Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I'm Making... Chocolate Chip Cookies

My husband had a boys night tonight, and I was left at home with my two babies. This doesn't happen often and I decided after making sure they were both tucked in to make cookies. What is better then a glass of red wine and some chocolate chip cookies (and of course a chick flick)? I decided since I hadn't tried chocolate chip cookies since starting this blog that I would to see if I could come up with the perfect recipe.

Ingredients: (Makes 12 bigger sized cookies)

• 1/2 cup soften butter

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
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• Recipe:
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together Butter and the brown sugar and white sugar until they are all creamed together.
3. Mix One beaten egg into the mixture. Add Vanilla.
4. Dissolve the baking soda into the hot water add it to the batter along with the salt.
5. Stir in the flour (be patient it might seem too dry at first), before that is finished mixing pour in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
6. Roll the dough into cookie sized balls, then mush them into the shape you want them to be- these cookies don't spread out well so you can make them exactly like you want them at this point. Put them on an un-greased cookie sheet.
7. Cook for 13 minutes. These are crunchy on the outside with the inside still chewy so that's what you are looking for before you take them out.

Review:

I have made some bad chocolate chip cookies in my time, these on the other hand are excellent. They have a wonderful texture, usually when I make cookies they are too cakey for my taste but these are chewy on the inside with a bit of crunch on the outside. I have finally found a keeper of a recipe for chocolate chip cookies!

*On a side note, I have changed the format of the recipes to have ingredients listed above the actual recipe. Leave me a comment if you hate it and I will go back to the old way- If I don't hear anything I'm keeping it.

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Spinach Salad

Today I'm Making... Spinach Salad

I had a birthday brunch last weekend, my mother brought LOTS of food to make sure we had enough. I barreling through lots of it, it was a major hardship eating cafe latte cupcakes, quiche and fresh squeezed OJ :), but midweek I took a look at everything that was left.. mainly eggs, bacon and spinach (and lemons but I couldn't fit them into this particular recipe). The obvious choice was spinach salad, and since it is one of those recipes I order at restaurants because I had it in my head it was going to be too hard to make at home, I thought I would challenge myself and make it happen. I'm glad I did, it tasted just like the restaurant version and I could enjoy it in the comfort of my own home (meaning wearing PJ's instead of nice clothes).

Ingredients:

• 3 salad bowls worth of spinach
• 2 large eggs
• 5 pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 4 white mushrooms
• 1/4 red onion

Recipe: (Makes 3 salads)

1. Take the stems off enough spinach (I used baby spinach) to fill up about 3 bowls, makes sure it's washed and dried then put it all into one big bowl.
2. Cut up 4 white mushrooms, and 1/4 of a red onion (make sure to slice the onion really thin since it is eaten raw). Add them to the big bowl of spinach.
3. Make 2 hard boiled eggs, thinly slice them and put them aside (after cooking them shock them in ice cold water to make them easier to peel).
4. Fry 5 strips of bacon- you need the real stuff- turkey bacon won't produce enough oil that will be needed for the dressing. I used a peppered bacon and it was amazing. You also need to cook it stove top so you can collect all the oil (Don't microwave). When the bacon is cooked, set it aside on paper towels but save all the "drippings"
5. In a small sauce pan on medium low heat combine 3 tablespoons of the bacon grease, 3 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard and 1 teaspoon Sugar, whisk it all together then turn down the heat until ready to use.
6. Add the dressing (the contents of the small sauce pan) to the big bowl of spinach also add the cooked bacon either crumbled or chopped), mix it all together well.
7. Divide the salad into the serving portions, add the sliced egg on top and serve.

Review:

Yeah this was great, just like the restaurants make and you can customize it to your taste (without worrying about a waiter spitting in your food for being difficult). I wouldn't change anything about the way I made it. My husband said I should throw a dinner party to show off the recipe. I'm convinced if I had doubled the recipe he would have just continued eating until it was gone. To top it all off, I didn't even have to go out and buy anything to make it. I would say this is a winning first recipe of 2011.