Chocolate Chip Cookie

Although our apartment doesn't have the greatest view (McDonald's parking lot anyone?), we have a pretty great place in a nice building.

One the best parts? Our cadre of doormen - kindly folks who open doors when our arms are full of groceries, sign for our packages, give movie recommendations, discuss local sports, and know both my maiden and married names. I don't know who is in charge of hiring these people,  but seriously, they are awesome and deserving of the best cookies I know how to make - Ghirardelli chocolate chip.

Happy New Year! 

Because of the pre-holiday craziness and a lack of all-purpose flour, I didn't get a chance to make these in time for Christmas - so now they get to be surprise New Year's cookies.

This recipe comes from the back of the Ghirardelli chocolate chip bag and is good.

I grew up in the Bay Area so I have a special place in my taste buds for Ghirardelli chocolate, it's not the fanciest chocolate out there, but among the brands commonly found in grocery stores, I think it's the best - so take that Toll House!

Our Cast O' Characters 

Adapted from 

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Yield: 4 dozen 

• 1/2 bag Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 bag of 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
• 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup(s) sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) package brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoon(s) vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup(s) all purpose flour (I use wheat flour for the 1/4 cup - it makes me feel a teensy bit healthier about the whole 2 sticks of butter thing)
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Although the Kitchen Aid Mixer is the traditional wedding gift in our family, Mr. Cleaver and I opted out on that one. If I don't make butter cream by hand how would I work my biceps?

Baker's Workout - Butter Cream

Add vanilla and eggs to the butter cream. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt, mix well. Add the flour mixture to the butter cream. This cookie dough is VERY dry, so this also takes a little oomph - more calories burned for me! (See new year's working out is easy!).

After the dough is mixed well add in the chocolate chips. Jewel had a buy one-get-one-free offer of chocolate chips, so I used two different kind here: semi- and bittersweet, but it works fine with just one.

Maybe one the most wonderful sights in baking. 

The finished dough on the way to my mouth.  My mother always said that the sugar counteracts the egg, so you can't get salmonella, I chose to believe her.

Pretty Maids all in a row. 

I've found the cooking time on these varies wildly from oven to oven - until I moved into my current apartment it always took around 12, but now it takes eight.  So watch the first batch carefully.

I like my cookies on the larger side - who doesn't - but I usually end up with fewer than the four dozen the recipe indicates, in tonight's case - it was 39. 

Err, 38. Quality control. 

Peppermint Ice Cream

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the advent of peppermint ice cream, but now since I own an

 ice cream maker

 - I thought I'd give a shot at making my own this year. I meant to post this recipe before Christmas, but I left for Maine and didn't bring the recipe with me. So now it can serve as a way to use all those leftover candy canes! 

Peppermint Ice Cream

4-6 candy canes depending on how minty you like it

slightly less than 1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon  lemon juice

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Crush candy canes until broken into fairly small bits (see photo). Combine half of the candy cane crumbles with the remainder of the ingredients and mix well.  Put the mixture in the the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours up to leaving it overnight - this will allow the candy cane to dissolve into the mixture and I've found that it gives the ice cream a better consistency when you churn it.

After chilling the mixture, stir well and pour mixture into ice cream maker, making sure to scrape all the sugar and remaining bits of candy cane out. After the machine has been churning for about 15 minutes, add the remaining half of the candy cane, which will end up as crunchy bits in the finished product - if you're not a fan of crunchy things in your cream,  add all the candy cane at the beginning. Churn the ice cream until desired consistency, mine ice cream maker usually takes a total of 45 minutes. Pour the ice cream into a container and put into the freezer until solid and enjoy - goes especially well with chocolate! 

My Three Minutes and 16 seconds of Fame

The knitting video is up on metromix. Go to the video player on the side and scroll down to "Stitch & Bitch @ Kopi - a Traveler's Cafe." I do a lot of hand waving and get a few sounds bites in there too.

On a side note: is my voice really that low? It always surprises me to heard my voice on tape - egads!

Side note number two: I have tons of stuff to post, but I'll be leaving for Maine this afternoon, so it'll have to wait until after my 16 hour road trip!

I'm Ready For My Closeup Mr. DeVille

On a cold winter's Tuesday three weeks ago, my knitting circle was visited by a TV crew and so, unless left on the cutting room floor, I will be making my local TV debut this Monday! I'll post more about the experience after the video goes up and we'll see if I am horribly embarrassed or super famous! An email from the Metromix reporter, who was knitting a lovely scarf:

"From Jackie (the Metromix chick):

Hi!

Just wanted to let you know that the Stitch N' Bitch segment will be airing on Monday at 7, 8, 9 and midnight.  It gets posted online at cltv.com/metromix after about 9:00 the night it runs.  Please pass this info along to the gals and thank them for all their help!

Best, Jackie"

PS: I get a lot of search hits on the title of this post - it's a line from end of Sunset Boulevard, by the character Norma Desmond. A great film that I highly recommend you watch.

Blue-Rimmed Plate Special

Meatloaf has a bad rap.

It is, for sure, a loaf of meat - something that doesn't quite sit well with our well-intentioned ideas of better modern eating (any reality aside). And like cheese balls and Jell-O molds, meatloaf has that aura of 1950's food that's trying a little too hard.

Of course, this being the Ms. Cleaver Chronicles, I'd be somewhat amiss if I didn't proclaim love for the meatloaf. I like meatloaf so much, it's what I ate on my second-first date with Mr. Cleaver. I can only think of one other person who truly appreciates this dish as much as I do (hi Winnie!). But if you haven't eaten meatloaf recently, you really should because it is tasty. And with a few minor modifications, better for you than a hamburger.

A few years ago, I decided to jettison beef from my diet, except for "when it really mattered," meaning I like a good steak every now and again, but by and large ground beef almost never makes it into my kitchen. And really, I don't miss it - most of the things I formerly made with hamburger (or hamburg as Mr. Cleaver says) like tacos, chili and this dish, have enough seasoning that it doesn't make much difference when I use ground turkey meat instead and I feel a little better about eating it. I do what I can.

And so, like the Chili I posted earlier this week, I make my meatloaf with turkey, but feel free to use beef if you want.

Mmm-mm Meatloaf : (Serves 3)

1- 1½lbs ground turkey meat (or beef)

½ onion, finely diced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp thyme

½ sleeve of butter crackers (ie Townhouse or Ritz - not Saltines)

2/3 cup of ketchup

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°F.  If desired, lightly grease a loaf pan.

Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl using a sturdy spoon or your hands. transfer to pan and make into a "loaf "shape.  [Note: To really make a good sized, loaf you'd probably need at least 2 lbs of meat, but I'm only cooking for two here.]

Put in oven and cook for 45 min-  1 hour or until internal temperature reaches 160°F on a meat thermometer.

Chili Weather

When the weather is like this...

One can't help but make this...

This chili is adapted from the one my mother always made growing up, but I substitute ground turkey meat for my mother's ground beef, a move she says, "just sounds wrong." I assure you that is tastes great either way.

This recipe is really simple and can pretty much be expanded or added to indefinitely. Mr. Cleaver particularly enjoys it for the chili dogs that come the next day. Best of all, it can be made in one pot and would work great for crock-pot loving people (Ignore the skillet in the above photo, I normally don't use it for this, I just needed to thaw my meat quickly).

Simple Turkey Chili (serves 3-4)1 lb Ground turkey or beef1-2 cans red kidney beans, drained1 can tomato sauce2 Tbl Chili powder (or to taste)½ onion, diced (optional)bell pepper (optional)cheese (optional)If using onion, saute in pan with a small amount of butter in a large pot (3 qts or more). Add the meat, breaking it apart with a spoon and brown (Though I've always wondered why the phrase is "brown" since almost all meat turns more of a white or grey color).

Once the meat is browned, stir in the tomato sauce, drained kidney beans and chili powder. Two tablespoons makes for a fairly mild chili, so feel free to punch it up as desired at any point in the cooking process. As I recall, my brother always liked to add about half a bottle.

At this point, turn the heat down as low as possible, and cover. It can sit for hours like this, with only occasional stirring. I usually make corn muffins or bread at this point and serve dinner when the muffins come out of the oven.

Serve leftovers the next day as chili dogs. Or try my personal favorite, the "tail-wagger:" chili on top on Fritos - the brain child of the folks at Mutt's, the Chicago-style hot dog place across from old high school.

My Favorite Leftover

I am one of those holiday eaters who live for leftovers. Yes, Thanksgiving dinner takes way too much time to make for the amount of time it takes to eat it (especially when its just two people), but the food is so good and you hardly have to cook at all for about a week (especially when Mr. Cleaver makes an amazing turkey stew)!

My favorite use for leftover Thanksgiving food is something I like to call "The Portlander." I call it the Portlander because I totally stole it from a New England bagel chain and that's what they call it. It takes no skill and is totally tasty.

The Portlander

Ingredients: Leftover turkey Leftover stuffing Canned whole cranberry sauce (I preferred the canned because the slightly gelatinous nature holds together better) Bulkie rolls

Put the two halves of the roll in the toaster or under the broiler and heat until warm - not toasty.

Reheat the turkey and stuffing the microwave. Take your warm roll and add a thick layer of stuffing, topped by the turkey and the cranberry sauce, put on the top half of the roll and enjoy how the flavors blend so magically!

My First Sweater: An Adaptation

Last night I finished my first sweater, just in time to show it off at my Tuesday night knitting circle.

It an adaptation of the "Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet" from peonyknits.blogspot.com. The numbers were a significant departure from the original, which was designed for bulky weight yarn, so I thought I'd post the pattern below for anyone interested in doing the pattern in DK-weight yarn. But I take no claim for this awesome pattern. All the glory goes to peonyknits.blogspot.com.

Peony Knit’s “AnthropoIogie Inspired-Capelet” Adapted for two colors and DK weight yarn.

What I Used: Size 5 (24 inch) circular and one set of size 5 double-pointed needles. MC 2 skeins Green Mountain Spinnery “Sylvan Spirit” in Peridot CC 1 skein Green Mountain Spinnery “Sylvan Spirit” in Blue Opal

Sizing: Gauge= 22 st over 4” Note: I made mine to fit a 36-37” bust and 12” arm circumference

What I Did: CO 90 st (Note: If I had to make one change, I would have cast on a few more and had the front pieces be a bit wider) Knit in CC 2 x 2 rib for 2 inches to create neckline

Raglan Increases: (you will need 4 stitch markers to separate the body into 5 sections: left front, left sleeve, back, right sleeve, right front)

MC: Row 1, RS: k3, p11, yo, place marker, p2, yo, p13, yo, place marker, p2, yo, p28, yo, place marker, p2, yo, p13, yo, place marker, p2, yo, p11, k3 Row 2 and all WS rows: knit all stitches Row 3 and all RS rows: k3, *p to next marker, yo, slide marker, p2, yo* repeat from * 3 more times, p until last 3 st, k3 Continue raglan increases until sleeve measures the circumference of your upper arm. End with a WS row.

Split sleeves and body: MC: RS: k3, p to 1st marker, move all st from 1st to 2nd marker onto scrap yarn (right sleeve). P to 3rd marker. Move all st from 3rd to 4th marker onto another piece of scrap yarn (left sleeve). P to last 3 st, k3. WS: Knit all st Continue in reverse stockinette stitch (with k3 at each edge of the row) until desired length, ending with a RS row (I went until I ran out of MC)

CC: Knit 1 row. Switch to 2 x 2 rib, for two inches. BO all st

Sleeves: CC: Pick up all st unto doubled pointed needles, one sleeve at a time, from scrap yarn. Knit 1 row. Switch to 2 x 2 rib, for two inches. BO all st Repeat for second sleeve.

Finishing Weave in all ends. Add a button/pin as desired and enjoy!

Please note that all patterns and tutorials are for personal use only and should not be distributed or produced for sale without the written consent of the author.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Cinnaminninies and Cheatin' Cherry Pie

In preparation for Thanksgiving, I made and froze Mr. Cleaver's holiday cherry pie this afternoon to be baked on Thursday. There's no recipe for the pie because I am a total cheater and use the cherries from a can. The crust however, is totally homemade, flakey, and delicious. You can find the recipe for that here. There is a bonus recipe at the bottom of this post, for those inclined. 

Mr. Cleaver loves pie. Particularly cherry. Last year, even though we had an apple pie in the freezer, Mr. Cleaver requested cherry. Since I love making pies, I obliged and we didn't eat the apple pie until the Superbowl, which made the Bears spectacular loss more bearable (pun? perhaps intended). This year, since I knew saving the second apple pie would be pointless, I ate it several weeks ago.

In many ways, pie  has been a central part of Mr. Cleaver and I's relationship. Like I said before,  Mr. Cleaver loves pie and I love making it.

It started, ever so circuitously, at Thanksgiving. I was living in Maine and had just started dating Mr. Cleaver a few weeks before. He invited me to accompany him to his parents for Thanksgiving, but I thought that was way too soon to be meeting the folks, so I opted to go with the rest of interns buddies to the Portland Stage annual Thanksgiving.

Hating to come empty-handed, I made a raspberry pie. But living in a furnished apartment meant I was missing several of my usual tools and, among other things, I ended up having to use an oddly shaped glass to roll out my crust. The pie turned out fine, but I wasn't looking forward to using a glass for the rest of the year.

Mr. Cleaver doesn't get any of that pie, but he does finds out that I make them. Gears begin to spin.

Flash forward a few weeks and Christmas is fast approaching. This time, still unable to travel to California for the Holidays, I have accepted Mr. Cleaver's invitation to join his family.  Christmas is still several weeks away, but John has an early gift to give me.  He prefaces the gift by saying that he's been carrying it around in his car for several weeks, and that he was afraid to give it to me, because he didn't want me to think that he had certain expectations, etc., etc.

After much waffling, he gives me a rolling pin.

I am thrilled, he is thrilled I'm thrilled. Everyone is thrilled except my roommate, who had also purchased me a rolling pin for Christmas.

Christmastime and I'm off to Mr. Cleaver's folks, a perfectly-rolled out crust on another raspberry pie for his folks and even though we've only been dating two months, I want to make a good impression. I present his mother with my pie, only to find out they have about four other pies already purchased for about six people. This is a pie-loving family.

Despite this excess of pie, his family is very kind and they eat the pie I brought and declare it tasty. I am relived, though slightly weirded-out by how Mr. Cleaver's brother-in-law keeps making references to how I'm going to be the next in-law.  Let's just call it foreshadowing.

Several months later, I'm at Mr. Cleaver's apartment and I find some cherry pie filling in his pantry. Just in case, you know, I was over and just really wanted to make a pie. 

Bonus Recipe:

Cinnaminninies:

 I doubt my father came up with these, but he did have an awful good name for them. This is my favorite way of putting that extra pie dough to use. 

Ingredients: Leftover pie dough, Milk, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and  Sugar.

Preheat over to 350.

Place small bits of leftover dough in a pie tin. Brush with a small amount of milk and sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar as desired. Cook for about 20 minutes or until brown on edges.Enjoy warm, but let cool enough so they don't become "cinnaminni-owies."

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Sweet Cucumber Salad

I came up with this recipe after a visit to a local Thai place with Mr. Cleaver about a year ago. I don't know if I've ever made it the same way twice, this is one version. As with most recipes I make. this oowes a heavy thanks to the joy of cooking and searches on Epicurious.com.

Chicken Satay: (serves 3-4) 2 Chicken Breasts 1 plain yogurt 1 tsp. minced garlic 1 tsp. curry powder (or to taste - this version is very mild) 1 tsp. lime juice ½ tsp. soy sauce bamboo skewers

Soak the skewers in water for about ten minutes, so they'll burn less. Turn on the broiler.

Slice the chicken into thin strips. In a shallow pan, mix together yogurt, garlic, curry powder, lime juice and soy sauce. Add chicken and stir until chicken is coated in sauce. Thread chicken unto the soaked skewers and place on a foil covered baking pan or cookie sheet. Place under the broiler and cook for about 25 minutes, turning halfway through, or until cooked completely.

While the chicken is cooking make the salad and sauce.

Sweet Cucumber Salad: (serves 2) 1 cucumber ½ cup shredded red cabbage 1/4 cup lime juice 1 Tbl sugar

Remove the skin of the cucumber and dice, avoiding the seedy center. Place in a medium bowl, add the cabbage, lime juice and sugar. Mix together and allow to sit. The juice will turn pink. Note: this does not keep, so serve immediately.

Peanut Dipping Sauce: (serves 3-4) ½ cup creamy peanut butter ½ cup (coconut) milk 2 Tbl brown sugar 1 Tbl soy sauce 1 tsp lime juice

Mix ingredients together in a small pot and warm over low heat. Whisk until smooth and serve warm.