Chocolate chip cookies? yes please.

I don't know of many things that are better than a

good chocolate chip cookie. Really I don't. Soft chewy center,

crisp edges, melty chocolate....

If you're not wanting a cookie right now, there's something

seriously wrong.

I want to share my recipe with you....well

it's my mom's recipe that I've tweaked just a little.

(love you mom!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 Cup butter, softened

1 Cup shortening

3 cups brown sugar (or half brown and half white)

2 tsp. vanilla

3 large eggs

5-1/3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 bars symphony milk chocolate bars, chopped *

1 cup craisins (optional)

1 cup toasted pecans(also optional but worth it!)

Ya'll ready for this?!

Pre-heat your oven to 350.

Cream the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla and eggs. Beat well. In a separate bowl

combine the flour, soda, and salt. Slowly mix that into

the creamed mixture. Stir in your chocolate and other

tasty things if you so desire. Now taste your cookie dough....

is it good? Try some more but be sure to save some for

baking. Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet

and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are slightly

golden brown. Let them sit on the pan for about 5 minutes

then move them to a cooling rack....then eat a couple with

a cold glass of milk and revel in the gooeyness of that lovely

chocolate!

* you can use regular ol' plain jane chocolate chips...that's fine,

but if you use a symphony bar, dove, cadbury, or any good

chocolate be prepared to never go back again...for reals!

Blueberry pancakes

Ah, blueberry pancakes. They're delightful aren't they?

We love 'em at our house. And I'm going to share my

favorite way to eat them. Are you ready? Here we go!

1. Make blueberry pancakes

2. Spread with cream cheese

3. Top with a bit of lemon syrup (recipe below)

Heavenly!

Lemon syrup

1/2 cup water

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

in a small sauce pan combine water and sugar. Heat until

boiling. Boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in

lemon juice. Syrup will thicken upon cooling.

Make some noodles & build your muscles!

I wanted to share something with you.....

It's a little dish I like to call:

homemade noodles.

It's a lovely thing to make your own noodles

and you know what? It's super easy! Here's how.

You'll need:

(I bet you have all of these things)

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour.

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large eggs

1-2 Tbsp water

*In a large mixing bowl combine flour and salt.

*Make a well in the middle of your flour and crack

the eggs into it.

*Gently whisk the eggs with a fork and slowly incorporate

the flour.

*Now at this point it's going to look like a shaggy mess,

but that's okay. Add 1 Tbsp water. You can continue

to mix with a fork, but at this stage I like to get in there

with my hands.

*Gather it into a ball and knead the dough.

Sprinkle more water on the dough if needed. You

should end up with a very stiff dough.

*Cover with a slightly damp cloth for 15 minutes.

*Now for the fun part. Get out your trusty rolling pin

and roll like there's no tomorrow! If the dough is sticking

just dust it with a bit of flour.

*Roll out until very thin and then cut into strips.

*When you're done, place them a couple of strips at a

time into boiling water for 5 minutes or until they're

all floating.

These noodles are the best in homemade chicken noodle

soup! Sometimes I'll make them for me...I mean my kids

for lunch and just butter and salt them. They're so yummy

and I promise you that if you make them on a regular basis

you will get some serious definition in the bicep area.

Chili is a winner!!

It's a monumental day. I made chili for dinner and

everyone ate it......and loved it! I'm bewildered

and delighted all at the same time. So here's the

recipe maybe you'll have the same sort of luck.

Chili

* 2 lbs. hamburger cooked, drained and crumbled

* 1 large onion, chopped

* 1 Tbsp olive oil

* 1 tsp. minced garlic

* 46 oz. V8 juice

* 15 oz. can of tomato sauce

*1/2 tsp. oregano

* 1/2 tsp. sugar

* 2 tsp cumin

* 3-4 Tbsp. chili powder

* 1 tsp. salt

* 1/4 tsp. ground pepper

* dash of cayenne pepper

* 3- 15 oz. cans of assorted beans

* 2 Tbsp. cornmeal

Sauté onion and garlic in oil until soft and translucent. Add

cooked hamburger, juice, sauce, spices, and beans. Bring to

a boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for an hour.

Add cornmeal half way through simmering. Serve over

baked potatoes with cheese and sour cream.....mmmmmm.

While this makes a huge vat of chili, it freezes great!!

For real mac 'n' cheese

I don't currently have a card reader and you know

what that means....no pictures. Sad, I know. What's

a blog post without pictures?

I thought, however that I'd share a triumph with you.

Homemade macaroni and cheese.

I've been searching and searching for the right recipe.

But to no avail. I combined a few recipes and accidentally

came up with something lovely.

Do you want the recipe? Here goes.

Ingredients:

6 cups Cavatteppi

2 cups milk (if you want it to be uber good,

use whole milk. I dare you)

4 oz. cream cheese, cubed

4 oz. velveeta, cubed

1 tiny pinch of cayenne pepper (tiny)

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp paprika

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup colby jack cheese, shredded

salt and pepper to taste

Cook your pasta according to the package directions.

While your pasta is cooking, in a separate sauce pan

add milk, velveeta, cream cheese, and spices. Heat on

medium until the cheeses are melted. Turn off heat and

add the shredded cheeses. Drain your pasta and add it to

the cheese sauce. Now at this point you can go ahead and

serve it, or you can bake it in a preheated oven for 10

minutes. If you decide to serve it right away, it will be a bit

gooier than if you were to bake it. Either way it's delightful.

Also, I'd like to add that my 5 kids gobbled this up. And

that's not always the case at dinner time.

My Meatloaf

So I know this isn't meatloaf but it sort of disappeared before I

could take a picture of it. It is, however, Monday and I thought,

"hey, "Chuck's" on tonight." So, make meat loaf and watch Chuck.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

2 pounds lean hamburger

1 cup dried bread crumbs

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup half & half

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

dash of cayenne pepper

In a large skillet, heat the oil. When hot, add the

onion, pepper, and garlic. Cook for 7 minutes. Add

paprika, oregano, and salt. Cook another 2 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

combine onion mixture, hamburger, bread crumbs,

eggs, and milk. Mix until well combined. In a

separate bowl mix the ketchup, brown sugar, and

cayenne pepper until smooth. Scoop meat into

muffin cups. Fill only 2/3 full. spread each with the

glaze and bake for about 20 minutes.

I also like to serve this on top of cheesy mashed

potatoes. You just can't beat meat and potatoes!!

giant soft pretzel

I am an allrecipes fanatic! A lot of my most favorite recipes

come from that web site. Recently, my kids and I were

having a soft pretzel craving (okay, mostly me) so we tried

this. May I say fabulous!!

I will admit that they're better warm, but that wasn't a

problem at this house. I haven't tried freezing them yet

but I bet they would freeze well. Someone adventurous

will have to try that out and get back to me.

pumpkin cinnamon rolls

I love to bake on cold days. It's such a cozy thing to

do....plus, I love eating all those cozy things in my

warm house. today was cold AND snowy (kind of).

So of course cinnamon rolls had to be made. I've been

meaning to make these for a couple of years now and

today was the perfect day.

Here's the recipe:

Icing:

• 4 oz butter, softened
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2-4 Tbsp cream
• powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla

and cream. Add powdered sugar to your desired

consistency. Cover until needed.

Pumpkin Yeast Bread

• 3-1/4 to 3-3/4 cups flour
• 1 table spoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 + 2 Tbsp pumpkin
• butter, softened
• brown sugar
• raisins (optional)
• toasted pecans (optional)

In a large mixing bowl stir together 1-1/2 cups flour,

the yeast, and spices;set aside. In a small sauce pan heat

and stir the milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Be careful not

to scorch the milk....that doesn't taste very good. The

milk should be very warm but no warmer than 130

degrees. That'll kill your yeast and that type of flat

bread also doesn't taste very good. Add to the flour mixture

and add your pumpkin.

Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead your dough

until it's smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place dough

in a greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap and top with a hot

damp kitchen towel (I like to use flour sacks for this). Let rise

in a warm place until doubled in size.

Turn the dough out onto a slightly floured surface and roll out

into a 10x15" rectangle. Smear this with the good stuff. Butter,

brown sugar, raisins, pecans, and a good shake of cinnamon.

Now, as much as you may cringe, the secret to cinnamon rolls

is butter. Don't skimp!

Now roll it on up and slice off 1 inch rolls.

Place fairly close together on a shallow baking sheet.

Let them rise one more time until doubled. Now pop

these babies in a 375 degree oven and bake 10 minutes

then change heat to 350 and bake an additional 10

minutes. Don't they smell good? And don't you feel cozy?

Ice them while they're still warm....and honestly, if the

fat content freaks you out, eat one and give the rest

away.

new blog title and hot chocolate

I've decided that this little blog needs
a better title...so from now on (until I
change my mind)you'll be reading
"simply homemade". I'm a simple gal...
not a lot of fluff so this seems to
suit me better. Also, I'm all about
homemade everything....so ya. There you
have it.

On to the chocolate right?! It finally got
cold in Tennessee so I figured it was time
to work on a hot chocolate recipe. It actually
turned out pretty good. If you're not afraid
of sugar and fat then this recipe is for you.
Lets face it, sugar and fat make things taste
good!

1 Can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
dash of salt
6 cups of milk
1 Tbsp butter (don't freak out, this makes it)

Combine sweetened condensed milk, cocoa, sugar,
vanilla, and salt. stirring constantly heat until
just before it bubbles. Slowly add milk. Heat
through (don't boil!). Remove from heat and add
butter. Throw in some marshmallows, sit by the
fire (if you have a fireplace), and sip your
yummy chocolate.

Ahhh, it tastes like Christmas.

craving chocolate..so here you go

If you like chocolate raise your hand. You can't see,

but I'm raising both. (while typing...talented huh?)

I love to bake, but being a home executive I find myself

tasting my creations a little too often. My husband will

come home from work and be like, "hey, where did that

whole pan of brownies go?" To which I probably reply,

"Gee hon, was there really a pan full when you left?"

Shameful, I know.

My lovely mother sent this recipe and I had to blog it.

It's too great to keep to myself.

Five Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well..
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

ps If you would like to de-fattify this tasty treat just do half oil and half applesauce.

Enjoy!