Crispy Double Chocolate Cookies

The other day, Charlie was in the mood for some really chocolatey cookies.  And, after he mentioned it, I decided I was too!

I decided to combine some recipes to make these Crispy Double Chocolate Cookies.  They are a snap to whip up. 

The dough looks very dry and crumbly - this is ok.

 

The dough is rolled into logs and chilled.  As you can see, my cookie dough log is a bit messy.  It will be okay.

 

Then, each log is sliced into 1/2 inch-ish thick slices and baked.  The finished cookies are crisp and chocolatey.  

These cookies are perfect with a glass of ice cold milk.

What is your favorite way to eat chocolate cookies?

Double Chocolate Cookies

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 heaping tablespoons Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped roughly

Cream butter until soft and creamy.  Mix in brown sugar, white sugar, salt and vanilla extract until well blended.  Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda together in another bowl.  Stir flour mixture into butter/sugar mixture by hand and fold just until combined.  It is very important not to overwork this mixture.  As you can see from the picture, it should look really crumbly. 

Scrape half the mixture onto saran wrap and gather into a log shape.  Repeat with the other half.  Wrap the logs up really well with the saran wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and as long as 3 days.  

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Using a thin bladed knife, slice the chilled dough into 1/2 inch slices.  If they break, just squeeze them back together.  Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheets or use a silpat.  

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  Even though the cookies won't look done, remove the cookies from the oven and let stand on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy with a glass of ice-cold milk!

Moroccan Lemons and Linguine

Earlier this year, Charlie decided to try making Preserved Moroccan Lemons.  Though I will be posting about it soon, basically all you do is pack fresh, quartered lemons with salt and let them sit for a long time.

So now, we have a half-gallon mason jar of preserved lemons sitting in our refrigerator.  What to do with them?   The first thing I decided to make was a pasta dish.

I added in artichoke hearts....

And chopped up one of the preserved lemons - yes, peels and all.

I added a few other things, and came up with this delicious, lemony chicken pasta.

Moroccan Lemons and Linguine 

• 1 pound linguine, cooked
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 pound raw chicken, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 can artichoke hearts (not marinated; I used the quartered ones)
• 1 preserved lemon, finely diced
• 1 cup white wine
• juice from one fresh lemon
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
• salt & pepper to taste 

Melt butter in a large saucepan, add onions and chicken and cook until onions until are soft and chicken is cooked.  Add drained artichokes hearts.  Add preserved lemon, white wine, lemon juice, Old Bay, celery salt and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook until sauce thickens slightly.  Place pasta in pan with the artichoke mixture and toss to coat, heating at the same time. If it is too dry, add a little of the pasta water, more wine, chicken stock or water.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.  Serve warm, with a sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ever since I was young, I can remember my Grandma Lois making fried green tomatoes.  When I was quite young, I was told teasingly, "fried green tomatoes for grown-ups!"  Of course, this only made me want to eat them more!  Whenever I did get to eat fried green tomatoes, I loved them.  Now, I get to make them for my husband. 


The star of the show - the green tomato.

Flower Bouquets...

Good afternoon!  I was just looking over some pictures from the summer, and thought you might enjoy seeing some of the flour bouquets I made. 


The dahlia's were wonderful!  We've picked so many of these 'dinner plate' white dahlias.

We've also had a pretty good year with sunflowers.

Some more dahlias, with a few sheaves of wheat for contrast.  



This is a one gallon ball jar, so you can tell this is a pretty big bouquet!  I took a picture of it with a box of sure jell in front so you could have a size comparison.

A close up view of the same bouquet.  So bright and cheerful!

Another large bouquet, with pink pompom dahlias, pink stargazer lilies, pink love-lies bleeding, white dahlias and gladiolus and a yellow sunflower.  This was one of my favorite bouquets of the summer!