Chocolate Lover's Delight

These cookies will satisfy any craving for chocolate you might have. There are plenty of chocolate chips and the texture of the cookie is soft. I used milk chocolate chips in this recipe, but you can use your favorite flavor or for variety, use white chocolate or peanut butter chips.


Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 350 F and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (waxed paper will do if you don't have parchment)

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the butter mixture. Mix just until incorporated. Fold in the the chocolate chips.

Using a small ice cream scoop or two spoons, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 minutes or until the the cookies are still soft in the center but are firm around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes (very important), then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen 3 inch cookies

Hamming It Up!

This is a very easy, yet flavorful soup. Sometimes the best recipes come from a need to use up leftovers or scraps we don't want to throw away. I get the most from every part of a delicious ham. The dinner itself, sandwiches, scalloped potatoes and ham..... even after I'm done using every little bit including boiling all the flavor out of the bone, the dog has a go at it. By the time all is said and done, that ham is reduced to a few small bone fragments left in the carpet. Now that's what I call "getting your money's worth"!

Easy Ham Bone Vegetable Soup

1 ham bone
2 bay leaves
water
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, diced
1/2 small head cabbage, sliced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained,
1 can navy beans, drained and rinsed
1 can lima beans, drained and rinsed
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cut green beans, drained
1 can mixed vegetables, drained
2 cups leftover ham, diced (or less if your ham bone was very meaty)

Place the ham bone and bay leaves in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the ham on the bone is falling off, maybe 2 or 3 hours. Add the onions, garlic, celery, cabbage and thyme. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Add remaining ingredients and bring back to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Discard bay leaves before serving. This is even better the next day!

You can certainly use any vegetables you like in this soup and also vary the amounts according to your taste and how much broth you have. The bone I used was very flavorful, so this made a large dutch oven full of soup. You can also use frozen vegetables instead of canned, I had an abundace of canned goods on hand that I needed to use, I normally prefer frozen vegetables.

Note:
If your ham bone didn't give up enough flavor for your soup, you can give it a boost with some vegetable or chicken broth. I won't tell anybody!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Ahhh! Comfort food at it's best! What's not to like?
Bacon...cheese...beef. No, it's not the healthiest, but we don't eat like this every day, right? (ahem) Right? At least it sits atop the bread to soak up some of the fat. Actually, when I made this, the bread stayed rather dry through the cooking process. But the meat was very juicy. This is delicious served with a side of mashed potatoes and a green salad.

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
10 slices bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 egg
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup, divided
2 slices bread, toasted

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef with the bacon, cheese, egg, soup mix, bread crumbs, pepper and 1/4 cup of the ketchup, mixing well.

Spray a 9 x 9 baking dish with cooking spray. Lay the 2 pieces of toast on the bottom. Form meat mixture into a loaf shape and place on top of the toast. Spread remaining 1/4 cup ketchup over the top of the loaf. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove meatloaf from the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake for 1 hour. Let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate, removing the bread from the bottom of the loaf, if desired.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Take your mashed potatoes over the top with roasted garlic! Mashed potatoes can get boring. Why not change it up once in a while? If you're a garlic lover like I am, you're going to want to keep this in your collection of go-to recipes.

2 lbs. (5 or 6) white potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 tsp. salt
4 T butter
2 heads roasted garlic (recipe follows)
1/2 cup milk or more if needed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

In a saucepan, cover potatoes with cold water. Add salt. Bring to a boil over medium hight heat. Boil until tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes. Drain and return to the hot pan. Add the butter and garlic; mash with a potato masher. Stir in milk and salt and pepper. Add more milk if needed to the consistency desired.

Serves 4


Roasted Garlic

When roasted, garlic becomes sweet and spreadable. We're using it here for mashed potatoes, but the uses for it are endless! Use it in sauces, gravies, dips and spreads, salad dressings or just spread it on a cracker all by itself!


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Cut the top off of a head of garlic, place it on a piece of aluminum foil.. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over it and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in the foil and roast in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until soft.
Let it cool enough to handle, then just squeeze the cloves out of the skin. Mash with a fork and use in your favorite recipe.