Soft Fudgy Cookies

The post should probably read Soft Fudgy, Minty Cookies because C and I added Nestle dark chocolate and mint chips.  When Meijer had their after Christmas sale, there were many bags of these holiday chips left for an insanely low price (86 cents?).  They are now in the deep freeze for my meltaway fudge recipe.

After searching for cookie recipes online, I found one that I decided to change up to increase the chocolate intensity.  Here is our recipe.  (Charlie a.k.a. sous-chef thinks they are delicious.  Then again, he thinks anything edible is delicious).

1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 generous tsp. vanilla
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
(chips, nuts, dried cherries)

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Add cocoa and mix until smooth.  Add rest of dry ingredients.  Add your mix-ins (optional) last.  Scoop into balls and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes on parchment paper. 

We froze this batch.  I line a 9x13 pan with parchment and scoop balls with my small cookie scoop.  The recipe yielded: 42 cookie balls.  We cover tightly and place in deep freeze.  Once frozen, remove to freezer bags until ready to bake.  Label bags with oven temp. and time.  They will take a bit longer when frozen. 

Yay!  Our freezer will have more cookies.  Right now we only have 2 logs of slice and bake sugar cookie dough that I made last week.

We have had a wonderful and busy 2012 so far but have been thanking God for our overflowing blessings!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Illinois is icy cold tonight.  The chill is seeping under the doors and we are all wearing socks and slippers.  Dinner was simple: spaghetti with Italian sausage.  My husband is a lover of comfort food (who isn't?) and I love to have the house smelling delicious when he comes home. 

To combat the cold, I decided to bake.  T was at soccer and E was heading off to a meeting at church, so another simple recipe was in order since the priority was heating up the kitchen.  I remembered a quickie recipe that I once made from Allrecipes for red velvet whoopie pies.  All ingredients were on hand: cake mix, eggs and oil.  (We omitted the bourbon but would love to try in the future!) 

After mixing red velvet cake mix, 2 eggs and 1/2 cup oil, I used to ice cream scoop to place onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  We baked at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until baked through.

After cooling, we sandwiched with a basic buttercream (butter, whipping cream & confectioner's sugar). 

They were really yummy and so simple.  My favorite pastime is cooking and baking....and I love challenging pastries.  But sometimes simple is fun and I forget that I don't need to make something elaborate to please my boys.

I had half of one (thank you, WW points).  These would be a darling Valentine's treat or fun snack for your loved ones.  My husband has a big old whoopie pie waiting for him when he gets back from his meeting.  I love him!

Leftover Ham

My Aunt Betty gave us a wonderful gift of a large smoked ham this year.  Initially, I prepared it by baking with some homemade plum pomegranate jam as a glaze.  It was delicious, but we had a considerable chunk left over. 
Yesterday was one of those days where cooking felt like a drudgery....especially after Christmas.  T & I spent much of the day cleaning up the Christmas decor and I did some laundry.  When it was time to start dinner, I stood in front of the open fridge, taking inventory.  We had some eggs, the ham, bagged shredded hash browns and cheese.  Decided on a simple frittata.  It turned out so well, that I thought I would share.  Between the three guys and myself, it was polished off.  E is not feeling well and he appreciated the savory comfort food aspect.

1 bag shredded potatoes
1-2 cups chopped ham
1 small onion, chopped
3-4 eggs
olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
cheese (if desired)

Heat oil in skillet (preferable one with a lid and higher sides).  Add chopped onion to hot oil and let cook for about a minute.  Add potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.  Toss in ham and combine all.  In separate bowl, crack and beat eggs.  Pour eggs over all and fold in to make sure they are combined.  Turn down heat and cover.  Let cook until eggs are cooked.  Season with salt & pepper, sprinkle with cheese, if you like.  The boys had Cheddar.

This would taste really yummy with spinach & Feta cheese if you don't have (or care for) ham.

Enjoy!  Here's a favorite pic of T & C reading Christmas stories.

Peppermint Marshmallow Fudge

This is perhaps the easiest fudge recipe ever.   I think we made it in less than 5 minutes and it was so good.  I love my classic fudge recipe that requires time, stirring, several different chocolates, etc.  Charlie changes everything around here and since he loves to cook, speed is of the essence.
Peppermint Marshmallow Fudge

3 cups milk chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 bags)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick butter)
1/2 bag of peppermint marshmallow (Jet-Puf's seasonal variety)

In large bowl, microwave chips, butter and condensed milk just until chips begin to melt.  Stir well until all chips are melted and fudge is smooth.  Gently fold in marshmallows.  Pour into greased 9x9 pan and chill until firm.

These are really, really pretty.  I am sending the bulk of them with my dear husband to work so I don't eat them.

Thanksgiving

Ahhh, I have been slacking in the blogging department. 

Life has been full (and wonderful).  Today was a beautiful day to remember all the blessings in my life.  Here is a short list:

1) Health. 
So many loved ones have had a rough year with their health and it has made me be grateful for each day.  Praying especially for our friend, Tom W.....that 2012 brings miraculous healing to his body and that God would be glorified throughout the W family's journey.

2) My husband and boys.
Never could I ask for a husband more well suited for me.  He is patient, kind, gentle and a rock in deep, rushing waters.  The boys bring excitement and joy to this little home.  And I am beginning to see how God uses my children to shape and transform me.

3) My Bible.
The best time of the day is when I climb into bed, switch on my lamp and open my familiar Bible.  God's word is powerful, Truthful and rich. 

Yep, it's a short list for now.
I am turkeyed out and ready to climb into bed and read. 
My mom and I joined WW a couple weeks ago and are really enjoying the program.  She lost 5.8 pounds her first week!  I lost about 3, but am now within the range for my height.  It's been a great discipline in portion control and has been helping add more fruits & veggies into our diet.

Tomorrow my sister & brother-in-law will be flying to China to bring their new daughter home.  This is exciting stuff and we are so excited to meet ChunLe for the first time.

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!

Cheater's Sauce

Sometimes it is daunting to prep and use a huge batch of fresh, very ripe tomatoes.  Since our freezer is packed with salsa, I decided to make my 2nd batch of roasted tomato sauce.  Last month, I used about 10 pounds of tomatoes to make this easy Martha Stewart-inspired sauce.  We used that sauce on Wednesday on pasta and it was delicious (especially with the addition of Italian sausage and a little cream to thicken).
Here's simple ingredients & instructions:
Fresh, ripe tomatoes
Whole cloves of garlic, unpeeled
Onion, peeled and quartered
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt or kosher salt

Heat oven to about 375 degrees.  Drizzle some oil into bottom of large glass pan (I use a 9 x 13).  Toss in all ingredients and sprinkle with a bit of salt.

Roast in oven about 45 minutes or until skins split.  Remove and let cool.  It will look like this:

Pour off some of the liquid in the pan and squeeze garlic from skins, discarding skin.  Using a stick blender, gently pulse the tomato mixture until desired consistency.  Taste & adjust seasoning.  I sometimes use a fine sieve to remove more liquid. 

Place in freezer bags & freeze flat or put in fridge until ready to use.  Here is the yield from my batch in a 1 litre vintage French jar:

Easy and fresh!

Vintage Style

Earlier this month, I had my first photo shoot for my etsy site.  It was so exciting for me...I had amassed several vintage coats that I really needed an expert to photograph.  Cue in Kelly B., who had once offered to help me with etsy pics when I first launched my site.

What a treat this was.  Here is Kelly's blog post on the shoot.  You can check out the coats in my etsy store.  My sister is a trooper and turned out to be an incredible model for the feel we wanted. 

http://www.hopskipphotography.com/blog/post/2011/10/24/Vintage-Style.aspx