Soap Diversion: Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am a cookie fiend-particularly a chocolate chip cookie fiend. I'm the type of gal who believes in a good, sinful cookie, meaning I don't want applesauce substituted for oil, and whole wheat flour in lieu of the regular variety. Cookies are supposed to be bad, and I've rarely met a chocolate chip cookie I didn't like.  I'm always on the prowl for easy and tasty recipes. I found one that sounded really good (from allrecipes.com), but I'm not a fan of cranberries, so I substituted those with dried cherries. Dried cherries are the bomb! They are soft and chewy, and don't get all hard and icky like raisins tend to be. Anyway, let's get to the recipe, shall we?


Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup dried cherries

Instructions:

   1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
   2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
   3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.       Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips & cherries by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
   4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Okay, if you're not a baker like myself, here is my #1 tip to remember:

1. Don't just dump the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Truly sift them to break up any clumps. I used my good ole metal colander to do this. My first time making these, my cookies were a disaster-but an edible, nonetheless. I found that by sifting the dry ingredients, the dough made for a puffier, more filling cookie. 

Now, all you health nuts, go ahead and make your substitutions. I'll still love you for ruining a perfectly good recipe:D

Better Than Anything Cake

My family will never recover from the shock of my baking this cake, and it took me two days to do it! It came from the back of the Duncan Hines or is it Betty Crocker German Chocolate Cake mix box, and it is the best cake I've ever had! Before now, you couldn't pay me to eat German chocolate cake. What is that nasty-looking frosting anyway? It's scary-looking. Oh, I just wikied it: It's cooked caramel, coconut, and pecans. Ummm...NO!

This version is decorated with sweet condensed milk, hot fudge sauce, and whipped topping sprinkled with butterscotch chips. Dieters beware. Your diet will be shot to hell after one bite of this cake. I could literally eat this entire cake myself. I'd share though....reluctantly.

Sunday Supper: Vegetarian Chili Even A Doofus Could Make!

And when I say doofus, I'm referring to myself! I am no gourmet by any means, but I do make a mean spaghetti, a decent lasagna, an edible macaroni & beef bake (I'll do a little post on that one soon). Do you see a trend here? It's all pasta! Who can mess up pasta, right?

So, I scour all my favorite blogs daily to see what my blog idols are up to, and I happen across this entry from Door Sixteen called Soup For Lunches. I love Door Sixteen. It's classified as a design or home design blog, but I consider it more of a lifestyle blog. Anyway, one of the "soups" was this mouth-watering recipe for Vegetarian Chili. I am probably one of the biggest carnivores on the planet-the kind that has to have some kind of meat with just about every meal. I was very skeptical and intimidated by the ingredients. There weren't any complicated ingredients, but there were a lot of ingredients! I had about 3/4ths of them surprisingly. I did have to go to the Giant to pick up a few things, but my cousin Kellie and I were determined to make this chili because the chili looked so delicious, and we wanted to try at least one completely meatless dish.

My assessment: LOVES IT!!! It's the best chili I can remember having in a very long time. This recipe yields a huge pot!! You can easily have lunch for the entire week with this recipe. Pictured is my finished version. Does it not look delicious? Oh, the original recipe calls for Bulgar wheat which I could not find at the grocery store, but I substituted it with pearled barley, and let me tell you-absolutely scrumptious! Try it. You will love it! Take it from a gal who lives by the cow!