Chocolate mint chip cookies

So some days you just need a Roxy-cuddle! This is my sweet niece and her smile can make any heart ache seem distant.Theres something about watching a friend grieve that makes life real and at the same time so unreal. But grief to the person grieving is all too real. So what do I do from a distance when my help isn't quite helpful? I pray, oh do I pray. I pray that the Lord of all comfort and peace  be theirs and then once I've prayed I cook and bake. I feed the hurting I guess you could say. Everyone still needs to eat. After a big batch of soup was tucked away in the freezer for when it's needed I thought I'd make a big batch of cookies to have ready to send too. I was all out of chocolate chips so I got out my last sweet Christmas gift; mint chips...thanks Jenn!

After tasting a few of the mint chips (well maybe more than a few!) I thought they would pair so nicely with my chocolate cookie recipe.

3/4 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa

3/4 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp maldon seasalt (I upped the salt from 1/4 tsp and it helped the chocolate mint flavour come out)

1 cup mint chips

I Creamed the butter and sugars together and added in the eggs. I doubled the recipe and used all the chocolate chips.

This stage is key to making the perfect cookie; beating the batter until it is light in colour before adding the dry ingredients. 

Aubrey loves making cards and so she chose to make a card while I baked the cookies. She is so sweet!

I added in all the dry ingridients; mixed in the mint chips and made sure it was all incorporated.

I had the kids taste the Batter to make sure it was good, once approved I used  my small scoop to portion out the dough. 

I baked these at 375F for exactly 10 minutes.

Once the cookies were bakes I set the sheet pan on the stove and flattened the cookies with my palm (yes I apparently have no feeling in my hands!)

I Let them cool On the sheet pan for 5 minutes and then transferred the cookies to a cooling rack. Repeat until all the dough is gone!

Crunchy on the outside and fudgy  on the  inside; like a brownie type cookie. Those mint chips are awesome by the way. The mint flavour is subtle and not overwhelmingly artificial tasting at all.

Our resident Cookie Monster approved! I better get these sealed in a tin and in the freezer before we eat them all!!!

So this little man loves lining up his toys. It's too cute, just not when his sister "bothers" him; he's got no time for snuggles when he's organizing!

Pioneer women's chocolate brownies

So what do you make with a log of dark callebaut chocolate from Christmas? Make a double batch of the pioneer women's chocolate brownies, that's what!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/dark-chocolate-brownies/

1 cup butter

5oz unsweetened chocolate

1/4cup unsweetened Cocoa powder

2 cups sugar (I cut this in half since I was using dark chocolate)

1 tbsp vanilla (I didn't have any)

3 eggs

1&1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes

I melted the butter and chocolate together and then set this aside to cool for 5 minutes.

I then whisked in the cocoa powder and sugar. I cut the sugar in half since I was using dark chocolate rather than unsweetened and I didn't want it to be too sweet.

I quickly whisked in the eggs and then incorporated the flour.

I folded in the remaining chopped chocolate log instead of chocolate chips.

Since this was a double recipe this filled by 11x13 pan perfectly.

After 40 minutes in a 350 F oven this was perfect. A toothpick came out clean and the top was firm but the corners were not burnt. 

I let this cool, dusted it with powder sugar and then cut into 48 small pieces; this brownie is rich and delicious!

The kids are going to patiently wait until tomorrow to try it; I couldn't risk them not sleeping tonight!

I packed up a few tins for some special friends and kept 5 pieces for us! Too much of a good thing isn't good but giving it away is!

I whipped up a personal "heart" pizza for my sweetheart. It kinda just happened! I topped the fresh basil pizza dough with roasted chicken, sautéed kale and pineapple. It was very delicious; I will definitely make that flavour combination again!

Night night!

Chicken coconut curry soup; chicken stock part two

So Liam has been teething like crazy which means my afternoons have consisted of this; Co-napping. As long as he sleeps I'm not really bothered by it. I find it special; although it is cutting into the time I usually prepare dinner. I decided to make a quick soup using the leftover chicken stock and pulled chicken I had stuck in the freezer.

I started with sliced onions and celery in a hot Dutch oven. I let this cook down, adding in curry powder and then deglazed that with some leftover white wine.

I added in a litre of chicken broth, 2 cans of coconut milk, and 2 cans full of water. I added in my sliced veggies, you can add anything but I chose carrots, mushrooms and canned baby corn.

I then added in the slightly defrosted pulled chicken and brought the soup to a simmer.

Once I tasted it I decided it needed lime zest, lime juice, oyster sauce and soya sauce.

I blanched some brocolli but kept that separate only adding it to each portion. Over-cooked brocolli is not my idea of a fun time! We served this over a choice of chow mein noodles or leftover brown rice. It was so much fun to serve this to my brother and he actually ate it and enjoyed it.

Took my kids to their friends 2nd birthday party. It was safari themed; Aubrey insisted on wearing her party dress...girls will be girls!

Thought I would do a friend shout out! I loved having my lifelong friend Justin in town for a visit. Those "pick up right where you left off" friends are hard to find. 

Tortilla soup

So I love the fact that my neighbor friend is so kind and brought me a whole GIANT frozen chicken as a belated birthday gift.  I had been thinking about what I could make with this.  We decided to just roast it up and then think of the possibilities. Its always nice to have cooked meat saved in the freezer for quick quesadillas, pizza or nachos toppings or even a chicken salad so I saved half of the pulled chicken meat for another day.  For the other half I created a tortillas Soup.  Basically it's a normal chicken soup but I add lime, cumin and chili powder and it takes on a flavor all its own.

 

 

 

In a dutch oven I sautéed celery and onion with cumin and chili powder.  This got nice and tender; so much flavor is added by cooking spices and awakening them with heat.

 

This was my partner in crime although he wasn't that excited to be here.

I sat him on the counter and I got to work; he likes to watch as I twirl busily around the kitchen.

It looks like he had a fight with his sippy cup.

You can pretty much add anything to this. I usually add diced tomato which I didn't have on hand so I added in three tablespoons of crushed tomato, 1litre of chicken stock(which so happens to be homemade chicken stock by mother in law; the flavour was so concentrated...looks like liquid gold!), a can of black beans and a cup of frozen corn.

He enjoys frozen corn while he's teething.

I added in the zest of one lime and the juice of two limes.

Added in chopped cilantro and let this simmer away until serving time!

After about a half an hour I could no longer wait! I served myself up a big bowl topped with plain Greek yogurt, grated cheddar cheese and a generous handful of taco chips....yes please!

While I was busy cooking with Liam; Aubrey and Jeff were on daddy-daughter date to A&W; what special memories for them.

My afternoon looked more like this; but I'm not complaining I know these moments won't last forever.