In honor of national peanut butter cookie day

I did go back into the woman cave and baked these to share ~

Peanut butter & chocolate chip cookies

1/2 cup  butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Cream together butter, shortening, peanut butter and sugars.  Add in eggs and vanilla.  Mix in flour, baking soda and salt.   Gradually add in oats and chocolate chips.

Scoop or spoon drop onto parchment lined baking sheets.

Watch carefully - these like to burn.

Servings: 72

Oven Temperature: 320°F

Maybe I should make this picture into a jigsaw puzzle. 

Michele

So good

I love food pampering.  And even more, I love when I have leftovers to take for lunches to work.  My favorite thing to love is my dishwasher because it will be running in a few minutes after my breakfast and lunch dishes fill it.

Pasta e Fagioli

2 tbsp extra light virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 medium onion finely chopped
3 oz pancetta
1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz Cannellini beans
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
2 cups Ditalini, cooked
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese freshly grated

Heat olive oil in bottom of large saucepan.  Add in garlic, onion and pancetta and cook until soft.  Add in chicken broth and cannelli.

Cook pasta.  As that is cooking add in spices and tomatoes to broth mixture.

Drain pasta and add to broth.  Do  not rinse.

Let sit in sauce for a few minutes before serving.

Top with freshly grated Parmesan.

Servings: 6

One of my favorite things to do is smash garlic with my chef's knife and then mincing.  Onions not so much since they normally dry out my eyes.  This recipe let me have fun and the aroma of both in the kitchen are worth the dry eyes.
Back to the kitchen to fill the dishwasher.  I cannot make another entree but maybe some bread or a dessert...

Sunday morning treat

Another rainy morning.  I thought a nice fruit salad would be a great way to brighten it up and have a fun breakfast.

Couscous Fruit Salad

3/4 cup couscous
3/4 cup  blueberries(fresh or frozen)
3/4 cup  peaches, peeled and diced (fresh or frozen)
4 oz mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon extract

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil.  Add in couscous, remove from the burner and cover for 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork and let cool.  In a large mixing bowl, whip cream and add in mascarpone cheese, lemon extract and powdered sugar.  Stir in couscous.  Gently fold in peaches and blueberries.

It's a little taste of summer.  You remember it was those 2 days that happened last week before it turned back into early spring again...

Comfort food

Everyone needs to turn to their favorite comfort food occasionally.  I've been fighting off coming down with a cold for the last few days so I decided to treat myself.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can Cream of chicken soup
2 medium chicken breasts, cooked
1/2 stalk celery cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup carrots peeled and diced
1/2 cup green beans, cooked, drained
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 deep dish pie crust, baked
Cook chicken broth and can of Cream of chicken soup until thickened.  Add in chicken and vegetables.

Pour carefully into baked pie crust.

Cover with mashed potatoes.  You can pipe it on for a fancier look or just use it like a icing.

Servings: 8

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Oven Temperature: 325°F

I even have to laugh at the picture.  I couldn't find my normal piping tips so I improvised using my cookie press. 

Grillin' time

It was indoor grilling due to the fact it's 92 degrees out and I'm out of propane.  I've finally fully restocked my refrigerator so here's my first attempt at grilled pineapple ~

So about those stars...it was the only small cookie cutter that I could find to cut a hole in the middle.  Honest!  I will buy a real pineapple cutter soon.  I did find some other weird utensils that I've picked up over the years and as soon as I have my website up and running I'll hold a contest for name that mystery product.  I won't have a contest to figure out why I've held on to it for so long because even I don't know the answers.

I did make a light dipping sauce for the pineapple and the peaches that will be next ~

1 cup vanilla yogurt (low-fat or regular)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp honey

As Ina Garten would say ~ how easy is that?  Oh, the pineapple slices are 1/4" thick and they were grilled until heated through on each side.

Enjoy!

Just a quickie ~

Even though trying to make ingredients come together in my kitchen is like a episode of Chopped (which is one of my favorite cooking shows), I did manage to come up with a dessert.

The bottom is just a plain biscuit that was dunked in a cinnamon & sugar mixture and baked in a muffin tin.  The next layer is strawberry sauce.  Nothing too special until you get to the top ~

Mascarpone topping ~

1 - 8 oz container of mascarpone
1 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup strawberries

Just mix together and top away.

It turned out to be not such a nice way to end the long weekend.

The food portion of the weekend was excellent it was the weather that appeared after my last blog that wasn't as pleasant.  About 9 p.m. that night, my area was hit by 90-100 mph winds that took down trees and took out the power.  Scary times in the basement and I was in the dark trying to see out the window while texting a friend on the west coast as to what was happening. 
Unfortunately, I was in an area in town that the electricity was out for 36 hours.  It was one of those things...you kept thinking "oh, the power will be back soon".  That just didn't happen.  I did get to spend some quality time with my sump pump though. 
I did restock the contents of my refrigerator and freezer somewhat but have been frustrated at every attempt to create something new this weekend.  I do have an easy recipe to share from my cookbook.

Very Berry Sauce
This is a great dessert or pancake topping,

1 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup blueberries(fresh or frozen)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional but I like a little kick)
1/4 cup vodka

Mix all ingredients together in sauce pan,  Add sugar to taste,  Cook until reduced.

I am thankful that I still have a house without a tree on it, great neighbors, an understanding boss and a friend that doesn't realize that the texts during the storm helped me remain calm.  Or maybe he does.  I have lots of ideas for recipes and promise I'll be back up in top cooking form and with the right combination of grocery supplies within the next few days.

Michele