What we've been eating Wednesday #2

Hey, we're on a roll with WWBEW so I thought I'd run with it.

2 recent meals:

Parmesan crusted talapia, brown rice, and green salad with candied walnuts.  Any breaded fish recipe will do!

Zucchini Ribbon Spaghetti.  Use veggie peeler (or mandoline) to get zucchini ribbons. Cook briefly in a large skillet and wa-la, "noodles" for dinner! We topped this with leftover spaghetti sauce and cooked up some sausage on the side.  Served with beer bread.

What we've been Eating Wednesday (WWBEW)

Hey, welcome to WWBEW! (Just kidding. If you got that joke as a reference to other blogs with weekly "stuff" awesome. If not, keep reading anyway.)

I wanted to post some recent meals we've had because...they are very tasty, and I want to make them all again!!!  And they are all (almost) simple, so I want to share them with you. (Trade you ideas?)

Anyhow: Here is my 4 panel chart, strategically designed to sneak extra pins on pinterest. (haha.) We have
1. Gnocchi and Broccoli Pesto

2. Pesto Salmon and Christmas Rice

3 Roasted Veggie Medley with Italian Chicken

4. Open Face Quesadillas

(recipes below)

The most complicated of recipes above is definitely the Gnocchi and Broccoli pesto. For this I used homemade gnocchi (not hard, used extra baked potatoes) and then in a skillet I cooked mushrooms, red peppers, and broccoli  I tried to cut some broccoli small and mash it up to be like a sauce.  I was trying to go "light".  I don't remember adding anything else (maybe a little actual basil pesto) but it definitely worked for us. Delish.

2. Pesto Salmon with Christmas Rice.  For this, I bake salmon at 425 for the normal time (20 minutes?). During the last 4 minutes, we slather on some pesto and sometimes turn the broiler on too. For Christmas Rice, I threw spinach ribbons (read: fancily sliced) and small-diced red peppers into the rice pot about halfway through cooking and let that heat do the rest.  Did you notice I just snuck TWO veggies into an otherwise starchy side dish?! WIN!

3.  Roasted Veggie Medley with Italian Chicken.  This one is a little time/labor intensive. An hour before I want to eat, I chop sweet potatoes up into tot-sized pieces and toss them in some olive oil and salt. Roast 3o minutes at 425-450.  At that point, pull them out and turn them over a bit. Throw in a second pan of faster-roasting veggies (I did mushrooms and peppers, sometimes carrots too), also with a spritz of oil and salt.  (I've also burn broccoli this way.)  Set the timer for another 30 minutes.  10-15 minutes before you plan to eat, turn on a skillet and quick cook some chicken bites that have been marinating in italian dressing. (you could probably bake these instead, I just happened to cook them in a skillet that time.

4. Open Face Quesadillas. This was Zach's invention.  We only had 2 tortillas, cheese, and some random stuff around for dinner...so this was it.  Cooked in the skillet, we added tomatoes and avocado and ended up slicing it like a pizza. Delicious.

Your turn...what have you been making that I can copy?

Its time for Fall! {YUM}

We had a smidge of brisk weather the other day and I quickly forgot the 105 degree temperatures of summer and immediately started to complain about the cold.  What can I say? I am weak.  Anyhow, I am excited that soups are now back in style for supper, now that it is cooling off.  Recently we had our favorite tomato soup (recipe here) and knock-off Red Lobster cheddar bisctuits (from here). YUM.

What are you cooking now that it is cooling off????

Eggs and Noodles: Family Recipe

The meal entitled "Eggs and Noodles" is a Davenport traditional meal. Actually originally a Doscher meal, invented by Zach's grandfather, Poppi.  The original recipe included....wait for it...EGGS, and NOODLES. (And butter.) 

In our neck of the woods, we make this recipe in our usual manner: add everything from the fridge.  Here in a large skillet, we browned mushrooms, zuchinni, carrots (hey, they were already chopped up), peppers, onions, and corn. To this we added some leftover cooked bacon and a chicken strip. Then we let it wait in a bowl so we could re-use the skillet. This is probably around 3 cups of cooked veggies.

 While we were browning the veggies, we were also boiling half a bag of egg noodles. Have you ever tried taking pictures of steaming food? Not easy. So no pictures of that. After the noodles are almost done, they get drained and go into the big skillet with a hunk (2-3 tablespoons) of butter. This stage crisps the noodles, so don't be shy about giving it time, or a little more butter if you need it.

 Then we pile the veggies back in, and pour in 5 scrambled and seasoned eggs. We let the egg mixture cook onto everything.

 Devour.

Let me know if you like it!

Dinner Default: Skillet Meal

Today I bring to you yet another food post. Lately when I have been preparing these meals, I've been wondering if we will eat the same way once we have kids. For example, when we do skillet meals, I try to add all the vegetables we have in the fridge into the skillet, plus frozen bell peppers and onions.  Everything else gets chopped fresh.  It doesn't take a ton of time, but just something I think about from time to time. (NO, NOT PREGNANT.)  Like, "will I have time to make this from scratch?" Anyhow.

Skillet meals are our go-to meal.  We used to buy the frozen bags and add a veggie or two to the sauce to make it more homemade. Now I really prefer to make the whole thing from scratch, but it takes up more dishes that way.

For instance here we have 1 pot for pasta.  Cooked al dente a little ahead of the rest of the meal and then rinsed in cold water to stop them from cooking more. I do NOT pour oil on them at this point because I read somewhere that doing so makes the pasta not stick to your sauce.  I also have a second pan where I previously cooked up some sausages and am now cooking up the initial vegetables. (PS: Splurge on the baby bella mushrooms from Costco. They have so much flavor.)

Here are the rest of the items I am planning to add to the skillet meal. I didn't use all the broccoli but my main goal was to fill up this meal with mostly vegetables.  Notice the heavy cream - I didn't promise it was a super healthy meal! Anyhow I used just enough to pull it all together. (cough, must leave some for whipped cream on pie later.)  Plus cheese and sun dried tomatoes. YUM.  (Side note: Speaking of Costco, I only buy my sun dried tomatoes there. So much cheaper. But I do transfer a small amount into the smaller jar so it can stay on my fridge door instead of hauling out the giant jar from the back of the fridge every use. Same for minced garlic. I know, how bad is it to not use fresh garlic? I'm lazy.  Yeah, I canned applesauce but I don't buy fresh garlic. Go figure.)

 ANYHOW. So I added the cream to the cooked vegatables and let it simmer for a while. At the same time, I put the broccoli into my 2 cup pyrex and half-cooked them. Then I added the noodles to my sauce, mixed in the broccoli, put the lid on, and let it all finish warming up/cooking for 15 minutes until Zach came home.

This kind of meal freezes GREAT and it has tons of veggies in it. (Although, there appear to be a lot of noodles in this picture. Oh well, I did my best.)  Anyhow, I freeze these in individual meal sizes (yay portion control!) and Zach has them when I'm travelling, or I eat them when I'm too lazy to make lunch.
This is pretty much how we roll for skillet meals around here - we don't measure anything and try to keep it fitting all in the skillet.  Do you have any go-to meals -- and will you share them with me so I can try something new?

Glass block Jello

I saw this recipe quite a while ago on my favorite food blog, and I've been eager to try it. Finally, with multiple large dinners on the agenda I decided to give this a whirl. Its not fancy, its all jello, but I wanted to know how tasty it was and see if is worthy of all the big family gathering-type events that our extended family (my side) often has.

It starts with lots and lots of jello. Jiggler style, meaning 1/2 the normal amount of water.
Then cut it all up and put it in a greased glass pan. (I mean, do I really have to say instructions? I know you'll jump right over to the real recipe for the details.)

Take another picture of the jello because you are trying to be artsy and cool on your blog.

Add the last ingredient and refrigerate some more. Hope you had a lot of space in your fridge for flat containers!

MMM!! Tastes like...jello!!!

Empty Kitchen Dilemma!

Last night was a great friday evening. Zach and I walked to the Library, where I was super excited to find some travel books on Ireland for our trip this summer. From there, we dropped off our rent check and got PINKBERRY!!! I have to say, I totally scoffed at them a year or two ago when they only had Original (tart) and Pomegranate flavors...now they also have chocolate and others and the chocolate is soooooo good. And don't even think about skipping the mochi topping. If you think it looks weird, at least give it a chance.

After dinner Zach and I played some video games then he got a text from his BFF about some video games at his house and he went over there. I was desparate for some cookie dough, but we only had one egg in the house. And I really wanted to make Zach some blueberry muffins. Which recipe should I use the egg for? Not to mention, we have around 1/4 cup of milk.

So...I found my trusty recipe site and decided to opt for the muffins and deny my cookie craving. I found this one-egg recipe and had BARELY enough milk to get by. I replaced the nugmeg with lemon rind and juice. I also replaced the white sugar with brown like some readers recommended.

As I was cleaning up, I was regretting my denial of cookie dough. UNTIL I REMEMBERED!! This site, homemademamas, is really fun. And I remembered that they posted a no-egg cookie dough recipe (this is purposely for not baking!) Let me tell you, they are not kidding when they say that this stuff is GOOD!!! It was a bit annoying to pound my softened margarine into the flour and sugar, but once the mindless mixing passed and I added some more water I had perfect dough! Of course I ate a bunch -- my fill really -- before it made it to the freezer, so I had to taste-test the frozen version later.

Moral of this post: You can make your husband his muffins and have your cookie dough too! lol.

Best ever breaded chicken!!!!!

Monday nights are chicken strip and tator tot nights here around our parts. Lately also supplemented with a salad or hot veggie. Last night we were *gasp* out of frozen chicken strips so instead of going to the store, I decided we would make our own.
We have these 2-breast packs of chicken from Costco which makes the perfect amount of breaded chicken bites for us in our skillet meals, so I figured that would work. In the past year or so of attempting homemade breaded chicken with various recipes (including remembering the ease and delicious-ness of Shake-N-Bake, then buying the generic and being disappointed) (also including getting upset over egg/flour/crumb/mess/making chicken by myself), I finally noticed an easy breading recipe on...wait for it...the back of the Safeway bread crumb container!!!

The first time I used this recipe, I was amazed! Easy to bread, then bake...Yum! The second time I thought it was a tad bland. Both times I sort of modified the recipe as I went along.

Then came last night! I modified again and this time these chicken bites were AMAZING. I mean, I wish I had a picture but we devoured every last bite.

Here you go:

3/4 c Safeway bread crumbs
1 tsp kosher salt (if you are eating the chicken by itself. half this if you are putting the chicken in flavorful food)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried minced onion flakes
3 shakes chili powder
one handful frozen parmesean cheese (maybe 2 TBSP)
1/4 c EVOO

I like to dip in egg and then this mixture, then bake. MMMMM. Try it and let me know how it goes!

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been seeing some posts here and there about the gigantic chocolate chip cookies baked around a Double Stuff Oreo. I seriously want to try that recipe out.

But in college I had a chocolate chip Oreo recipe of my own, it involved roughly chopping a bunch of oreos and throwing them into regular chocolate chip cookie dough.

I was making cookies for a photo shoot and wanted them to be small (so we could each eat a lot) so I opted for this recipe instead of the giant one.

I had no complaints! The cookies were delish.

Blueberry Oat Bars

Zach loves blueberries.

Blueberries were on super sale this week.

It was my turn to bring treats to bible study.

Starbucks blueberry oat bars are amazing.INSPIRING.

Some google searching.

delicious-ness

Note: I subbed 1/2 cup of the flour for whole wheat. And also I left the walnuts sitting in the bag (crushed with a ladle, of course) until after the step of baking the bottom. So I sprinkled half on the top of the baked bottom and half with the top. You can't even tell!

Frosting: Better than Stroganoff

Last weekend I took a break from the obsessive couponing. I had all these women pictured over to my house! We created 11 10 fantastic frostings and 1 mishap. My goals for the morning were to spend time interacting with all these awesome ladies and know be able to test a bunch of frosting recipes at once. We had mixers running from every plug in the kitchen!!

Now the next time I make brownies, or cake, or cupcakes, or anything that needs frosting...I'll have some great go-to recipes! We dyed each one a different color so we could tell them apart later. We sampled them on graham crackers then decorated cookies and cupcakes to take home. I have the recipes in a .vsd file, as soon as I figure out how

We've already agreed that we have to repeat this idea on both salsa and spaghetti sauce.

It took a lot of organizing to figure out exactly which ingredients we would need for the recipes I planned. These are the ones I was in charge of bringing.

I also hid all of our various kitchen counter clutter and even mopped the floor!

It was CRAZY with so many people in the kitchen at once! But we all had fun!

Notice the double boiler action in this picture. Talk about complicated! Wanda's recipe called for using a handmixer for 7 minutes while double-boiler-ing the frosting. I was skeptical about the results from such a complicated recipe - but it was amazing! So light!

Here is my favorite recipe in the mix: Janelle's Chocolate Cake Frosting. MMMM.

Krista and Christina had the other very complicated recipe. Double Boiling, Kitchen-aid, and an ICE BATH!! Amazing results though!

I can't remember which one this is, but Marian tried 2 easy recipes with cool-whip and marshmallow fluff. They got devoured like the rest!

And for some of the results shots, including decorating:

The pink one is buttercream and that one was my biggest surprise. I loved it! I've always thought store-cake buttercream was awful. This one was even shortenting instead of butter! Next time I'll try butter.

Irish Wheaten Bread - Sweet snack or curse word?

I have Irish Wheaten Bread in my oven. This is my first official attempt at bread. Considering this isn't even a yeast-based recipe, I'm not sure it even counts. But I had leftover buttermilk after making these, so I used it on the bread.

My motivation behind the non-yeast bread is...I'm a little afraid of the process. Warm water over the stove while mixing in yeast...wait XYZ hours for dough to double...etc etc garble garble...net result: Christy is confused. So, I gave this a try, even having to learn how to "cut butter into the mixture" and buying a pastry cutter. (Which may be my only take-away of this whole experience!) I did buy some instant yeast to try in my next big baking endeavor.

Did everyone have a nice Easter? He is risen...He is risen indeed!

When life gives you lemons...make lemondade...literally

Last week I went running and passed a home where some gardeners were trimming a lemon tree. I thought to myself...hm, why not ask for a couple lemons? I could use them in the kitchen, right? They obliged (en espanol) and I was glad I had worn Zach's XL Army long sleeve shirt over my running outfit to keep warm. I tied the sleeves up and started harvesting. Somewhere in that process I got the idea of lemon chicken, lemonade...and wasn't sure how many lemons I needed. (After all, it was me or the dumpster!) I filled the shirt up and walked the mile home.

Here are some of my lemons, with my previously store-bought ones on the counter:

And here I am with my OTHER bowl of lemons, and pomegranate lemondade that Zach made. (I ended up with 35 lemons!)

Here is Zach posing with his lemondae...ignore the Apple Cider container! Ha! I'm using our one and only pitcher to hold excess kitchen items.

What do you have lemonade with? A new recipe! This is from the 2009 Holiday Costco cookbook. Basic elements include: pan cooked sausage, steamed broccoli, 1/2 cup of water all simmered and mashed together over pasta with some cheese on top. Easy and tasty!!!

Janelle's Chocolate Cake

Growing up in San Leandro, a couple from our church "adopted" our family by choosing to invest in our lives, get to know us "kids" and babysit for my parents to have date nights. They lived just a few blocks away and we built essentially grandchild/grandparent relationships with them. They have been really amazing to our family.

Janelle would make this chocolate cake. One mention of "Janelle's cake" would leave ANY family member drooling. Its been at least 10 years since we had this cake, since our family moved, aged, they moved, etc. Since I've been wanting to amp up my culinary skills and because the cake is just so delicious, I've been hoping for an opportunity (excuse) to make this cake. It’s really decadent so the excuse had to be really good. And then it was my youngest brother's birthday! #18! Happy Birthday Tim! (back in February.) So I texted him, asking if he wanted the cake for his birthday. Usually he never texts me back. This time I got an immediate yes. In fact I got the "oooohhhhhhhhh" gasp from each family member when I mentioned it.

So I drove up. Tim, Amy and I were going to make the cake together. (I have forced Zach to watch the TV show Cake Boss with me. Zach had "Cake Boss" suggestions for the cake, like strawberries in the whipped cream, etc, but I rejected them. Our first time recreating the famous "Janelle Cake" had to be the original recipe.)

The exciting part of this cake is the layers. There are 4 layers of cake. Between each one is homemade whipped cream. (As you know, I am not a super pro at making this, but I'm trying.) But the frosting is truly the kicker. I've been looking at frosting recipes for a while now trying to find one I like and this one is completely different than what I’ve seen online, which explains why it is the most awesome. It uses evaporated milk, which I didn’t see much of online.

The assembly of the cake is simple. Our whipped cream was a little soft (being a newbie at whipped cream still, I'm afraid I'll make butter) and the cake layers a little thin (would have preferred to have 8inch round pans instead of 9, or maybe next time I'll have to make more cake). But, as usual the frosting held it all together for the approximately 18 hours that the cake lasted in the refrigerator. There were NO (Null. Zero. Nada.) complaints about the soft whipped cream, messy frosting, or thin cake layers.

MMM. When can I make this again??!!! I wonder if I could try a little cupcake version! Hm...

Easiest Grilled Cheese, ever

It is actually more work for me to write this post than it is to make this sandwhich.

Don't get me wrong, I love a lovingly prepared grilled cheese sandwhich, buttered, parmesean encrusted bread slices with deliciously cheesy filling...maybe some tomatoes or lunchmeat added...grilled over the stove...mmm.

This is not that sandwhich. Here's how to make it:

1) Toast bread in toaster

2) Spray a little "spray butter" on one side of each piece.

3) Slap on pre-sliced cheese*

4) Microwave on a folded paper towel for 30 seconds

The resulting sandwhich is toasty and melty, without dirtying a single dish!!!

I made these while babysitting often and a boy (who is now in college) proclaimed joyfully, "These are even better than when mom makes them!"

This is how industrial engineers do it!

*Note: In my picture, I used 2 slices of different cheeses, and folded them (to break them) and staggered the distribution evenly across the bread. This is as fancy as I get with this type of grilled cheese.

Apples

I found a late crop of a specific apple type and whipped up some applesauce tonight. And by "whipped up," I mean "painstakingly peeled and cored 9 apples by hand" because I was too annoyed with my Pampered Chef peeler last time to get it out again. Then, I double checked my recipe, KNOWING I had 3.5 pounds of apples. The recipe (that I never follow anyhow) reads:
3-4 lbs apples
1 cup water
then a bunch of sugar and stuff that I never add because it doesn't need it. (Although I put in a giant spoonful - probably 1/4c unpacked - of brown sugar)

Despite KNOWING I had 3 pounds of apples I insisted on putting a lot closer to 2 cups of water in. As a result (and taking it off the burner when I was bored of it after 30 minutes instead of giving it a little more time) the applesauce is a little runny but at the same time, a little hearty.

I dunno. I spooned it out, 1/2 cup at a time, into a muffin tin for freezing. Once it freezes in that shape I'll stick each snack-sized treat into one giant bag. Knowing that they are exactly 1/2 cup will also aid me in using one as a oil substitute in my next brownie batch!

Also coming up this week: stuffed mushrooms, homemade chicken and spinach ravioli, pesto (for freezing...I am on a "freeze now use later" kick), and...well, tht's it. :)

Fake Fotoshop Fun

Hi Gang!

I discovered GIMP, a free photoshop like software, and have been using it to turn photos into coloring pages. Unfortunately I am not kind enough to post each link I used to discover all of this but with a few swift google searches you can find the same and then make this:


Print and color, baby!!! Then I found another website that makes word searhes and crossword puzzules. (Hint: I'm making an activity book!!!) I heart internet!

*Edit: Those with toddlers - how much would Grandma love a picture of her and the kiddo that the kiddo COLORED? So cute.

And lastly, so I don't lose this, I got this recipe from my cousin. I can't wait to make it!

Grasshopper Pie:

22 Large Marshmellows
1/3 cup Creme de Menthe
1 (12) ounce Carton Whipping Cream, Whipped
1 (9inch) prepared Chocolate piecrust
step 1: In Large saucepan, melt marshmellows with Creme de menthe over low heat and cool.
step 2: fold cream into Marshmellow mixture.
step 3: Pour Filling into piecrust and freeze ...untill ready to serve.

That's it! Super easy. Be sure to get the Green cream de menthe so that way the color is green. And just whip the whipping cream til you get soft peaks, don't over whip or it turns out kind of lumpy! (I know from expierence. hehe) you want it nice and smooth! Enjoy!!

Lower fat pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Hey gang! I enjoyed making these delicious cookies yesterday so much that I posted the recipe and picture online at allrecipes.com, my most-used online recipe source. I called them "lower fat" because I modified an existing recipe to replace half the butter with applesauce, half the white sugar with brown sugar, and half the flour with whole wheat flour. They were super soft and chewy and not dry at all. DELICIOUS! No one could even tell they were (slightly) healthier than the normal kind. And by cutting out some of the overall sugar content (doubling the vanilla as a replacement for flavor) they aren't as sweet as normal cookies.

YUM. Go check out the reciple!
http://allrecipes.com/PersonalRecipe/62181101/Lower-Fat-Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Rigatoni Carbonara!

Again I make a yummy dinner and AGAIN I forget to take a picture. How am I ever supposed to make my own cookbook if I can't photograph the results?! Oh well, seeing that I did not measure the ingredients, either, I suppose I will be making it again. This is a combination of a few recipes plus the addition of leftover veggies.
Here's a first draft:
1 lb rigatoni pasta
3 eggs
1 cup parmesean cheese
4oz pancetta (Italian style bacon, avail at Trader joes, although I've subbed for bacon and even chicken)
2 cups sliced mushrooms (this amoung is a total guess. I think I chopped 8 mushrooms. You can ALWAYS use more mushrooms.) Maybe 3 cups.
1/4-1/2 cup whipping cream

Prepare the rigatoni pasta according to directions. While the pasta is cooking, brown the pancetta and mushrooms in a medium-high saucepan with a little EVOO. (I threw in some sliced zucchinni at this stage also). I like my mushrooms to be REALLY cooked. Once you've got all that sufficiently cooked (may require modification/reduction of fats depending on what meat you use), add 1/4 to 1/2 cup (or more) of the cream and reduce the heat to a simmer. Oh and add salt/pepper/garlic to taste. [This is going into a pound of pasta, so be generous]. The cream will thicken a little.
Beat the eggs and parmesean cheese in a large serving bowl. When pasta is fully cooked, drain (reserve 1 cup of water) and then dump the pasta on top of the uncooked egg mix. Stir well to cook the eggs with the hot pasta. Add the meat/cream sauce. Add a little of the reserved water if you want to make it a little more liquid-y (I don't usually do this)
The end! Yum yum.
I rate this meal as "medium cleanup" because it takes 2 stovetop pans and 1 serving dish to prepare. (Plus cutting board and drainer.) Try it and let me know what you think!!

On another note, Trader Joes has a fantastic frozen pasta in a red pepper sauce. It is amazing. If you know how to make a red pepper sauce puh-leeze tell me!

For the sake of crazy cookies!

I am writing this blog as I make cookies. After everything I have gone through up to this point (the first batch are nearly ready to emerge from the oven), I am PRAYING that my Martha Stewart attempts are successful.

I got this recipe from my awesome friend Alicia who I have known since going to Redwood. (9 years, if anyone is counting.) I bought all the ingredients the other day at the store. This morning I started to copy the recipe off email and realized I was missing brown sugar and peanut butter. I'm taking these to 20's retreat this weekend, so, if anyone is going to be friends with me then I better make some darn good cookies. Meeting people is already tough enough without poisoning them or noticing them spit your cookie out into the trash.

After an hour of humming and hawing about the wet weather outside I decide resolutely that I am walking the dog to 7-Eleven (quarter mile away) for PB and brown sugar. At this exact moment, it is drizzling pretty hard. But, once I make up my mind, right or wrong, I stick with it. So I walk. 7-Eleven does not have brown sugar. I wonder...should I get the PB and just substitute white sugar for brown? I decide yes. On the way back I decide I will walk to a farther destination, a nearby friend, to see if anyone is home to borrow brown sugar. (Still raining.) No one was home.

I get home and google "brown sugar substitutes" and read that you can substitute white sugar, but the white sugar is drier and won't provide as much flavor. Well, I can't go bringing dry flavorless cookies to a 20's retreat. So I decide to go to the nearest bigger store. Walgreens. Also no brown sugar there. At this point with various distractions it has been about two hours since I started on the cookie mixing. *Sheesh.* So finally I end up at Safeway.

Finally onto baking.

So these cookies are a Reese's variation on the christmas cookies where you put a Hershey Kiss on a peanut butter cookie. Same concept, but you bake the cookie in mini muffin tins and shove the Reese's peanut butter cup in the middle after baking for a little muffin looking treat.

Chocolate does not photograph well. I learned this attempting to be artsy (Lisa L. style) by snapping a "while I'm baking" picture.

These cookies are not fun. I suck at this. (I'm writing this midway through baking.) Self-portraits are a requirement though if I ever scrapbook this event since I'm already taking pictures.

Ok, just took the last ones out. I started to get better by the end.

I think I still prefer snickerdoodles. Or regular peanut butter cookies.

Update. I made another batch because I was worried about quantity. I mean seriously. Could 40 (good ones) really be enough? So the newer batch mixed like a champ, much softer than the first batch (led me to panic: Were the first ones good??!!) but I am just going to get over it, take them all, and hope they disappear.

x