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About The Cookie Queen
HRM Pat Condelli, THE Cookie Queen, invites you to stop by The online Cookie Castle to see what her company can do to serve you. Cookies - cakes - cookbooks - cooking classes - and entertainment are her specialties.
Cookie Queen Cookies
The Cookie Queen bakes the world’s most delicious all-natural cookies. She will be happy to plan special cookie displays for your event. She is known for speedy service when cookies are needed for a funeral or a sick friend.
Entertainment
The Cookie Queen also is the director, choreographer and lead soprano for The Original Class Act, a group that has been performing together since 1992. There are 18 programs from which to choose.
About Cookie Queen Products
Cookie Queen Cookies
Cookie Queen Cookies are simply the most delicious cookies you can buy. They are made fresh daily in the spotless kitchen of the Cookie Queen's Castle in the town of New Kensington, Pa., near Pittsburgh. There are 42 varieties of Cookie Queen Cookies. E Mail The Queen for a list of current offerings and their prices. cookiequ@verizon.net.
Cookie Queen Cakes
The Cookie Queen makes wonderful-tasting cakes for any occasion .. like this cherry-infused cheesecake. Live and silk floral bouquets are the only decorations. The Queen makes only butter cream and whipped cream frostings. She does not make fondant icing (it tastes terrible).
Cookie Queen Cookbooks
The Cookie Queen has published three books: "Royal Recipes From The castle of The Cookie Queen," "Hassle Free Holidays" and "Never Scrub Another Toilet." You can order copies from the Queen at cookiequ@verizon.net or phone Word Association Publishers 724-226-1255.
About The Original Class Act
In the beginning......
Just like the old movie story - a group of friends got together to “put on a show” for the church fun fair way back in 1992. They presented a program of Cole Porter music. The 3-day gig stretched into many years and many shows as the phone never stops ringing. Everyone wants to book this group for a retirement home, church dinner, women’s club, lodge meeting, holiday party.
July 18 Concert
The Original Cass Act will present its "Broadway Bound" show Thursday, July 18th at the Tarentum,PA, bandshell. The 90-minute concert begins at 7 p.m. Admission open to the public and it's FREE. This photo is from our June 30th appearance at Phipp's Conservatory, Pittslburgh.
About Our Cast
Pat Condelli
Owner of Cookie Queen Cookies,Cookbooks & Entertainment, Pat is the director and lead soprano of The Original Class Act. Pat also can be booked for a one-woman show - 20 songs in one hour.
Terry Shields
Vocal coach for this group of outstanding musician, Terry is our alto and also plays the piano, organ and guitar and does solo gigs for weddings and funerals. She enjoys spending time with her grandchildren. Terry is wearing one of our new St. Patrick show costumes which we made in January.
Bill Cellio
Ladies swoon when Bill holds their hands and sings directly to each special lady in the audience. Bill is available as a wedding and funeral soloist.
Cooking Classes At The Castle
Want to learn how to make the best pie crust in the world?
Do your homemade cookies turn out misshapen and burnt?
Can you put a gourmet dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes?
Interested in learning more about Italian cuisine?
HRH Pat Condelli, The Cookie Queen, also known as "the practical Martha Stewart," teaches all the tricks of the trade in fun-filled classes at the Castle in New Kensington, Pa.
Home Economist Pat Condelli
Pat received her degree in Home Economics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has been teaching cooking, baking and home making since 1968.
Choose one of the following classes or tell the Cookie Queen what you would like to bake or cook and she will plan a class specifically for you and your friends.
Pat also is available for LIVE consultation on SKYPE. If you have a web cam, message Pat on the internet for a time for a live SKYPE consult on your computer.
* Dough Re Mi - How to handle all types of doughs - yeast, phyllo, pizza, pie, biscuit. Hands on. Sampling. Take home something wonderful.
* Hassle-Free Holidays -. Save time and your sanity with easy holiday recipes. Hands on. Sampling. Take home something scrumptious.
* Kids Can Cook - Easy recipes. Lots of fun. Hands on. Sampling. Take home something to show your family what you made. Class limited to six children.
* Cookies to Die For, Cry For, Lie For - Learn to make "professional-looking" cookies that taste fabulous. Men of all ages really love this class. Hands on. Sampling. Take home some goodies.
* Yes, You CAN Make a Pie - Anyone can and I’ll teach you how.
* Intro to Cooking for the Single Man -Basic cooking skills for guys. Prepare wonderful meals for you and your buddies. Food safety. Learn how to host a party. Hands on. Sampling. Something to take home.
* Carry Me Back to Old Italia - Grand recipes from the North and South of Italy. Family-tested for generations. Hands on. Sampling. Something to take home.
* Ethnic Cooking With American Flair - You’ll get a little bit of everything in this class - Italian, Greek, Polish, German, Mexican, Dutch, Indian, Chinese. Six sessions.$300. Come for dinner. We eat first. Then I’ll show you how to make it. And you can take some home for your family to taste. Class size limited to six students.
All classes feature hands-on (not just watching me do it) experience. And everyone gets to take home something they themselves made.
Most classes are just one 2-3-hour session. There are morning, afternoon, evening and weekend sessions available.
Individual Classes: $40-$60 (depending on items being prepared), which includes recipes and something delicious to take home.
To register for a class, phone the Cookie Queen at 724 339-0920 or E Mail: cookiequ@verizon.net
Recipe Of The Week
French Fried Zucchini
I have always loved French Fried Zucchini and now that I get suet fresh zucchini that I grew in my back yard garden I like them even more. I think MY zucchini taste a whole lot better than store-bought. They are easy do - but we forewarned, there’s a bit of mess on the stove to clean up afterwards. Well worth it to me. My Mom dipped them in beaten whole eggs and then in flour before frying them in Crisco. I use just the egg white and bread crumbs. My sister suggested I try using Panko crumbs….which I did. But they turned out a tad too crispy for me. Try both and see which you prefer.
Ingredients
Zucchini, peeled and sliced into rounds
Egg whites, beaten frothy
Bread crumbs (store bought)
Parmesan cheese, grated
How To Make Them
I remember back in the “old days” my Mom would start making these early in the day….peeling, then slicing and salting the zucchini and then layering them in a colander, placing a dish on top and weighting them down with a big pot of water. She said she did this to squeeze out any bitterness in the zucchini. My zucchini are NOT bitter but I still start them early in the day because once they are breaded I refrigerate them uncovered and the coating stays on them better in the Crisco bath.
* Peel and slice the zucchini into 1/4” rounds. If the zucchini is large you can also cut the rounds in half.
* Dip the slices in beaten egg white, then in unseasoned bread crumbs.
* Place them on a dish or tray in a single layer and refrigerate until dinner time.
* Melt the Crisco in a frying pan or sauce pot -one that can sustain hot high heat.
* Fry the zucchini, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
* Place the drained zucchini on a serving dish and sprinkle the tops with grated Parmesan cheese.
Interesting: Using the “new” Crisco - that no longer contains transfats allows the zucchini to brown. However very little “old” Crisco was absorbed in the frying process and there was almost as much at the end as when I started the frying. Using the “new” Crisco without transfats there was almost none left in the pan when I was finished. Which just goes to show you - the federal government doesn’t know beans about what is and is not healthy. So - the old Crisco had transfats which they claimed was not heart healthy. Now the food cooked in the new Crisco gets absorbed into the food and is probably going to kill us way sooner than the transfats would have. You can thank Michelle obama for this wonderful innovation.
A View From The Castle - News Blog
Charity Begins At Home - Hungry AMERICAN Kids Need Food
Last Sunday after Mass I came out of church to find a flyer on my car. It was from some defrocked priest who was urging us Christians to feed, house, clothe and support the hungry off the world.
This jackass was saying if we don’t support open borders we aren’t being Christian. He demanded that we send even more money to Central America to support the people who choose not to invade our country.
I was furious. And so I came home and immediately sent him this letter via e mail.
“Dear Mr. Survil…..We Americans have been giving millions of dollars to Central America for many many years and to what end? It all goes to the big wigs and not to help the poor.
How about we spend those millions helping the poor right here in the USA? Or even right here in New Kensington.
I was a volunteer paramedic in New Kensington for seven years. I made 5,000 ambulance trips. And I can tell you I was in many homes right here in this city with far worse conditions than are being provided at the illegal immigrant housing on our border. Most of those people never had half of the things we Americans are providing. Have you ever lifted up a table cloth in a Central American home and seen the table crawling with roaches? I have. No food in the refrigerator … except beer. No light bulbs in lamps. Dozens of children running around with no clothes….parents could not afford diapers. Right here in New Kensington. I used to carry stuffed animals with me on all ambulance runs because I encountered many kids in MY city that never had a toy.
Whatever happened to Farm Aid? The people who gave a damn about Americans? Why can't we have fund-raisers for people in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco? Have you seen any of those deplorable conditions?
I was taught that "charity begins at home." Don't you care about your fellow Americans?
There are approximately 1.1 billion people out of 6 billion in the world who live in absolute poverty according to the World Bank. Extreme poverty is defined as living on $1.25 or less per day “a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs."
So of those 1.1 billion living in extreme poverty how many do you think we in America should show compassion and support? It is not possible for us to support all 1.1 billion.
America is the most generous of all nations in the world. We welcome some 1 million LEGAL immigrants to our shores each and every year.
But we did not do a good job of controlling our borders and there are anywhere from 11 million to 30 million (no one knows for sure how many) illegals already in our country. And now we find out that border agents encountered some 144,000 undocumented immigrants at the southern border in May alone. We are feeding, clothing, medicating and educating them all.
If we do not secure our border by year’s end we will have almost 2 million illegal immigrants in addition to the 1 million legals.
How do we manage to provide for 3 million people who come here? They come with cigarettes and cell phones (look at the photos) - but no money, no food, no diapers for babies and only the clothing on their backs. Many of them come with illegal drugs, children who are not their own and third world diseases that have long ago been eradicated in the United States.
How do we manage to care for these people in our already over-crowded hospitals and emergency rooms? Some of our schools now have more than 30 children in each classroom. Where will the illegals - most of whom do not speak a word of English - be educated? If we jam them into already overcrowded classrooms the American citizen children will get less attention than the illegals. How long will it take and how much money will we need to build new schools and hire more teachers and educate more doctors?
Soon this country will look exactly like the countries from which these poor people are fleeing.
And I for one am not giving one more dime to provide palatial estates for the leaders of these "poor countries." We in America have NO CONTROL over how our money is spent once it leaves our shores. If we did, those countries would not be poor. If our money had been spent properly they would be thriving.
Let me know when no American child is hungry. Let me know when there are no more homeless vets living on American Streets. Maybe then I will chip in to buy another big car for some South American dictator.
Stop putting these disgusting signs on my car. You could use that money to feed some hungry kid in Central America.”