food of my family

And then there are those recipes that become a part of family lore. The food you crave and devour on traditional family occasions, but people outside your immediate family Just Don’t Understand. In my family, we have our fair share – Grandma’s cabbage rolls baked in sauerkraut instead of tomato sauce, Uncle Peter’s Dip (you will RUE the day I post this), Aunt Elda’s Always Fail Cake, and Eggala. 

Today, I bring you my Grandma Mary’s beloved Eggala. The name is a bastardization of the more common Eggs Goldenrod or Eggs À la Goldenrod. A little Google aided research reveals the original recipe dates back to the 1896 edition of the Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook.

The soft and crunchy joy of the Swamp Cookie

Some people like their cookies soft. Some people like their cookies crunchy. But if you’re feeling the deep burning desire for some soft *and* crunchy cookies (and frankly, if you’re not then there’s clearly something wrong with you) you need to whip yourself up a batch of swamp cookies.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees(190C) and hunt down the following:

Swamp cookie ingredients

• 100g butter
• a giant handful of brown sugar
• a giant handful of granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• a toss of vanilla
• a wee bit of salt
• a wee bit of baking soda
• oatmeal
• flour
• couscous
• chocolate chips

  Chop the butter up in to little squares and throw giant handfuls of equal size of each type of sugar on top. In a separate cup, beat the eggs and add a toss of vanilla – pour that on top of the sugar. Add giant handfuls of equal size of oatmeal, flour and couscous and then toss in a wee bit of salt and a smaller bit of baking soda.
  

  

  Swamp cookie proto-dough

  Stir until the consistency is good and doughy, then add chocolate chips.
  

  

  Swamp cookie dough

  Toss giant lumps of dough onto a cookie sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes – the cookies should be still be a little soupy when you remove them from the oven.
  

  

  Swamp cookies

  Let them sit for five minutes and then gorge yourself on them! Yum!
  

  

  Swamp cookies