Kitchen Adventures 3.3

For the second time this week, we are having a party at work. This time, though, it is to bid farewell to students that are leaving us. That's the thing about university student jobs, they all leave eventually for some reason or another. One of our longtime student workers is leaving us to gain experience in a different library setting, so to celebrate we are gathering for food tomorrow. She requested chocolate, so I did my best to satisfy the request. I think this recipe will do the trick! This recipe came from the recipes included when you buy a three-pack of Crisco. I'm sure I have had them before, but I was reminded once again how wonderful they truly are!

Chewy Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:
2/3 c. Crisco
1 1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. unsweetened baking cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 12 oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: Combine Crisco, brown sugar, water, and vanilla in mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until well combined. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, soda, and salt in separate bowl. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-8 minutes or just until set; do not overbake. Cool 1 -2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Kitchen Adventures 3.1

Well I'm just a little late getting this up. but honestly I have not done much baking or cooking recently, or at least anything new. Being out of town two weekends in a row, officially starting a new job, and preparing for the new school year all take up precious baking and cooking time. But I'm back to baking now, so all is well. :)
Brief recap on recent activities: I got to go home two weekends ago for my sister's first wedding shower. This was the family one, so of course I wanted to be there. I had a great time seeing everyone, some of whom I had not seen in almost two years since I missed BOTH family Christmases last year. Plus, I got some quality immediate family time as well. I even talked Dad into a sunset motorcycle ride, which was lovely.
After coming back, I kept plugging away at work, handling photo orders, staffing issues, and everything that comes with being a manager. Thank goodness our Bible study is on servant leadership! I had no idea it would be so applicable when we started, but it has been amazing to learn how to lead like Jesus and actually get to apply it
A necessary part of work is celebrating birthdays. Each month we have a birthday party for all the birthday-ees for the month. This month, we celebrated my boss and one of our GAs. Our other boss got an amazing cupcake cake, Spongebob Squarepants themed, which was awesome. I contributed jumbo chocolate chip cookies, which were also good. I must say, they were a little different than I anticipated, but I think that's because I have started baking with butter instead of margarine. Growing up, we always used margarine, but for some reason I decided to start using butter, and it just makes things bake differently. These were very dense cookies, not terribly soft, but still delicious.
This recipe came from the Wheat State Manor cookbook, and the recipe was contributed my a wonderful lady from my church, Edna Bayes.

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 c. butter (I did not use this much, that's a lot!)
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 12 ox. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder in mixing bowl. Set aside. Combine butter, sugar, and brown sugar in large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Continue beating, scraping bowl clean, until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat, gradually adding flour mixture until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Set oven to 375 degrees and bake for 10 to 14 minutes until lightly golden brown, but do not overbake. Let stand 1 or 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
Note: Makes about 30 cookies. For 2 1/2 inch cookies, drop by rounded tablespoonfuls. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 4 dozen cookies
Second note: I did not have enough chocolate chips, so I did half chocolate and half butterscotch chips. It was a nice change.