DFMA Hamfest and Brown Sugar Shortbread

Tonight I'm baking cookies to sell at the Durham FM Association Hamfest (also known as DurHamFest) in order to raise money for the DFMA. It's a fun event and I recommend it as the best destination this Saturday morning if you're a geek or an aspiring geek. It's been a tradition in Durham for many decades now and it's a good place to find electronic equipment, amateur radio equipment and aging computers. Plus, it's always a great gathering place for the amateur radio community in North Carolina. Like last year, it will be held at the Little River Community Complex from 8am to 2pm.

I'm making brown sugar shortbread and I can show you pictures of the last time I made these, a few weeks ago. It's almost like having one's own television cooking show, without the advertising revenue. I'm also making coconut macaroons.

The recipe is from the Cook Something cookbook, which I received as a housewarming gift from RP and still use all the time. It has lots of nice and simple recipes, such as this one:

Cream 1 cup of brown sugar and 2 sticks of butter. Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla and a pinch of salt (Yes, MFR, I know.) I don't like boring cookies, so I add a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon. Stir in 2 cups of flour. The book is accurate when it says that it will look like crumbly wet sand at this point.

Put the dough into a 9" square pan and flatten it down with your fingers, a spatula or both. I like lining such pans with greased aluminum foil, because you can just lift it out without a mess. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 min.

After taking it out of the oven, let cool for 15 minutes and then cut into the shapes of your choice. They are likely to fall apart until you let them cool more.