Ooohhh...I had such plans tonight of sitting in front of the fire and blogging tonight but got totally sucked into Office reruns. Why is that show so funny even when you know what's going to happen??
Dinner tonight: homemade pepperoni pizza with veggies added: onion and mushroom for me; onion, mushroom, and a big handful of diced green pepper for DH (discovery - nothing keeps me from eating too much pizza like putting green pepper on two thirds of it...). Everyone got a side of snow peas for munching.
Happy New Year! I'll be back next week.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
You Say You Want A Re(s)olution
Okay readers, any food resolutions this year? I have one: Up our veggie intake. I've written before that since DH and I don't always like the same vegetables, I can be a little lax about serving them around here. But this year I'm going to make a bigger effort to find common ground, get us out of our peas/sweet potatoes/salad rut, and make vegetables have a bit more of a starring role at the dinner table. Added bonus - searching out more vegetable ideas and recipes gives me something to write about!
I got a jump start tonight. I made one of our favorites, homemade tomato soup, for dinner. But I upped the nutrition a smidgen by adding some of the carrots that Rudolph and friends didn't polish off last Friday night. It was great with the carrots - just slightly sweeter, but if I hadn't told you, you would never have known. I've posted the recipe before, but here it is updated, with the carrots included. This makes 8 large servings.
Classic Tomato Soup
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons tomato paste (I like Muir Glen brand)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
32 ounces chicken stock
2 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes in juice (My favorite tomatoes for this soup are the Cento brand tomatoes)
In a large dutch oven, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Add onion, carrot, salt and pepper, cook for 5-7 minutes. Stir in flour and tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add thyme, broth, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Use your immersion blender to puree the soup, making it as chunky or as smooth as you prefer. I actually like mine pretty smooth. Taste for seasonings - need more salt and pepper? Add it in. Serve hot. (Note - when I give this to my boys, I actually mix it with some milk, roughly 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 cup of soup. It cuts the acidity, making it a more mellow taste, and cools it off).
Perfect on these chilly nights we've been having!
I got a jump start tonight. I made one of our favorites, homemade tomato soup, for dinner. But I upped the nutrition a smidgen by adding some of the carrots that Rudolph and friends didn't polish off last Friday night. It was great with the carrots - just slightly sweeter, but if I hadn't told you, you would never have known. I've posted the recipe before, but here it is updated, with the carrots included. This makes 8 large servings.
Classic Tomato Soup
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons tomato paste (I like Muir Glen brand)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
32 ounces chicken stock
2 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes in juice (My favorite tomatoes for this soup are the Cento brand tomatoes)
In a large dutch oven, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Add onion, carrot, salt and pepper, cook for 5-7 minutes. Stir in flour and tomato paste and cook for another minute. Add thyme, broth, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Use your immersion blender to puree the soup, making it as chunky or as smooth as you prefer. I actually like mine pretty smooth. Taste for seasonings - need more salt and pepper? Add it in. Serve hot. (Note - when I give this to my boys, I actually mix it with some milk, roughly 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 cup of soup. It cuts the acidity, making it a more mellow taste, and cools it off).
Perfect on these chilly nights we've been having!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Clean It Up
As my husband often says at the end of a 72 hour shift: I am beginning to fatigue. I have been on a tear in the past 3 hours to get all Christmas decorations packed up and put away. Normally we enjoy them for another week, but we have so much going on this week that this is my only chance to do it. I'm almost finished, but sat down for a moment to ponder how it's possible that my ornaments apparently tripled in volume this month.
We had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas. Absolutely amazing, and after much reflection, I've decided that it's because we started and ended the day just right.
With chocolate.
In the morning we had our chocolate croissants from Williams-Sonoma. Hello!! Put it on your calendar RIGHT NOW to order them for your family next year. They were amazing (and I swear, no affiliation here with W-S). They are officially our new family food tradition.
In the evening we had a wonderful Christmas dinner of baked brie with cranberries, roasted beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes with gravy, salad with warm goat cheese, and peppermint chocolate trifle (made by Attorney Mom, whose family's presence is now forever mandatory at our Christmas table). Amazing, amazing, amazing. I promise next year to blog all of those recipes at the beginning of December (Attorney Mom, are you paying attention? Write it down!) - I think it's a safe assumption that everyone is ready to move on from the Big Heavy Holiday Meals?
Which brings us to dinner tonight. In an effort to use up the massive amounts of leftovers we have, without actually repeating Christmas dinner, here is what's on our menu:
Roast beef sandwiches (serves 2). Slice two small wheat baguettes in half, broil for approximately 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and spread each piece of baguette with a thin layer of goat cheese. Slice cold roast beef as thinly as possible and place on baguette (4-6 thin slices per person). Add baby greens, and serve with a big handful of cherry tomatoes on the side.
Happy eating!
We had a wonderful, wonderful Christmas. Absolutely amazing, and after much reflection, I've decided that it's because we started and ended the day just right.
With chocolate.
In the morning we had our chocolate croissants from Williams-Sonoma. Hello!! Put it on your calendar RIGHT NOW to order them for your family next year. They were amazing (and I swear, no affiliation here with W-S). They are officially our new family food tradition.
In the evening we had a wonderful Christmas dinner of baked brie with cranberries, roasted beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes with gravy, salad with warm goat cheese, and peppermint chocolate trifle (made by Attorney Mom, whose family's presence is now forever mandatory at our Christmas table). Amazing, amazing, amazing. I promise next year to blog all of those recipes at the beginning of December (Attorney Mom, are you paying attention? Write it down!) - I think it's a safe assumption that everyone is ready to move on from the Big Heavy Holiday Meals?
Which brings us to dinner tonight. In an effort to use up the massive amounts of leftovers we have, without actually repeating Christmas dinner, here is what's on our menu:
Roast beef sandwiches (serves 2). Slice two small wheat baguettes in half, broil for approximately 2-3 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and spread each piece of baguette with a thin layer of goat cheese. Slice cold roast beef as thinly as possible and place on baguette (4-6 thin slices per person). Add baby greens, and serve with a big handful of cherry tomatoes on the side.
Happy eating!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
We have officially arrived at what is to me the best part of the Christmas season: the Happy Anticipation phase. We've moved past the Cheerful-Hustle-And-Bustle phase, right through the Panicked-It-Will-Never-All-Get-Done phase (which, given how terrible a head cold I had last week, teetered dangerously on turning into a Screw-It-There's-Always-Next-Year phase), and now I get to do what I look forward to every year.
Enjoy it.
Gifts are all bought (though not wrapped - there's still time for that). Cards have been mailed. Tree is trimmed, halls are decked, and "Santa is watching" has been completely worn out as a parenting tool. Nothing left to do but eat too much. Ah, how I love the holidays.
***
A follow up on my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Jessica (she of the perfectly lumpy cookies) arrived with her family Friday night, and first thing Saturday morning we had a cookie tutorial. I think we've decided I might have been overmixing the dough by using my standmixer. I'm proud to say I made my own batch of perfect cookies today, and promptly gained 45 pounds. Thanks, Jessie.
***
Peppermint bark follow up - on the suggestion of a posting on another website, this year I'm making it with a layer of dark chocolate underneath. Mmmmm.
***
Merry merry, everyone.
Enjoy it.
Gifts are all bought (though not wrapped - there's still time for that). Cards have been mailed. Tree is trimmed, halls are decked, and "Santa is watching" has been completely worn out as a parenting tool. Nothing left to do but eat too much. Ah, how I love the holidays.
***
A follow up on my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Jessica (she of the perfectly lumpy cookies) arrived with her family Friday night, and first thing Saturday morning we had a cookie tutorial. I think we've decided I might have been overmixing the dough by using my standmixer. I'm proud to say I made my own batch of perfect cookies today, and promptly gained 45 pounds. Thanks, Jessie.
***
Peppermint bark follow up - on the suggestion of a posting on another website, this year I'm making it with a layer of dark chocolate underneath. Mmmmm.
***
Merry merry, everyone.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
I'm Dreaming of a White Pizza
Brilliance alert!
(Okay, perhaps 'brilliance' is too strong a word. But I'm a little jazzed up on cold medicine and given to hyperbole today).
Easy and fast dinner idea, and oh so yummy. Here are the steps:
1) Review pizza tips post, and remember to check that you have cornmeal.
2) Before you leave for work/school/crazy errand running in the morning, take your pizza dough out of the freezer and set it on the counter. Leave it there all day, and it will have plenty of time to defrost and rise (minimum 6 hours, and leaving it alone as long as 9 hours will be just fine). If the package is tied with a twist tie, don't forget to loosen it so the dough will have room to rise.
3) On your way home from work/school/crazy errand running, pop into the grocery store and pick up a jar of pesto, a rotisserie chicken, and a package of mozzarella cheese. (I've actually been using pesto I made last summer and froze, when my basil was growing out of control) (If you're really organized, you could make roasted chicken one night and then use the leftovers for this pizza - just have the cheese and pesto ahead of time, and you've saved a trip to the market).
4) When you walk in the door, your dough is ready for you. Preheat your oven, to 425, roll out the dough, and spread on the pesto. Top with cheese and roasted chicken. Bake for 20 minutes until the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbly. That gives you just enough time to pour some wine, flip through the mail and marvel at all the Christmas card pictures, and get every one's hands washed.
5) Supper is ready!
Enjoy.
(Okay, perhaps 'brilliance' is too strong a word. But I'm a little jazzed up on cold medicine and given to hyperbole today).
Easy and fast dinner idea, and oh so yummy. Here are the steps:
1) Review pizza tips post, and remember to check that you have cornmeal.
2) Before you leave for work/school/crazy errand running in the morning, take your pizza dough out of the freezer and set it on the counter. Leave it there all day, and it will have plenty of time to defrost and rise (minimum 6 hours, and leaving it alone as long as 9 hours will be just fine). If the package is tied with a twist tie, don't forget to loosen it so the dough will have room to rise.
3) On your way home from work/school/crazy errand running, pop into the grocery store and pick up a jar of pesto, a rotisserie chicken, and a package of mozzarella cheese. (I've actually been using pesto I made last summer and froze, when my basil was growing out of control) (If you're really organized, you could make roasted chicken one night and then use the leftovers for this pizza - just have the cheese and pesto ahead of time, and you've saved a trip to the market).
4) When you walk in the door, your dough is ready for you. Preheat your oven, to 425, roll out the dough, and spread on the pesto. Top with cheese and roasted chicken. Bake for 20 minutes until the crust is brown and the cheese is bubbly. That gives you just enough time to pour some wine, flip through the mail and marvel at all the Christmas card pictures, and get every one's hands washed.
5) Supper is ready!
Enjoy.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Season's Greetings
Cold and flu season, that is.
Do you remember the old commercial for cold medicine that featured a family of huge, red noses? That's us. We have been a group of pathetic snifflers this weekend, and all semblance of household caretaking has gone right out the window. No laundry, no errands, no meal planning, no cooking...only pitiful shuffling between the medicine cabinet and the tissues, with vague worries about whether 5 hours in a row of Christmas specials would turn my kids' brains into mush.
On the upside - it looks like we're all on the mend. Which means I can get back to the real business at hand: Christmas.
I've pulled out my various clippings of favorite Christmas recipes, and stumbled on one I haven't made for a while: peppermint bark. This is an old Martha Stewart recipe, and truly could not be easier (or more fun for your kids, for that matter - give them a meat mallet and let them go nuts breaking up the peppermint).
Peppermint Bark
Melt 2 pounds of white chocolate (I use white chocolate chips) in the top of double boiler, or in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Place 12 candy canes in a plastic bag and crush into 1/4 inch pieces with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer. Stir chopped candy cane and 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract into melted chocolate. Remove from heat, and pour mixture onto an 11x17 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. Chill until firm; break into pieces. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Do you remember the old commercial for cold medicine that featured a family of huge, red noses? That's us. We have been a group of pathetic snifflers this weekend, and all semblance of household caretaking has gone right out the window. No laundry, no errands, no meal planning, no cooking...only pitiful shuffling between the medicine cabinet and the tissues, with vague worries about whether 5 hours in a row of Christmas specials would turn my kids' brains into mush.
On the upside - it looks like we're all on the mend. Which means I can get back to the real business at hand: Christmas.
I've pulled out my various clippings of favorite Christmas recipes, and stumbled on one I haven't made for a while: peppermint bark. This is an old Martha Stewart recipe, and truly could not be easier (or more fun for your kids, for that matter - give them a meat mallet and let them go nuts breaking up the peppermint).
Peppermint Bark
Melt 2 pounds of white chocolate (I use white chocolate chips) in the top of double boiler, or in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Place 12 candy canes in a plastic bag and crush into 1/4 inch pieces with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer. Stir chopped candy cane and 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract into melted chocolate. Remove from heat, and pour mixture onto an 11x17 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. Chill until firm; break into pieces. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Baby, It's Cold Outside
We have been in survival mode this week, between travels for work, an incredibly sick little one, and other general craziness. Do you ever feel like you're under attack from your own life? That's us this week.
I intended to test another cookie recipe this week, but since life got in the way, we'll do that this weekend. Instead, since the entire country seems to be having cold weather (even Savannah!), here's a delicious white chili recipe to keep you toasty warm. Side note: isn't it funny how food carries with it such powerful memories? I have a distinct memory of the first time I made this at home, watching UNC beat UConn in basketball - that particular win sticks out, since it was the 8-20 year (aka The Year We All Want To Forget).
Stay warm!
White Chili
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 4 ounce can diced green chilis
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 15 ounce cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 14ounce can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups finely copped cooked chicken (I often use a grocery store rotisserie chicken for this)
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion and garlic in the oil in a medium stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat for 4 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add chiles, flour, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add beans and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer for 10 minutes or until thick. Stir in the chicken. Cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish as you like with Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, salsa, and/or chopped green onions.
I intended to test another cookie recipe this week, but since life got in the way, we'll do that this weekend. Instead, since the entire country seems to be having cold weather (even Savannah!), here's a delicious white chili recipe to keep you toasty warm. Side note: isn't it funny how food carries with it such powerful memories? I have a distinct memory of the first time I made this at home, watching UNC beat UConn in basketball - that particular win sticks out, since it was the 8-20 year (aka The Year We All Want To Forget).
Stay warm!
White Chili
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 4 ounce can diced green chilis
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 15 ounce cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 14ounce can chicken broth
1 1/2 cups finely copped cooked chicken (I often use a grocery store rotisserie chicken for this)
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion and garlic in the oil in a medium stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat for 4 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add chiles, flour, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add beans and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer for 10 minutes or until thick. Stir in the chicken. Cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and garnish as you like with Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, salsa, and/or chopped green onions.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Cookie Monster
I am actually blogging a recipe before I've even tasted it. This seems terribly backwards, but it's a cookie recipe, I've just taken them out of the oven, and they are far too hot to eat. So I've got about 5 minutes during which I can either fold laundry or get started on tonight's blog.
Anything, anything, to avoid folding laundry.
Atlanta Mom sent me this recipe, which looked wonderful. I gotta tell you, though, my finished product looks nothing like the picture. Let's hope all our mothers were right, and looks really aren't everything.
Let me start by saying: Oh, hell.
I just went to the website to copy the recipe and noticed a very helpful link. To step-by-step pictures of the recipe being made. And let me tell you - not only do my cookies not look like the picture, but my steps didn't quite resemble theirs, either.
Pressing on. Here's the recipe, with my notes.
Sparkling Cranberry Gems, courtesy of King Arthur Flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, organic preferred; or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I did the white whole wheat flour. Who knew such a thing existed? Not me until about a week ago, but I'm going to try it in my pumpkin bread recipe next)
1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) dried cranberries, packed
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into pats
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) milk
Coating
scant 1/2 cup (about 3 1/2 ounces) coarse white sparkling sugar (Which, for the record, is NOT the same as natural turnadino sugar. Guess which one I bought at the grocery store, since my Publix apparently does not sell coarse white sparkling sugar. )
Place the flour and dried cranberries in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cranberries are coarsely shredded. Imagine a single dried cranberry cut into about 4 pieces: that’s your goal. (Okay, I was totally with you here)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. (Got it. Done.)
Whisk together the flour/cranberry mixture, sugar, baking powder, and salt. (Oops. From the pictures that I NOW see, when you said "whisk," you actually meant "whisk." I must admit that caused some confusion when I was making these, because here I was, trotting along in my food processor. And then I thought, surely they don't mean for me to pull out two major countertop appliances all for one recipe? So I didn't. But you did.)
Add the vanilla and butter, mixing until the butter is thoroughly distributed, but some pea-sized chunks still remain. Dribble in the milk while mixing; the dough will become cohesive. (So far, so good, this still worked out okay in the food processor, at least theoretically. Hey, if it's good enough for pie crust, it's good enough for cookies, right? RIGHT?)
Place the coarse sugar in a plastic bag; about 1-quart size should do. Using a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop the dough by 1 3/4-teaspoonfuls (about 1 ¼" balls) into the bag, 6 or 8 at a time. Close the top of the bag, and gently shake to coat the balls with sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, and use the bottom of a glass to flatten them to about ¼" thick (about 1 ½" in diameter). (I must confess, I didn't do this step. I had a comment from a reader with my last post that perhaps I should refrigerate my cookie dough to keep it from spreading. So tonight, once I had the dough made, I popped it in the fridge for about 2 hours, and then wasn't going to blow all that effort by mushing them down myself - otherwise how would I know if they spread or not? Sure enough, I have a whole sheet pan of still-fat cookies cooling downstairs. Brilliant. I'll try the oatmeal ones one more time.) Repeat with the remaining dough.Bake the cookies for 16 to 17 minutes, until they’re set and barely, BARELY beginning to brown around the very edge; the tops shouldn’t be brown at all. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.
Yield: about 3 dozen cookies. (Really? Because I barely got 19. Is this where the whisk would have helped me out?)
***
For those of you who want the helpful link, instead of my version, here it is.
***
Now - hold on just a sec, I'm running downstairs for a glass of milk and a taste test.
***
I'm back. And the verdict is...
Um. Weird.
But perhaps you'll have better luck, following the real directions?
Happy eating!
Anything, anything, to avoid folding laundry.
Atlanta Mom sent me this recipe, which looked wonderful. I gotta tell you, though, my finished product looks nothing like the picture. Let's hope all our mothers were right, and looks really aren't everything.
Let me start by saying: Oh, hell.
I just went to the website to copy the recipe and noticed a very helpful link. To step-by-step pictures of the recipe being made. And let me tell you - not only do my cookies not look like the picture, but my steps didn't quite resemble theirs, either.
Pressing on. Here's the recipe, with my notes.
Sparkling Cranberry Gems, courtesy of King Arthur Flour
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, organic preferred; or King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (I did the white whole wheat flour. Who knew such a thing existed? Not me until about a week ago, but I'm going to try it in my pumpkin bread recipe next)
1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) dried cranberries, packed
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into pats
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) milk
Coating
scant 1/2 cup (about 3 1/2 ounces) coarse white sparkling sugar (Which, for the record, is NOT the same as natural turnadino sugar. Guess which one I bought at the grocery store, since my Publix apparently does not sell coarse white sparkling sugar. )
Place the flour and dried cranberries in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the cranberries are coarsely shredded. Imagine a single dried cranberry cut into about 4 pieces: that’s your goal. (Okay, I was totally with you here)
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. (Got it. Done.)
Whisk together the flour/cranberry mixture, sugar, baking powder, and salt. (Oops. From the pictures that I NOW see, when you said "whisk," you actually meant "whisk." I must admit that caused some confusion when I was making these, because here I was, trotting along in my food processor. And then I thought, surely they don't mean for me to pull out two major countertop appliances all for one recipe? So I didn't. But you did.)
Add the vanilla and butter, mixing until the butter is thoroughly distributed, but some pea-sized chunks still remain. Dribble in the milk while mixing; the dough will become cohesive. (So far, so good, this still worked out okay in the food processor, at least theoretically. Hey, if it's good enough for pie crust, it's good enough for cookies, right? RIGHT?)
Place the coarse sugar in a plastic bag; about 1-quart size should do. Using a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon), scoop the dough by 1 3/4-teaspoonfuls (about 1 ¼" balls) into the bag, 6 or 8 at a time. Close the top of the bag, and gently shake to coat the balls with sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheet, and use the bottom of a glass to flatten them to about ¼" thick (about 1 ½" in diameter). (I must confess, I didn't do this step. I had a comment from a reader with my last post that perhaps I should refrigerate my cookie dough to keep it from spreading. So tonight, once I had the dough made, I popped it in the fridge for about 2 hours, and then wasn't going to blow all that effort by mushing them down myself - otherwise how would I know if they spread or not? Sure enough, I have a whole sheet pan of still-fat cookies cooling downstairs. Brilliant. I'll try the oatmeal ones one more time.) Repeat with the remaining dough.Bake the cookies for 16 to 17 minutes, until they’re set and barely, BARELY beginning to brown around the very edge; the tops shouldn’t be brown at all. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.
Yield: about 3 dozen cookies. (Really? Because I barely got 19. Is this where the whisk would have helped me out?)
***
For those of you who want the helpful link, instead of my version, here it is.
***
Now - hold on just a sec, I'm running downstairs for a glass of milk and a taste test.
***
I'm back. And the verdict is...
Um. Weird.
But perhaps you'll have better luck, following the real directions?
Happy eating!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Got Milk?
I am hosting our neighborhood moms' annual cookie exchange, which means I have the perfect excuse to test cookie recipes all month. Now, I am NOT a baker. I try, I really do, but there's a lot of precision and attention to detail required when baking that I find simply unattainable. Particularly when baking with my 5 year old, who insists on doing all the measuring and mixing himself. But we do the best we can and figure Santa isn't that picky about the cookies we leave him.
Today's recipe is my all time favorite cookie recipe. To me, it's not Christmas without these cookies. At least, as long as my friend Jessica is making them. When she makes them, they are delightfully dense and fat, like little wonderful lumps of yumminess. When I make them, they still taste good, but they spread out so much they're more like pancake cookies. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've tried everything - switching my cookie sheets, cooking at a lower temperature, making sure the butter is room temperature, making sure the butter is cool room temperature...either when she gave me the recipe she left out some secret ingredient or step, or I'm just incompetent.
The good news is, she and her adorable family are coming to visit for a night in a couple of weeks, and if I am very, very lucky she'll bring me some. In the meantime, I'm posting the recipe so you, dear readers, can try them. And if you're an expert and know what I'm doing wrong, please please tell me. I want my lumps of yummy, and I want them now.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 cups old fashioned oats
Preheat oven to 375 (note: I've also done 350. Works fine at that temp, but they still spread). Mix butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs in one bowl until smooth. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet. When completely mixed, add oats and then chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake until light golden brown. Makes 5 dozen cookies.
Today's recipe is my all time favorite cookie recipe. To me, it's not Christmas without these cookies. At least, as long as my friend Jessica is making them. When she makes them, they are delightfully dense and fat, like little wonderful lumps of yumminess. When I make them, they still taste good, but they spread out so much they're more like pancake cookies. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I've tried everything - switching my cookie sheets, cooking at a lower temperature, making sure the butter is room temperature, making sure the butter is cool room temperature...either when she gave me the recipe she left out some secret ingredient or step, or I'm just incompetent.
The good news is, she and her adorable family are coming to visit for a night in a couple of weeks, and if I am very, very lucky she'll bring me some. In the meantime, I'm posting the recipe so you, dear readers, can try them. And if you're an expert and know what I'm doing wrong, please please tell me. I want my lumps of yummy, and I want them now.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 cups old fashioned oats
Preheat oven to 375 (note: I've also done 350. Works fine at that temp, but they still spread). Mix butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs in one bowl until smooth. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet. When completely mixed, add oats and then chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake until light golden brown. Makes 5 dozen cookies.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Christmas Morning
WHEW.
Is any one else completely tired of all things food-related? After all the planning, shopping, preparing, and of course EATING last week, even I don't want to give food another thought.
And yet here I am, already planning for Christmas morning.
When I was growing up, my Mom always made a fabulous coffee cake for Christmas breakfast, and I love it to this day. But I don't make it now because my husband isn't as crazy about it (though let's be honest - his holiday tastes are a little suspect, as he comes from a family that has cookies and diet coke for Christmas breakfast). I've tried doing cinnamon rolls, which are fine but nothing special, and big breakfast casseroles, which are great but too much work to put together on Christmas Eve now that we have to help Santa get everything ready for Christmas morning.
But now, I think I've settled on a new tradition for our family: chocolate croissants. My friend Leigh brought these to our last girls weekend trip (where the inspiration for this blog was born), and they were, in a word, Fabulous. I've just placed my order from them from Williams-Sonoma, and am feeling quite pleased with myself to have at least one meal in this crazy month planned.
***
Another recipe from our supper club, this one from our French friend Lucie, who is so incredibly stylish that even her food looks gorgeous.
Roasted Veggies Couscous Salad (serves 6 people)
2 cups of couscous
2.5 cups of chicken stock
Roast half a butternut squash, 2 sweet potatoes (olive oil , salt and pepper in the oven at 350 for an hour)
Pour the boiling chicken stock over the dry couscous - cover and wait 5 minutes....add the roast veggies and as many blanched snow peas as you like.
Dressing: whisk together and pour over couscous 2 tbs of olive oil, 1/2 tsp of harissa paste (chili paste), 1/4 cup of chopped mint, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1 tbs of honey
voila! bon appetit!
Is any one else completely tired of all things food-related? After all the planning, shopping, preparing, and of course EATING last week, even I don't want to give food another thought.
And yet here I am, already planning for Christmas morning.
When I was growing up, my Mom always made a fabulous coffee cake for Christmas breakfast, and I love it to this day. But I don't make it now because my husband isn't as crazy about it (though let's be honest - his holiday tastes are a little suspect, as he comes from a family that has cookies and diet coke for Christmas breakfast). I've tried doing cinnamon rolls, which are fine but nothing special, and big breakfast casseroles, which are great but too much work to put together on Christmas Eve now that we have to help Santa get everything ready for Christmas morning.
But now, I think I've settled on a new tradition for our family: chocolate croissants. My friend Leigh brought these to our last girls weekend trip (where the inspiration for this blog was born), and they were, in a word, Fabulous. I've just placed my order from them from Williams-Sonoma, and am feeling quite pleased with myself to have at least one meal in this crazy month planned.
***
Another recipe from our supper club, this one from our French friend Lucie, who is so incredibly stylish that even her food looks gorgeous.
Roasted Veggies Couscous Salad (serves 6 people)
2 cups of couscous
2.5 cups of chicken stock
Roast half a butternut squash, 2 sweet potatoes (olive oil , salt and pepper in the oven at 350 for an hour)
Pour the boiling chicken stock over the dry couscous - cover and wait 5 minutes....add the roast veggies and as many blanched snow peas as you like.
Dressing: whisk together and pour over couscous 2 tbs of olive oil, 1/2 tsp of harissa paste (chili paste), 1/4 cup of chopped mint, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 1 tbs of honey
voila! bon appetit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)