The "Other" Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been a Toll House girl my whole life. No deviations, got the recipe right on the bag, no questions asked. Until now.

While making Pane Toscana over Christmas, I was feeling a little wild-n-crazy, so I tried the so-called "Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies" recipe on the Gold Medal Flour bag. "Extraordinary" may be pushing it, but they are real darn good. The Beloved and girls have declared they will only eat this kind from now on, and I have to say...I think I agree. So here you go:

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter - softened
1-1/4 c. sugar
1-1/4 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 Tb. vanilla

4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 bag (24 oz.) chocolate chips
2 c. chopped nuts (optional - we say yuck!)

Directions:

(Preheat oven to 350*)

1. Mix dry ingredients in small bowl, whisking with fork to distribute salt and baking soda evenly in flour, set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl, blend butter and sugars at medium speed*, adding eggs one at a time, then add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

3. Gradually add in flour mixture until well incorporated** (dough will be stiff and even a wee bit crumbly), then fold in chocolate chips

4. Scoop onto ungreased cookie sheets by generous tablespoonful (I have a fabulous 1/8 c. scoop that is the perfect size for this recipe) and bake 11-13 minutes*** until lightly browned on top.

Yield: approx. 6 dozen

* I use my trusty KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer - as long as the butter is nice and soft, use the whisk blender attachment

** I switch over to the dough hook at this point

*** I use Baker's Secret (2 layer air pocket style) cookie sheets and a rounded 2 Tb. scoop, so the bake time increases to 15 minutes - keep an eye on 'em the first time you make these and adjust accordingly - same goes for using a SilPat on a regular flat cookie sheet or jelly roll pan, which I've also done.

The Love of Tea

From Tea at Trianon - follow this link to plan your own afternoon tea.

The girls and I have always made time for a "cuppa" after school, sometimes with, and sometimes without a treat or two to go along...I confess I love my teatime with the girls. It's great for what I call "the daily download" of school day stories, gossip, atrocities, and even tears. Nothing like a little tea and sympathy!


A quick and easy tea sandwich recipe:

Ingredients:

*1 small, peeled cucumber, sliced very thin

*wholegrain bread ("Health Nut" or 12-grain is nice), crust removed, of course!

* Philly (or similar) spreadable cream cheese - vegetable variety

Preparation:

Easy! Spread a thin layer of flavored cream cheese on each slice of bread, add a layer of cucumber to every other slice, cover with an "un-cucumbered" slice, and cut into fingers, or quarters (triangular or square).

Serve with a variety of other 2-3 othe tea sandwiches - you can go as fancy(salmon and cream cheese on cocktail rye toast) or as simple (PBJ on white!) as you'd like. I've also been known to whip together some shredded cheddar cheese and Miracle Whip with dash of white pepper - even a little pimiento if I happen to have it on hand. Egg and tuna salad, too. The key is to mix up the sweet and the savory.

When we make our tea a fill-in for dinner, I will break out my tea and snack plate service, and serve hot soup in teacups with the sanwiches on the snack plates.

(This may horrify the tea purists out there, but hey - we're colonists!)