Ice Cream Cookies

Chocolate cookies, see prior recipe

Freeze cookies in pairs by size, will vary. Take carton of Breyers mint chocolate chip ice cream and beat with an electric mixer till smooth. Scoop 1/3 to 1/2 cup of ice cream and smush between two cookies, use a table knife to smooth out the sides, place back in the freezer. I like to use my covered Pyrex to do this so I can freeze all the cookies together and transport them easily and without much mess. Try to wait a week before eating, it lets the cookies soften.

Breyers ice cream cartons used to be 1/2 gallon, but now they only have 6 cups instead of 8. Your cookie recipe will make 30 cookies, 15 pairs. 1/3 of a cup will accommodate 15 pairs, 1/2 cup for 12 pairs.

We like Breyers because it's all natural and therefore condensed (Edy's is the worst for having a lot of additives and being "whipped"), but Breyers is also lower in fat than other varieties. If you can catch it on sale it's not pricey.

Other cookie-ice cream combinations:

Chocolate chip cookie (use small chips), vanilla ice cream
Sugar cookies, Strawberry ice cream
Ginger cookies, lemon ice cream (see cheesecake ice cream recipe)
Peanut Butter Cookie, vanilla ice cream

Chocolate Cookie

I'm on a quest to make a good, and really chocolatey, chocolate cookie. My two reasons are that I need to convince my mom to stop buying box mixes, and I need a cookie for ice cream sandwiches. I decided to use the chocolate chip cookie recipe but melt the chips with the butter and see what happens. I will be using a 1/2 recipe just in case I fail.

6 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoons pure Vanilla extract
1 small egg + 1 small egg yolk
1 cup all purpose white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 oz. of chocolate chips

Melt the butter and chips, add the sugar, vanilla extract, and beat in the eggs. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, loosely incorporate them before stirring into the batter. Drop by the Tablespoon full onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes a sheet, alternating, and possibly adding 2 minutes if baking multiple sheets at a time. Let cool 5 minutes on sheet before transferring to wire racks.

They came out beautifully, I just wish they were more chocolatey, they were a little too chewy for ice cream cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies or Bars!

I have never been a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies, at least not homemade. Postpartum one of my favorite snacks has been store bought chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to make them myself. After some research I found two almost identical recipes that were highly rated, one being from Smitten Kitchen. I decided to give them a whirl. These are the best CC cookies I've ever eaten. On the first day they were too soft, but by day two they were perfect, however by day four they had become too sweet and sugar-cruchy. I would say it's best to freeze them and bake as desired.  If you don't have brown sugar in the house check out the helpful hint below.

6 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all purpose white flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 oz. (1/2 a bag) of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325. Melt the butter in the microwave, stir in the sugar, beat in the egg and yolk, and vanilla. Add 1 cup of flour, salt, baking soda, and loosely stir the salt and soda into the flour before mixing. Add the chips, mix till incorporated. Drop by the level Tablespoon full onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 2 sheets at a time for 10 minutes alternating half way through. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Makes 2 dozen.

Also delicious with walnuts.

For Bars:
Double the recipe and spread the dough out in a greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish and bake at 325 for 20-30 minutes.

Make your own Brown Sugar:  For every cup of sugar (using white granulated) add one Tablespoon of Molasses, 2 Tablespoons for dark brown sugar.  If you didn't already know, Molasses is the liquid extracted from processing white sugar, brown sugar leaves it in.  Molasses is full of nutrients, and can help with constipation.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberries

As a child eating Sunday breakfast at Bob Evans I was always torn between French Toast or Blueberry Pancakes. At home I learned the secret to good pancakes is Buttermilk. I encourage every one to keep Buttermilk in the fridge, it lasts way longer than the date on the carton, for instance the one I'm using on 5/13 is dated for 2/23. You'll know when it's gone bad, it will separate and curdle. If you can't shake it back up, it's a goner.

Buttermilk Pancakes:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda (essential with Buttermilk baking)
1 Tbs. sugar
1 cup of Buttermilk
1 large Egg

1 cup frozen Blueberries

Combine dry ingredients, stir in Buttermilk and Egg. Over a medium heat buttered skillet pour batter for 4 inch pancakes. Sprinkle 1 heaping Tablespoon frozen Blueberries over each pancake. Wait for bubbles and flip. You want a nice golden brown on each side so keep the heat low, and lower it as you go along. Butter in between batches, don't worry about the blueberry bits in the skillet. Serve with Maple syrup or whipped cream. Makes 10 small pancakes, serves 3-4.

Italian Meat Sauce

Since we've been liquidating the farm, part of that means getting rid of the livestock. We had around 150 or more roosters we had planned to have USDA processed. Instead Tom is turning them into our own homemade sausage. With the help of several friends, we've ground about 80 lbs of meat, pure meat. Don't be fooled by ground "meat" you get at the grocers. If you haven't seen Jamie Oliver make chicken nuggets, take a look, because that's the reason you can't find ground chicken. Using the meat is just not economical for producers, and really it's not for us either if we had plans to sell it.

See my previous post on chicken sausage for spice recipes.

1 lb Italian chicken sausage, browned
1 medium onion, diced
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
1 quart diced tomatoes, pureed
2 tsp. fresh oregano, minced

I sauteed the onion in the oil, then added the meat. When the meat had cooked, I poured in the tomatoes and oregano and let it simmer for an hour. It was the best sauce I've eaten in years. And everything but the oil came from our garden. The sausage and tomatoes were salty enough that I didn't need to add salt.

Minestrone (Vegan, and can be Gluten Free)

3 Tbs. Organic, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, diced
5 large carrots, diced
6 large ribs celery, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
1 tsp. dried, crushed Basil
1/4 tsp. dried, crushed Oregano
2 cups cooked white Beans in liquid
3 cups of water
1 quart jar of diced tomatoes with the juice
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

*1 cup dried D'Italini shape pasta, cooked according to directions and set aside. This keeps the soup Gluten Free, or try a gluten free pasta.

In a large stock pot, saute the vegetables in the olive oil one at a time for a few minutes with each addition. Add the herbs, water, tomatoes, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add the beans and liquid, salt, and pepper, bring back to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Serve with cooked pasta, but be forewarned, if you put pasta in soup it will absorb all the extra liquid. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, if you like. Makes a lot.

Chicken Salad-Salad Wraps

I love wraps! But having been gluten free for 5 years I could not use flour tortillas and hadn't come up with a good alternative. Until last year. Rice paper wraps from the asian market are great with a cold wrap.

I also love chicken salad, but since I can't eat it on bread, in a pita pocket, or in a wheat tortilla wrap, I decided to just use it like salad dressing and eat it on a bed of greens. Not a very easy lunch to-go, so here's where the rice papers come in handy, literally.

Start by making my delicious chicken salad recipe:

White meat from a whole roasted 5 lb chicken, cut and shredded
1/2 red onion, finely diced
5 ribs of celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups of red grapes, quartered or 1/2-1 cup of raisins soaked in boiling water
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper to taste
add enough yogurt or sour cream to desired creaminess
1/2 cup roasted, salted almonds coarsely chopped (reserve for later)

Lettuce
Rice Paper Wrappers

Mix all ingredients together, except the walnuts. Let sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours before using. Wash and spin your lettuce leaves. Follow directions on rice paper package to saturate in water for a few seconds then shake off excess. Place on smooth surface. At the top (about 1 inch in) put about 1/2 cup chicken salad, top with a sprinkle of nuts, and lettuce leaves (as many as will fit). Roll over once, fold in sides and roll to the end of the paper. If you like it spicy, squirt some hot sauce (I like sriracha) on the chicken salad before you add the lettuce.