Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes mommies need chocolate. This recipe fit the bill for me on day four of my husband being out of town and my son insisting on waking up at 5am AGAIN. And when my husband returned and declared "awesome cookies!", I knew this recipe was a keeper. He hates most of my cookies. :)  

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Apple Hand Pies

It's that time of year for me. I want to pick apples. I want to eat apples. I want to drink apple cider. I want to make stuff with apples like pie & crisp & sauce and baked apples and caramel apples. mmmm apples.

Today I was on a search for something the kids could help with so we tried these Apple Hand Pies. They only sort of helped with the pie part but were a great help with peeling the apples. Thanks again to Grandma Sally for giving us the super cool apple peeler! If we do this again I will roll the whole mess of dough out and cut circles with a bowl or something. And apply an egg wash and sprinkle of sugar on the top. Jonah has been up since 5am though so I'm not on my game!


For CRUST:

1 1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
8 T chilled butter, cut into cubes
3 T ice water

Add flour, salt & sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse once or twice. Add butter and pulse until it looks like cornmeal. Sprinkle water over the top and pulse until the mixture forms a ball. Add more water if necessary. Form dough into a log and slice into 6 equal portions. Wrap each one in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for at least 10 mintues.

For FILLING:

3 apples
1 T lemon juice
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Peel and core apples and slice into thin slices. Mix with flour sugar & cinnamon.

To assemble pies. Roll out each portion of dough until thin. Place a small amount of filling in the center of each one. Fold over dough and press with fingers to seal. Vent each one with two small slits in the top. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden.






oh and see that napkin!? I sewed it. It's an attempt to get the kids to use cloth napkins instead of a mountain of paper ones.

Moroccan Couscous & Chickpea Salad

Mom is cooking this up in her kitchen right this very minute. The cumin and ginger are tickling my nose. This is such a pretty salad that it deserves a photo and we will take one when lunch time rolls around. Also, mom usually makes this with quinoa instead of couscous.

1 cup couscous or quinoa
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 cup boiling water
5 TBLS olive oil divided
1 orange bell pepper cut into one inch sticks
1 large onion sliced
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 16 oz can chickpeas, drained
1/4 c cilantro, chopped
3 TBL rice wine vinegar
3 TL orange juice concentrate

Place couscous & cherries in bowl. Add boiling water & cover with plastic wrap. (If using quinoa; cook 1 cup quinoa in one cup chicken broth according to package directions)

Saute onion, pepper & spices for five minutes in 2 TBL olive oil.

Add vegetables, chickpeas & cilantro to couscous.

Whisk together remaining olive oil, orange juice concentrate & vinegar. Add to other ingredients and chill.

Mom says this recipe is adapted from one printed in USA Weekend in the summer of 2009

Easy Homemade Granola

Guess this recipe is a shout out to my sister Meagan who is supposed to be posting on this blog since this is her recipe. I'm putting it here since we are at my parents and my daughter Leah declared "I LOVE this granola". That means I'll probably be pressured into making it at our house too. Fresh fruit + yogurt + granola is always a popular breakfast choice in the morning.

3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 - 3/4 cup dried fruit (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable or coconut oil
1/4 cup honey or brown rice syrup
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut flakes, cinnamon, salt & almonds.

In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.

Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them. Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly leaving a few clumps for texture.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 250 degrees. Add fruit in the last 15 minutes of baking. Cool on parchment paper.

adapted from "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking" by Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito

Chicken Divan

So the recipe card I used to make this last night came out of the recipe box I made for my high school home-ec class a long time ago! Guess that means this recipe has been around a while, and I'm sure around even longer than when I copied for the recipe box project since the note on my card says it came from a Mason City cookbook where my parents lived when I was little! SO yeah, old recipe!

This one is easy comfort food for me in the winter and is a good way to use up leftover chicken or turkey. I often divide this into two 8x8 pans and freeze one for later or give one to a friend like I did last night to a friend whose father recently passed away. Her husband said he was never so happy to see a casserole since they have been eating take out and freezer food the past month while dealing with her dad's illness.

CHICKEN DIVAN

2 pkgs frozen broccoli or 2 large crowns of fresh broccoli cooked
2-3 cups cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 -1 cup bread crumbs
melted butter

Cook broccoli and spread in a 9x13 inch casserole pan. Cover with cooked chicken. Combine soups, mayonnaise, and lemon juice; pour over chicken. Spread cheese over the top. Mix bread crumbs with melted butter and spread over cheese. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350.