MAKING CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES with GRANDKIDS

What a perfect Saturday morning I had! The morning started with my 45 minute walk in Hillcrest Thrift Shop before it opened. I had a few minutes after I got home before my dil Lori dropped off Madison and Tyler to "hang out" with me while she went to work. My husband and our son were playing golf to prepare for a tournament they are playing in on Monday. (My husband gets to play often, but our son works and doesn't have too many chances to play. He always likes to go out at least once to play before the tournament. They have played in this benefit tournament for the last several years. They partner up with a friend and his son. They have a good time every year.)

While I was waiting for the kiddos to get to the house, I was trying to find a recipe that we could make together. We have done this before when they visited us at our house and I don't know why I didn't look for something sooner. But I found a recipe for chocolate chip cookies in a small cookbook I bought yesterday at the thrift shop for 25 cents that looked like something we could make together. 

I was able to go on and measure out the sugars and fill the sifter with flour for Madison to sift and then measure for the flour amount. I let her measure out the salt and baking soda after she sifted the flour. Tyler had fun watching the mixer beat up the butter, sugars, and egg. He also poured the sugars in the bowl. Then Madison got to add the flour and Tyler finished off by adding the chips (after they each had to eat one each). They wanted to measure out the dough for the cookies but had difficulty with my cookie scoop so I ended up doing most of it. (They were ready to sit down and watch some shows on PBS Kids, too.)

They were eager to eat a baked cookie and announced them good. We have so much fun cooking together and I hope it is something when they get older that they will remember with fond memories.

When their parents came to get them after lunch, I gave them a bag of them. (I did see Lori eat one from the cooling rack.)

The cookie is very delicious and the recipe only makes about two and a half dozen cookies, just the right amount to make with your children or grandchildren.

I did omit the nuts because they don't like nuts IN things (I think Madison might, but it is easier to leave them out.)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE RECIPE, CLICK HERE.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

8         tablespoons (1 stick or 1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/4      cup sugar
1/2      cup packed brown sugar
1         large egg
1-1/4  cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2      teaspoon salt
1/2      teaspoon baking soda
Grated rind of one orange, optional (I used 1 teaspoon dried orange peel)
3/4       cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1/2       cup chopped walnuts (I did omit)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease two cookie sheets unless you are using nonstick ones.

Beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl until light and creamy. 

Add the egg and beat until the mixture is fluffy.

Sift the flour and then measure flour amount and resift it with the salt and baking soda.

Add to the creamed butter mixture.

Stir in the orange rind, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

Drop the batter onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. I used my small cookie scoop that holds 1 tablespoon.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until brown. (10 minutes was enough).

Remove cookies immediately and cool on wire racks.

Hope you will enjoy my pictures of the grandkids helping out.

Madison took this picture of me trying to put an adult sized apron on Tyler. We ended up changing it out for a different one.

Madison had fun turning the handle to sift the flour the first time.

Tyler says it is mixing up the ingredients.

Madison measured the salt over a plate to catch any that might spill.

Then she had to resift the sifted flour (I didn't get a picture of her measuring the sifted flower into the measuring cup, but hopefully she will remember how I told her to do it.)

Then she got to add it to the mixture in the bowl.

Tyler finally got to add the chocolate chips. He kept trying to add them during the time the ingredients were creaming together.

Two cookie sheets ready for the oven.

Cooled slightly and ready for two eager grandchildren to eat.

After we finished, Madison wanted to take a walk in the neighborhood and walk to the two lakes in the subdivision. (Needless to say, I got in more than my usual walk today. The latter one was the most fun though.)

I took these pictures along the way. They loved the tulips in this neighbor's yard. I had them stay on the driveway though.

The redbuds are also blooming so pretty in the yards.

We saw this blue heron at the bigger lake and Madison insisted I take a picture of it. Then it flew away.

We also saw two geese coming in for a landing on the small pond, but I didn't get a picture of that. I think it is the first time I have ever seen geese slide in for a landing and then sink into the water.

As I said it was just about a perfect Saturday morning.

TACO TWIST

For this week's Casserole of the Week, I fixed this appetizing Taco Twist of Grace Graber from the Hochstedler Family Cookbook. Grace was the daughter of Emmanuel and Mattie Hochstedler, a Mennonite family from Kokomo, Indiana. The recipe appealed to me because it was so easy and simple and only required seven ingredients.

I didn't have any corkscrew macaroni but did have some gluten free organic brown rice & quinoa (Fusilli) that I used. We really liked it as it was soft and tender. I omitted the green peppers, but provided some sweet mini peppers for my husband on the side. I also substituted nonfat plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream because I didn't have any sour cream. The recipe didn't indicate the can size for the tomato sauce so I used an 8 ounce can.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE, CLICK HERE.

TACO TWIST

1       lb ground beef
1       pkg taco seasoning mix
1       can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/4    cup chopped green pepper
3       cups (8 oz) corkscrew macaroni, cooked/drained
1       cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2    cup sour cream (or nonfat plain Greek yogurt)

Cook macaroni according to directions on package.

Brown ground beef, drain, if necessary.

Stir in seasoning mix, tomato sauce, and green pepper.

Bring to a boil and remove from heat. 

Combine cooked macaroni, 1/2 cup cheese, and sour cream;

place on bottom of 6 x 10 - inch baking dish. (I used a dish that was 7 x 9 - inches. I also sprayed it with nonstick cooking spray for easy cleanup.)

Top with meat mixture and

remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BREAD

I am so glad that it is finally warming up this week. I wasn't sure it was going to happen. Our dogwood trees still have not bloomed, but the pear tree is and also our young peach tree. For the first time, a couple of redbuds are also blooming this year. The trees - not so much. We mainly have maples (red and one huge silver), a few locust trees in the ditch behind our house, one magnolia tree, and an ash in addition to three dogwoods, a peach, and an apple tree. Not sure if the young apple tree is going to bloom this year or not. So far, it hasn't. Most of these trees still look like winter unless you look closely and you can see the leaves started to bud out.

Some might think this Peanut Butter Banana Bread sounds like something you would bake in the winter. I do admit I probably do have some ingredients (the first one that comes to my mind is pumpkin) that I do seem to use in a particular time in the year. This recipe made two loaves which turned out nice because I made a dessert on Monday for our Farkle friends that didn't turn out great so I took a loaf of this bread along just in case. They really loved it and Friend Carol especially liked using the miniature chocolate chips as they spread out nicely in the bread.

Because I was making the recipe primarily for my husband and me, I used stevia for the sugar and also substituted one cup of whole wheat flour for one cup of the all-purpose flour. I also used nonfat plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream that the recipe called for.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE, CLICK HERE. 

PEANUT BUTTER BANANA BREAD

3/4       cup creamy peanut butter
1/4       cup butter
2          cup sugar (I used stevia)
4          eggs
3          cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour + 2 cups all-purpose flour.)
2         teaspoons baking soda
1/4      teaspoon salt
1/2      cup Greek plain non-fat yogurt or sour cream
2         cups mashed bananas
1         cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
2         teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease bottoms only of two 8 x 4 - inch loaf pans.

Place peanut butter and butter in a microwaveable bowl and heat on High for 30 - 45 seconds or until butter is melted.

(If butter is almost melted, it will finish melting as you

stir it smooth.)

Beat sugar and eggs on medium speed for 1 minutes

or til blended.

On low speed, add the melted peanut butter/butter mixture;

beat well.

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Add flour mixture alternately

with the yogurt beating on low til blended. (Start and end with flour.)

Stir in bananas, mini chips, and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter between the two pans. 

Bake 70 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the bread.

Cool 10 minutes on wire rack.

Remove loaves from the pans and finish cooling on wire rack.

Wrap in foil to keep moist.

LEMON-DATE SQUARES

Our Quilters' Canasta group was treated to these delicious Lemon-Date Squares last week when we gathered for another fun afternoon of canasta at Friend Dorothy's house. She has had this recipe for a long time, but misplaced it. She was so excited when she recently found it. We were delighted that she did.

(She had cut the recipe from a magazine. I don't  know what magazine it was, but I do know it was the April issue from 1960.)


IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE, CLICK HERE.

LEMON-DATE SQUARES

1/2       cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1/4       cup powdered sugar
1          cup sifted flour (for crust)
1          teaspoon grated lemon rind
2          eggs
1          cup sugar
2          tablespoons flour (for topping)
1/2       teaspoon baking powder
1/2       teaspoon salt
1          cup flaked coconut
1/2       cup chopped pitted dates
1          tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 x 8 x 2 - inch pan.

Cream butter with powdered sugar until light and fluffy in medium-size bowl; blend in 1 cup flour and lemon rind; pat into bottom of pan.

Bake for 20 minutes; remove from oven, but leave heat on.

While crust is baking, beat eggs until foamy in a medium-size bowl; add sugar gradually and beat until thick and lemon-colored; blend in 2 tablespoons flour, baking powder, salt, coconut, dates, and lemon juice; spoon over partly baked crust.

Bake 25 more minutes, or until top is firm and brown; cool on wire cake racks; cut into squares.

CHERRY TEA CAKE

If this recipe were ever entered into a bake-off contest, it would surely win the Grand Prize!  The recipe from Stan and Lori Stalter was in my new Hochstedler Family Cookbook (A Collection of Edible Treasures from the family of Emanuel and Mattie Hochstedler). I saw it and seeing it was made in a 9 x 13 - inch pan, I knew I would have to make it to take to share with the other volunteers at Hillcrest Thrift Shop.

I took it to the community room and then started on my morning walk inside the shop. (This is working out so well. I can easily get in a 30 to 45 minute walk before the shop opens since it doesn't open until 10. Jim, the manager, told me I could come as early as 8 o'clock since he gets there that early. That is so much better on the days I don't volunteer.) Anyway, last Tuesday when I took it, Volunteer Bob from the Sporting Goods department, saw me (walking) and told me the dessert I brought was the best thing he had ever eaten. 

I brought five pieces in another container for some of the volunteers who were already at work sorting and might miss out on the dessert because other volunteers would get it first in the Community Room. When I saw two of them at lunch when my shift was over and I had gone to get my pan, I asked them if they had given the extra two pieces to someone else in the back. Betty and Vali immediately laughed and said no that they (along with Karen who works in Vintage with them) had eaten all five pieces because it was too good to share. I couldn't believe it and joked along with them giving them a really hard time.

As soon as I got home before I even ate any lunch, I ate my piece that I had left at home before going to the shop. The next day when I was taking my walk and saw Betty, I stopped and told her I was sorry I had given them a hard time. After eating my piece, I totally understood. We had a good laugh together.

I only had one question about the recipe as I was getting ready to make it. The recipe called for "1 can red sour cherry pie filling". I called Friend Janice asking what she thought it meant and we agreed that I should use a cherry pie filling even though it isn't "red sour". Neither of us have ever seen this and since it said "pie filling", we thought I should use my pie filling and not a can of tart cherries. If you have seen "red sour cherry pie filling", please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks.

As usual I made this the day before and covered it and stored it in the refrigerator. It was very moist the next morning when I cut it and took it to the thrift shop.

A new blogging friend made a gluten - free version of this recipe and shared it on her blog, The Spirited Life of Grammy She made my recipe for her family and they loved it. She unfortunately couldn't enjoy it because it wasn't gluten - free. I suggested to her to redo the recipe and make it gluten - free and that's what she did. I hope you will go over to her blog, The Spirited Life of Grammy and check it out. She is really into menu planning and can give you some great menu ideas.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE, CLICK HERE.

CHERRY TEA CAKE

3/4      cup oil
1-1/2   cups sugar
1         teaspoon vanilla
1/3      cup orange juice
3         eggs
3         cups flour
3         teaspoon baking powder
1         can cherry pie filling
1         teaspoon almond flavoring
1/4      cup sugar
1         teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan.

Blend oil and 1-1/2 cups sugar together.

Add vanilla and orange juice.

Add eggs, one at a time.

Mix together flour and baking powder.

Fold into egg mixture.

Mix together cherry pie filling and almond flavoring.

Pour 1/2 batter (about 2 cups) into pan.

Spoon cherries over. 

Pour remaining batter over cherries. (My mixture was too thick to pour so I spooned it over the cherries.)

Mix together the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.

Sprinkle over top of cake.

Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce temperature to 325 degrees F. and bake 35 more minutes.

Cool in pan on wire rack. (I baked this the day before. When completely cool, I covered with foil and stored it in the refrigerator overnight.)

To serve, cut into squares. (I didn't do as good a job as I have been doing lately, cutting it evenly. Betty and Vali had two of the big pieces on the left and three more of the smaller ones in the next row.)