SOFT BATCH CREAM CHEESE CHOOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Thanks to sweetlittlebluebird.com for today's recipe.  They sound so good and I just might make them today.

Soft Batch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
• 8 ounce block of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chip 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugars until they are smooth/creamy, then add the vanilla and mix well. Next, add flour, salt and baking soda - mix until all the dry ingredients are just blended-Do Not Over Mix! Last, add chocolate chips. Fold the chocolate chips into the dough, until just blended. Do not over mix the chocolate chips with the dough. Place heaping round tablespoons of dough on a ungreased cookie sheet approximately one inch apart. I use The Pampered Chef's Medium size scooper for the dough, it's the perfect size and I never have to touch the dough. Place cookies in the oven on middle rack and bake for 9-11 minutes, depending on your oven. Bake until cookies turn a light golden brown. Remove, place cookies on rack to cool. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container. Enjoy!

STUFFED CABBAGE LEAVES

This is one of my favorite meals.  Thanks to mooreorlesscooking.com for this great recipe.

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

 

Prep time:  20 mins

Cook time:  50 mins

Total time:  1 hour 10 mins

 

This is a fantastic recipe for cold weather. Use any leftover ingredients that you may have in the refrigerator, such as rice or tomato sauce.

Author: Moore or Less Cooking

Recipe type: BAKED

Cuisine: American

Serves: serves 4

 

Ingredients

• 8 large cabbage leaves
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 2 c. minced cooked beef or pork
• 2 c. cooked rice ( I used brown rice)
• ¼ c. parsley
• ½ tsp. rosemary ( I didn't have rosemary, so I used Penzey's Bavarian Seasoning)
• I also added Penzey's Minced Garlic and Toasted Onion- 1 tsp each
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• ¾ c. gravy ( or a meat sauce~ gravy, juice or strong bouillon) I used meat sauce from the night before.
• 16 oz. can tomatoes ( I used 1- 24 oz can of Tomato sauce)

Instructions

1. Boil water in a large pot.
2. Add cabbage leaves and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
3. Carefully lift out the leaves and let drain on a towel.
4. Cut a small V out of the root end to remove the hard spine of the leaves.
5. Saute onions in butter until soft.
6. If you need to brown any ground beef, do it at this time in the same pan with the onions.
7. Drain off any fat.
8. Add seasonings, rice and gravy.
9. Stir well to combine all these ingredients.
10. Spoon about ⅛ of the mixture on each of the cabbage leaves.
11. Fold in sides and roll to make a neat sausage-shaped package ( Like a burrito).
12. Place seam-side down in a greased baking pan.
13. Pour tomatoes sauce over the rolls.
14. Cover lightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN

Thanks to the One-Pot Chef for this recipe.

The One Pot Chef strikes again, this time with a recipe that is sure to become one of your family's favorites. Best of all, it's beyond easy to make, thanks to our favorite kitchen MVP: the slow cooker. If you take five to 10 minutes to prepare the meal in the morning, you can come home to the indescribably sublime scent of waiting-to-be-devoured food. Talk about a win-win situation!

To make this comforting and savory chicken dinner, you'll need: 

2 pounds of chicken breast fillets

1 pound of small red potatoes (quartered)

1/2 pound of dutch/baby carrots (trimmed and peeled)

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon of dried oregano

1 teaspoon of onion powder

2 teaspoons of crushed garlic

1 teaspoon of salt

freshly cracked black pepper to taste

To begin, combine your olive oil and lemon juice. It's best to perform this step in a container with a spout so that you can pour out the liquid easily later.

Then, add in all your herbs and spices and stir. Don't be afraid to adjust this part of the recipe to suit your preferences.  

Next, gently place your boneless skinless chicken breasts into the slow cooker. Be sure to trim off any excess fat. 

Add in your potatoes next. While you don't necessarily need to keep them all on one side, it makes the final presentation more aesthetically pleasing.  

Do the same with the carrots. Again, the location doesn't matter, but you will get style points for a beautiful dish. 

Pour your marinade over the entire dish, taking care to give each component a sufficient amount of sauce.  

All that's left to do is cook the chicken dinner for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. When you take the lid off, you'll be greeted with the heavenly aroma of a home-cooked meal.

CRUNCHY TOP POUND CAKE

Crunchy Top Pound Cake

6 eggs
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
3 cups sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whipping cream (also known as Heavy Cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
Grease and flour tube (or bundt) pan and set out eggs and butter to allow them to come to room temperature.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Sift the flour and add it to the creamed mixture alternately with the whipping cream. Mix until fully incorporated.

Stir in the vanilla.

Pour into prepared pan and place in a cold oven. Turn the oven to 300 and bake for 80-90 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before removing from pan

RAINDROP CAKE

A new food trend has made a splash in New York and has been called “the next Cronut.”

The Raindrop Cake, also known as Mizu Shingen Mochi, looks just like it sounds: a drop of rain.
 
This cool new dessert is hot on this side of the pond, but has actually been around in Japan for a few years already. Darren Wong, 36, first saw a variation of Raindrop Cake in Japan, but when it didn’t make its way over to the U.S., he decided to take matters into his own hands. Wong introduced Raindrop Cake to the masses at Smorgasburg in Brooklyn, New York and to his surprise, it sold out!

Raindrop Cake is vegan and almost calorie-free.

It’s simply made of mineral water and agar, a gelatin substitute that comes from red algae or seaweed.  Agar is also commonly found in jams and jellies, ice cream, and soups.
 


This jiggly dessert isn’t savored so much for its taste (or lack thereof, since it basically tastes like water-flavored jello) as much as its unique appearance, texture, and sensation that is savored in your mouth before it collapses into a crisp and cool drink of water.  It is served with Kinako, roasted soybean flour, and Kuromitsu, black sugar syrup.

What’s more, if you don’t eat it within 30 minutes, it disappears into… what else than a puddle of sweet water!



While it may not be an all-occasion dessert, it certainly looks fun to try, at least once!  If you can’t make it to New York to try one from Smorgasburg, don’t worry, you can make it at home with this recipe

Raindrop Cake

Makes 2 cakes
Ingredients
2/3 cup spring water
1 pinch of vanilla sugar
~1/8 teaspoon agar powder (you may need to experiment a bit to attain desired texture)

Instructions

1. Measure out the water in a microwaveable measuring cup and add the sugar.  Microwave for 30 seconds and stir until sugar is dissolved.
2. While stirring, sprinkle on the agar powder.  Microwave again for 30 seconds and stir for a minute.  Continue microwave and stirring as needed until the agar is all dissolved, although you’ll probably still see clear bits floating around in the water.
3. Carefully pour into your desired molds; pop any bubbles that may appear.  Transfer the molds to the refrigerator and allow to set for several hours or overnight.
4. Carefully unmold the cakes and serve immediately with your desired toppings.

Recipe Source: The Cooking Of Joy
Photo Sources: Tim Ireland

CUCUMBER, ONION AND TOMATO SALAD

3 Tomatoes
3 cucumbers
1 onion
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of cracked pepper
2 table spoons of sugar (TOTALLY YOUR CHOICE)
2 teaspoons of salt (You can put less in if you want)
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of olive oil

Mix well...thats it.
Let it chill for 1-2 hours... That simple...

Easy Sugar Cookies

• 
  
• Prep: 15 m
• Cook: 10 m
• Ready In: 25 m

Recipe By:Stephanie

"Quick and easy sugar cookies! They are really good, plain or with candies in them. My friend uses chocolate mints on top, and they're great!"

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

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