Peanut Butter Cookies and…Glange and TLC

Arabella’s health has taken a turn for the worse.  Yesterday she came home from school saying, ‘I feel sick’.  But I was busy in the kitchen and as Arabella often says, ‘I feel sick’ when in actual fact there’s nothing wrong with her, I ignored her.

‘Mum, are you listening to me?  I said I feel sick’.

‘That’s no good.  What’s the problem?’


‘Mum, can I have some sympathy?  It’s my glands.  They’re so sore.  Can you feel them?’

Peanut Butter Cookies

I put down the butter that I was adding to the weighing scales, walked over and put my finger tips very gently on her neck.  She reeled back and scowled.  ‘Do you have to be so rough?  I told you they’re sore.’

‘Oh I hardly touched you.’

‘But did you feel them?  They’re really big aren’t they.  I’m going to bed.  Can you make me a hot lemon drink with honey?  And don’t put too much lemon in it, add some lime so it’s not so strong.’

So I stopped making dinner and started making the not-too-strong lemon and lime drink then took it into her where she was all tucked up in bed surrounded by pillows and her doona and was on the skype to someone.  When I asked who it was I got the, ‘No one you know’ answer like that’s a reasonable reply.

She took the drink and asked, ‘You don’t think I’ve got glange do you mum?  I can’t get glange now because I’ve got my formal in a few days.’  (Not to mention EXAMS)  ‘It’s not glange is it?  What am I going to do?’  (Glange is what the teenagers call Glandular Fever).

‘Well for starters you’re not going to panic.  There’s a hundred other things it could be so just relax, have your drink and let’s see how you feel in the morning.’

She didn’t eat any dinner as said she didn’t feel like it and couldn’t possibly get out of bed for free-range chicken, quinoa and steamed greens.  ‘But could you bring me a bowl of ice cream?  With hundreds and thousands?’

We survived the night but in the morning I heard Arabella calling out for me.  I went into her room and there she was curled up in the foetal position sobbing hysterically.  ‘What on earth is wrong?’ I asked.

‘It’s my throat.  I can’t swallow.’

‘I’ll make you another lemon and lime drink’.

‘I need painkillers’.

‘Let’s see how you are after the drink’.

No improvement.

So after taking Alfie to school I put her, wearing grunge, (sweatshirt, leggings and ugh boots) into the car and off we went to the doctor.  But on the way it was, ‘Could you just pull over to get me an Icy Pole?  It would be good for my throat.’

‘We’re running late Arabella.’

‘It will only take you a minute.  Just a lemonade one mum.’  I saw a convenience store and so pulled over and bought a lemonade Icy Pole while Arabella phoned Virgin Mobile and asked why her phone had been disconnected.  (With a few less medical emergencies I’d be able to remember to pay the bill).

We made it to the doctor 20 minutes late and the gracious doctor didn’t think she has ‘glange’ but he did say her glands are very enlarged and that she has a terrible looking throat.  She’s now on anti-biotics for strep-throat.  They must be working quickly because she just ate a bag of salt and vinegar chips and a few dreadful doughy thingys from Bakers Delight.

Arabella’s not convinced but I’m sure she’ll be just fine to go back to school tomorrow.

Despite wearing my nurses cap all day I managed to bake some biscuits my mother used to make me when I needed a little TLC.  The recipe comes from a cookbook my mother bought while holidaying in the USA, hence these ‘biscuit’s are actually ‘cookies’.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes:  4 dozen!

Degree of Difficulty:  2/5

Cost:  I only needed to buy a new jar of peanut butter.  Everything else was in my pantry.

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cups plain flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 180C/375F.

Thoroughly cream butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and vanilla.

Sift together dry ingredients.  Blend into mixture.

Shape in 1 inch balls.  Roll in granulated sugar.

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking trays.  Press with fork tines in criss-cross pattern.  Bake for 10 – 12 mins.  Cool slightly before removing to a wire rack.

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Comments

  1. Hope Arabella  gets better soon 🙂 …I have had “glange” before and it’s not nice, so good thing she hasn’t got that. The cookies look delicious and definitely good comfort food 🙂

  2. I hope she’s feeling better soon!  After all, she has that amazing dress to wear to the formal! 🙂

  3. Hi,
    I’m sorry to hear she is not feeling well, hopefully she will get well quickly with the help of the tablets.

    The cookies look great, I’m having a nice cup of coffee at the moment, and 1 or even 2 of those would go down well. 🙂

  4. Hope she’s feeling better. Love learning all the different terms that teenagers “over there” use. So I can try them out on my teens!

  5. Poor thing! I had mono also known as Epstein Barr Virus which sounds like glange, except I got it when I was thirty! Knocked me off my feet for a month; I had to be off work! One of our customers has it now since December, and she is fifty! Glad Arabela didn’t have it.
    Those biscuits/cookies would make anyone feel better. Kraft PB has a recipe on the jar that only contains PB and sugar, no flour! I found that interesting.
    http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com

  6. Magnolia Verandah says:

    Oh yes these would have made me feel much better. 4 doz would keep me happy for a while!

  7. o..poor gal…besides she is ill, she can’t have those delicious cookies either.
    Get well soon, Arabella.

  8. Sounds like an awful time to be ill. My son, husband and I just fought off horrible colds that hung on for a week. But at least no strep throat. Hopefully Arabella will be back to health soon. Then you can remove your nurse’s cap.

  9. Get well soon Arabella!

  10. A healthy appetite is always a good indicator of improving health; at least that’s what I say.  Hopefully Arabella will be able to mend quickly enough to enjoy these peanut butter cookies (which we do so love here in the States), and all of her upcoming festivities.  Take care …

  11. Love the simplicity of this recipe.

    PB Cookies make almost everything better! 🙂

  12. Garden Correspondent says:

    It may not be Glange, but Strep is no fun either. I hope Arabella feels better soon (but I have to admit I enjoyed reading how she dealt with it, with characteristic teenage aplomb…)
    I adore PB cookies.

  13. Peanut butter cookies are my favorite! You are a total crack up. I think Arabella and my son are long lost twins. Asking to be examined and then complaining because you’re doing it wrong…then the “no one you know” look…classic. ha!

  14. Well, I’m glad to hear she doesn’t have glange. Those cookies must’ve made her feel a bit better.

  15. Go nurses!!! Sorry, Charlie, I just couldn’t resist. I hope Arabella is feeling better. The cookies look amazing!

  16. I have never had a glandular fever, but it doesn’t sound nice. I’m glad your daughter doesn’t have it finally. The biscuits are really lovely.

  17. Oh poor Arabella…and poor Charlie! What a time! I did have to smile at the phone bill not being paid…I’m forever forgetting to pay the cell phone bill! Yes, we call them cookies! 🙂 I watch a number of BBC shows and it took me the longest time to figure out why everyone was always offering another person “biscuits.” Whatever we call them, anything with these ingredients amounts to something special! Everyone stay well!! Debra

  18. Rocky Mountain Woman says:

    Hope Arabella is ok!  Nothing worse than not being able to eat…lol

    Cookies look just lovely…yum!

  19. Choc Chip Uru says:

    Yuk, hope A is ok – good thing she doesn’t have glange though! But I am totally with her – ice cream when sick and formal over exams – heck yea 😀

    Or maybe if not ice cream, these cookies – they look mouthwatering 🙂

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru
    http://gobakeyourself.wordpress.com/

  20. Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says:

    Oh glad to hear that it wasn’t glandular fever! Now that would be terrible! 

  21. My throat hurts.  Can you make me some cookies?

    P. S. Love name Arabella.  It’s just magical. 

  22. Bitsandbreadcrumbs says:

    Sounds like you both need some TLC, and those cookies look like they’d do the trick. I hope Arabella is over her strep and back in stride soon…and you, too, you good mom you! 🙂

  23. Oh dear poor Arabella. Lucky she has a mum who bakes peanut butter cookies! These look delicious. 

  24. Niasunset says:

    I hope she feels better, now. They really look amazing and delicious, Thank you, with my love, nia 

  25. Hope A feels better. I’ve actually got inflammed glands too but I don’t feel sick. Hopefully it’s not the case of “glange”. You’re super mum – don’t know how you can look after kids and still find the time to bake cookies.

  26. ChgoJohn says:

    I hope the antibiotics get to work so that Arabella misses neither her exams nor formal. Your kids sure do keep you on your toes, Charlie. I hope you get some time to relax and enjoy a couple cookies — before “Mum!” is called again.  🙂

  27. Poor thing.  Strep throat is no fun, but if she could eat crisps, well then, it sounds like she is on the mend.  I certainly hope so as it would be sad to miss the formal…oh, and exams!

    Peanut butter cookies are comfort food for me!

  28. Nic@diningwithastud says:

    Oh Im glad she’s feeling a little better. Hopefully she’s 100% for her formal. These cookies will do the trick 😉

  29. FiSh SzeHui says:

    i’d prefer less sugar sprinkled on it for healthier cookies 😀 

    Latest: Worst Shabu Ever

  30. I think that peanut butter, especially in the form of baked goods, will cure just about anything.  Those cookies are making me hungry!

  31. Glad it’s not the dreaded glange (probably!)! I’d say that these biscuits will provide a good ‘wellness’ test. I’m fairly sure they wouldn’t suit a sore throat, but they would certainly suit any other scenario – so if she’s up for them, she’s probably good for school 🙂

  32. Rebecca Wilcomes says:

    I’ve had Glange, and it’s not much fun. I hope she feels better soon. My nephew has just spent the last 3 days in hospital though from a post-strep infection that affected his kidneys, so watch her carefully Charlie! I’m sure if she can swallow cookie crumbs she’ll be fine though 🙂

  33. Oh the poor thing, and I hope she’s well enough for the formal too. Make sure you don’t catch it!

  34. Mandy - The Complete Cook Book says:

    Oh dear, poor Arabella – nothing worse than a sore throat!  Delightful cookies/biscuits.  I haven’t made anything with peanut butter for ever.
    🙂 Mandy

  35. Barbara at winos and foodies says:

    Poor girl. I hope she is well enough for the school ball. I had glange when I was 18. It’s no fun at all. Love the cookies. Saving the Recipe to make.

  36. Deeps NaughtyCurry says:

    aw, hope she gets well soon… strep throats are the worst! im sure these cookies must have cheered her up some..they look fab

  37. Oh strep throat can be just awful! I hope she’s feeling better. Peanut butter cookies are sure to help. They are one of my childhood favorites.

  38. Jenny @ BAKE says:

    Hope she feels better soon! Gorgeous photos

  39. Oh hope Arabella feels better soon! I hate sore throats 🙁 it’s horrible when you can’t swallow but lol i had to laugh when she wanted ice-cream for dinner and an icy-pole the next time 😛 sounds like me hehe i never listen to the doctor and have warm drinks~ 

  40. Love peanut butter cookies – one of my favourite things from my childhood in fact!

  41. To be honest I was panicking a little I thought she was gonna have the strep…. lucky Im not her mother . Congrats on wearing your uniform and baking at the same time…… hey isnt that not allowed?

Trackbacks

  1. […] they were all from Arabella who was at school only for the second time since being diagnosed with The Glange four weeks ago. Breakfast Beans – Fuel for the […]

  2. […] of this story because my friend Charlie’s daughter (Hotly Spiced) is suffering through ‘the glange‘ herself (glange in Australia, Mono in North America — hey, I wonder what they call it in […]

  3. […] it’s all to do with that Arabella again.  She’s still having blood tests because of The Glange and last week I took her to the local medical centre for the test and she was seen by a doctor  we […]

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