Chocolate Chippies

Here is my foolproof method for chocolate chip cookies. It's easier than pie. I've had it memorized for about 15 or so years, and I think it's mainly adapted it from the Nestle Toll House recipe and the Roundy's generic brand chips...

Ingredients:
2 1/3 c flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 to 1 c sugar
3/4 c b. sug
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs at room temperature
lots of chocolate chips! (of good quality please)
extra sea salt

Preheat oven to 350.

1. You will need two bowls. In the smaller bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder/soda and whisk to combine. Sift together if you have a sifter.

2. In the larger bowl, beat butter til lighter in color and fluffy (few minutes). Then add sugars and beat again until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and mix/beat until again fluffy and smooth.

3. Slowly add flour mixture (in 3 rounds) and combine well. Should be thick and smooth looking. Remove whisk and use a wooden spoon to stir in at least 2 cups choc chips.



4. Drop small balls of batter onto un-greased cookie sheet, sprinkle a bit of sea salt on each cookie, and place in oven for about 7-8 min depending on altitude and oven.

5. You know the cookies are done if they are barely golden on the bottoms/edges but still light on top. I take them out before they look totally done because they will continue to bake as they cool. They will remain softer this way, but still crisp at the edges. My dad taught me this, and he couldn't have been more right.



Eat and enjoy.

Recipes from "Knox Gelatine Desserts, Salads, Candies and Frozen Dishes"

I received a little booklet from a friend in Maine, who has a knack for picking out tiny publications that are exactly to my fascination and excitement. There are so many incredible sentences and recipes in this particular booklet, I can barely decide where to begin. So I will provide a few of the more interesting recipe names, and maybe a few pictures too.

SARDINE APPETIZERS
Rinse shallow pan in water. Pour in a thin layer of jelly, following Foundation Recipe, page 20. When it begins to thicken, arrange on jelly a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes. Pour over another layer of liquid jelly. Chill, and when partially congealed, arrange a sardine on each tomato slice. On each side of sardine, place a design of hard-cooked egg yolk and parsley, finely chopped. Pour over a little liquid jelly to set the decorations. Chill thoroughly. Cut out in squares or rounds and serve each appetizer on a tiny lettuce leaf.

PERFECTION SALAD
Soften gelatine in cold water. Add sugar, salt and hot water, and stir until dissolved. Add vinegar and lemon juice. Cool, and when mixture begins to stiffen, add remaining ingredients. Turn into mold that has been rinsed in cold water and chill. To serve, remove from mold to bed of lettuce leaves or endive, and garnish with mayonnaise dressing. Or cut salad in cubes, and serve in cases made of red or green peppers, or turn into individual molds lined with canned pimientos.

TOMATO JELLY RIBBON LOAF
Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise and seasonings. Soften gelatine in cold water. Place bowl in boiling water and stir until gelatine is dissolved. Add to cheese mixture. Pour half of Tomato Jelly into loaf pan that has been rinsed in cold water and chill. When mixture is practically congealed, add cheese mixture. Serve sliced on crisp lettuce.

Here are a couple more I would like to make, but I won't type out all of the recipes at once:

Plain and Fancy Desserts:
GRAPEFRUIT SNOW PUDDING

Sunday Night Suppers / Bridge Parties
PRUNE-ORANGE-CHEESE SALAD

Now a couple of visual excerpts:
Now this is what I call a centerfold:
With the help of my friend Becky, who has an extensive collection of molds, I will be making a few of these recipes very soon! I will report back on outrageous looks and tastes.

Simple Stone Fruit Crisp

I've been spending a lot of time at the farmer's market near my house on Friday evenings, and one of the vendors has the most incredible peaches, plums, nectarines, white nectarines, etc...all so fresh and ripe and delicious and cheap. So I've been making crisps like nobody's business, and here's how I generally go about it...(all of the measurements are approximate, it's mostly by hand and adjusted for the texture/moisture of the days' fruit)


Fruit Filling:
1 ½ or so lbs peaches, plums, pluots, nectarines (any combination)
Cornstarch
Lemon juice
Dash salt

Crumble Top:
Oats
Flour
Butter
Brown sugar
Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pit fruit and slice into ½ inch chunks or ¼ inch thin slices. Toss into a bowl with cornstarch, lemon juice, 1T flour, 2T sugar, 1T brown sugar, and a dash salt. Stir with a wooden spoon and let sit in its juices.

In a separate bowl, combine 3T butter, ½ cup oats, 2T flour, 3T brown sugar, ¼ tsp salt, and a dash of cinnamon or clove if you’re so inclined. Sometimes I think it’s nice not to have any wintry spices and just let the fruits shine through…but that can depend on how fresh the fruit is, and what its accompanying at the table. Mash up the dry goods and butter with a fork til it’s all crumbly.

Grease a casserole dish and spoon two thirds of the fruit into it. Dot this layer with a few small pieces of butter (this will aid in congealing the juices as it cools later), then spoon in the rest of the fruit. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the fruit, being sure it’s evenly spread out. Toss a little bit of extra oats on top and at edges for good measure (and extra crispness), and put the dish in the oven. Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the fruit begins bubbling up around the oat mixture at the edges.


Variations:

Strawberry and peach go well together, and so do blueberries and nectarines. Chopped nuts are nice to add to the crumble top sometimes, and molasses dark brown sugar instead of regular brown sugar can add a depth and richness that’s quite nice. Hopefully I'll be heading to an apple orchard real soon and can get on some Apple Pie baking...maybe with a cheddar crust!