Using Corn Starch instead of --- FLOUR

     My grandmother lived with us for a while when I was a child and I always liked to be in the kitchen when she was cooking.  One of her sweet treats she made that everyone enjoyed was banana pudding.  You know...vanilla wafers, bananas, pudding, and a meringue topping.  It was her pudding that puzzled me though.  I did not understand how she got that luscious yellow creamy stuff from adding that white powder from a box to her other ingredients.  When she told me it was corn starch in the box, the only thing my young mind could equate it to was what got sprinkled on your clothes to make them stiffen once they were ironed.  This possibility seemed yucky to me.
     But Grandma was right.  Corn starch is known as a thickener and it worked wonders in her puddings and pie fillings.  It is also used as a thickener for gravies and sauces, making them shiny or glossy instead of opaque as when flour is used.  I grew up learning to thicken with flour.  But when I watched my mother-in-law make her gravy, I learned how she used corn starch.
     Now, I have also learned that corn starch can make a great shortbread cookie.  The surface of each cookie becomes crisp when baked.  The centers, however, hold together well and have just the right crumbly texture.  Corn starch can also be added to regular flour to make cake flour.  Cake flour is what is usually called for in a cake that should have a light and fluffy texture. 
     So I found this recipe below from www.argostarch.com and made these for dessert one night this past week.  (I appreciate the Argo website, but I gain nothing from its use other than happily sharing the information.)  According to my husband, the taste tester, these chocolate chip beauties passed with flying colors.  These were easy to make and very tasty.  Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (no substitutes)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup Argo Corn Starch

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

1 tablespoon sugar

     Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
     Mix butter, brown sugar and vanilla using an electric mixer.  Gradually blend in flour and corn starch.  Add chocolate chips.
     Form into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets.  Pour tablespoon of sugar on a small plate; dip bottom of drinking glass in sugar and gently press down on each cookie to flatten.
     Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bottoms begin to brown.
     Cook for 5 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Lightly sprinkle additional sugar on top of cookies while cooling, if desired.


& FLOWER

     The autumn season is a good time for appreciating our trees.  This could mean viewing their beautiful changing colors, planting young specimens, or just being thankful we have them.  Here are three of my favorites.

Weeping Willow - As a child, I liked that it was easy to climb and appreciated that it grew in a rounded shape.  Even though anyone can most definitely see through its long fronds, when playing under that green canopy, I always believed I was hidden.  It grows well in a wide range of soil and moisture conditions.  Its growth witnessed along the Euphrates River eventually fooled some into thinking this tree had a biblical beginning.  That way of thinking prevailed and for a long time the Weeping Willow was linked to sorrow.

Oak - When we moved to what became my last childhood home, there was an oak tree that was planted very near the front sidewalk by the street.  Because of the tremendous height and size they can reach, it is not a good idea to plant an oak tree near a sidewalk.  Its roots can eventually grow to massive proportions, raise the sidewalk, and break it.  Oak trees can grow to 100 feet tall and 150 feet across.  In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that made the oak tree our national tree.  In medieval times of England, legend claimed that King Arthur's round table was made of one piece of oak.

Cypress -  The cypress trees I knew in my youth were the swamp or marsh kind that had "knees" or  shorter protrusions that rose up from their watery surroundings.  I used to call them the knees "hips." In the fall the cypress turn a rust or orange color as if to blend in to the color scheme of that particular time period.  However, the cypress trees planted in my neighborhood in southeast Missouri do not develop the knees and are used for ornamental landscape purposes.