Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

*aren't they gorgeous? I took this picture right before inhaling half the cookies. So.Good. 

I get into these obsession-loops… basically, where I fixate on a particular ingredient or recipe and I can't stop thinking about it until I make it... especially when sweets are involved. Normally, I'm a regular old chocolate chip cookie kinda girl, but I went out for lunch with my sister-in-law recently and tried an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.

It was ok, but just ok, and I thought for sure I could find a better recipe to make at home. I obsessed about it for a week before finally looking around, and this one from Allrecipes is really fantastic. Here is my take on oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

What you need:

1C butter, softened

1C brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2C white sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4C flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3C oats (I used old-fashioned)

1/2 C semi-sweet MINI chocolate chips (I add my chips by sight, you should too. Most recipes call for WAY too many chocolate chips.)

What you do:

Start by preheating your oven to 325 (or 350 if you're me and don't pay attention to anything ever).

Cream butter and sugars together until smooth, then add vanilla and eggs. Keep mixing until everything is nice and smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda,  and salt.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until just blended.

Add oats and chocolate chips, again stirring until just blended.

Drop heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges start to look golden.

Cool on baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling (if you can resist eating them immediately…).

These cookies freeze and reheat very well!

Apple Spice and Everything Nice Muffins

*Yes, those are my muffins... a variation written below for your baking pleasure. Sidebar: don't buy those recipe cards! They're too thick and awkward... I really don't like them. 

About a thousand times a year, I lament the fact that I can never find really good muffin recipes. Like, you know those muffins you get at the coffee shop, or even from McDonald's... the big, fluffy, slightly sticky ones that are always way tastier than they probably should be? Like that. Every muffin recipe I have at home has been kind of meh. So I was really pleased when I had an insane apple-muffin craving last week and stumbled upon this wonderful recipe by Once Upon a Chef. 

My friend Kali over at Kali Kat Corner both made these on the same day, with different results (all good, though). Kali's (mostly) a vegetarian, and her blog is chock-full of amazing veg-oriented recipes. Please, take a moment and check her out. 

(...Don't worry, I'll wait. You'll be back for these amazing muffins, after all...)

Ok. Ready?

What you need:

1/2C butter
1/2C white sugar
1/4C packed brown sugar (dark)
1 egg
1C sour cream or plain yogurt
2C flour (I used AP, recipe suggested 1C each of AP and WW)
1tsp b.Powder
1tsp b.Soda
1/4tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp nutmeg
1/4tsp cloves
2C peeled and diced apples (dice 'em how you wanna eat 'em)

A bit of extra brown sugar for sprinkling purposes

  

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Blend butter with both sugars until fluffy
• Blend in egg, then blend in sour cream / yogurt. Batter will look grainy.
• In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients and spices
• Add dry ingredients to wet, stirring just until blended
• Add apples and stir until blended
• Scoop batter into cupcake papers
• Sprinkle each with brown sugar
• Bake 20-25 mins or until tester comes clean
• Cool on wire rack (but eat at least one while it's warm)

Variations:

• use 2C of mashed banana instead of apple
• use a combination of mashed banana and diced apple, 2C total
• add mini chocolate chips (to taste) to any of the above
• use a combination of banana and apple AND add mini chocolate chips (I did, as pictured... So good!!)
• use mashed banana and add peanut butter chips (to taste)
• make something up and tell me all about it!

I really think this is going to make a great base recipe for all sorts of muffin types... Carrots? Berries? Mangoes!? You can always leave out the spices, too, and you'll have more of a white-cake style base... which would be great for all kinds of other applications. The sky is the limit here... enjoy! 

Crispy Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

*Yep, I ate these. They were delish.

I had my mind blown today by an article in The Awl about using the microwave. The article also included a method for making sweet potato chips (and others, including beets) in the microwave.

In retrospect, I'm not sure why I was so surprised by how well this worked. After all, I used to make pita chips* all the time in almost exactly the same way. I guess I just never thought of it for vegetables before.

Anyway, my chips turned out extremely crispy and crunchy, which is exactly what you want in a sweet potato chip right!? Obviously, they're not quite the same as a fried chip, but I suspect these are a bit healthier (and, they had more sweet potato flavor, which I consider a bonus). I only prepared a sweet potato; it's up to you to read the original article if you want ideas for using other veggies.

What you need:
A sweet potato, or several, depending.
Olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Seasoning, if you're into that.

A mandoline slicer will help you immensely for this recipe. If you don't have one, you'll need to slice your sweet potato very evenly and super thin. I wouldn't recommend a knife; a vegetable peeler might be better.
You'll also need some paper towels, a microwave-safe plate or dish, and... duh... a microwave.

What you do:
Wash and dry your sweet potato. Leave the skin on, obvs.
Using your mandoline, slice the sweet potato into even, thin slices.
Place the slices in a single layer on a layer of paper towel. Place another layer of paper towel on top and press gently to dry your slices. You'll never get them totally dry, so don't try, just get as much as you can by blotting and move on.
Toss your slices in your oil or spritz the oil on if you've got a mister. You want to coat each slice but you don't want them dripping oil.
Place a fresh layer of paper towel over your microwave-safe plate.
Next, put a single layer of oiled sweet potato slices on top of the paper towel.
I recommend salting at this time, but you can play around with this. ((My first batch I salted after I finished cooking them and the salt didn't stick. The second batch I salted at the halfway mark, and they were a little saltier. Next time, I'd salt them right at the oiling stage.)
Put the plate in the microwave and cook on high for 2-3 minutes**.
Remove them from the microwave, flip each slice, and put back in for 2-3 minutes on high.
They're going to get a little brown in the middle. That's ok; just don't let them get too brown. Obviously, this means you have to watch them fairly closely while you make them.
Once cooked, take them out of the microwave and just let them rest*** for a few minutes. If you're using a seasoning, now's the time to add it.
Once they're cool, you can eat them right away. I have no idea how you'd want to store these yummies but I will update this recipe once I've tried a few methods. Feel free to leave suggestions below. :)

*To make pita chips: cut pita bread (the kind that is like a pocket) into pieces of the desired chip size. Place pieces on paper towel on a microwave-safe plate and nuke them for however long it takes for them to get crispy; I haven't done this in a while but I feel like I was doing 1-2 minutes on high per side in the past.

**As the original article says, all microwaves are different so you may need too experiment with cooking times. I did 3 minutes on high on one side, 2 minutes on high on the other. I tried 2:30 on the second batch and half of them burned... so play around and see what works for you.

**I actually used my wire baking rack to help cool them; I just lifted the paper towel and sweet potato slices right off the plate and set them on the rack. If you don't have a rack, you might consider putting another paper towel layer down on a cutting board or other flat surface and lifting your microwaved paper towel and sweet potato onto it.

Sweet Cherry Wine Sangria

*Yep, that's my image. I don't have a fancy pitcher, but this one worked just fine.

Sweet Cherry Sangria

I’ve had ok Sangria, and I’ve had some brain-melting-awesome sangria. Regardless of the quality of the final product, it’s almost always “good enough” to enjoy on a hot summer’s day.

I looked for a good recipe but ended up kind of winging it at the end, using this recipe from Allrecipes.com as a base. It turned out FAN-TAS-TIC.

Prepare in the morning for an afternoon / evening event. Prepare the night before for brunch or lunch. You want to give the fruit a chance to soak up some of the alcohol, and for the flavors to mix together.

What you need (Per batch. I suggest you plan to make two):

1 bottle Grand Traverse Bay cherry wine (or equivalent)
3/4 C brandy
12 oz lemon-lime soda, or to taste (Sprite or house brand preferred at our place!)
1 C orange juice, or to taste (pulp or no pulp, it’s your call)
1 lemon, sliced thinly
1 lime, sliced thinly
1/2 orange, sliced thinly
1 apple, cored, pared, sliced or cubed (you could just use half I guess…)
1 C fresh pineapple chunks (do not use canned… really!)

Optional fruit:
Personally, I think the more fruit the better, but it’s your call. Use any or all of these in combination.
1 cup of cherries, pitted, halved
5-10 strawberries, stems removed, sliced thinly
1 small handful raspberries, rinced
1 nectarine, cored, chunks or sliced thinly (skin on)

What you do:

• Prep all your fruit as you like it. I LOVE eating the fruit after I’m done drinking my sangria, so for me chunks of apple, nectarine, and pineapple are awesome. If you just want the fruity flavors, you may be better to slice everything super thin. Your call. 
• Put your fruit in a large pitcher and pour in the brandy. Let soak for at least 2 hours, preferably longer. 
• Chill your wine, orange juice, and lemon-lime soda in the meantime. 
• About an hour or two before serving, add the wine to the pitcher and stir gently. 
• Immediately before serving, add the lemon-lime soda and orange juice to taste. If you like, add more wine / brandy to taste. Gently crush your fruit if you wish before serving (I do not like it this way, but many do). 

Serve over ice or not, with cherries for garnish or not, and enjoy!

Strawberry Jam in Mason Jars

*ya, dis mah jam. Like, literally... it's my jam.

Certo Strawberry Jam

When I was younger, my mom took us every year to pick strawberries from a local farm. We’d pick basket upon basket of strawberries, eating probably a third as many while out in the field. We would eat some fresh for the next few days, and my mom invariably would slice some up and serve them with angel food cake and whipped cream… a summer staple. The rest, though, were reserved for jam.

My mom made her jam in a giant yellow pot on the stove. It was a simple recipe: purée the strawberries, add sugar to taste, and boil to thicken. Sometimes, after it was finished thickening she would pulse it in the food processor a few times to get the big chunks out, but not always. Then, we’d pour it into peanut-butter jars and store them all in our big chest freezer. It didn’t matter what time of year we opened one of those jam jars, the smell and taste of summer always came through. It was heavenly.

Now that I’m grown up (ish), I wanted to try making my own. I also wanted to try canning it, because we don’t have a chest freezer. After asking around, the consensus was that Certo’s own recipe is the way to go, so that’s what I did… mostly.

The Certo recipe calls for very specific, precise measurement… not my forte, I’ll admit. I tried to follow their rules but frankly, I didn’t, and my jam turned out amazing. I would say if you’ve never made jam before, go straight to the Certa site and follow their recipe. If you’re a little more comfortable, read on!

What you need:

2 pints fresh strawberries (I got mine at the grocery store, conveniently packaged in pint containers. Score!)

7 C sugar

½ tsp butter (optional)

1 pouch fruit pectin (Certo obviously recommends Certo brand, which I like)

Canning supplies:

Boiling water canner and enough water to fill it half way, jars, lids, etc.

You’ll want to prep your jars ahead of time. Wash your jars and screw bands in hot soapy water, rinse, and set aside. Put a small saucepan on the stove with your flat lids and heat until it bubbles, then remove from heat and set aside. I kept mine in the sauce pan on a trivet and that was easiest for me. Have your supplies near at hand and ready to go.

What you do:

• First, fill up your boiling water canner about halfway, and set on high or medium-high heat to start the water warming. Ideally, your water will be boiling by the time your jam is ready.
• I hate lumpy jam. This was definitely a consideration when I adapted this recipe. I used 2 pints of strawberries which was close to 4 cups of raw, prepared berries. I cut off the stems, sliced them in half, and then threw them in the food processor. I basically puréed them before even cooking. You could, I suppose, do this later. The end result was about 6 Cups of pureed strawberries.
• Next,  I threw the strawberries into my cooking pot on medium-high heat. As the strawberries warmed, I turned the heat up a little (to 6 or 7 on my burner).
• Once the strawberries start steaming, add your sugar and stir well.
• Bring the heat up to high (not max), stirring frequently.
• Add the butter if you want to in order to reduce foaming. I didn’t bother with this, but I did scoop off some of the foam with a slotted spoon.
• Bring your strawberries and sugar to a full rolling boil. That means that it doesn’t stop boiling when stirred.
• Stir in the pectin, then return your mixture to a full rolling boil. Once there, let it boil for another minute or two, stirring constantly and skimming off foam frequently.
• Remove from heat. Skim any remaining foam.

Canning:

•  Ladle jam immediately into prepared jars, filling almost to the top (within 1/8 of an inch).
• Using a damp paper towel, wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with hot flat lid and screw bands on tightly.
• Place jars on elevated rack rack, the lower into canner full of boiling water. The water should cover the jars by a good 2 inches.
• Boil jars for 10 minutes.
• Remove jars from canner and place upright on a rack to cool. I used my cookie rack and it worked just fine. Let the jars cool completely before you do anything else.
• Once cooled, check your seal by pressing the middle of the lid. If it springs back, the lid is not sealed and you’ll need to freeze or refrigerate your jam. If you are going to freeze it, remove some of the jam first or you may burst your jars.  

Banana Chocolate Chip cake

Yes, this is my photo. This recipe is likely the most-used in the book... as evidenced by its disreputable state in the photo!

You know when you have this great idea, and then it all goes awry? About a year ago, while I was visiting my mom in Ottawa, I took a pile of photos of her old recipe book, thinking I would transcribe them to put them here... they're all recipes I grew up with and still make today. Anyway, I took all these pictures and had all these plans and then... well, I forgot where I filed them. 

I came upon them the other and and I was so excited! So I guess now I'd better get them uploaded and shared before I lose them again! 

This recipe was an absolute staple of my childhood lunches. My mom used to make this at least once a month, and a full batch could last us a whole school week, which was awesome. This cake is moist and delicious without being soggy... and the chocolate chips are such a decadent treat for a school lunch (or a snack at home when you're all growed up).

Literally all of my mom's recipes list margarine or shortening instead of butter. Needless to say, I always use butter. I also prefer to use frozen bananas... mostly because I'm too lazy to remember to take them out of the freezer and thaw them before I start baking lol. Normally, I'll toss whole frozen bananas on a paper towel in the microwave for 30 seconds, or until I can get the peel off. Sometimes they need a little more warming before mashing... sometimes not. And of course, there are other substitutions. For example, you can see I scrawled on the bottom that you can use apple cider vinegar to sour the milk... which is delicious and I recommend it. Also, this recipe is g-r-e-a-t if you substitute pumpkin puree and some pumpkin spice for the bananas. Yummo, I promise. 

So without further ado, here is my childhood favorite. 

What you need:

1/2 C butter (or margarine if you must)
1 1/4 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 C mashed banana (or pumpkin)

1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 C sour milk

2/3 C chocolate chips (My mom used more, I prefer a higher cake-to-chip ratio. You decide what you want.)

How to sour  your milk:
I normally measure out about 2/3 cups of milk (I almost always use skim, since that's what I keep in the house, but it doesn't really matter). Then, pour enough vinegar (white or cider) to bring the liquid up to 3/4 cups. Stir with a fork, and let it rest for a minute or two until it starts to get nasty. I always give mine another stir before I pour it into the batter. 

What you do:
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until they're nice and smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, bananas (or pumpkin), and mix well. 

In a separate bowl, mix flour, soda, powder and salt. 

Add 1/3 of your dry ingredients into your creamed mix, stirring well. Add 1/3 of your sour milk and stir well again. Keep alternating until all of the dry mixture and the sour milk are mixed into the creamed bowl. Stir in chocolate chips. 

Pour into greased and floured 13 x 9 pan. Honestly, I never even knew I was supposed to flour the pan... haha... so it's not absolutely necessary but it might help? Also, this works well in muffin tins lined with papers, for a more portable snack. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until it pokes clean.

Let it cool before cutting. Haha. Kidding. You'll never be able to let it cool first. Eat it while the chips are melty and gooey, you'll be a happy camper. Mmmmm. 

Sweet Molasses Steak

*Not my image, it came with the recipe. Also, those are PC molasses, so we know the recipe is from Canada. Yay!

The more I eat, the more I love to cook. The more I cook, the more I like to eat!

Over the past eight months, I've learned to cook a whole lot of new things, but we were still using store-bought marinade for beef. So when I saw this recipe, originally from Allrecipes.com, I had to try it.


Overall, I loved this recipe, but it was much sweeter than we were expecting. It really was very sweet, but that works with a nice juicy steak! Also, I expected the marinade to burn off a bit more on the grill, but because I was grilling rare and medium-rare, the steaks came out a little bit saucy. It works, but if you don't like sauce or gravy, you might want to wipe the marinade off the steaks before grilling.

Next time I make this, I'm going to spice it up a little bit. I would almost add jalapenos to the marinade... Or perhaps serve it with a spicy veggie/rice dish instead? I'm not sure. But anyway, enough maybe, here is what you came for.

Admittedly, it takes a lot of discipline for me to use molasses in cooking, because my instinct is instead to eat them directly out of the jar. I definitely had a few tastes along the way, but managed to get my 1/2 cup in the bowl.

As usual, I can't follow an original recipe to save my life. So I made some changes. This is my version.

What you need:

1/2 C molasses
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C tomato ketchup
1/2 C spicy ketchup (I used Heinz chili ketchup)
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP dried oregano
1 Tsp minced garlic
2 TBSP minced white onion

What you do:

Ready? Easiest. Directions. Ever.

Take all your ingredients. Mix them in a bowl and stir them together. Put them in a zipper bag with your steaks. Let them sit anywhere from 4 to 24 hours. Grill to taste. Serve with something. Or nothing. As you like it.

One suggestion: If you can't marinade for at least 4 hours, I suggest you tenderize your steaks with a fork... lots of holes means the marinade will get more surface area and help make your steaks soft and juicy. Yums.

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

*yes, this is my image... I'm doing my best to resist gobbling it all up before the hubby gets home!

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

I'm seriously starting to think I need a Pinterest intervention. A Pintervention! Anyway, I have seen this recipe floating around Pinterest for ages and finally decided to give it a go. Some claim it's the awesomest Sweet & Sour chicken ever. Some say it's "addicting", which, incidentally, drives me up the wall. The word is addictive. As in "That chicken is addictive" or "These bath salts are addictive". Addicting? Not a word. Non-addicting is a word. It means you cannot become addicted to something... it isn't an addictive substance. Kapish?! 

Now then. The recipe is on Life as a Lofthouse's blog, so go check it out already! 

As usual, I can't follow the darn directions, so I substituted fresh minced garlic (you know, fresh from a jar in my fridge?!). I also added a few hefty shakes of chili flakes to my sauce, to spice it up a bit. I highly recommend you do the same, because it's awesome. 

Start out by preheating your oven to 325...

What you need for the chicken:

1 to 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, thawed, trimmed, and cubed.
Salt and pepper to taste

1 C corn starch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 C canola oil

What you do to the chicken:

As advertised: thaw it, rinse it, trim it, cube it. Put it in a bowl or whatever makes you comfortable. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. I used none, because that tastes best to me. 

Pour the oil into a large skillet and start it heating. 

Next, roll the chicken cubes around in the corn starch, ensuring they are completely covered. 

Dip the corn starchy chicken into the eggs, ensuring full coverage. 

*Fry your chicken until it is lightly browned and sealed, but not cooked through. 

Remove from skillet and place in a 9 x 13 baking pan, ensuring they're as evenly spaced as possible. 

*Confession: I don't fry a lot of things. Ok, this was totally the first time I've tried this. So one thing I learned is, you can't overcrowd your skillet or it makes turning your chicken really difficult... and you end up with uneven batter. So, if you used lots of chicken (more than a pound), or if you're a pan-frying pro, you'll know to do this step in two batches. I didn't, and it wasn't catastrophic, but I recommend you don't overcrowd your pan. 

What you need for the sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic salt (as mentioned, I used about the same of "fresh" minced garlic"... in my continued boycott of any dehydrated garlic products.)

What you do for the sauce:

Well, this is easy: Put the ingredients into a bowl. Whisk them together. Ta-da!

Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken. I was a little leery when I saw that my sauce wasn't going to actually cover the chicken, but it's ok... it works fine because you're going to be turning the chicken throughout the cooking process. I gave mine a few shakes once it was in there, just to ensure even-ness.

Place your baking pan in the oven. Close the door. Bake for 1 hour, turning every 15 minutes. 

I served mine with steamed white rice and steamed mixed veggies (broccoli, peas, water chesnut, carrots, etc... I think it's called "Asian Mix".) Well, I served what was left anyway. Some serious snacking occurred when the chicken came out of the oven. 

CiCi's Buttercream

*not my image.

Buttercream Icing

I get a lot of requests for my buttercream icing recipe. The tricky part is, I don't really use a recipe. My mom taught me to make this delicious mixture and she never measured anything, either.

The great thing about making icing without a recipe is you get to taste it. Often. And, you can customize it to suit your palate on a given day. Sometimes I like my icing sweet enough to hurt my teeth, while other times I prefer it to be a little more on the buttery side. Sometimes if I'm making a variation, I want the "special" ingredient to stand out most of all. So it really depends.

Here are some general guidelines:

Don't bother with a mixer, you really need to hand mix this stuff. I prefer a wooden spoon.

Start with about 2 Tbsp of butter.

Add about ½ C of icing sugar*.

Mix them together well, then add about 1/8 C of milk.

Add 1/4 tsp vanilla (or more, if you're making more icing) 

That's it. You'll be able to tell by the consistency if the icing is useable in it's current form. If it looks to be about the right consistency, which can also vary by the way, the next step is to taste your icing. Do it. 

You know you want to.

If it’s too sweet, add a little more butter, or try a little more vanilla. Stir again, taste again.

If it’s too wet, add a little more sugar (and if that makes it too sweet, see above). Stir again, taste again.

If it's too dry, add a little more milk.

Keep playing with it until it seems right. Depending on how thick you make it, you can use this as a simple glaze, you can use it in an icing bag to make pretty shapes, or you can spread it on with a knife (usually my preferred method). 

Variations:

Bailey's Irish buttercream icing: Exactly the same as above, but substitute Bailey's Irish Cream for all (or some) of the milk. I like this one to taste of Bailey's, so I often make it a little thinner. 

Maple buttercream icing: Exactly the same as above, but substitute real maple syrup for all of the milk. For the love of maple, do not use table syrup for your icing. Trust me, it's not worth it. 

Chocolate buttercream icing: This is a little trickier. You start out by gently melting 2-4 squares of Baker's chocolate (the bitter kind) in a saucepan. Add your butter while it's melting, so that the chocolate won't harden as it cools. Once it's melted, or mostly melted, take the saucepan off the heat and stir, stir, stir. Add your milk (at room temperature) once the chocolate/butter mixture has cooled a little. Stir some more. 

Add your icing sugar. Stir. Check texture. Taste now. With this variation, it's important that you don't over-sugar the icing. If it gets too sweet, you definitely won't want to have to melt more chocolate, it's a pain in the arse. So once you have tasted and checked your texture, carefully add a little more of whatever you think is missing. Stir often, taste often. 

I think you get the idea. Add just about anything you think will taste good and try it. If it doesn't work out, try something else! If you make something really great, please post it here.

*icing sugar is the same as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar.

Cupcaketastic's Awesome Maple Cupcakes

*Not my image... it's Cupcaketastic's!

Delicious Maple Cupcakes

Cupcaketastic posted this awesome, delicious recipe for creamy maple syrup cupcakes. The original recipe 'Maple Walnut Delights' in Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman.

I don't like walnuts, so they got scrapped. I also mixed the syrup and the milk together before adding them to the batter. I don't know that this would make any appreciable difference or not. I beat the hell out of the butter and sugar, and I  mixed the batter thoroughly after each egg addition. My batter was smooth and creamy and I got 18 perfect cupcakes from this recipe. 

Please, for the love of maple, DO NOT attempt this recipe with table syrup. It's not worth it. It won't taste good. The maple flavour in this recipe is lovely; you get the scent of maple when you put the cupcake to your lips, but it's not overpowering in the cake itself. You do get a nice maple aftertaste though. Trust me, real maple syrup is the only way to go for this recipe. 

Making the cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup/1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp
1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Alternatively add dry ingredients and syrup and milk, blending well after each addition. (Fold in walnuts).

Spoon batter into cupcake papers, filling cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a tested into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

You'll notice on Cupcaketastic's version there is a recipe for maple meringue icing. I skipped this, not being a huge fan of meringue, but if you try it please let me know how it worked out. I topped these babies with my maple buttercream instead, and sprinkled some maple flakes for looks.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

*Yes, that's my image... of my trashed cookie book.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rather than post a picture of the finished product, I thought it would be insightful to post a picture of my cookbook. Everybody has a recipe like this; when I pick up the book, it naturally falls open to the page with the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on it. The page is crispy, wrinkled, covered in batter and oil and other debris. The spine of the book at that spot is full of old flour and spices. That's how you know it's a great recipe. 

The cook book is called The Ultimate Cookie Book (Tormont, 1997). You can buy it here. 

I never follow instructions very well. Call it a character flaw or whatever you will, it's just the way I am. That said, I've only made a few minor changes to this recipe. I eliminated shortening, because why use shortening when you can use butter right!? I also use AP flour instead of cake flour, and a large egg instead of a small egg, and I drop the cookies on a cookie tray with spoons rather than pressing them out of a pastry bag... though lately, I've been rolling them into little balls and then squishing them with a fork. I hate cleaning pastry bags, so spoons or balls are a better option. It's also just faster and easier... cookies to mouth in less time = good. 

What you need:

1/3 C butter, softened. (The original recipe calls for unsalted, I use salted, you use whatever you like!)
1/4 C brown sugar, lightly packed
1/3 C granulated sugar
1 C flour (The original recipe calls for cake flour, I use AP, you use whatever you like!)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 C chocolate chips

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a cookie sheet... I use Pam spray, but butter adds even more buttery taste to the cookies, which is always good right?!

Using a mixer, cream butter and both sugars. Once they're nice and smooth, add the egg and blend really well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, mix the dry ingredients into the wet. You can use your fingertips too, but the dough is sticky.
Once your dough is nice and smooth, add the chocolate chips and blend well. Your dough should be stiff but sticky. 

Drop the batter onto a cookie sheet using a spoon*, or roll the dough into ping-pong-sized balls and then squish them down with a fork. Bake until cookies are golden. I suggest you let them rest for a couple of minutes before eating, but not too many minutes, or your chocolate chips won't be melty and gooey.

Awesome news! This dough can be frozen! I used to buy pre-made frozen cookie dough... you know, the one in the yellow or blue package at the grocery store? I totally lack discipline, so the ability to bake only one or two cookies instead of a whole batch is a much better option for me. I will eat the whole batch if it's in my kitchen.
So anyway, I decided to try freezing my own dough to see if I could get the same results as store-bought, and guess what!? It worked perfectly! What I do is make the dough exactly as described above, then chill it in the fridge for 20 or 30 minutes to make it easier to work with. Then I wet my hands, roll the dough into a ball, and split it in half... then split those in half, and those in half, and so on until I have the number and size of cookies I will want to bake. I put them between sheets of wax paper and put them in the freezer... after 24 hours, I pop the waxed paper covered cookies into a freezer bag and voila! To bake them, just put them on a  greased cookie sheet and pop them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. I set the timer for ten, then have a peek to make sure the centres aren't still wet... if they are, they get an extra 2 minutes. If not, I eat them immediately. Almost. :)

*Originally, the recipe calls for the cookies to be pressed out of a pastry bag fitted with a large round tube. As mentioned, I hate washing my pastry crap, so I just don't do this.... but you can! 

Judy Sturgeon's Remarkable Fudge

*Yep, this photo is mine! The cookbook, however, is not... it's my mom's much-used and well-loved book of family favorites.

Judy Sturgeon's Remarkable Fudge

I'm pretty sure my mom worked with Judy Sturgeon. Then again, I don't remember her, so maybe I'm making that up. Either way, I don't like fudge. It's gluey and slimy and generally if I want to eat something super-indulgent, I can find ten things I'd prefer over fudge. 

Except this fudge. This fudge is the pinnacle of all fudges. It's sweet, it's firm, it makes a great sound when you chew it... this is top-notch fudge. My mom makes it every year at Christmastime. As soon as it's done, I'm picking at it. I will even lick the spoon, to this day, if she lets me. Tim and I brought home a plateful of this fudge after Christmas this year... it didn't even last a day. 

I strongly suggest you do not make this fudge unless you have somewhere to serve it where there will be lots of other people to keep you in check. Seriously. You've been warned. 

What you need:

Listen up! You need a candy thermometer, a  9" x 13" pan and an 8 " pan. Don't skip out on the thermometer.

4 C sugar
1 14 oz can evaporated milk
1 C butter
2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
16 oz marshmallow cream (Jet-Puffed or Fluff... usually in the baking aisle at the grocery store)
1 tsp vanila
1 C chopped walnuts* (but seriously, why would you ruin fudge with nuts? Gross.)

What to do: 

Cook milk, sugar and butter to medium soft ball (236F). 

Beat in remaining ingredients.

Pour into pans.

Chill. 

I like to pre-cut my fudge so it gets just a bit of a crust on the edge of each piece. This, of course, is optional... I just like the different textures. 

*I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I hate nuts in my baking. I love nuts in cooked dishes and salads, just not in baked stuff. I don't know if it's because of the stark texture difference, of the way nuts get  waxy when you bake them... I just don't like it. So for all my recipes, if you think nuts would make them more delicious for you, by all means, go nuts! ha. 

My World-Famous Gingies

*not my image

My world-famous gingerbread cookies

I'll be straight up with you: I didn't make this recipe up from scratch. I found it online in the 1990s. You can see the original recipe here.

Please note: I'm really not into the whole "organic" or "fair-trade" thing. In fact, using organic, fair-trade molasses in this recipe will only lead to tears of disappointment. Organic fair-trade molasses will deliberately make your cookies taste like crap just to fuck with you. Their bastard cousin, fancy table molasses, are the only way to go. Besides, they're fancy... that should be good enough.

I vary this recipe slightly when I make my annual Christmas gingies, and there's only one other person in the world who knows the variation. I have made the recipe as-is, and the cookies are delicious... but I encourage you to experiment!

The recipe specifically says that you shouldn't use blackstrap molasses. I don't even know what blackstrap molasses are, so I just never used them. Feel free if that's what you're into.

You don't need to pre-heat your oven right now, because you're going to let your dough rest for a while before preparing it. I can't stress enough how important this is... you have to let the dough rest, or it will be too sticky to work with. I have tried, believe me, and it doesn't work. 

Making the dough:

1/2 C butter or margarine
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C molasses (room temp is easier to mix, but cold is fine)
1 egg yolk
2 C sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and light. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Mix again until nice and smooth. 

In another bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. 

Blend dry ingredients into wet. I use a wooden spoon and blend manually... it's part of my workout plan. 

You can use a mixer if you want to, but eventually you'll have to hand mix. 

Cover dough and chill for a minimum of two hours. I use a ziploc bag or plastic wrap to cover the dough. The less air in contact with it the better. 

Making the cookies:

Preheat over to 350F. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. You can vary this depending on how you like your cookies: thicker dough = thicker, softer cookies. 

Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place cut outs on ungreased cookie sheets. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are firm. Cool on wire racks before frosting. I always use my buttercream icing and Smarties from Canada (NOT the Smarties you get in the US!) on these cookies... 

Mrs. Freeman's Brownies

*not my image

Mrs. Freeman's Brownies
When my mother was 16, she lived in a neighbourhood called Somervale Gardens in Point-Claire, Quebec. Down the street from her lived a lady named Mrs. Freeman, who was from Alabama and had a delightful southern accent. 

I never met Mrs. Freeman, but I sure wish I could. I'd like to tell her that her brownie recipe is the best in the world. She should know that her recipe is the standard to which I hold and have always held all other brownies I've encountered, and that not one has ever even come close. You simply cannot get or make a better brownie than these brownies, guaranteed. 

Now, I should say that because of Mrs. Freeman's brownies, I don't care for "wet" brownies at all. I like my brownies to have the consistency of dense chocolate cake, rather than having a fudgey texture. If you like "wet" or fudgey brownies, this might not be for you. It's ok. You're just wrong... try the recipe and maybe you'll come around ;). 

There's an awesome variation* below the main recipe, too... if you like chocolate and marshmallows, it's for you! 

Preheat oven to 350F.

2/3 C flour
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 C butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 squares bitter chocolate, melted (I use Baker's, in the blue box). It's very important to use bitter chocolate... don't use semi-sweet or milk; the brownies' flavour depends on the strong bitter chocolate. 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together. 

Beat eggs, then mix well with sugar. Add chocolate while beating. Beat well. 

Combine flour, baking powder, salt. 

Add dry ingredients to chocolate mixture. Stir in vanilla. 

Pour batter into 8x8x2 pan lined with foil. Bake for 25 minutes* or until a tester comes out clean.

Pull the foil and brownies out of the pan and cool on wire rack. You will ice them, but be sure they're fully cool first. I use chocolate buttercream icing (one of the variations listed here).

*Chocolate Marshmallow variation

Follow the recipe as-is. Pour batter into 8x8x2 pan lined with foil. 

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. 

Cover semi-cooked batter with mini marshmallows. 

Bake an additional 5 minutes. Let cool in pan (I put the whole thing on a wire rack), then ice with chocolate buttercream. 

You'll thank me for this one. Then you'll curse me when you're running on the treadmill.