Chocolate Chip Cookies

From: http://www.howsdoesshe.com/

Here is the recipe, but don’t go getting all excited and jumping into making them! Aren’t you just too curious to learn my tips and tricks that MAKE the recipe the BEST out there? I thought so. So, sit back down and read this all the way through FIRST. Then, when you are through wiping the drool from your chins, gather your supplies and get to making your OWN batch!


Here are the magic players:

• 2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter, melted (yes, I said MELTED)
• 1 Cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar (granulated)
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 Cups Milk chocolate chips

Ready, Freddy? Let’s go!

1. First, gather all of your bad boys together into one place. This is partly for convenience, and partly to be sure you HAVE everything in the house that you need BEFORE you start making the dough!

2. Slap that butter into a microwave-safe bowl and start melting it. Okay, this went against everything I thought I knew about cookie-making. Melt the butter? Wha?!? Yes, melt that baby, melt it good!

3. While that butter is melting (it’s okay, breathe, it will work out) you can start to combine your dry ingredients into another bowl. Tip: When measuring flour, take a large, heaping cup full, then use a ruler or other straight edge to carefully skim off the top. Do NOT do the “tap tap tap down” thing as you’ll compact the flour instead of getting 1 cup of light fluffy goodness. Add to the flour the baking soda and salt. Whisk it together to combine.

4. Your butter should now be melted, so take it out of the microwave and be prepared to mix in the sugars. Tip: when measuring your brown sugar, you want to cram as much into that cup measurement as possible! Pretty much exactly the opposite as you did with the flour. Pack it in, baby, pack, pack, pack! Add the brown sugar and white sugar to the melted butter and beat until smooth.

5. Then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Tip: When baking, it’s actually BETTER to use the artificial vanilla. When the real stuff get’s super heated (like, oh, 350 degrees or so) it actually loses some of it’s flavor! So feel free to be cheap here. It’s like my mantra, any way.

6. Oooh, baby, baby. Ahem.. sorry about that. I got lost in the cookie dough madness for a second. Okay, now we’re going to add the chocolate chips. PAY ATTENTION! You only want to add about HALF of the chocolate chips now. Don’t be tempted to add all of them… trust me. Put aside 1/3 – 1/2 of the chocolate chips in a small bowl and mix the rest in with the dough. You’ll thank me in a minute… Tip: Milk chocolate chips taste the BEST, but if you find the cookies a little on the sweet side, substitute half of the chips with semi-sweet.

7. Don’t get all excited now that your incredibly delicious dough is ready and waiting. Here is the rub: you need to stick that bowl of doughy goodness in your fridge for about an hour. If you bake it right now, you’ll end up with thin, frisbee-sized cookies that are not very appetizing (although, let’s be honest… anything involving chocolate is appetizing). So, stick that dough in the fridge, and walk away. Walk away before you are tempted above that which you can withstand. Oh, alright, have a little taste and THEN walk away. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll walk away now. Don’t worry, I’ll watch it for you. It’s not going anywhere. Come back in an hour.

8. Hey, you’re back! Wait… is that cookie dough on your cheek? Huh. Anyway, nab that bowl of chocolate chips that you put to the side, get out your baking sheets, and let’s start rolling! Tip: use a scoop to measure out balls which are uniform in size. This will prevent some from over-baking while others are undercooked. Okay, roll some dough to form a ball, then (ooh, you’ll love this) dip the top of the ball into the bowl of reserved chocolate chips. Then place a couple of inches apart on your baking sheet. This is what will give your cookies that “perfect” look. Stick them in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake for about 13 minutes. You want to remove them when the tops are just the tiniest bit shiny.

Voila! Everyone ooh and ahh with me for a moment. These are melt-in-your-mouth good. I warn you, they will go fast. Sooo fast.

Magic Wands

Ingredients


• 1 (15 ounce) package pretzel rods
• 1 (16 ounce) container prepared vanilla frosting (or melted white chocolate)
• 1/2 cup sprinkles or colored sugar for decoration

**Dip each pretzel rod into frosting, not quite half way. Roll in sprinkles to coat the frosting. Abracadabra, you have a magic wand!

For Halloween....make ghosts

Individual Baked Eggs

Ingredients

• 1 slice bacon
• 1 teaspoon melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1/4 slice Cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown, but still flexible. Wrap bacon slice around the inside of a muffin cup. Place a teaspoon of butter (or bacon grease) in the bottom of muffin cup. Drop in egg.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Place 1/4 slice of cheese over egg, and continue cooking until cheese is melted and egg is cooked.

**This recipe is for 1 serving. Scale it to the number of eggs you would like to bake.

You can cook 12 eggs in a muffin pan. If you are doing less, try to space them out in the pan for more even cooking.

Cooking times vary in different ovens and at different altitudes; adjust accordingly.

Chili Seasoning Mix

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1 tablespoon dried, minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a bowl, stir together flour, chili powder, red pepper, onion, garlic, sugar, cumin, parsley, salt, basil and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

**This is better than pre-packaged mixes. Omit the flour in the mix. If you'd like to thicken your chili, use refried beans instead--no one will notice-I promise! Use 1/4 cup at a time until it's as thick as you'd like it. Use the seasoning mix as follows: for a small batch of chili use 2T of mix with 1 lb meat of choice, any other veg additions and 1 can of drained/rinsed beans (or about 6-8 oz dry beans, cooked), 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 can reg sized can tomato sauce. For a bigger batch use about 4T of mix with 2 lbs meat, 1 pound of dry beans (cooked) or about 3 cans rinsed/drained beans, 2 cans reg sized tomato sauce, 1 (or 2) cans diced tomatoes, and some water if you'd like to thin it. This is only to give others an idea of how much mix for the beans/meat/tomato ratio. It's very forgiving. This makes a very very good plain ole fashioned no frills chili. Also, if you want this just warm...decrease pepper flakes to 1 tsp--it's still plenty warm for those who don't like it hot (like me!). I did jump up the chili powder amount to 2 level TB instead of 4 tsp.

Popcorn Balls

• 3/4 cup light corn syrup

• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 teaspoons cold water
• 2 5/8 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup marshmallows
• 5 quarts plain popped popcorn

Directions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the corn syrup, margarine, cold water, confectioners' sugar and marshmallows. Heat and stir until the mixture comes to a boil. Carefully combine the hot mixture with the popcorn, coating each kernel.

2. Grease hands with vegetable shortening and quickly shape the coated popcorn into balls before it cools. Wrap with cellophane or plastic wrap and store at room temperature

Spicy Refrigerator Dill Pickles

 Ingredients

• 12 3 to 4 inch long pickling cucumbers
• 2 cups water
• 1 3/4 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh dill weed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon pickling spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dill seed
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 4 sprigs fresh dill weed

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers, water, vinegar, chopped dill, sugar, garlic, salt, pickling spice, dill seed, and red pepper flakes. Stir, and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, until the sugar and salt dissolve.

2. Remove the cucumbers to three 1 1/2 pint wide mouth jars, placing 4 cucumbers into each jar. Ladle in the liquid from the bowl to cover. Place a sprig of fresh dill into each jar, and seal with lids. Refrigerate for 10 days before eating. Use within 1 month.

I halved the sugar because I like more of a tart and garlicky pickle--wonderful!

I made a batch of these pickles and everyone I gave then to really like the pickles. But you need to cut back on the sugar. I made a double batch of brine and I only used 2 Tbs of sugar and I also used jarred jalapeno pepper in place of red pepper flakes. I used about 7 or 8 jalapeno slices per jar, You can do anything you want for the heat.

To sum it all up, we have eaten two jars of these pickles in only six days!! Yum! I added sliced onions, extra red pepper, used more vinegar than the recipe callled for and used pickling salt instead of regular coarse salt. I also sliced the cucumbers instead of pickling them whole so we could use them on sandwiches too. They stayed SO crispy!!

Witch’s Brew

4 cups apple cider
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
Juice of 1 lemon, about 3 tablespoons
1 block of dry ice
1 large cast iron dutch oven
1 large metal bowl (which can easily fit inside the dutch oven)
Chilled glass mugs

Directions
Add the apple cider, pomegranate juice, grated ginger, and lemon juice together in a pitcher.

Wearing gloves and using a hammer, smash the dry ice into large chunks. Place a few in the bottom of the dutch oven and add water to cover. Place the metal bowl inside the dutch oven and pour in the brew. Use a ladle to fill the mugs for your guests.

COOKS NOTES & SAFETY TIPS: Use a metal bowl to fit inside the dutch oven because glass can shatter from the extreme low temperature of the dry ice. It is also advisable to wear gloves to protect your hands when using dry ice.