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Please check yourself, every month, and every year if you're of "that age" to get mammograms - this includes you men as well!

Don't be afraid to demand tests, don't hesitate to demand tests.

There are no tests yet for Pancreatic Cancer, but it has hit the mainstream with Steve Jobs death and hit home with my sister's diagnosis. The symptoms mimic many other illnesses, but if you are having unusual nausea or your skin is getting uncharacteristically itchy keep demanding testing. If your doctor won't listen find another.

Know your normal, trust your gut, and never be afraid to be your own best advocate.

Cookbook is now available in Full Color and Black & White

The full color paperback version on CreateSpace is about $10 more than  what a black-and-white version (meaning the pictures are in black and white as well as all the text, cover is still in color) would cost. So I added a new black and white version; the book is now available on Kindle, and at Amazon in paperback format.

I'm working on getting it on to Lulu and Barnes and Noble but need to get through all the legalize first.  In the meantime, Kylee agreed to get a picture of my scones and my Devilishly Chocolate bundt cake, and the cake picture came out so nice I had to share.

Doesn't this look yummy?

If you'd like to order a special spiral bound copy, you can do  so at the Pyrhaven Etsy shop, please let me know if you would like it signed. I'm surprised at how many people have asked for it to be signed, it's very humbling.

The paperbacks can be found on Amazon by searching on the title, so you can order from the correct country site. (The links I have are for USA only.)

Coobook is Done!

Finally, after a year of measuring, baking, and having taste testers giving thumbs up/downs on the recipes the cookbook is done. Merry Mary's Marvelous Munchies is now available for Kindle, and will be available on Amazon as a paperback shortly.

Two special editions were donated, along with tote bags and fun aprons to The Network Gala 2014 to help raise funds for Save A Life. The aprons were a big hit and more will be listed on the Etsy shop by next week. Custom orders are more than welcome!

The year began the same way that last year ended, with more loses to the family. From November thru January we lost my sister, and both my mother-in-law and father-in-law. The shop has been sorely neglected by the demands of sick family members and the cookbook. I will be ramping it up again over the next few months. Adding a few new vintage items and some sewing machine parts as I gut one machine to rebuild another.

If you're looking for a vintage sewing machine of a particular make/model and would like some help finding one, shoot me an email. I'll be happy to try to help and will let you know if I have one on hand. With 17 in the house, it's time to let some go anyway.

Check Yourself!

As the beginning of October is upon us, I've had too many stark reminders that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Please check yourself, every month, and every year if you're of "that age" to get mammograms - this includes you men as well!

Don't be afraid to demand tests, don't hesitate to demand tests.

There are no tests yet for Pancreatic Cancer, but it has hit the mainstream with Steve Jobs death and hit home with my sister's diagnosis. The symptoms mimic many other illnesses, but if you are having unusual nausea or your skin is getting uncharacteristically itchy keep demanding testing. If your doctor won't listen find another.

Know your normal, trust your gut, and never be afraid to be your own best advocate.

Brownie Cookie Perfected!

It's taken me longer than expected, but I finally got the recipe down. These turned out nice and chewy once completely cooled and are very close to my all-time favorite one that I used to get in high school. They're not exactly alike though as I refuse to use corn syrup in my recipes whenever I can avoid it.

So here's the basic recipe and if you're a corn syrup fan, you can take out 2 tablespoons of the sugar in exchange for 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup to get a moister, chewy brownie cookie.


First whisk together (or use a mixer) the following:

• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter (melted) or you could substitute for shortening, but then why bother?
• 2 teaspsoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt  (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee/espresso (optional)

Put the mixer on slow and add the following:

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (regular or dark cocoa) - add this 1/4 cup at a time
• 2 eggs - extra large or jumbo size

When the eggs are just blended turn off the mixer and stir in the dry ingredients by hand:

• 1 teaspoon baking soda (if you like "cakier" brownies use baking powder)
• 2 1/3 cups flour

The dough will be thick. You can either spoon them onto a parchment lined cookie sheet (non-stick may work too), or do what I do which is roll them into a ball, much like Snickerdoodles.  For a thinner cookie, use wax paper and the bottom of a glass to flatten them out, otherwise they spread fine and end up about as thick as my Snickerdoodles.

Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 8 minutes (undercooked is ok) and leave them on the still hot cookie sheet for at least 4 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cook.  These are at their chewiest after they are completely cooled.

Feel free to add in whatever you wish, chocolate chips do really well in these as do nuts, cinnamon chips, white chocolate, and vanilla chips.

These are a good cookie to involve your kids in too as there is no need for a mixer and kids are always good to have around for rolling cookie dough. Just remember to kick the dog out of the kitchen - the cocoa powder is a major no-no and my dogs kept trying to sneak back in while I made these.  Be kinder than I was and put them outside where they (hopefully) won't be able to smell the heavenly aroma.

Accidental Whoopie Pies

While trying to develop the "perfect" chocolate brownie cookie, I accidentally whipped up my grandmother's old Whoopie Pie/Moon Pie recipe.  It wasn't planned as I haven't had her recipe in my hands since I was a Tween.  I was simply fiddling with a cookie recipe, and accidentally had these come out of the oven.

Maga (my grandmother) made hers with Carob powder, I made these with Cocoa powder, but either way works wonderfully.  My "tasting crew" at my favorite local diner all gave me thumbs up on these, so I figured it's worth posting here.  Pictures will come later.

The key to these is the way they are mixed, so read the instructions before you start pouring stuff into the bowl.

What you'll need for the cookies:

          1 cup butter, softened (nuked in the microwave works too)
          1 cup Cocoa powder (I prefer Nestle or Hershey's_
          1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
          2 eggs
          2 teaspoons vanilla
          2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
          1 tsp. baking soda
          1/4 tsp. salt  (optional)
          Parchment paper
          Wax paper (just a little piece will do)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cream the sugar and butter really well. Turn off the mixer, add in the Cocoa powder and mix on low/medium speed until really well mixed then increase the mixer speed. Add in the eggs and vanilla, mix until "fluffy" or well blended.  Add in the baking soda, flour and salt and mix well BY HAND, until all the flour is incorporated.

Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (non-stick may work too).  Place wax paper over the cookies and press flat using the bottom of a glass (if you don't have waxed paper, you can dip the glass in some cocoa powder to keep it from sticking).

Bake for 8 minutes, remove from the cookie sheet after a few minutes and let cool completely.


What you'll need for the icing:

          3 cups powdered sugar
          1/2 cup melted butter
          2 tsps. vanilla
          2-3 tablespoons milk

Place all of the ingredients in the mixing bowl. Start out slow, scrapping the sides until it is all incorporated, it will be thick at first. Add 1 tablespoon of milk, increase the mixer speed and continue mixing, continue adding milk until the icing is of the right consistency (thick but spreadable). When it looks "right" whip it for a few minutes more until it gets fluffy.

Place the icing in a frosting bag or baggie that you will cut the end off of and pipe the frosting onto a cookie bottom and top with another cookie. If the frosting is a bit loose, place the cookies in the freezer or fridge for a few minutes and it will firm up.  I would not suggest spreading the icing on as you would a cake, the cookies are a bit too fragile to hold up to that.

Serve with milk and don't worry about the calories!

Sunshine Lemon in a Muffin

One of my favorite waitresses loves Lemon Poppy Seed muffins. I've made them before but lost the recipe so pulled one together from a more basic recipe with a few tweaks.  This version is very lemon-y thanks to TrueLemon packets. These really pack a punch over lemon extract or lemon juice, although you can use either of those in place of TrueLemon.

Check out TrueLemon at: http://www.truelemonstore.com

(No, I don't get anything from them for posting them here...I doubt they even know I exist).

Anyway, these muffins make up quickly, and are nice and moist. They are good with the glaze included here or with cream cheese frosting.  I'll add pictures at another time, I just wanted to get this posted for a bunch of folks looking for my recipe.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins

1/4 cup butter (really soft or melted in microwave; I melt mine)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk  (do NOT use water, but skim milk will work)
1 egg (Jumbo or Extra Large AA)
3 packets TrueLemon OR 3 tblsp. lemon extract or lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tblsp. baking powder
1-3 tblsp. poppy seeds (this depends on your preference, I tend to use 2 but for big fans I'll use 3)

You'll need 2 bowls. Mix the flour, poppy seeds salt, and baking powder in one bowl and put to the side (I use a whisk or fork for mixing the dry ingredients). In the other bowl mix the butter, sugar, and lemon hoice until well mixed. Add the egg until mixed in.  By hand stir in the remaining ingredients by alternating the milk and dry mixture. Be careful to not over mix.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a muffin tin or use paper cups.  Fill cups about 3/4 full and bake for 20-30 minutes. This will depend on your oven, for mini-muffins mine takes 22 minutes, for regular size muffins it takes 25 minutes, for jumbos 30.  This recipe will usually make 24 mini-muffins, 12 regular muffins, or 9 jumbo muffins (depending on your tin sizes).



Lemon glaze:

1/4 + 2 tblsp. powdered sugar  (no powdered sugar on hand, you can use regular)
1/4 c. water + 4 packets TrueLemon OR 1/4 lemon juice

Mix the sugar and lemon until well mixed. Drizzle over the top of the cooled muffins.

I tend to double this glaze when I make the mini muffins as I remove them from the pan and drizzle it over the whole batch at once, which takes more.