Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

-
Image
Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

NEW YEAR'S TRADITION -- Silver Dollar Pancakes for Luck & Prosperity!

-

To achieve this celebratory look, you can use numeric refrigerator magnets, or print and cut out numbers from your computer.  Giving the paper numbers a quick dunk in a bowl of water will insure that the numbers stick to the pancakes (without affecting taste).  Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and remove paper numbers.

Photobucket
click the thumbnail above to download 
New Year stencil template


All over the world, different cultures have unique ways of celebrating the New Year and symbolizing luck, happiness, and prosperity for the coming year. I've learned that in Spain it is customary to eat 12 grapes at midnight.  I'm looking forward to sharing this custom with my friends (it's perfect for the kids and those not drinking champagne) this New Year's Eve.  In the American South, Hoppin' John, a dish made with black-eyed peas is a popular first meal of the New Year.  In this tradition, dating back to the Civil War, the peas are said to symbolize coins, and are often served with collard greens, representing cash.  As a symbol of longevity, buckwheat noodles are enjoyed by Buddhists in Japan as part of their New Year's celebration.  

Do you have a New Year's food tradition?  

I'm pleased to share with you this guest post from writer Maria Rainier with her winning idea for a new New Year's food tradition:

___________________________________________________

If you want to try something other than a traditional black-eyed peas dish for the first meal of the New Year, try these first-meal pancakes.  Not only can you fry them in the shapes of the numbers of the New Year, they’re whole grain so you can kick off 2011 healthfully!  Seeing a little ingenuity to their first meal will get the kids excited . . . just in time to go to bed!

"New Year’s Family Flapjacks"

Ingredients

·      1 cup plus 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
·      1 cup frozen wild blueberries
·      2 cups whole wheat flour
·      1 tsp baking soda
·      ½ teaspoon salt
·      2 egg whites
·      2 cups buttermilk
·      2 tsp vanilla extract
·      2 tsp ground cinnamon
·      2 tbsp (1/4 stick) butter

Preparation

Boil 1 cup of syrup or honey and blueberries in a heavy medium saucepan until reduced to 1 cup, about 13 minutes, and then let cool.

Meanwhile, have one of the kids combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, and then another add the egg whites, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of syrup or honey and blend well.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on a skillet over medium heat.  Carefully drizzle the pancake mixture into the skillet into the shape of 2-0-1-1.  The good news is that even if you mess up, you can use a spoon to push imperfections back into place.  

Cook the pancakes until cooked through, less than 2 minutes per side (although this varies per number).  You might want to put at least two skillets on the stove so that some numbers don’t get cold while others are waiting to be cooked.

Serve pancakes with blueberry syrup and, if desired, dried fruits and nuts.

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at The Online Degree Blog, where recently she's been researching music degrees and blogging about student life. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.


_____________________________
This post has been linked up with:



CreativeShareWednesdays
Make it Yours @ My Backyard Eden




Popular posts from this blog

Vintage Folk Art Style Paper Mache Snowman Tutorial

-
Image
With the Christmas tree curbside, and the ornaments all neatly packed away, I'm thankful for my small collection of winter decorations that can be left out a bit longer to grace my home with their snowy sparkle and winter whimsy. I would have loved to have had the time to share this sweet little tutorial earlier in the season, but the holidays were busy (as they always are).  Now that things have slowed down, this may be, perhaps the best time of all to fix yourself a mug of cocoa or coffee and enjoy the process of creating a vintage style paper mache snowman at your leisure.  He is sure to bring smiles to all that behold him, all winter long! This is the snowman that my 7-year old made. The real stick arms were her wonderful idea! This is a fun project t o do with children as well. The process is very simple , versatile, and inexpensive.  The fram e for the figure is ma de from aluminum foil which can be worked into the shape of characters for any occasion .  I&#
Read more

Recipe: New World German Brown Bread -- "Squaw Bread"

-
Image
I recall, as a child, going to The Chart House restaurant and looking forward to the basket of freshly baked breads.  My favorite was always the dark brown, slightly sweet bread that the servers called "Squaw Bread".  I've heard that a similar bread is served at The Cheesecake Factory.  The name has gone out of fashion, since "squaw" is a derogatory term for a Native American woman.   The history of this bread can in fact trace its roots to Native American origins when German pioneers combined their traditional German Brown Bread recipe with ingredients available to them through trades with the native people during their westward travels. No matter how you slice it, this New World German Brown Bread is easy to bake and so wonderfully delicious to eat.   Print With Image Without Image New World German Brown Bread Yield: 1 large loaf Author: Jenn Erickson Prep time: 1 H & 50 M Cook time: 45 M Total time: 1 H &am
Read more

Vintage Style Folk Art Black Cat Halloween Bucket
(made from a $1 plastic pumpkin)

-
Image
One of my favorite characters from vintage Halloween folk art is the black cat ~ always sporting a mischievous look and a cheeky grin.     Last year, I transformed a trio of styrofoam pumpkins from the dollar store into paper mache folk art .   This year, with the same $1 budget in mind, I set to work on a classic blown plastic jack-o-lantern treat bucket -- the same jolly guy that's been around since I was a kid.     Although I'm nostalgic for his familiar orange mug, I thought it would be fun to transform him into a wiley black cat.  So, one afternoon, my daughter and I grabbed an old newspaper and our Mod Podge and set to work... Vintage-style Halloween Folk Art Black Cat 1 blown-plastic pumpkin treat bucket, any color Newspaper Mod Podge or Paper Mache paste E ar template (download HERE ) Heavy card stock or a manilla folder for the ears pencil and scissors Paint brus hes of various sizes Black acrylic paint Assorted acrylic pa
Read more