Chocolate chip cookies

I love a good chocolate chip cookie. Last night around 11 I was craving for one. This month in Bon Appetit Jim Lahey (Mr. No Knead Bread) had an article and a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. These were really good...crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle just like the article promised. These are baked at a high temperature so make sure you hang around the kitchen in order not to burn them.

crispy on the edges and chewy in the center

Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe by Jim Lahey

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

3/4 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of room temperature butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar packed

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425°. 

Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. 

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffly, about a couple of minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla, mix well. 

Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until blended. Add the chocolate chips. 

(I don't like chunks of chocolate chips so I chopped the chocolate chips into smaller pieces using the hand blender).

Spoon the dough (about a Tablespoon) onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 1/2" apart. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until edges are golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.  

Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature, or freeze cookies for up to 2 months. 

Lemon Pudding Cake

I made oatmeal cookies again with M&Ms.  I forgot to check to see if I had any raisins and I didn't so M&Ms it was.

I saw this lemon pudding cake recipe on 4 different blogs.  I had a couple of meyer lemons hanging around so I had to give it a try. I realized that I don't own a big souffle dish.  I have a handful of little oval and round ramekins, but not a big one.  So I baked the cake in one of my little ramekins and a pyrex pie dish.

folding gently

right out of the oven

a spoonful of lemony goodness

Lemon Pudding Cake

Adapted from Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham & the Traveler's Lunchbox

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar

finely grated meyer (or regular) lemon zest from 2 lemons
3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/3 cup meyer lemon juice or 1/4 cup regular lemon juice
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
8 oz sour cream or greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for dusting

Hot water

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 1-qt. souffle dish. Have a large baking pan which will accommodate your souffle dish ready.

Beat the butter at medium speed until light. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers for a couple of minutes.  Add the sugar & zest to the butter and beat until combined. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add half the lemon juice, half the flour and half the sour cream and beat until smooth; repeat with remaining lemon juice, flour and sour cream.

Start boiling some water (I used my tea kettle). Beat the egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high, add the salt, and beat to stiff peaks. Add half of the whites to the lemon mixture and gently fold in. Fold in the rest of the whites. 

Put the batter into the prepared souffle dish. Place the souffle dish into the larger pan and place it in the oven.  Then carefully pour boiling water around it to a depth of 1 inch.

Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the top is golden brown, and the center is just set. Remove from the water bath and cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes. *Be careful when removing from water bath not to get the water into the souffle dish & not to burn yourself :)

Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Gardening

I forgot to plant daffodils bulbs this year. Here are some flower/ herb seeds I am starting with. 

I planted an amaryllis bulb and I can't wait for it to flower.

It's that time of year again....GIRL SCOUTS cookies! What's your favorite GS cookie?

Monday

This morning, I was listening to NPR and baking a banana bundt cake from Dorie Greenspan's book. It was all good, then as I was taking it out of the oven to place it on the counter I somehow lost my grip on the pan and the whole cake flipped upside down onto the counter...SPLAT. I hope this isn't how the rest of the week is going be.

all ready for the oven

the results

Then we decided to go to Starbucks.  A could get some of her homework done, E needed to work a little bit and I needed some coffee.  All was good until A decided to have a meltdown because internet wasn't streaming Arthur fast enough...sigh...hopefully the rest of the day will be better. Wondering how your Monday was...

***PICKLE Recipe

I am going to adjust the recipe a bit.  I asked around and got some feedback.  Most people thought it needed more sugar because it was too sour.  I am planning to make a batch tonight and I will blog about it later this week.

Flat Stanley & Pickles

We sent A's Flat Stanley to Paris.  Irene was kind enough to show him around town. I  wished that I could have fit in the envelope and spent the time in Paris with Irene.  Irene is such a talented photographer among other things...like a mother of twin boys.  She has a blog. She also has this blog which are pictures of London vs Paris.

Stanley being sent away

A was so excited to get Stanley back!

look at all the goodies!

A was so excited that Stanley went to church

Stanley at the bakery

Irene also sent these lovely photos....

a photocard

i miss the Eiffel Tower

Pickles

 

12 pickles cut into spears (I cut mine in half then into spears)

1 Tablespoon of kosher salt

1 cup of vinegar

6 Tablespoon of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 jalapeno

1. Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of salt on the spears and mix with hands so the salt is incorporated throughout. Let it sit for an hour and then drain the liquid out.

2. In pyrex cup mix the vinegar, salt and the sugar until the salt/sugar dissolves. Cut one jalapeno into slices.

3. Throw the pickles,the vinegar mixture, and the jalapeno peppers all in a Ziplock bag.  Put it in the fridge for at least 12 hours. 

 

Valentine's Day

I had a little Valentine's Day party for A.  I hope everyone had a great love day!

simple decorations with streamers

appetizers

spaghetti and meatballs for lunch!

getting ready to decorate cupcakes

A's cupcake

my niece's cupcakes

sugar cookies ready to be decorated

Yipee...it's Friday!

Next Tuesday is Valentine's Day. I already took A to Target to get her Valentine cards last week (I learned from last year when I went the weekend before Valentine's day and the shelves were EMPTY!).

I also have a little party planned for A and a few of her friends.

Here are some lovely Valentine's Day cards

satsuma press

ephemera

luludee

egg press

elum

ink meets paper

I was disappointed to learn that Franklin Covey discontinued making the monthly planner I purchase every year. I couldn't find one that I liked so I decided to make one. It was pretty easy since there are so many templates online. I just changed the size, the font, and the color.

New England Clam chowder

I decided to try a new recipe every other week.  So the other night I made clam chowder. The recipe is pretty easy especially if you use canned clams.

Saute the onions and minced garlic with 2 Tablespoons of butter

add the bacon and saute until the onions are golden brown

add the celery and carrots

sprinkle 2 Tablespoons of flour and mix

add the potatoes, milk, and bay leaf

Clam Chowder

recipe adapted from Wililams Sonoma

3 lb littleneck clams in their shells, well scrubbed (I used 2 cans of chopped clams in clam juice, reserve juice)

1 c bottled clams juice (if you are using clams in their shells)

2 T butter

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

1/4 c diced salt pork or bacon

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 carrot chopped

2 T all-purpose flour

2 waxy red or white potatoes (about 10oz), diced

3 c milk or half and half

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

2 T finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

**If you are using littleneck clams in their shells.

In a large saucepan over med-high heat, combine the clams and clam juice and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and steam the clams until they open, 5-8 mins. Remove from the heat and discard any clams that failed to open. Remove the clams from their shells (cut in half if very large), reserving a few in shells for garnish.

Strain the clam juice through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheese-cloth (muslin) to remove any grit. You should have 1 1/2 to 2 cups. Set aside.

*If using cans, drain the clams and save the clam juice.

In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. 

Add the onion and saute until just softened, 3-5 minutes. 

Add the salt pork/bacon and saute, stirring occasionally until the pork is cooked through and the onion is golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. 

Add the celery and carrots and saute for 1 min. 

Add the flour and cook stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes longer. 

Stir in the strained clam juice, potatoes, milk and bay leaf. Raise the heat to med-high and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to med and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Discard the bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the parsley, shucked clams and reserved clams in their shells. Cook for 1 min longer to warm the clams through.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies

My Brother in law turned 40 last weekend...my sister threw him a party!

picture collage idea from Martha Stewart

didn't want him to forget he was turning the big 4 0

I made lemon bars

I also made healthy cookies...they don't taste healthy!

loaded with oats and oat bran!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe adapted from Heidi Swanson

2 3/4 cups of rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup of whole wheat flour
2/3 cup oat bran (you can also use wheat bran or wheat germ)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate bar, chopped and shaved into chunks

Preheat the oven to 350F 

In a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, oat bran, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. 

In another bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar for 3+ minutes, scraping down sides a few times. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.  

Add the dry ingredients, and stir until everything barely comes together. 

Stir in the chocolate, mixing until it is evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Scoop the dough and arrange each cookie at least 3-inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Rotate the pans once about 2/3 the way through baking - back to front, top to bottom. Bake the cookies about 10-12 minutes (cookie will be chewy).  If you want a crispier cookie bake until deeply golden on the edges.