Magazine/Cookbook Monday: The BEST Oatmeal Cookies I EVER ate!

This morning I got to go to a holiday baking class offered by Williams-Sonoma. I went over to my parents house and convinced them to come along with me, so off we trooped to stand in line in eager anticipation of yummy recipes and great tips. We were not disappointed!

The women who were demonstrating the techniques were wonderful and knew their stuff. They eloquently explained to me the difference between three different types of whisks and they also were experts on which type of cooking sprays to use with which type of pans. Turns out you shouldn't use PAM or nonstick sprays on nonstick pans. Good thing I always use parchment. My pans, in case you haven't noticed in my posts, are all second hand and have definitely seen better days. My dad, being the amazingly generous person he is, bought me a BRAND NEW set of bakewear. And not just any bakeware, Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch Bakeware Essentials Set.

These pans are AWESOME! I absolutely love them and am so happy to be able to retire my old, overworked pans. Needless to say, this class put me in the baking mood, and on a rainy day like today, oatmeal cookies sounded scrumptious, AND I was VERY eager to try out my new cookie sheets! The oatmeal cookies I made are officially the most amazing oatmeal cookies I have ever eaten! Plumping the raisins in hot water before adding them into the dough makes them succulently juicy. The plump raisins then meld perfectly with the cinnamon and brown sugar and give the cookies a perfect ULTRA chewy texture that is further accented by the hearty oats and crisp coconut. These extra thick cookies are moist and fruity and GIANT! They remind me of those huge oatmeal cookies they sell at Starbucks, but these are way better because they are homemade. I am now cuddled up on my couch with Lola (my adorable dog), perfectly content, blogging with my big cup of tea and humongous cookie. Can you think of any better way to spend a rainy Sunday? I can't!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Adapted from No Nonsense Cooking Guide: Cookies For Holidays and Every Day by Irena Chalmers

Ingredients

1 Cup Raisins

12 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups sifted flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 large eggs, beaten

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup dried coconut (not shown in picture, I added it in on a whim)

Put the raisins in a bowl, cover them with hot water and set them aside to soak for about 15 minutes, until they are nice and plump. Drain the raisins and pat them dry with paper towels. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or butter/grease if you'd rather). Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.

Fold 1/2 cup of the dry ingredients and half the beaten eggs into the creamed butter.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and eggs, folding only until the flour is incorporated (I realize this seems tedious but it makes the cookies light and chewy).

Fold in the raisins, oats and nuts. Drop the batter onto the baking sheets about two inches apart(I did about 2 heaping tablespoons batter per cookie).

Lightly press down on the cookies (makes for more even cooking). Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.

Cool on wire racks.

Make sure you have a cold glass of milk for dunking!

See? Gigantic!!!

Ahh..... comfort food at its finest...

Have a BEAUTIFUL Monday!

Fill in the Blank Friday

Fill in the Blank Friday and a Pic of my MOM!

1. The strangest thing I've ever eaten is bull balls... ya Jose's family told me they were chicken patties. They didnt taste like chicken, they're super tough. I took one bite and knew... definitley not chicken!

2. I wouldn't be caught dead in ugly shoes.. not my thing. I love beautiful shoes!

3. When I am 75 I will hopefully be with the ones I love doing whatever the heck I want cause hey, thats old!

4. If I had to be named after a place I would want to be named Austin, it seems like an artsy, fun name. I dont think you could be a nerd and named Austin, it just exudes cool.

5. My name is "Elizabeth" after my mom's middle name (that's her picture up there, she inspires me to keep cooking!) and "Rebekah" after the one from the Bible.

6. My all time favorite photo is one of my parents and sisters when my dad returned from being deployed over seas for a really long time. My sister is clinging to him and my mom is all smiley and super happy. True love!

7. If I could afford it I would move me and my family to Mexico and start my own bakery.

Your turn! Link up over at Lauren's lovely blog the little things we do!

Have a BEAUTIFUL, RESTFUL, Friday!

Creamy Chicken Soup

"Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort."

Norman Kolpas

What is it about good homemade food that is so comforting? When words fail, bringing someone something that you made and put thought into can mean more than anything you could ever say... My grandma recently got diagnosed with terminal cancer. Needless to say this has been a very trying time for my family, especially my dad (she is his mom). It has been an amazing blessing to us to see how many lovely caring friends and neighbors we have. People have been so generous, bringing by baked goods, fresh picked fruits, even full dinners for us. More than the food, it is the thought that goes behind the food that serves to restore and comfort in the midst of chaos. One of the most comforting foods for me is a warm soup with a good loaf of bread. Something about it just warms my soul! I found this recipe on food.com, it is wonderfully creamy and delicious! It would make a great dish to bring to someone you know that is having a tough time as it can be refrigerated or frozen or reheated. I hope you enjoy the recipe and have a beautiful day!

P.S. Sorry about the pictures, I kind of threw it together in a hurry and didn't take time to take lots of pics

Mama Leone's Chicken Soup

Adapted from food.com recipe

Ingredients

3 cups cooked white meat chicken (like from a rotisserie chicken or leftovers), diced

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

4 tsp butter

1 medium onion, diced

3 stalks celery

3 summer squash, diced

2 tblsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

3-4 sprigs fresh oregano

1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tblsp

8 cups fat free chicken broth

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice

3/4 cup fat free or regular evaporated milk

2 cups sliced fresh spinach

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the butter and melt. Saute the onions, squash, and celery until the onions are translucent, about 6 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, tarragon, oregano, and paprika and 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the flour and stir until well-combined. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes and milk. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the chicken and basil and simmer 10 minutes more. Just before serving, stir in the spinach.

French Toast Part II

So, for part II of my french toast adventures, I whipped together Cinnamon Raisin Stuffed French Toast. I made a loaf of homemade cinnamon raisin bread in my breadmaker and used thick slices of it for the french toast. It was definitely worth the bit of extra effort to have that homemade taste instead of going store bought. Using honey to sweeten the cream cheese mixture ramps it up to the perfect comfort food! If you like raisins, this may soon become your favorite breakfast treat, hope you enjoy!

Cinnamon Raisin Stuffed French Toast

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

• Ingredients
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cups whole milk (less-fat milk works too)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 slices raisin cinnamon bread
• • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • handful raisins
  • 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon butter, or as needed

In a shallow pan beat together eggs, milk, and cinnamon.

In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, raisins, remaining cinnamon and honey.

Spread four of the slices of raisin toast with the cream cheese mixture.

Top with the other four slices of bread to make four sandwiches.

Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Brown sandwiches in skillet for about two minutes per side. Remove from heat, serve and love.

Happy day before Friday!

Granola Bars

Hello! Happy Tuesday... My weekend was a little stressful because my grandma is having health problems :( But Jose is here so that helps me de-stress! This morning my parents had to go to the hospital with my grandma and since when I get stressed, I bake, that is what I did. I decided to make a recipe I found on Lynn's Kitchen Adventures blog for homemade granola bars. I figured that if we are going to be spending a lot of time at the hospital, it would be nice to have something healthy and portable on hand to take with us as hospital snack food is not the best! I made the bars exactly like she says in her recipe except I only put in two cups oats and I added in 1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds. I also added dried cranberries and chocolate chips. They turned out pretty yummy and definitely better than any store bought variety! Cheaper too! Sorry about the lack of good pictures but I've been so busy I didn't have time to upload them all. I hope you all have a good week. Keep us in your prayers, especially grammy!

Cranberry Chocolate Granola Bars

Courtesy of Lynn's Kitchen Adventures

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tblsp honey

2 tblsp corn syrup (I used light)

2 cups quick cooking oats

1/3 sunflower seeds

About 1/3 cup cranberries (I didn't actually measure, I just put in a handful)

Sprinkle of chocolate chips (I didn't actually measure these either)

Grease an 8x8 inch pan. In a sauce pan, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, and corn syrup. Stir constantly over medium heat until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and add oats, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and chocolate chips. Stir well until oats are well coated. Spread mixture into 8x8 pan. Bake for 22 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool 5 minutes and cut into bars (this is a little tricky cause the bar will stick to the knife so clean the knife often). Let cool one hour more in pan and then remove bars from the pan (they won't be completely cooled yet but at this point it is easiest to get them out).

Dad's Day Beer Can Chicken with Grilled Lemoney Asparagus and Veggies with Champagne Vinagrette

Happy Father's Day! In honor of Father's Day I am going to post some original recipes my dad came up with. He is a great chef and I have learned much of what I know about cooking through watching him. He can whip up a delicious gourmet meal with seemingly no effort. Whoever said that men can't cook never ate dinner with my dad! I was lucky enough to get to spend most of the day with him yesterday doing one of our favorite things, creating delicious food! My cousin, her husband and their son were also there which made it extra, extra special! Dad doesn't really believe in measuring out ingredients and just "eyeballs" it. So when reading these recipes, keep in mind that the measurements are approximate. You can use more or less of the ingredients as you like. The other thing about the way dad cooks is that when he adds spices to things, he just starts grabbing spices and putting them together. He has an innate sense of which spices, when blended together, take a food from good to GREAT. A skill I am hoping to learn from him! He is a big fan of Penzy's Spices and used them in these recipes, if you don't have the Penzy's spice mentioned in the recipe I included spices you could sub for them. The meal we made last night would be a great one to whip up with your dad or for your dad. It is not difficult and the majority of the cooking is done on the grill. Our menu included Beer Can Chicken, Grilled Lemoney Asparagus, and Veggies with Champagne Vinaigrette. When paired with warm basmati brown rice and a nice cool glass of iced tea, this meal is the perfect way to wrap up a warm summer day. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to call your dad today!

Beer Can Chicken

Grilling chicken over a can of beer creates an amazing, moist meat with just a hint of that great beer flavor! Try it, you'll like it :)

Ingredients

1 can beer (any brand, dad says, "Whatever is cheapest") drunk down about an inch

1 whole chicken

~2 tbsp Penzy's Northwoods Fire (depending on size of chicken)

**coarse flake salt, paprika, chipotle pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, rosemary and garlic.

~2 tbsp poultry seasoning

1 onion cut into about three chunks

Lemon Butter Marinade (recipe follows)

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Insert can of beer in chicken's body cavity (see picture).

Dad has a special stand that he uses but says you can prop the chicken up with metal skewers or whatever you have on hand.

Brush chicken with lemon butter and pat with spices, sprinkle spices inside as well. Stuff onion into chicken body cavity.

Heat grill over medium high flame for about ten minutes or until hot. Set chicken on grill.

Check in ten minutes and brush with remaining lemon butter mixture. Continue checking every ten minutes until thermometer inserted in deepest part of breast reads about 175.

Remove from grill, let rest for ten minutes (to give juices time to settle).

Carve and eat!

Makes about 5 servings

Lemon Butter Marinade

In a small sauce pan over medium high heat melt 1 tblsp butter. When melted but not hot remove from heat and mix with juice from 1/2 lemon.

*This makes enough for Beer Can Chicken recipe. Repeat these directions to make marinade for Lemony Asparagus.

Grilled Lemony Asparagus

Ingredients

1 lb. asparagus spears(washed with hard ends broken off)

Lemon Butter Marinade (see previous recipe). If you prefer less butter, just use lemon juice.

Brush preheated grill with 1/4 of the Lemon Butter Marinade, (if making with Beer Can Chicken, you can cook the asparagus next to the chicken, but make sure you don't put it on the grill until the chicken is almost done).

Spread asparagus spears onto grill, making sure not to overlap. Turn asparagus every five minutes until tender and cooked evenly.

When tender, remove from grill, toss with remaining lemon marinade and serve. Garnish with lemon rind if desired.

Veggies with Champagne Vinaigrette

Vinaigrette Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/8 cup habanero vinegar (adds a nice kick but don't worry if you don't have this on hand just increase champagne vinegar to 1/4 cup)

1/8 cup champagne vinegar

Sea salt

Mrs Dash Spice Blend

Penzy's Northwood's Fire

Ground mustard

Ground garlic

Fresh ground black pepper

*(I did not include exactly how much as you can adjust them according to your own preference) This vinagerette needs to be tasted as you are putting it together. We like a more vinegary taste, so add more vinegar.

Whisk all ingredients together in small bowl until the oil and vinegar are well melded. Don't under mix.

Vegetables

Ingredients

2 sliced bok choy

3 medium zucchini squash sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

3 large white mushrooms, sliced

1 bunch arugula torn into small pieces

3 cups fresh spinach or other leafy vegetable (chard or kale)

Champagne Vinaigrette

Chili powder

Add 1/2 vinaigrette mixture to large wok. Heat over medium high heat until very hot.

When hot add bok choy and zucchini stir fry about three minutes.

Add in chili powder, mushrooms, arugula and spinach.Stir fry until tender but not mushy. Zucchini should still be slightly crisp. The leafy vegetable cooks quickly so don't overcook. You are looking for just wilted leaves. Toss with remaining vinaigrette and serve.

Makes about 7 servings

Enjoy!