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

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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
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CELEBRATE FALL WITH PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BRIOCHE

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The first day of fall snuck up far too quickly for my liking this year. Each year I try to do something special for the family to usher in this special season. With little time, but the itch to create, I came up with this delicious pumpkin chocolate chip brioche. The house smelled heavenly from the autumn spices, and the girls could hardly wait for the molten chocolate chips to cool before snagging one! Fortunately, I was able to squirrel-away a few to share with friends, teachers, and neighbors, before they were all gone! Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brioche And, just for fun, here are the "Happy Autumn" gift tags that I made for the occasion using some French sheet music (Aquarelles d'Atumne:  Autumn Watercolors) and a vintage squirrel background from The Graphics Fairy .  I got a kick out of the phonetic similarities between the French word for 'watercolors', Aquarelles, and the French word for 'squirr
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FREE VINTAGE CLIP ART: The Elegance of the Warthog

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My title is a play on "The Elegance of the Hedgehog", a novel by the French novelist and professor of philosophy Muriel Barbery -- good stuff I tell you, good stuff... After a long week packed with errands, meetings, play dates, birthday & farewell parties, the SITS Back2Blogging challenge, and culminating in last night's Jonas Brothers concert (Note to Joe Jonas ~ You are adorable, but unless you are the second-coming of Freddie Mercury, please refrain from wearing that itty bitty black tank top) , I'm feeling much more like a Warthog than an elegant little Hedgehog . So, I'm takin' it easy with this Sunday evening post. My posts have been heavy on the recipe side lately, so I've decided to mix-it-up a bit with some free clipart. Enjoy! As always, you are free to download these pics and use them for non-commercial purposes. If you create something really FAB with them, please feel free to share it with me here (hsh@earthlink.net). There may
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COME BRIE WITH ME ~ HOW TO MAKE PESTO BRIE & ALMOND APRICOT BRIE

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Stuffed Brie -- every had it? It's easy to make and makes for a lovely presentation. You can prepare these days in advance (they're better that way) and serve them as an alternative to a basic cheese plate. These delicious stuffed bries are always a crowd pleaser! A stuffed brie makes a lovely hostess gift during the holidays. Pesto Brie with Sundried Tomatoes and Toasted Pine Nuts Ingredients 1 wedge of good brie (approx. 1/2 pound) 3 Tablespoons Pesto, drained in a coffee filter 4-6 Basil leaves, blanched in boiling water for a few seconds Julienne cut sundried tomatoes Toasted Pine Nuts Step 1: Put your wedge of brie in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will make it easier to slice.   While the brie is chilling, place pesto in a coffee filter over a glass to drain some of the oil. Step 2: Cut the brie in half. Step 3: Spread the pesto evenly over the bottom half of the brie, leaving 1/4" border. Step 4: Use a
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THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME -- INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD

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On our journey down the yellow-brick road of life, we often find that our search for inspiration and role models comes up short when we look to the Oz-like figureheads praised by the media and the masses.  Like Dorothy, we find that, if we "ever go looking for our heart's desire again", we need not look any further than our "own back yard". As part of the SITS Back to Blogging Challenge, I was assigned to write a post about an inspirational woman.  I gave pause to consider some big names ~ Marie Curie (chemist and physicist), Alice Walker (author of "The Color Purple"), Indira Gandhi (first female prime minister of India), Julia Child (for revolutionizing American cuisine).  Inspirational?  Absolutely.  Have I known any of these women personally?  No.  Do they impact my life on a daily basis?  Not profoundly.   So, I decided to approach this assignment by looking in "my own backyard."  I found that in simply thinking about a
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WHAT’S IN A NAME – HOW A GOOD POST TITLE CAN MAKE OR BREAK THE SUCCESS OF YOUR POST

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Would “Gone With the Wind” have been as huge a success had it been titled “A Story From The Civil War”? Would we be as enamored with S’mores if they were called “Graham Cracker Sandwiches”? Ever heard of the film, “Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?” . With a name like that it’s no surprise that this 1969 musical film has remained in relative obscurity. So, WHAT’S IN A NAME ? Well, when it comes to SEO and drawing readers to your blog, a well crafted title can mean a great deal.  GOOD POST TITLES ATTRACT READERS  GOOD POST TITLES INCREASE SEARCH ENGINE VISIBILITY  WHEN CRAFTING YOUR POST TITLE, TAKE THE L.E.A.D. :  1. LENGTH : Keep it short & sweet. The most effective titles are often the simplest. 2. ENGAGE : A title that asks a question or promises to teach, inform, or give something of value can be a powerful way to draw in the potential reader. 3. APPEAL : Use yourself as the litmus test ~ Would you be enticed to
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WHEN GOOD BANANAS GO BAD – THE ADVENT OF BANANA BREAD BISCOTTI

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What do you do when a good banana goes bad?  In my house, the solution typically comes in the form of banana bread.   But due to the fact that my family suffers under the delusion that eating any of the final three bananas in any given bunch is punishable by death, we have grown rather bored by the ever-present banana bread.   I had saved a recipe a while back for banana biscotti, thinking that it would be another good way to reform bananas gone bad, but alas when I pulled it up I found that it called for banana bread mix .  Heavens!  So, my little chef protege and I  donned our aprons and inventing caps and came up with a marvelous recipe of our own that is simple and yields professional looking results.   It keeps for several weeks if stored in an airtight container.  Enjoy! Rook No. 17's Banana Bread Biscotti makes approx. 3 dozen 5 1/4 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt 3 overr
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