A recipe and a stern warning

Take it from me, this stern warning is for your own good.

I'm making cookies and decided to make some fruitcake cookies (for the old folks, mind you ... nobody under 75). Recipe states to add things one at a time, like eggs, and a little bit of this and that, with a good stir and a prayer in between additions. Well, if you're like me, always rushed for time and flirting with bending the rules, you'll know what's coming next. SCREW THAT! I'm doing the old "dump everything in a stir it all at once" method!

Ordinarily I can get away with it, but here goes the warning. Unless you're into Crossfit or a professional level body builder, follow the recipe. I broke a wooden spoon trying to stir this mess, and might have even sprained my wrist.

RECIPE FOLLOWS

Awesome Fruitcake Cookies for Old People Only

1-1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 lb mixed candied fruit

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating in between additions. Stir in vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt (and you can slide on this one and add them individually without sifting together), gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until blending. Stir in candied fruit. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 1 inch apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire racks.

Lots of luck to ya. Here's hoping yours turns out edible. Those old people might have some dental issues that nobody needs to contribute to.

One clean month ... starting "later"

Seems like a good idea on paper ... I've seen so many other people, mostly known liars on Facebook, saying that they were wildly successful at breaking bad habits, forming new habits, and feeling better simply by doing one thing: eating clean. See what I mean? Liars. Next thing you know, they'll be claiming they ran a half-marathon with two sprained ankles.

So clean eating, at least to me, means to eat only the things that I make, or reasonably could make if I had the time or inclination. So I want bread? I make it from flour, yeast, water. Chips? Easy enough. I read labels like a maniac anyway, so if one were to list maltrodextrin, modified tapioca starch, chicken powder (huh?),  carrageenan, potassium chloride, lactic acid and caramel color ... well, I'm pretty sure I don't have any of that in my pantry or fridge, so it's out.

My ultimate goal is to feel better, live longer, and not be cranky.  Okay, no guarantees on that last one, but it's a goal. And as I sit here eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, you can tell that I have quite a long month ahead.

Again, the rules: stick as close to natural, whole unprocessed foods as possible. If I can make it at home with available ingredients, then I can buy it, otherwise, it's all got to be grown or made fresh. Luckily, I don't mind cooking.

Shooting for Dec. 26. Lord, help me now.