Variation on a Theme

In case you have not already noticed, we have two recipes for chocolate chip cookies (Chocolate Chip Cookies and Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies). Why shouldn't we add a third?

I got this recipe from a packet of recipe cards I received in the mail. I like the texture and the toned-down sweetness.

"Secret Recipe" Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or quick)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Put oats in a food-processor, chopper, or blender. Process until finely ground. You will basically end up with an oat flour.
3. Combine list items from oats to cinnamon.
4. In a separate bowl, cream butter (softened) through eggs. Beat until fluffy with a hand mixer.
5. Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients, blending well. Add chocolate chips and nuts.
6. Scoop out small portions onto baking sheet. We lightly greased ours; the original recipe suggests using parchment paper. The original recipe also calls for making each cookie from 1/4 cup dough; I used less. 
7. Bake until cookies are lightly browned. Makes about 45 cookies. Enjoy!

oxox

Indian Fry Bread

I made this for the first time in a cooking class in high school. I made it for the second time recently at home. Thomas likes to eat these with honey on them.

Indian Fry Bread
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp powdered milk
3/4 cup water
vegetable oil for frying

1. Combine dry ingredients. Add water and knead.
2. Divide dough into about 4 equal parts. Flatten into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.
3. Heat oil to approx. 375°F in a pan for deep-frying.
4. Place one round in oil at a time; fry on both sides until golden brown.
5. Drain oil and serve.

oxox

Grandma Lee's Chicken & Dumplings

While living at home, it was not uncommon (especially for my younger sister's birthday) for my mother to put a chicken in the slow cooker and make dumplings for dinner. She used a recipe that her mother, my grandmother Lillie Lee, used.

My grandparents were originally from Missouri. They moved to California in the 1940s and that is where my mother was born. My grandparents stuck to their southern cooking styles - fried chicken was one of my grandma's favorite foods, and my grandpa loved beans.

We enjoyed this yummy meal with some friends recently. We hope you like it, too!

Grigsbys & Bradshaws

Chicken...
1 whole chicken
1 slow-cooker/crockpot
spices : sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper
enough water to cover the chicken in your crockpot

1. Thaw chicken, if it is frozen (preferably in the fridge for about 2 days). Remove it from its packaging and rinse it. You will probably have to remove the neck and giblets from the breast hollow.
2. Place chicken in slow-cooker. Season with a lot of sage, then with rosemary and thyme to taste. Add some salt and pepper. (You can add quite a bit of salt, because you will add a lot of water)
3. Add water until chicken is covered or nearly covered.
4. Slow-cook until done; it took about 5-6 hours for ours.
5. Once cooked, remove most/all of the broth, placing broth in a pot that can be placed on the stovetop. You can take your chicken apart at this point, for ease in serving.

chicken

spices

cooked chicken

...& Dumplings
2 cups flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt
water
flour for rolling out dough

1. Combine ingredients.
2. Add water "'til it looks right" - you will want to end up with a thick, sticky dough.
3. Pour dough out onto a flat, floured surface. You will want quite a bit of flour. Roll out your dough to about 1/4" thickness.
4. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into strips and then into squares about 2" * 2".
5. Boil chicken broth on the stove, and once at a rolling boil, add dumplings a few at a time. If you add too many, they will clump together.
6. They will all be ready for you to eat after a few minutes of cooking.

We usually used a slotted spoon to remove the dumplings from the broth and served them up with the chicken. The broth does not keep very well, as a lot of the flour from the dumplings is left inside.

removing broth from original location (crockpot)

dry ingredients

adding water

this is about the right consistency

dough, amply floured and ready to roll out

cutting dumplings into squares

dropping dumplings into boiling broth

cooked dumplings

My family's favorite side dish with this meal is something Thomas has recently termed "carrotized honey." It is cooked carrots, with honey added to make them even sweeter.

Carrots with Honey
fresh carrots, we used 4
a pad of butter (approx. 1 Tbsp)
about 2 Tbsp honey

1. Cut carrots into bite-sized pieces and boil until tender.
2. Drain water from carrots.
3. Add butter and honey to carrots and serve.

carrots with honey

 oxox