Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peppermint Chips

   

During Christmas grocery stores always crowd the aisles with displays of the most popular items.  That is where you can find marshmallows and yams, cream of mushroom soup and French's French fried onions.  There are lots of chocolate chips and nuts galore.  This year I saw something I had never seen before, Andes peppermint chips.  I love peppermint and bought a bag.  I didn't have an idea of where to use them, but I bought the bag and put it in the pantry for a future date.

After the last shopping trip, Lee mentioned that we had neglected to purchase any cookies.  I told him I would make some and then I remembered the peppermint chips.  Chocolate and peppermint go well together.  I thought about making a chocolate cookie and adding the peppermint.  But chocolate cookies just call out for chocolate chips, don't they?  So this is what I came up with.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peppermint Chips

2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups Andes peppermint chips

1/2 cup granulated sugar

   

Heat the oven to 375.  I like to use Silpat sheets for baking, but you can use parchment paper or just grease the cookie sheets.

   

Place the flour, salt, baking soda and the cocoa powder in a bowl.  Mix everything with a fork until blended.  Set aside.

   

I like to use my Kitchen Aid mixer for cookies, but it can be done by hand.  It is winter and my butter didn't want to get softened and toward the end of the mixing, the Kitchen Aid had to struggle a bit to get the job done, so I am glad I didn't  have to hand mix everything.

   

Use the paddle to mix up the butter and then add 1 cup of each of the two sugars.  Mix some more.  You might have to scrape down the sides.  I did.  Add the eggs and the vanilla.  Mix some more.

Add the flour to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, blending between each cup.  When everything is mixed together add the chocolate and peppermint chips and mix one final time.

   

I wanted big chewy cookies, so I used my middle size cookie scoop.  It is about 2 Tablespoons.  I scooped up some of the dough and dropped it in a bowl with the last 1/2cup of sugar.  Roll it so the ball is coated in sugar and place it on the prepared cookie sheet.  I only put 9 cookie dough balls on each sheet as they are big and will spread.

   

Cook for about 10 minutes.  Let them cool for at least 2 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.  They are big and soft and may break during the transfer.   Then you will have to eat the broken ones.  You can't serve a broken cookie to a guest!  But at least you can see how good they are and enjoy one while the chocolate chips are all melty.

   

The peppermint flavor (force) is really strong in these cookies Luke).  If you don't long for peppermint and miss the bite of a candy cane long after Christmas, these may not be for you.  However, there is an answer to the dilemma of wanting these cookies, but not wanting too much peppermint in one bite.

   

Make them into ice cream sandwiches, of course.  I had some vanilla ice cream just languishing in the freezer.  I set it out on the counter for a bit to soften and then put a large scoop in the middle of one of the cookies.  Place another cookie on top and gently squish them together.  Pop them back in the freezer for a refreshing treat.  I would recommend letting them warm up a bit as it was VERY hard to bite through the frozen cookie.

   

If you can't get enough peppermint goodness, you could use some peppermint ice cream...OOH, maybe I could use some chocolate ice cream...  I think I need to get back to the kitchen and start experimenting.  All in the name of science, of course.

 

Never Satisfied

It was finally time to solder my stained glass window for the transom.  Lee cut me some wood to hold the glass in place.  There are a whole bunch of little pieces and they can shift if not held in place.

   

I used finishing nails to hold the wood tight against the edges of the glass.  Then I brushed a section with the liquid flux.  This is necessary because of all the oil from my hands and other contaminants that might keep the solder from adhering to the copper foil.  If you put on too much it will pop and bubble and throw little bits of solder bubbles and leave holes in the line of solder.

   

I  haven't soldered any glass in quite some time.  Years.  I decided to tack the pieces by putting a blob of solder at some corners and then run a bead of solder along a line of foil.  On the first pass I just wanted to get some solder down.

   

Then I came back to clean up the run and add some more solder where the line was flat.  It is best to have a slightly rounded bead of solder.  You can user the soldering iron to run around the piece and pick up the loose bits of solder that popped away.  You can lay the edge of the iron on a lumpy spot and smooth it out to either side.  This takes practice and I am out of practice.  That is my excuse for taking a loooong time.

   

You can see the finished line of solder on the left and the first run on the right.

When you finish one side you have to flip the piece over.  This is delicate, because the piece is still a bit unstable.  I slid it part way off of the wood table I use for glass work and onto my other hand.  This is a good time to mention that you should wait until it has cooled sufficiently.

   

Lift the piece up and gently lay it down on the soldered side so you can do the next side.  Then start the whole flux, solder process over again.  By this time my back was hurting and I wanted to quit.  But you can't let it sit overnight with the flux on it so I had to get it finished.  I did a pretty good job and the took the MOSTLY finished piece over to the sink to wash it with soap and water.  By this time it is pretty stable, but you could probably bend it if you wanted.  So don't try it.

After I washed the whole thing, both sides, I returned it to the wooden board to wait for another day.  I want to do some touch up soldering when I am fresh.  That will entail more flux and soldering and then I will wash it again.

    

After that it will be time to do the copper patina and start to think about how I will install it.  Painting in the basement starts next week and I don't have to figure all that out until that is all done.

Pizza Pasta Bake

   

I found a pasta casserole recipe, but it used Velveeta.  Seriously, if you are going to have the fat and calories of cheese, have the REAL thing!  So I made it much more complicated, but still pretty easy.  The idea I liked was to add some pizza sauce to flavor the dish.  Lee said, " This is delicious." and that it high praise and enthusiasm from him.

Pizza Pasta

1 1/2 cups penne pasta  I had some left over from another meal, but not enough.  I added some elbows and that worked out fine.
1 lb. Italian sausage.  I like the sweet Italian sausage.  Use the hot if you like things on the spicy side.
1 big or 2 small zucchini, sliced
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 cups pizza sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350.  Don't forget to do this as I did.  It will increase the time until eating can commence.

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.  If it finishes before the rest is done, just drain it and dump it into a 9X13 baking dish.

   

Cook the sausage.  It is easier to buy the bulk Italian sausage, but they didn't have any, so I bought the links.  Then you have to squeeze out little lumps into the pan, leaving the casing behind.  This is gross and reminds me of...well, we won't go there. 

   

Then cook the sausage until it is no longer pink, chopping it into smaller bits as it cooks.

   

While the sausage is cooking, dice the onions and add to the pan.  They should be done when the sausage is done.  Drain off the fat and add the garlic, sliced zucchini, drained can of tomatoes and the pizza sauce.  Cook until it is warmed up again and add the Ricotta.  Stir until the whole dish is creamy.

   

If you haven't drained the pasta, do it now.  You can add it to the sauce if the pan is big enough.  Mine wasn't, so I put the pasta in the baking dish and poured the sauce on top.  Gently mix the pasta into the sauce.

   

Spread the grated Mozzarella cheese on top.  Decide how decadent you want to be.  I added a bit more, because I like the way the melted cheese strings keep your serving attached to the dish and you have to go back and get another spoonful.  You can add Parmesan cheese on top if you are really cheese obsessed.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until it is heated through and starts to bubble.

   

Lee said we should have had garlic bread.  We should have, but we didn't.  I said we should have had a salad.  We should have, but we didn't.  There are a lot of vegetables in this dish and you can always add more than I did.  That's as good as a salad, isn't it?

This made a lot of food.  We will be eating it for a few meals.  I don't have a problem with that.  It is good and now I can just heat up dinner.  I have a bunch of other things on my plate and now I don't have to think up dinner for DAYS!

Swiss, Chicken and Cauliflower Casserole

Yesterday was a crazy day.  There were storm warnings early in the afternoon.  Then I got a call from the trainer that she was bringing the horses back.  And I mean right now, before the weather broke.  It is winter and no one is looking for horses to buy.  She would keep them but the board bill would have to go up because there was no grass and she had to feed a lot more to keep weight on them.

Right after she left them here, the rain started.  It lasted the rest of the day and night with bursts of heavy, sideways rain.  It was also strangely warm.  Like mid-fifties warm.  It was mid-twenties warm (?) last week.

I made a wonderful casserole, which we both really enjoyed and then watched TV and went to bed.  At 10:00 the neighbor down the hill called.  Our bridge was blocked by all the debris from up the creek and the water was flowing over our bridge.  The onslaught was looking to undermine his house.

This happens about once or twice a year.  We keep our part of the stream clear, but upstream, things fall into it and are caught by our bridge.  So Lee gets in the tractor and I get into a slicker and gather tools.  This time the water took the top of our rake.  Last year ts broke the hoe.  It is very dramatic and I wish I had pictures for you, but it was too dark and we were too wet and busy for that.

Between Lee maneuvering the bucket on the tractor and me hauling logs and sticks up by hand, we managed to unblock most of the bridge.  The water still crested over it occasionally, but that was from the force and amount of water in the creek.  Nothing we could do about that.  The main thing is most of the water was now diverted down the creek and away from the neighbor's house.  I sure hope he appreciates us.  As Lee said, we won't be able to do that much longer.  He is in his twenties and presumably in better shape than us old folk, so we should just give him permission to clear away and don't call us!  But the tractor really does help.

So it is a good thing we had a delicious and warm meal the night before!  And I do mean delicious.  Usually I am ambivalent when it comes to cauliflower.  Lee loves it, though, so I make some every couple of weeks.  This was so good I will definitely make it again soon.  Plus, it was fast and easy.  Always a plus in my mind!  Oh, and low carb, too.

   
   
Swiss, Chicken and Cauliflower casserole

4 cups cooked chicken, chopped.  Buy one already cooked from the market or buy the frozen pre-cooked variety, like I did.

2 cups cauliflower flowerets
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded.  Buy the shredded kind when you are getting the pre-cooked chicken and dinner is almost made!

3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry.  Your preference.  I used about 3/4  teaspoon.
2/3 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk


Heat the oven to 350.  Find your 2 quart casserole dish.

   

In a small bowl, mix the milk and Mayo with the curry.  I used a mini whisk to get it smooth.  Set it aside.

   

The frozen precooked chicken breast strips I had were in big chunks.  I allowed it to thaw a bit and chopped them up in to bite sizes.  Cut off any yucky parts.

   

 If you think all parts are free from yuckiness, good for you.  Saves time.  It irritates the cats and the dog that are hoping for those bits, however.  Keep chopping until you have 2 cups.  Dump those in a medium bowl.

Cut up most of the cauliflower into flowerets.  When you have 2 cups, add that to the chicken and save the rest for another day.

   

Chop up 3 or so celery stalks, the onion and add them with the garlic to the bowl.  Dump the bag of Swiss cheese shreds over the top and mix. Drizzle the sauce over the top and mix again.  That's IT.

   

Now dump, er, gently spoon the chicken mixture into the casserole dish and cook for about 50 minutes, or until bubbling nicely and the cauliflower has softened.

   

 

Serve with a salad or some fruit.  Or just eat two heaping servings like we did and still have some for the next dinner! 

What Colors Should I Choose?

The plaster is currently drying in our basement remodel.  Now I need to pick the wall colors.  Actually, I have picked the colors, sort of.

I want blue for the bedroom.  I want yellow or a peachy color for the bathrooms.  And I want gray with glossy white trim for everything else.

 That's the plan.  Then I went to Home Depot.  If there were two shades in each color choice, then I could make my decision.  I am having a hard time deciding between all shades ever invented

These are the colors I am trying to decide between.

Here is the blue.

 

Here are the bathroom choices.  Wow.  They came out pinker on the computer.



I guess there really are fifty shades of gray.

    

And here they are all together.


So, I am open to suggestions.  Just remember that this is a basement we are taking about.  So I am leaning more towards light, bright colors to offset the fact of limited natural light.

In a perfect world I would hire a decorator and let them make the decisions.  In a not perfect, but better situation, I would have my sister-in-law come make these decisions as she is a great amateur decorator. But she lives three hours away and is not willing to relocate for the duration.  Kinda selfish, don't you think?

 

 

 

 

Kielbasa and Potatoes with Honey Mustard

   

I love me some baked vegetables.  Particularly potatoes.  I found a recipe with Kielbasa and honey mustard and I was IN!

Kielbasa and Potatoes with Honey Mustard.

3/4 cup white wine  The alcohol will all bake out, but you can substitute chicken broth if you wish.
1/4 cup sweet, hot mustard
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 lb. Kielbasa I used the Lite version
1-1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
1 large onion, sliced




   

Heat oven to 400.

   

Mix the wine, mustard and brown sugar in a small bowl until well blended.

   

Here is my OCD coming to the forefront.  I don't like the casing on the kielbasa.  It looks like paper.  I know perfectly well it is edible, or they wouldn't put it there, but I can't like it. So I take it off.

   

It is time consuming and messy, but the dog likes me to do it because I let him eat the trimmings. He doesn't mind paper as long as it tastes like kielbasa.  You, on the other hand, are probably normal, so just cut the kielbasa into chunks.  You may have to slip a small piece to your dog, because he will not be getting any trimmings!

   

You don't need to peel the potatoes, but I like to peel off any weird looking bits.  I know. I know.  I am strange.  Then cut them into 3/4 inch pieces.

You will be relieved to know that I am content with merely peeling my onions before slicing them.  No strange, OCD rituals necessary.

   

I used a cast iron pan, but the food was a bit crowded.  If you don't have one, use a shallow baking sheet.  Put the meat, potatoes and onions in the pan and drizzle with the mustard mixture.  Stir to coat.

Bake for 55 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Stir once or twice while it is baking to coat everything with the mustard sauce.  By the time the potatoes are cooked through, the sauce will have thickened.  It makes a great addition to the usual mixed veg dinner.

Serve with a salad.  Sure, potatoes are a vegetable, but we need our greens!

Better Than Grilled Cheese

I have been rather lax in getting my posts up, lately. Our computer died and I am using our very old (7 years?) laptop.  It has been acting up, also.  When that happens I save what I have and walk away.  No point in throwing it out the window.  So the following post was written a few days ago and has been waiting for me to finish it and add pictures.  Here's hoping!

   

It has been cold and snowy.  I decided on grilled cheese for dinner.  But not just any grilled cheese.  Special grilled cheese.  There is a tiny hole-in-the-wall diner in Roanoke called Pop's and they serve a plethora of yummy grilled cheese sandwiches.  If they can do it so can I.

Better Than Grilled Cheese

Bread  This should be obvious!
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 Granny Smith Apple
Ham
Sweet, Hot Mustard
Butter, softened

My favorite ham is Honeybaked Ham.  We had some in the freezer left over from Christmas.   In a perfect world, I would  always use Honeybaked ham.  But it is expensive and a long trip into Roanoke, so I was thrilled to know it was there for the taking!  I trimmed all the fat and set it aside

   

Core, and peel the apple.  Slice it in 1/4 inch slices.  Slice the cheese.  Cut enough pieces to cover one slice of bread for each sandwich.  No.  You can't use American cheese wrapped in plastic.  You have to use REAL cheese.  Make sure it is the SHARP cheese.  You want to taste cheese in your grilled cheese sandwich, don't you?

   

Assemble your sandwich.  After I cut everything and started layering it, I wanted to add something extra and remembered the sweet, hot mustard.  Don't leave this out, either.  It really added some sweetness and a bit of punch, all at the same time.  I spread a thin layer on one slice of bread.

Heat a pan or griddle on medium, or use a panini. I am not a panini fan as I don't like smooshed sandwiches, but use what you like.  Butter the top side of the sandwich and place it butter side down on the pan.  Then butter the side facing you.

Heat until brown, about 2 minutes, and then carefully flip it over.  I do this using two spatulas, one on top and one on the bottom.

   

When the second side is nice and brown, remove to a cutting board and cut it.  Serve immediately with something healthy, like fruit or a salad.  Because this is not healthy.  But it is goooood.

Sheesh.  More computer problems.  Can't wait for the new one to get here!