Oatmeal Cookie Dough Dip

I'm addicted to food blogs.  I spend about an hour a day (sometimes more) reading them.  I have the regulars and I'm always finding new ones.  Steph's Bite by Bite is one of my favorites.

Charlie likes food.  So we are a perfect match.  I read and cook then he eats. What could be better? One of his favorites is Oatmeal cookies.  And when I came across this dip on Steph's blog I knew I was going to be making it soon.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough Dip

It's really easy to make.  It's really hard to stop eating.  Charlie liked to dip with the cookies.  I liked it by the spoonful.

If you have the ingredients for cookies, you can make this.  And you should.....soon.

Live, Laugh, Love,

Karen and Charlie

Foodie Pen Pals

Last month I came across a post about a pen pal group. Instead of sending letters to each other they send food items. I LOVED the idea immediately sent my information to join.  Lindsay at The Lean Green Bean puts it all together.  And what a great job she does.

Fast forward to January 15th. A box was delivered to our home and I did my best to hide my excitement until Charlie got home so we could open it together. Sometimes I really don't like being such a team player! But...when he did get home, we tore into that box and found so many goodies.

Beatriz at A Collection of Thoughts had our name.  You can read her blog at http://collectionofthoughts.wordpress.com/  and to read what we sent you can go to The Crazy Cooking Couple's blog.

Let me break it down for you.

Lindt's Coconut White Chocolate Bar


This is what it looked like before the end of the evening. And I didn't even get a taste. The person that ate it said that it was so good, he couldn't help himself. I'm saying baloney next time he says he doesn't like coconut.

Granola

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. This was the one that that I could not stop eating. Bananas, pineapple, apricots, oats, almonds, just the right amount of sweetness. It went great in yogurt.

Then.....James found it.  James being the teenage son.  And you know how those can be.  Once
they find something they like, you can't keep enough of it in the house!


The jar on the left had the granola in it.  Next to the granola is a rice cracker mix.  Not chex mix, I tell you.  Awesome garlicy, peppery goodness.  Oh my, Oh my!!

Then, there were these...Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Beatriz sent this mix a a mason jar. I adore it when a gift in a gift appears. These cookies have the taste of the ever popular thin mints but look nothing like them. So good and so easy.  Vegetable oil, 2 eggs and dry mix. Stir to combine and you are ready to bake! Yum.

Beatriz tried to fool us into thinking it was just a cookie mix....But then we found out!  It's actually mint, chocolate goodness in a jar.

One thing I didn't get a picture of was the chocolate covered peppermint sticks.  I stuck them in marshmallow and dipped them in more chocolate.  Then the best part...we fed them to our nephews right before we sent them home to their parents.  Nothing like a sugar rush for Mom and Dad's date night!!!  Maybe I'll make it up to them one day....or maybe not.  You know I'm laughing as I type this!

My first foodie pen pal experience has been wonderful.  The people I sent my box to are awesome and the person I got my box from is one badass girl!!!  Thanks so much.  We loved it all.

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 

If you’re interested in participating for February, please send  an email to Lindsay at theleangreenbean@gmail.com and include the following information:

-Your full name
-Your email address
-Your blog name/address
-Your twitter handle (if applicable)
-WHETHER YOU ARE A US RESIDENT OR CANADIAN RESIDENT. - this is SUPER important so I can get you on the right list!

I will need to hear from you by February 4th as pairings will be emailed on February 5th!

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Live, Laugh, Love,

Life is a party!

Karen and Charlie

http://www.myinitials-inc.com/karenschaeffer

Pineapple Biscuits

This is one of my Grandmother's Recipes that I found in my Mom's recipe box.  It's fast, easy and above all, tastes oh, so good.  The are a cross between a biscuit, a cookie and a scone.  Charlie thought they favored a scone until I increased the size and then they were more like biscuits.  Make them and decide for yourself.  Let me know what you think!

Add caption

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 8 oz can of crushed pineapple, undrained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream sugar and shortening.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add eggs and vanilla to creamed sugar.
Slowly add flour until moistened.
Stir in pineapple.

Drop on cookie sheet.  I started with a small scoop and they were like scones but moved to a larger scoop and the texture changed.

Bake the small ones of 15 minutes and the larger ones for 18 - 20 minutes.

Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

Live, Laugh, Love,

Karen

Martha Mondays - Thumbprint Cookies

Thanks so much to Pru for picking Thumbprint Cookies as this week's Martha Monday project.  You can read how her cookies came out at Perfecting Pru or at Martha and Me. 

I chose to use the recipe that was in the December issue of Living.  I was very simple.  And of course, I went with the chocolate.  The recipe on the website and the one in the magazine are different.  The dough in  'Living' can be used for many different types of cookies and this is one variation. 

On a funny note:  Charlie was being Charlie and bought me a present.  A new paddle attachment for my mixer that scrapes the edges of the bowl while it mixes.  It's so cool and I really wanted one.  As soon as he gave it to me I tossed the old paddle.  Guess what.  The new paddle is for a 4.5-5 quart mixer and mine is a 6 quart.  The blade didn't come close to touching the sides or the bottom.  So I guess I get to go exchange it.  But isn't he sweet for at least thinking of it?

And that being said, I got to use my handy-dandy hand mixer on this one.  They are very simple to make but you can't be in a hurry.  Refrigeration is a very important step.  It is a basic cookie recipe.  Cream butter and sugar.  Mix flour, cocoa and salt.  Add egg and vanilla to the creamed butter, then mix in flour.

Roll into balls, make indentation with your thumb and refrigerate.  After a short baking time, redo the indentation with the end of a wooden spoon and complete baking.

 

 When they are completely cooled, make a ganache and spoon into thumbprints.  The ganache will set up and you will have this:

The cookies by themselves are not too sweet.  Charlie said they definitely need the filling.  He wasn't thrilled with them but said they were ok.  And the proof of that is he only ate 3 of them.  The rest will go to the office with me today.

Thanks again Pru for picking this one.  I needed to jump start my holiday baking and this got me going!

Live, Laugh, Love

Karen

Oatmeal Cookies

Charlie loves oatmeal cookies.  They are his absolute favorite thing.  I use this standard recipe every time.  It's takes a little refrigerator time but if you aren't doing anything one afternoon, you won't regret throwing these scrumptious cookies together.  They are both crispy and chewy, satisfies whatever mood your cookie lover is in.

Oatmeal Cookies

What you need:
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick cooking oats - not instant
1 cup raisins

What you do:
Cream softened butter with white sugar and brown sugar.
Add eggs, one a time.
Add vanilla.
Mix well.

In a separate medium size bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Mix into wet ingredients just until incorporated.
Add oats and stir.
Add raisins.

Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

After chilling time is over, it's time to really get into this cookie making.  Form a ball with approximately 1 tablespoon of dough.  Slightly flatten then ball and put it on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Makes about 36 cookies.

Best enjoyed with a cup of coffee or glass of milk.  Yum, these are good.