Love at First Bite, The Unofficial Twilight Cookbook, Red Velvet Cake, Apple Walnut Cookies Recipes

by Gina Meyers

When you write a cookbook bestseller, it’s like hitting a homerun. Problem with hitting a homerun is you never know if you’ll hit a homerun again. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to make it past first base again, and there have been other homeruns, or at least to third base. The formula for cookbook writing success is always the same,  “write what you love.” The formula for recipe formation is, “create what you are interested in.” I’ve never written a recipe that didn’t fascinate me. I didn’t make up something in the kitchen that I didn’t want to eat or drink or share. Sure there have been some epic flops, like when I was eleven and I tried to make fortune cookies from scratch, but there have been a lot of successes too–and a lot of semi-homemade tricks and tips have moved me along the culinary bases. 

“Writing what you love” is a key ingredient to the success of a recipe.  Recipes are meant to be shared, like a box of See’s Candies.

Red Velvet Cake

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 ounce liquid red food coloring

3/4 cup water

1 yellow cake mix, with pudding in the mix

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon butter

4 tablespoons buttermilk

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Directions: Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, mix cocoa powder, red food coloring, and part of the water to form a paste. Next, add all of the other ingredients except the white vinegar. Blend for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes with a mixer on medium speed. Then add the vinegar and mix with a spatula. Pour the batter into a bunt or round cake pan, and bake for approximately 35 minutes. This recipe can be made into cupcakes as well.

Apple Cinnamon and Walnut Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup shortening

1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup chopped California walnuts 

1 cup apples – peeled, cored and finely diced

1 cup raisins

¼ cup milk

1 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 ½ tablespoons half-and-half cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Beat shortening and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and blend thoroughly.

3. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

4. Stir half the dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir walnuts, apples, and raisins, then stir in remaining half of dry ingredients and milk. Mix well.

5. Drop from tablespoon 1 ½ inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in the preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minuets. Remove cookies from oven, place on racks to cool slightly, and while still warm, spread with glaze.

6. To make glaze: Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and enough cream to make glaze of spreading consistency. Beat until smooth. Spread on warm cookies.

Twilight Baseball Scene