Do you ever come across a recipe or you see something on the menu and your taste buds say, “Nope! Not for me?” It might sound a little odd, strange or just weird, and you don’t want to taste it.
And then, you finally taste it and absolutely love it!
That doesn’t happen to me often but it is true confession time. That really was me recently. [Read more…]
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I hope you can spend the day with those you love! At our home, special holidays like Valentine’s Day are usually celebrated in the quiet and comfort of home. While we love to go to restaurants and try new foods, we have learned over the years that this may not be the “best” holiday to venture out. The up side of this is that we always plan a fun and special dinner at home. Today is no exception. I can hardly wait to get out the pasta machine and try my hand at homemade pasta. Pair that with lobster, steak, great wine and I think our evening will be a winner. Dessert? Easy peasy—my sweetheart adores brownies and so does my daughter. Dessert will definitely be heart shaped brownie sundaes with homemade hot fudge. We are in for a treat! My special gift request is always and most likely always will be Christopher Elbow milk chocolate turtles. Turtles trump flowers any day. Life is good.
I thought it might be fun to share some of our favorite recipes for your special meals with the ones you love.
Have fun, light the candles, que the playlist and enjoy great tastes! From our home to yours……..Happy Valentine’s Day!
Are you appetizer challenged? Oh no! And this weekend appetizers are almost required!
A few weeks ago, we asked for your recipe requests (a Recipe Request Hotline!) We wanted to know what recipes you wanted from us and we got two requests for appetizers.
We loved those comments and we got some great requests—and would love to get more requests. We will keep answering those requests, so if you have a request, please let us know. [Read more…]
The holidays waved good bye and the dreary January days have replaced all the fa la la and festivities of December. The gingerbread, spritz and thumbprint cookies are a distant memory. I miss the hub bub and baking in the kitchen. I especially miss my nieces and nephews who came to our home and baked cookies with our family. We had a special holiday with those we love.
My husband and I enjoyed our morning coffee with one baked Christmas cookie each day and then……… the cookies were gone! There was a definite gap in our morning routine and I missed the smells of our in-home holiday bakery. I must digress and point out that we begin our daily routine early with a steaming cup of joe and a cookie and then we don our hats and coats and hit the pavement for our morning walk. We are obsessive about reaching our 10,000 step goal each day. In our mind, this helps balance our cookie fetish.
What to do? The Christmas decor is packed away and the cookie jar is empty. There really is only one happy ending to this saga. Go back to the kitchen and start working on new cookie ideas. Yipeeee!! Assignment accepted and off I went.
This was the first post holiday cookie and it was a winner indeed. I rustled through the pantry and found packages of all the flavored chips that had been so seductively displayed at the grocery store before Christmas. The marketing worked precisely as the manufacturers and PR agencies had planned. I think I purchased every mint chip, cinnamon chip, green and red morsel, toffee bit and more that the store offered. In my mind the days would stretch on and on before the holidays and I would have time to bake each and every recipe that I had written in my giant holiday organization notebook. Ha! I was definitely in LaLa Land! The bag that was on top was Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits. This sounded like a step up from chocolate chip cookies. The extra addition of mini chocolate chips made this a winner. When I say winner, I mean a recipe that will make it to my permanent recipe file and will be baked over and over again.
The days are still dreary and the weather is literally running hot and cold. These cookies are the perfect antidote to chase away any winter time blues. I hope you will give them a try!
2- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 package (8 oz.) milk chocolate toffee bits (I used Heath brand)
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, on medium high speed, beat together the butter and shortening until fluffy. Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract; beat well. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and beat until well blended. Beat in the milk chocolate toffee bits and mini chocolate chips. Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Form the dough into 1-inch diameter balls. Place balls about 2-1/2 to 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. (Note: these cookies will spread during baking.)
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack for one minute. Remove cookies from cookie sheet to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies
Tip:
If you don’t keep mini chocolate chips on hand, you can substitute regular chocolate chips.
If I didn’t have a “picky” teenager under roof, I would add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to this batter also.
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Happy New Year! There is something invigorating about that pristine calendar. Nothing crossed off yet. Clean, white pages just waiting!
Holidays are already printed there! Then, do you first put the fun trips and family events that will make the New Year wonderful? What is already written on yours?
There is something helpful about remembering what the last year held. The good? The crazy? The sad? The, “why, oh why did I do that?” We all have some of those, right? [Read more…]
