Sugary and Sweet give me something good to eat!

Have you ever heard of a day to celebrate sugar and calories?  The National Cookie Day is December 4th!
Bake away with no regrets and make sure to share some of your homemade goodness with neighbors, friends and family. This is the perfect opportunity to have friends over for milk and cookies and swap recipes.
This is making me want a cookie right now:)

I want to share my favorite cookie recipe I found online.

And here I present to you, David Lebovitz's recipe, the winningest cookie in the world (or at least my kitchen):


Step One ingredients:

•2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
•3/4 teaspoon baking soda

•1/8 teaspoon salt

•1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

•1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar

•3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•2 large eggs, at room temperature

•2 cups (about 225 g) nuts, toasted and chopped

•14 ounces (400 g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

•Sea salt for sprinkling on top (what??)


Step Two Secrets Revealed

The key secret in making amazing chocolate chip cookies seems to be in how long you let the dough sit before baking.
Leaving the dough in the fridge for 24-36 hours allows the ingredients to fully soak up the liquid, and result in a firmer dough which bakes to a better consistency.
Another hint is to rotate the cookie sheet mid-way through baking. This allows your cookies to bake evenly, regardless of where the hottest part of your oven is.
Step Threee The Prep


First you want to toast you some nuts.
In a pre-heated 350oF (180C) oven bake:

•2 cups (about 225 g) nuts (I prefer pecans in this recipe)

for 10 mintues on an ungreased cookie sheet. Let cool. If you don't it will cause your chocolate pieces to get melty in the batter.
While those are baking, chop up:

•14 ounces (400 g) bittersweet chocolate

Step Four The Procedure
The primary step in most cookie recipes is to sift together the dry ingredients. So do that. In a bowl, sift or whisk (easier!) together:
* 2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour

* 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/8 teaspoon salt
In a separate bowl (preferably with an electric mixer) beat together:

* 1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

* 1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar

* 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
One at a time, add:
* 2 eggs --beating thoroughly after each addition until each is incorporated.
Slowly stir in flour mixture until fully incorporated.


Step Five The Hard Part


Don't eat the cookie dough!
Divide the dough into quarters. Roll each dough into a log about 9in (23cm) long and wrap in plastic.

Stick em in the fridge for the next 24 hours, and try to forget you knew anything about them.

Step Seven The Baking
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Slice the logs into disks 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick and place the disks 3 inches (8 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. If the nuts or chips crumble out, push them back in.

Sprinkle the cookie slices with a small amount of sea salt.
Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, rotating the sheet midway through. If you prefer a chewier cookie, scale back the time a bit

Let cookies cool on the baking sheet until firm enough to transfer to a wire rack.
You are done . Enjoy!!!!

Happy National Cookie Day:)

Oh yeah I did that

I will get straight to the point... Im not much of a cook. It may have been my last name but names can fool you.
I leave most of the cooking responsibilities to the hubs. He is an awesome cook and really enjoys doing it.
However, there is the rare occasion when I try out a new recipe and really hit a home run.
Last night I tried a new recipe for Stuffed Pasta Shells. I used the base recipe off recipes.com and took it from there adding my own flavor:) It was sooo good I will have to say!
Here is a peek at my leftovers.

Want to try it yourself? Here is the recipe. It is really easy, quick and tasty.

Ingredients

• 32 jumbo pasta shells
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

I added 1 lb. ground Turkey and 2 cans of sliced mushrooms:) Mmm... Mmm... Good:)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, gently place pasta shells in boiling water; bring water back to boil. Cook until noodles are just tender; drain well.
3. Squeeze spinach dry. Combine spinach, ricotta, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, fennel, basil and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper; mix well.
4. Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
5. Fill each pasta shell with the spinach cheese mixture. Arrange the shells, filling side up in the baking dish. Spoon remaining marinara sauce over the shells. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the shells.
6. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until heated through; about 30 minutes.

Create your own pizza party

Recently the hubs and I watched an episode of Good Eats. This particular episode taught you how to create and grill homemade pizzas. The tutorial looked easy enough and the visual alone left my mouth watering. So, ever since I have been wanting to have a small get together with friends in the honor of this pizza recipe.

I thought this would be great for entertaining. Invite a couple people over, have a variety of toppings and the possibilities are endless.

Not like this hasn't been done before, but I want to do it:)

If you didn't want to actually make the pizza crust you could always purchase pre-made flatbread.

For the perfect appetizer you could serve mini individual tomato mozzarella salads picked and placed within a votive candle holder. I recently saw this and it was darling. This would be easy to pick up and double as decoration.

Im guessing Im not going to be having this shindig anytime soon -- Im 36 weeks pregnant-- but I really want to and that should count for something:)

So I figured I could share my future party ideas:) Celebrate your friends and loved ones, have them over for a friendly pizza party!

All the best,
ChitChatChic
Jesse