A-Mazing Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I have the best neighbors ever.  Over the course of 3 days, I got well over 2 feet of snow-and two of my neighbors made sure that my driveway and sidewalks were snowblowed!  As a thank you, I decided some warm, homemade cookies were in order.  I do love cookies, especially chocolate chip ones, and I had heard about a recipe that used melted butter instead of creaming it together with the sugar and eggs.  I wanted to give it a try-so glad I did. 

Some searching found me the recipe from America's Test Kitchen for their cookies on another blog.  Everything I've ever made from that show/website has turned out great--and this recipe is no exception.  If you are a fan of Paradise Bakery cookies, you'll love this recipe.  Seriously, I had to take the cookies over right away because they were way too yummy.

Tips:
The browned butter is the most important part of this recipe--you can really taste the nutty/caramelly flavor, so don't skip that step.  Use real butter! I followed the recipe exactly.  Don't overmix the sugar or the flour, just slowly incorporate.  Chewy, golden, crunchy on the edges...so good.  Try it.  

These cookies would be amazing with other types of add-ins like white chips and craisens, or nuts.  Just make sure you've got cold milk on hand!

Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen Presents:
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
 ½ tsp. baking soda
10 + 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cups packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. table salt
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
1 ¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place the oven rack in the middle position.  Line 2 large (18×12 inch) baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
• Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl and set aside.
• Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in 10-inch skillet (if possible, do not use nonstick) over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes.  Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes.
• Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl.  Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
• Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated.  Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds.  Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds.  Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. 
• Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
• Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons ( I used a cookie scoop and ended up with 18 cookies, although I may have eaten a couple cookies worth of raw dough).  Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.  Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.
• Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes (mine took 14 minutes), rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.  
• Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving (yeah, good luck with that).

Tortilla Soup--Ah Yummy!

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I went looking for a copy cat recipe for Cafe Rio's tortilla soup--and found one here.  I have to say, pretty good stuff.  I made a couple tweaks based on what I had in my cupboard and the time that I had (got home from work at about 5:45 and had the soup done and ready by about 6:15).  I do love Cafe Rio's soup, and this one came as close as I've ever gotten to replicating it.  Totally worth it.  I think the key to speed and tastiness was my stop at my local Hispanic grocery store (they have already made pico and guac and fresh tortillas).   This recipe made 4 servings. 

Ingredients

Broth
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 T. vegetable oil
3 cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 c. water

Heat the oil over medium heat and saute the onion for about 5-6 minutes until transparent and soft.  Add the spices and cook another minute before adding the broth and water.  Simmer for about 20 minutes while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

Chicken
1/2 a  rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 T. taco seasoning
1 T.  Herdez salsa ranchera (look for it on the Mexican food aisle)
1/2 c. water

Toss the shredded chicken in a bowl with the taco seasoning and Herdez sauce
(the Herdez is pretty spicy, so use more/less to control the heat)-add about 1/2 c. of water and heat up.  


For garnish
Pico de gallo
Guacamole
Shredded cheese
Tortilla chips
cilantro
lime wedges
warm flour tortillas

Build your bowl of yummy soup like they do at Cafe Rio:
Get your bowl
Mound up some chicken
Scoop of guacamole
Scoop of pico
Cheese (if using)
Now add the hot broth
Top with corn chips and cilantro
Squeeze a lime wedge over the top.

Serve with a warm flour tortilla and enjoy the yumminess. 

Joy to the World Chalkboard Prints

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Chalkboard art seems to be very popular these days. I'm getting ready to deck the halls around my house and decided I wanted to go with this look for my mantle art. I thought about painting up a board in chalkboard paint and actually writing on it, and I toyed with doing vinyl, but nope, I decided to do some Photoshop instead-not sure it was any faster- but it is easier to share :)

So, the first thing I needed was a chalkboard background, which it turns out I had to make because if you want to print something in large format, no such background exists out on the internet.  I found some great instructions here--but I've uploaded my version so  you can just use mine if you want.  It is HUGE, 20x30 and at 300 dpi, so you can print it (I think it's a 12 MB file).  

I did the Joy print in both 20x30 and 8x10.  I suppose you could try it at other sizes too--should have plenty of pixels to print whatever you want.  I'm doing the giant size from Costco for $8.99 and will put it up in the mirror frame already on the mantle.
 


Downloads

Blank Chalkboard background 20x30
8x10 Joy to the World
20x30 Joy to the World

Christmas Bucket List

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Pinterest is full of Christmas Bucket Lists or Advent Activities--so here is my version.  I've created a check list style, which is great if you just want to pick something and do it as you feel like it.  I also created some labels, which would be great to stick on cardstock or scrapbook paper and put in a jar to randomly pull out (or slip into an advent calendar).  Since I live in Salt Lake, I added a few local things to my list, but for my friends and family in Idaho I tweaked one for them too.  I've actually already checked several of these off already (including a picture with Santa at Disneyland :)

I decided to keep mine pretty simple, just black and white- so feel free to print it off on colored paper to make it more festive.  I've uploaded the Word version, just in case you want to use it as a template for your own list. 

I thought it might be a nice gift for neighbors; the activities are family-centered and pretty inexpensive.

Click on one of the links to get the PDF of the item. 

SLC Label style (print on Avery 5160 size labels)
SLC List style
Idaho Falls Label style (print on Avery 5160 size labels)
Idaho Falls List style

Microsoft Word version (if you don't have the same fonts as me, you'll have to make some changes).

Example:  Salt Lake lists include the "ZCMI Candy windows" which are now City Creek Candy Windows and Gardner Village.

Idaho Falls lists-includes Winder Dairy and Candy Cane Lane!

Pumpkin Pie

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Picture from McCormick.com

I've been a bit busy lately, so the projects have fallen behind, but with Thanksgiving tomorrow, I know I needed to get my assignments done for the family dinner.  I'm in charge of pies and yams...both things I really love.  I did the apple pie using some of my freezer pie filling, so that was a snap.  The pumpkin pie is SUPER easy--why buy it (even from Costco) when it takes about 5 minutes to mix up and about an hour to bake.

I used the recipe from McCormick's Pumpkin Pie Spice mix, found here.  You'll need
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice mix
1 unbaked pie shell.

I par-baked my pie shell for 5 minutes before I started mixing up the filling.  Mix the pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and spices with a mixer until nice and smooth.  Pour into the shell.  Wrap foil around the edges of the shell so it doesn't get too brown during baking.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425, then turn the oven down to 350 and keep on baking for another 40 minutes.  My foil was wrapped a bit too close to the filling, so when the filling puffed up during baking, some of it got stuck on the foil.  Oh well.  I'll be covering it with whip cream anyway.

Candy Corn Rice Krispy Treats

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When I got my Everyday Food magazine for October, these adorable treats were printed on the inside back cover.  I already love rice krispy treats, so making them a festive candy corn shape seemed like the right thing to do.  Don't try to divide a single batch and tint each part...just make 3 separate batches because you know how quickly the marshmallow will set up  on you.  Also, add the food coloring to the marshmallow mix BEFORE you pour it over the cereal...much more consistent coloring that way.

Ingredients  for 3 batches
12 C. mini marshmallows (probably need 2 bags)
9 C. cereal
9 T. butter
3/4 tsp. salt

For each batch you'll need:  4 C. marshmallow, 3 C. cereal, 3 T. butter and 1/4 t. salt.

In a saucepan on med-low heat (don't try to do this fast on a higher temperature) melt the butter, then add the marshmallows and salt.  Stir until melted.  Pour over the cereal in a large bowl and stir up with a wooden spoon.

Make up the first batch of treats, don't add any food coloring and press into the bottom of a bread pan that you sprayed with cooking spray.

Make the next batch with orange coloring (or mix red/yellow...more drops of yellow than red).  Press on top of the plain layer.

 Make the 3rd batch and color it yellow and press in to the pan.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes and then plop out of the pan on a cutting board.

Cut the loaf into slices, then cut each slice in half and use your fingers to squish the top together and gently round the edges. 

Chevron Thanksgiving Word Art

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OK, so this post looks remarkably similar to the last one, I just changed holidays. I did bake cookies this week, some yummy ginger molasses cookies, so hopefully I can get that posted too.  In the meantime, here is my Thanksgiving word art.  I printed it in my home printer 8x10 with no trouble, here is the link to the large file, so you should be able to print it at least that large, maybe 11x14.  Gobble, gobble.