Finally, Someone Gets It

I was grabbing a few things at the store the other day when I spotted this beautiful creation.  I swear, when I saw it angels began signing from heaven... or maybe that was me...that would be really embarrassing.  Anyway, kudos to the Tillamook cheese company for creating this beautiful blend of cheeses that sole purpose is to make one of the most amazing foods ever- mac & cheese.

I've not tried to make said dish yet, but I can't wait.  This combo of cheeses would make a mac & cheese that falls right in the middle of adult & child taste preferences.  Genius.  Thank you Tillamook for understanding me & creating this wonderful product.  (I'm pretty sure I'm the one they were thinking of when they formed this brain child, right?)

Sour Cream Pancakes

It's the weekend, & around these parts that means pancake time.  This is my new favorite way to make pancakes.  They are rich, flavorful & hearty.  Four of these babies fill me right up!  They're perfect for my pascal of kiddos because I only have to make one batch.  Each kid eats about 3 pancakes & can't fit any more into their bellies.  Unlike traditional pancakes where each kid eats about ten & I'm standing over the stove flipping flapjacks for five hours out of my Saturday.  Try em, you'll like em!
Ingredients
1 cup sour cream
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
dash of cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
Directions
Mix sour cream, flour sugar, cinnamon, baking soda & salt until combined (don't mix too much, you don't want to overwork them).  In separate bowl whisk eggs & vanilla together.  Pour eggs into the sour cream mixture & stir gently until mostly combined.  Gently stir in the milk until its in batter form (don't worry about getting all the little lumps out).  Heat a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat.  Pour in about a tablespoon of oil & coat the pan (I do this before each pan-full of pancakes to make the edges crispy & super good).  Now pour in batter to make 4 inch pancakes (about 1/4 cup at a time).  Cook for about one minute or until little bubbles start appearing & then flip & cook for 30 seconds-1 minute.  Enjoy!  Makes about 16 four inch pancakes.

Mac & Cheese: Kid Style

I love homemade mac & cheese.  My Grandma use to make it all the time for me & I would gobble it up!  Poor kids these days don't know that mac & cheese doesn't always come from a box, & they're really missing out.  Homemade mac & cheese is one of the all time comfort foods.  I have many variations of mac & cheese, but they generally appease to adults.  So I had to come up with a kid friendly version for my little ones.  I'll share the rich & flavorful adult mac & cheeses at a later date.  But for now here is one that little tummies will enjoy (& big tummies too)...
Ingredients
4 cups dry macaroni
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half & half or cream
1 cup American cheese (the real stuff, not the singles wrapped in plastic- that won't work)
3/4 cup cheddar
1/4 Parmesan
1 tsp salt (plus maybe some more to taste)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook macaroni until al dente, about 5 minutes (until it's barely soft).  You want it to have some firmness because it will cook more in the oven.  Rinse throughly in cold water & set aside.
Warm up your milk & half & half in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes or until milk is luke warm.
In medium pot melt butter over medium-low heat.  Sprinkle in flour & whisk together constantly for 5 minutes.      This is your rue & the important thing about rue is to let it cook enough that the flour taste gets out, but not let it burn.  So keep your eye on it & stir.  The rue will get bubbly & frothy & turn brown- perfect.  Slowly pour in mild & whisk it together.  Whisk often until it becomes thick.
Reduce heat to low.  At a 1/2 cup at a time add in the cheeses.  Whisk until incorporated between each addition.  Add in the salt.  Now taste it, if it's a little blah add a pinch of salt & taste.  Keep doing this until it taste good & you want to drink up the cheese sauce.
Mix the macaroni & cheese sauce together until every noodle is coated.  Pour into a 9 x 13 pan or any other baking dish.  If desired sprinkle the top with a little bit of cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbly (but not too long, you don't want it to dry out).  Serve to little ones in big bowls.

*If you're in a hurry cook macaroni for the full time (about 8 minutes) until it is tender.  Mix the cheese sauce & macaroni together & serve immediately.

Easter Dinner: Potatoes

It's coming folks.  Despite the snow that keeps falling from the sky (two mornings in a row here), spring is ushering in Easter... in like, a few days!  That means you need to get Easter outfits ready & pressed, Easter baskets filled with goodies, & the big one, Easter dinner prepared.  One staple of Easter dinner in our family is potatoes.  Their not necessarily prepared the same way every year, but they are there in one form or the other.  This is one of my favorite potato dishes.  It hails from me trying to recreate a potato side I had at a restaraunt a long time ago.  It's taken a few years, & although it's not exactly the same it's close.  And its yummy.  And it's easy.  Perfect for busy holidays that require your best foot forward.  Here goes...

Cheesy Potato Cakes
1 cup half & half
1 cup heavy cream
6 medium russet potatoes
4 tablespoons butter
4 chopped garlic cloves
1 diced medium onion
1 package cream cheese (8 oz), softened
3 ounces goat cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
4 tablespoons minced chives


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish (I use butter, but you could also use non-stick spray or another healthier option).  Scrub potatoes & then slice very thinly, if you have a mandolin that would work best, but I don't- so I slice very thinly.  Mix 1/2 cup half & half, 1/2 cup heavy cream, salt & pepper together in a large bowl.  Place potatoes in the cream mixture stir a couple of times just to coat, set aside.  


In a large skillet melt the butter & add the garlic & onion.  Cook for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent & smell delicious.  Add the cream cheese & goat cheese & stir constantly for a couple of minutes until incorporated & smooth.  Add the remaining half & half & heavy cream, stir to combine.  Add in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese & blue cheese & stir to combine.  Remove from heat.


Evenly place the potatoes into the baking dish & press down slightly.  They don't need to be perfect but you want them fairly flat.  Pour the cheese mixture over the top of the potatoes & sprinkle remaining Parmesan over the top.  Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until golden on top.  Remove from oven & sprinkle chives over the top.  Loosely cover with tin foil & let it stand for 10 minutes.  Cut into single serving squares & enjoy.

This dish looks so pretty & fancy.  Bonus: it taste awesome.  Few things with Parmesan & blue cheese & cream taste bad.  Enjoy!

Homemade Pizza

Pizza is a big deal in our family.  We eat pizza once a week.  It's my hubby's & son's favorite food.  When we lived in town we would just order pizza or grab a take-and-bake.  But living in the country has changed this habit & I have had to learn how to make tasty pizza from scratch.  I have been searching & altering pizza dough & sauce recipes for a couple of years now.  I finally have a recipe that I love & don't alter any more.  Here's the scoop:

Pizza Dough
A great pizza crust is most of the battle when making homemade pizza.  If you don't have a good crust folks just plain won't like it.  Here is my most favorite crust.  It bakes up light & fluffy with a crusty outer layer.  It is flavorful & the perfect foundation for a yummy pizza.  Plus, it's easy to make & requires no kneading
 Ingredients
(makes 2 large pizzas)

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon sugar

4 cups flour

1/3 cup olive oil

Directions

Pour yeast into the warm water (make sure it's warm & not hot, hot water will kill the yeast) & stir once, set aside.  In a bowl combine flour, salt, garlic powder, sugar (sugar is "food" for the yeast, so make sure to stick it in there).  Drizzle in olive oil & mix until just combined.  Slowly pour in the water yest mixture & stir until dough forms into a ball.  In a seperate bowl pour in a little olive oil & spread around with your hand until entire bowl is coated.  Place the pizza dough ball into the oiled bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap & set in a warm place for 1-2 hours to rise.

This is how the dough compares from when you make it until it has fully risen.

Once dough has risen preheat the oven to 550 degrees.  On a large baking sheet drizzle a little olive oil & then spread around with your hands to coat the entire surface.  Do not wash your hands & pick up half of the pizza dough and set in the middle of the baking sheet.  Using your hands gently spread the dough around until it is at your desired shape & size.  If you like thick crust spread it around accordingly, if you like thin crust do likewise.  The crust will not look like it came from Pizza Hut, which is perfect.  You want it to look authentic & homemade.  As you spread the dough around you may want to add a little more olive oil to the top to help it from not sticking to your hands.

Now spread a little (not too much, nobody likes soggy pizza) pizza sauce on the top to within 3/4 inch of the edge.  Then cover with your favorite toppings.  Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes & enjoy immediately!

Homemade pizza is  quick & easy dinner.  You could even make the dough in the morning & set it in the fridge to rise all day so that when it's dinner time all you have to do is assemble.  It's also fun to make individual pizzas & experiment with toppings.  Or try using pesto as the sauce... the possibilities are endless.

Pizza Sauce

This is so easy you'll cry.  The best part about making your own sauce is switching up the flavor to meet your preferences.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves minced

1 can tomato sauce (15oz)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon Brown Sugar

Italian Seasoning to taste

Directions

In a saucepan over medium heat mix olive oil & garlic.  Cook a few minutes until garlic starts to sizzle.  Turn heat down to medium-low.  Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, & Italian seasoning to your liking.  Cook on low for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat.  You can now either use the sauce immediately or stick it in the fridge to use later. This will make enough sauce for about 3-4 pizzas.  Freeze left overs for later use.

Wheat Crust

Omit 1 cup of white flour & in it's place add 3/4 cup wheat flour.  This still keeps your crust light & fluffy but adds the whole grains we all need.  If you like a denser crust you could experiment with adding more wheat flour.

Tomato, Basil, & Goat Cheese Pizza

My new favorite creation is my Tomato, Basil, & Goat Cheese Pizza.  I make it on wheat crust (instructions below) & it is actually really healthy.  Coarsely chop the basil & goat cheese so there are large chunks.  Thinly slice the tomato into large circles.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese all over the top so there is a nice layer but not a huge amount of cheese.  Arrange tomatoes and goat cheese on top of the mozzarella.  Bake in the oven as directed above.  About 1 minute from being done sprinkle on the basil & top with just a small amount more of mozzarella to hold everything together.  Enjoy at once.  The lightness of the tomatoes & basil mixed with the richness & creaminess of the goat cheese is like heaven.

Artichoke Dip

I'm going to share with you one of my favorite appetizers- Artichoke Dip.  This dish is one of the reasons I look forward to holidays and company coming over.  I've meshed together a couple of recipes to come up with the perfect dip, but the majority of it comes from a dish a grew up with called Vancouver Dip.  My Mom got the recipe from a church cookbook my Aunt gave her and she makes it on special occasions.  I've added a few things here & there, but not much.  This appetizer is great for any time of year and can feed quite a few folks.  Plus it's super easy and soooooooo good!  Here's the skinny:
Ingredients
1 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 Cup mayonnaise
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts
1 1/2 teaspoon dill
1 green onion chopped
dash of salt
dash of pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a food process combine Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, cream cheese, half of the can of artichokes, 1 tsp of the dill, green onion, salt, and pepper.  Mix until combined.  Add in the other half of the artichokes & pulse a few times so that it's mixed in but there are still sizable chunks of artichokes in the dip.  Pour into baking dish, I usually use a 9 inch pie plate, and spread it out evenly.  Sprinkle remaining dill on the top and bake for 20-25 minutes (until top is lightly browned & bubbly).  Serve as a spread with thinly sliced baguette or as a dip with pita chips.

This is an appetizer that is sure to please everyone.  You could also bake it in individual remekins and have personal servings for each guest (as pictured above).  And clean up is easy because it only uses one bowl.  If there are left overs you can just heat it up the next day & it's still yummy.

Sour Cream, Chicken, and Cheese Enciladas

Slowly, but surely I'm becoming better at making Mexican food.  Enchiladas are by far my favorite Mexican dish.  So over the years I have meshed many recipes together and have come up with my favorite enchiladas.  These are mild enough for my kiddos but flavorful enough for my husband (An avid Mexican food lover.  He keeps trying to convince me we should move to Mexico, but I know it would only be for the food!)  You could spice them up more with hot sauce or Cayenne Pepper.  Also, this recipe makes a ton, so it's great for large dinner parties, hungry teenage boys, or pot lucks.  These enchiladas are easy to make, versatile, and yummy.  Here's the DL:
Ingredients
15 Corn Tortillas
Oil for frying
2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken*
1 can diced green chilies
1 can red enchilada sauce (20 oz)**
2 cups sour cream
4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Flash fry totillas one at a time, for about 5 seconds per side.  You just want them to get soft, but not crispy.  (Once the tortilla starts to bubble flip it over & fry the other side for a few seconds.)  Lay out on paper towels to drain.
3. Mix chicken, green chilies, sour cream, 2 1/2 cups of cheese, green onions,  cumin, & cayenne pepper.
4. Heat enchilada sauce in skillet over medium heat just until warmed through but not hot/boiling.
5. Spread a very thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan.
5. Take tortilla & dunk it in enchilada sauce, coating both sides.  Set it on a plate & spoon about 3 tablespoons of chicken & cheese mixture onto the middle of the tortilla.  Roll it up & place seam side down in baking pan.  Repeat lining up enchiladas side by side in baking pan.***
6. Cover enchiladas with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbly.
7. Sprinkle the top with a few more green onions to make it look pretty.  Serve immediately.  Once plated place a spoonful of sour cream & cilantro for ultimate yumminess!

These enchiladas are a great weeknight dinner & easy to make ahead & cook later.  I generally make a double batch & then freeze half of the enchiladas for another day.  That way all I have to do it pull them out & pop them in the oven (make sure you cook it longer if they are frozen :).

*To make shredded chicken: Sprinkle about 3 large chicken breast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cumin to your tasting.  Place in baking dish & cover.  Cook in 350 degree over for 30-40 minutes.   I also do this in my dutch oven over medium heat for 30-40 minutes, works great.  Once cooked allow to cool throughly.  Then using your hands (preferred method) or two forks pull chicken apart until it is in little pieces.
**If all the enchiladas don't fit use an additional pan.  I generally need to us a 9x13 & a 8x8 to use up all the ingredients

Get Ya'll Some Biscuits

One thing I'm passionate about in cooking is flaky pie crust & flaky biscuits.  I have tried many recipes & methods and have watch a lot of Food Network show on the matter.  After meshing a few ideas & recipes together I have come up with a method to make flaky, buttery biscuits that work every time.  Here goes...

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tbls baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 tbls cold butter cubed
4 tbls butter
3/4 cup milk or butter milk

First things first, make sure your butter is cold.  Cold butter is the key to being flaky (in biscuits, not life).  I cube my butter & then stick it back in the fridge.  Preset your oven to 425 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Then cut in your COLD butter.  It should get kind of corn mealy (is that a word?), but you don't need to get the butter mixed in too well.  Some bigger chunks of butter should be visible- makes it flaky.

Next pour in the milk.

Stir lightly.  You don't want to over do it her or else you'll get tough biscuits.  Just stir until milk is incorporated.

Now using your hands make the dough into a ball, but don't over work it!  You don't want to warm up that butter, so make this a quick process.  Then pop it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to cool the butter down
again.

Stick your cast iron skillet or baking sheet in the oven with the 4 tbls butter on it.  Let the butter melt & then swirl the pan to coat.

On floured surface make the dough into a thick disc (like so).  Then roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Make sure to keep things lightly floured so they don't stick.  But don't over do on the flour- you still want flaky, non flour tasting biscuits.

Using a biscuit cutter of your choice (I like to use a small one for everyone else & a big one for me) cut you some biscuits.

Stick them into your buttered skillet/baking sheet & pop in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are a light brown.  (look at that cute little "left over dough" biscuit, the baby will get that one)

When they come out they should look like this.  Almost like little layers.  Flaky, buttery, & yummy.  Enjoy!

The Right Way to Make Fried Chicken

When I was growing up almost every Sunday my Mom made fried chicken for dinner.  Thus began my love for fried chicken... or fried anything for that matter- except okra, even fried that stuff is sick!  I've had many, and I mean many, trial & error runs with frying chicken.  So today I thought I would share with you the right way (a.k.a My Way) of frying chicken, & technically this is called "Pan Fried Chicken".  

First either buy a fryer already cut up or cut up a whole chicken yourself.  Just make sure the skin stays on.  You could do this without the skin, but remember I'm showing you the "right" way.  I like to brine my chicken for the whole day before I cook it.  Makes it so moist & yummy.  Just plop your chicken into some salt water, cover with plastic wrap & set in the fridge until your ready to cook.  (If you're in a hurry & need to skip this step just lightly salt both sides of the chicken before coating & cooking it.)  

Now pull your chicken out of the brine & pat it dry with paper towels.  In a shallow dish mix flour, salt, pepper, & garlic powder.  Amounts will vary on how much chicken your making (parts: 2 cups flour, 1 Tbls salt, 2 tsp pepper, 2 tsp garlic powder).  In another shallow dish beat 3 eggs &1/4 cup half & half.  Now for the fun part, you're gonna get messy...

Coat the chicken in the flour mixture.

Then coat it in the egg mixture.

Now back to the flour mixture for a final coating.

Set it in a pan with about one inch of hot oil (make sure the oil is preheated & ready to go, or you'll have soggy chicken).  Cook over medium heat.

 

Turn chicken over when it looks like this or about 8 minutes & cook other side until brown.

Now enjoy the crispy, salty, moist chicken you deserve!

Try This... You Won't Regret It

The other night I decided to make banana bread.  I was feeling risky so I wavered from my ol' standby recipe & looked for a new one.  I officially have found my new fav way of making banana bread.  You need to try it!  Its so yummy, and light, and has good texture, and a great crust, and, the best part, it makes a ton of bread.  My family has been eating it for a couple of days now at breakfast, second breakfasties, snack, bedtime snack... you get the idea.  Make sure to have a warm piece right out of the oven and slather it in butter.  So, do yourself a favor and whip up some of this banana bread... you won't regret it.

Get the Recipe Here

*I added 2 teaspoons of Vanilla, because that's just the way I do it.
**My bunt pan is currently in storage so I used 2 bread pans instead, worked great.
***This would make a ton of mini loaves, which make great gifts, especially for me ;)

Dutch Baby... & Something for You

This is one of my favorite easy & quick breakfast dishes.  It's called a Dutch Baby is lies somewhere between crepes & pancakes.  They are buttery and dense.  I love Dutch Babies first of all because they are so delicious.  Secondly they require minimal ingredients & preparation, perfect for a Sunday morning.  Thirdly, I love the name.  It is always fun to pronounce to your guests that you will be serving them a Dutch Baby for breakfast.  They look at you like you're some cannibalistic freak.  And right before they start to run out the door you get to explain "Oh, don't worry, it's not an actual baby of Dutch origin.  That's just the name of the dish."

Here's the scoop:
Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temp
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 tablespoons butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix well together everything but the butter (you can even do it in the blender). 

 Melt butter in 10-inch iron skillet on medium heat on the stovetop.  Tilt skillet to coat sides with the melted butter.  Pour mixture into the skillet & allow to cook for one minute (DO NOT STIR).



Place skillet in hot oven and bake 12-15 minutes or until it is puffed up and golden brown.  It will get pretty big, but don't worry once you pull it out of the oven it will fall.

 

Serve immediately in wedges topped with powdered sugar, syrup, or berries (or whatever you want :)

And now... a treat for you!  Since anyone who makes breakfast needs on of these.  Since I have one & use it all the time.  Since I love it.  Since I'm addicted to shades of olive green.  And finally, since I found it on sale.

I'm giving away this 2 quart, olive green, melamine batter bowl with a rubber grip bottom.  This is a great batter bowl because it's lightweight, doesn't slip when you stir, & is a perfect size for making pancake, Dutch Baby, & waffle batter.

To enter all you need to do is put one of your favorite breakfast dishes in the comments section below.
And as always, if you've got a recipe you'd be willing to share email it to me at j.yphotography@yahoo.com


Winner (chosen at random) will be announced Sunday night.  You should enter, I don't have a ton of followers so you have a good chance of winning :)

Quick Meals

All moms have a dire need for a recipe box of quick meals.  This is never more true than when you live in the boonies, like I do.  See, we use to live right in town, one block away from a gyro place, Subway, & Hoagieville (local fast food drive in... kind of like a Sonic) & six blocks from Dairy Queen.  And of course pizza was always an option if the night was getting late & I hadn't planned dinner.  But now, if I don't cook dinner we are plain stuck with cold cereal.  So I have brushed up on a few quick meals.

The first one is Sloppy Joes.  I would like to dedicate this one to my friend Kylie who is not sure that sloppy joes qualify as a meal (or even "real" food).  Well, Kylie, come on down to my neck of the woods & try one out. Now, I'm not talking about adding a packet or can of sloppy joe mix to some ground meat (I say meat because I use deer or elk, but a lot of people use beef or turkey.  So I'll call it meat.)  The recipe I'm going to give you is from scratch, taste great & is super easy & fast to prepare.  Plus, you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry.  My family loves sloppy joe night, so I've had some practice.  I think sloppy joes get a bad wrap because they are a typical hot lunch menu item.  But these ain't your lunch lady's sloppy joes!  I also like to put these on dinner rolls & make them into sliders, perfect for the little ones.

Sloppy Joe Recipe

My second quick dish is homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.  Another crowd pleaser & super easy & fast to make.  Once again you most likely have all the ingredients in your pantry ready to be whisked together in the all time comfort food dish.  Get yourself some good rolls & your done with dinner.

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Now it's your turn.  I need more quick meal ideas (don't we all).  So, put your quick meal idea in the comments section below.  If you have a full on recipe you want to send me that would be even better & I will post it in the Mixing Bowl page.  Send recipes to j.yphotography@yahoo.com

More Quick Meal Ideas:

Chicken Strips

Spaghetti
(Whenever I make spaghetti sauce I do a double batch & then freeze half of it.  Then when I'm in a pinch all I need to do is thaw it out & boil some noodles.)
Quesadillas & Spanish Rice

Grilled cheese & tomato soup

Stir Fry Noodles
(Using frozen stir fry veggies makes this a quick fix.)

Breakfast Dinner
(That's what Maddie calls it.  It's her favorite, but sausage must be involved or she is not happy)
Meatloaf
Tacos
Frozen Pizza ;)

Happy quick cooking!http://nestingcorral.blogspot.com/2011/07/sloppy-joes.html

One Of My New Favorite Things

For Christmas my wonderful sis-in-law Amanda got me this awesome dutch oven.  I was so excited to get it!  I've never had a dutch oven & have been yearning for one for a while now.  My other sis-in-law Booba also got one for her birthday & we're both itching for recipes to try.  I've done some soups, sauces, & chicken but would like to venture beyond into some great Dutch Oven meals.

So, If you have a great recipe to pass on I'd love to get it from you.  Email me at j.yphotography@yahoo.com  And as always I'll post any recipes I get on the Mixing Bowl page.

P.S. This is an amazing gift for any cook in your life.  So next time you've got to come up with a good present look into one of these.

Christmas Cookies

Clockwise from top: Chocolate Shots, Chocolate Mint cookies, Shortbread, 
Velvet cookies, Pecan Dreams (center), Peanut Butter Chocolate Thumb-prints.

I have been a baking fool this week!  I've been so busy getting Christmas stuff ready since we are leaving town on Sunday, but I had to get my baking in.  I think I've baked about 250 cookies thus far (only one more variety to go).  Every year I give cookie boxes to a few of our close friends.  It's a lot of work to get so many cookies done, good thing I love to bake.  I'm not an amazing cook, but I can bake.  I like the process, I'm aesthetically driven (so I don't mind the whole decorating part), and I like to eat baked goods!

For Christmas cookies I always make my cookies small & bite size.  I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with getting a lot more from a batch.  Also, that's how my sis-in-law Amanda (an amazing cookie maker) taught me to make a few of the recipes so I just stuck with the theme.

Over the next few days I will share a few good cookie recipes, and I mean tasty ones.  I think it is just aweful when you get Christmas cookies that look pretty but taste horrible.  That will not be the case here.  These cookies will taste just as good, if not better, than they look.  If you have a good Christmas cookie recipe email it to me at j.yphotography@yahoo.com & I'll post it on The Mixing Bowl page.

Today I want to share my newest invention: Chocolate Mint Cookies.  I was in our little grocery store & found these mint chips.  I would have bought them for the bag alone, I love the look (told you I was aesthetic) and the feel of it (good marketing Guittard).  Not to mention they are mint, which I love.  What really sold me though was that they were on sale.  Woo hoo, I'll take em'!  Not really knowing what I was going to do with them I put them in my basket.  Once home I knew I had to pair them with chocolate.  There are few things as delicious as mint chocolate.  So I went to my favorite cookbook, the 1975 edition Betty Crocker's Cookbook.  I know it's old, but I grew up with this cookbook & have learned so much from it.  It has a great cookie section too.  I found the recipe for Chocolate Drop cookies.  Since I'm a glutton for punishment & have already made seven varieties of cookies, I decided that putting the chips right into the dough was too easy.  Plus, they need to look extra pretty.  So instead I made a little chocolate mint sandwich.  Here's the  recipe:

Chocolate Mint Cookies

1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 ounces melted unsweetened chocolate (cooled)~
1/3 cup butter milk*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz melted mint chips~


Mix thoroughly butter, sugar, egg, chocolate, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Stir in flour, soda, and salt.  Cover and chill 1 hour.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet.  Bake about 6 minutes ( don't bake too long.  You want them firm, but still chewy).  Immediately rmove from baking sheet and cool.  Meanwhile melt mint chips.

Once cookies are cooled spread a thin layer of the mint on bottom side of one cookie & make a sandwich by placing another cookie on top.  Set aside & let cool until chocolate is firm (but do yourself a favor & eat one of these while they're warm... heaven).


*Don't have buttermilk?  Mix 1tablespoon of vinegar to 1cup of milk & it will work the same.

~Melt chocolate by using a double boiler over hot, but not boiling/simmering water.  Don't have a double boiler, just use a small & medium saucepan (as pictured).  Melt chocolate slowly & stir often.  If you try to melt chocolate too quickly it will burn & be unusable. If chocolate start's to clump it is burning, quickly pull the pan out of the water & stir to cool it down.