my favorite cookies ever.

I don't remember where this recipe came from.  I'm pretty sure I just kept looking at a bunch of recipes until my head hurt, so I ended up combining good ideas from different ones together and the result was pretty darn good. So I have stuck to it.  I think I originally made them for Kyle during his first year of med-school because white chocolate is his favorite (no nuts!) so I wanted a great white chocolate chip cookie recipe.  

I make them all the time.  It is extremely rare that I don't always have the ingredients on hand.  Usually I send most of them to the hospital as a treat for the residents; this batch went to our small group as part of our pizza party.  

In the past month though, I have started switching things up.  Really, the base is fantastic and can support whatever flavors you want to add.  For 6 years, that has always been white chocolate.  Yesterday, I used half of the dough with w.c. for Kyle, and the other half I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and raisins.  You could add your favorite nut or other dried fruit, I am sure, with pretty great results.  

For simplicity's sake, I will just do the original white chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Feel free to free style the add-ins to your liking!

Homegrown Hillary's white chocolate chip cookies

1 stick butter - room temperature*

1/2 C Crisco

beat together until smooth, then add :

2 eggs - room temp*

3/4 C packed light brown sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract 

in a separate bowl, combine :

2 1/2 C AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

slowly add to the wet mix until well combined. then stir in your add-in :

1 C white chocolate chips (or whatever you want)

Oven is preheated at 350F.  I have always found that the cookies turn out more uniform and easier to take off the cookie sheet if you line it with parchment paper and scoop with a cookie scoop (like a small ice cream scoop).  The first batch usually takes exactly 10 min to bake to perfection (barely golden brown on the edges and almost looks raw in the center), and each batch afterward only 9 min since the pan is already hot.  Ovens vary though so keep an eye on them and always set your timer!

Let the centers collapse a little and then remove to a cooling rack before you store them in an air tight container.  

Makes ~ 4 dozen

*room temp is a necessity.  if the dough is cold (or you pack down your flour and add too much) then they don't spread out like they should and end up dome shaped... still tasty... just look weird.

Trust me on the barely-done appearance... this is how you get nice soft chewy cookies that stay that way for a few days when properly stored.  If you wait for the tops of the cookies to start to brown, then once they completely cool, they will be hard.  Maybe thats how you like them, but that ain't how we roll. 

foodie friday : stir-fry

I used to experiment with stir-fry a few years ago, but more recently it just hasn't been something I think about.  Then a recipe popped up on my phone news feed for Thai ginger chicken stir-fry from the kitchn (recipe).  I only really needed the sauces, so Myles and I hit up the Asian grocery about half a mile from the house. 

The recipe is pretty well written in the directions... but I still made a couple of dumb choices that made this good when I think it could have been great.  So I will share those, and the thing I think would be a good addition for later.  Because I will be making this again!

First, I really don't know the best way to slice chicken breast for stir fry but it always turns out kinda chewy... when at the chinese takeout we order from, it is always nice and tender.  After some research, apparently, part of the problem is that I always slice with-the-grain, the best way is against the grain for smaller muscle fibers.  The other main issue was that I used the leftover frozen pepper strips I had on hand instead of a fresh red pepper.  The flavor was there in the finished meal, but I really was missing that nice crisp bite of a lightly cooked pepper.  A smaller issue was that I used the brown rice I already had, but really would have enjoyed this better with a long grain jasmine rice instead.

Next time though, I think I will toss my chicken with cornstarch before I cook it so that in the end we will have a thicker sauce than we did.  That was Kyle's only complaint...that there wasn't enough sauce to cover the rice.  I think it was just that it was so runny it didn't stick to it enough to really be enjoyed.  Over all though, this was a really tasty dish!

Anyone have any tips or tricks for stir-fry they want to share?  I may need to go out and buy a new wok since I got rid of the one I never liked when we moved...

what we're wearing wednesday : nerd edition

Sometimes feeling "pretty" isn't about getting all dressed up for special things.  Sometimes it is just being so in love with the t-shirt you just bought that you want to share it with the world.  And sometimes... it makes you run to Old Navy so you can get your kid a t-shirt so you can "match".  

On Sunday, Kyle came home from his on-call shift and got some sleep.  I made him and Myles wake up that afternoon... because on Friday I found out that Greenville was hosting its very own Comicon!!!  We had never been to anything like it, and I'm 100% certain I was the most excited of our group of 3.  Not that I am a comic-book collector or anything, but we do devote every possible date night we can to the latest comic book-inspired movies, and a vast majority of our DVR is set to comic book-inspired shows or SciFi hits.  Until Myles came along, we watched a decent amount of Japanese anime as well.  Its a little hard to read subtitles with a toddler all over you though.  

I knew I wanted to find a shirt to take away from the event for me... At first it started to seem like it might be a bit of a challenge... I only saw a few booths with shirts and wasn't in love with them.  And then right before we left, I saw it.  We were both pretty excited about the style of the graphics when we first walked up, and then the guy at the booth spoke up... "these are all of my designs..."  How cool is that?  Dude does great work... check out more from Ian Leino here.  I could not be happier with the shirt that I chose based on Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy.  He did this type of design with several other heroes. This thing is ridiculously soft and comfortable.  If only they came in toddler sizes... I totally would have splurged on one for Myles.

Despite the major amount of baby carriers and strollers at SC Comicon, there was a major lack of apparel for kids.  Someone could make bank in that niche at the next one.  So since I realized Myles didn't have any superhero t-shirts in his current size... we ran to the best place I knew to get them... Old Navy.  

captain america shirt found here

Now every member of our family has at least one hero shirt to sport ;).  We definitely plan to make it to next year's Comicon if Kyle's schedule matches up.  It was definitely an experience!  Hopefully Myles will be able to enjoy it a little more and not be so cared of the cosplay characters.  In his defense, Groot was a giant.