How to Make Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

flickr image by Jamison_Judd

 This recipe is similar to Ben & Jerry's Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enjoy!

1/2 cup Butter, room temperature

1/4 cup Granulated sugar

1/3 cup Brown sugar

1 Large egg

1/2 teas Vanilla extract

1 cup (+ 2 teas) All Purpose Flour

1/2 teas Salt

1/2 teas Baking Soda

1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 cup Coarsely Chopped Walnuts

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Beat the butter and the sugars in a large mixing bowl until fluffy.
• Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well.
• In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda.
• Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until well blended.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
• Drop the dough by small scoops 2 to 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
• With the back of a spoon, flatten each to about 3 inches in diameter.
• Bake for about 11 to 14 minutes until the centers are still slightly soft to the touch.
• Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Makes 12 to 15 cookies.

 

Vegetable Macaroni Soup Recipe

 
Ingredients
1 cup carrots, diced
½ cup celery, diced
¼ cup tomatoes, chopped
1 cup white onion, chopped
1 ½ cups potatoes, diced
8 cups water
2 cups uncooked macaroni, shell pasta, or ribbon pasta
2 Tbsps flour
Salt to taste

• Boil pasta until tender
• Add first six ingredients and simmer until tender
• In a separate dish, blend butter, flour, and salt with a little of the soup liquid until smooth
• Add to soup, stirring rapidly and boil for about 3 minutes
• Garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

Corn Cream Soup Recipe

flickr photo by avlxyz

 Ingredients
1 cup strained corn or corn puree
1 2/3 cups evaporated milk
1 1/3 cups water
2 Tbsps flour
2 Tbsps butter
Salt to taste

• Heat strained corn or corn puree in saucepan of water.
• In a separate bowl, make white sauce of butter, flour, salt and milk
• Blend all together and simmer for five minutes.
• Serve hot

Green Pea Noodle Soup

 
Ingredients
1 large potato, diced
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups water
1 egg
2 cups cellophane noodles, cut in 2-inch pieces
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp butter
2 cups cooked green peas
Minced parsley

• Add potatoes and salt to water and bring to boil.
• Slowly drop noodles into boiling water; cook until almost tender.
• In a separate pan, heat oil.
• Break egg into heated oil. Scramble vigorously. Continue heating until egg particles are golden brown.
• Add to potato – noodle mixture.
• Add green peas and simmer for 10 minutes
• Garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

 

Royal Vegetable Chowder

Flickr photo by rexipe

  Ingredients
2 Tbps cooking oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup celery, diced
1 ½ cups cooked or canned corn
½ cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 cups evaporated milk
1 cup cooked peas
4 Tbsps parsely, chopped
Grated cheese

• Heat oil in pan.
• Add the next seven ingredients.
• Cover until cooked.
• Add milk and peas
• Heat but not to boiling point
• Add parsely
• Sprinkle with cheese before serving

Orange Puff / Marmalade Soufflé Recipe

Some call it Marmalade Souffle, some call it Fluffy Duffy. This one should not be made well in advance. It also needs a sauce. This makes 4 servings.

4 egg whites

1/4  cup sugar

1/4  cup marmalade

 

Beat the egg whites till they're stiff, add the sugar, then the marmalade.

Butter the top part of a double boiler.

Pour the mixture in, sprinkle it lightly with sugar, then put on the lid.

Cook it for an hour, the water simmering. Presumably you're at dinner now, and the puff will be ready for you when you're ready for it.

 

Orange Puff’s Sauce

 Any time before dinner, beat 2 egg yolks thoroughly with 1/2 cup of sugar. Flavor it with whatever you like—a tablespoon of rum, brandy, sherry or use vanilla.

Just before serving time, whip 3/4 cup of cream till it's stiff and fold it into the egg-and-sugar mixture.

Softened vanilla ice cream blended with brandy would also do well.

You may go a little more adventurous by using fresh, canned, and frozen fruits, plus syrups and flavoring extracts. With liqueurs you may try using Cointreau, creme de cacao, etc.

If you want to add something more for texture you may try variations with chopped ginger, coco­nut, cookie crumbs, chocolate bits, crushed toffee.

image credit

Easy Cheesecake Recipe

 Have a crumb crust ready and set the oven at 325°.

Ingredients

Cream

2 small packages softened cream cheese

Vi cup sugar

Vi teaspoon vanilla

1 slightly beaten egg.

Put it in a crumb crust and bake it twenty minutes. Hike the oven up to 450°, spread a cup of sour cream all over the top of the pie, sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on that, and bake it for five minutes. Then chill it.

This is complete as is, but it's good with fresh berries and fruit, too.

 

Avocado Summer Soup

Ingredients

4          ripe avocados, peeled and pitted                        4

2          cups    chicken stock                                       500 mL

1/2       cup       dry white wine                                      125 mL

1/4       cup       whipping cream                                    60 mL

3 tbsp   lemon juice                                                       45 mL

red bell pepper strips and dill sprigs for garnish

Procedure:

l) Chop avocado flesh and puree in food processor or blender.

2) While motor is running add stock, wine, cream, and lemon juice, blend until smooth.

3) Chill soup until ready to serve. Garnish with red pepper and dill sprigs.

Serves 6

 

How to Cook Applebee's Baby Back Ribs

3 racks (about 1 lb. each) pork baby back ribs, each cut in half
Barbecue sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Put ribs in a large pot with enough water to cover them. Bring water to a
boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour or until ribs are fork tender.
2. Mix all sauce ingredients together in a medium sauce pan and bring to a
boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring often, for 30 minutes or
until slightly thickened.
3.Heat broiler. Line broiler with foil for easy cleanup. Place ribs, meat
side down, on broiler pan, brush with 1/2 the sauce and broil 4−5 inches
from heat source for 6 to 7 minutes. turn ribs over, brush with remaining
sauce and broil 6 to 7 minutes longer or until edges are slightly charred.




Create Yummier Smelling Barbecues and Grilled Food

Recipe for Arby's Barbecue Sauce

2 teaspoons water
1 cup ketchup
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco pepper sauce

1. Mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat while stirring constantly until the sauce starts to boil (5 to 10 minutes).
2. Remove the sauce from the heat. Cover and allow to cool.
3. Pour into a covered container for storage in your refrigerator when cool if it won't be used immediately.

Can be stored for a month or two.

Makes 1 cup.

Barbecue Grilling Mistakes to Avoid

Meat should be properly prepared prior to cooking it. You must never try to cook meat on a grill if it's still frozen, or even partly frozen. Thaw your meat by sitting it out around 12 to 24 hours before you plan on cooking it, or by thawing it inside a microwave.

 

When meat is cooked, do not place it back in on the same plate you had it on while it was raw. This may cause the spread of several unwanted illnesses.

Cooking using charcoal lighter fluid can be good or bad. The lighter fluid would make the food you're cooking to taste different than using other types of grills. Alternatively, trying to not use lighter fluid may induce a lot of frustration because of the fact that charcoal can be hard if not impossible to light without using lighter fluid.

Never poke your meat when it's cooking. This will make the juice inside to leak out to the underside of the grill.  Not only would this make your food dry and unlikable in the end, but it also could possibly ruin your barbecue grill. At the least, it will create a buildup of unwanted grease and juices on your grill, which makes cleanup more difficult.

When the meat is on the grill, attempt not to open the lid to several times. Whenever you open the lid, you alter the temperature in the grill. The steady change in temperature and the air flow can cause your meat to dry up easily.

Keep in mind that the higher the heat isn't always the better. While it's ok to rapidly cook food, turning the heat up will only cause the meat to dry up and possibly burn.

While utilizing tin foil or aluminum foil would make cleaning easier, it will make your food to have more of a fried taste instead of a grilled taste.

Grave Mistakes

Do not, under any condition, leave a grill alone while it's in use. Grilling does have fire included, and accidents may occur. Fire scatters quickly, so being concerned of your grill might mean the difference between a small fire that's promptly extinguished, and a visit from the fire department.

 

Never put a hot grill against a wall, even when the fire is already totally out. A hot grill may heat up an outside wall to the point of burning. Also, don't put the grill cover back on till you are sure that the grill is totally cool.

 

You barbecue should be cleaned up after every use, no exceptions. Though no one likes cleaning the grill, it is necessary for the life and safety of your grill. If you leave your grill to sit dirty, not only are you causing a possible fire and health hazard, but you are ultimately making it more difficult on yourself when it the time comes to clean your grill.

 

Be sure that your grill is fully cold prior to cleaning it. Spraying oil and cleaning agents on a hot surface might cause it to fire up. Be mindful, because the grill may seem cool, but might still be hot in a few areas. Nobody wants to sustain burns from portable gas grills.

by Tip Writer