If you’re patient and can wade through the following photos, then you’ll be rewarded with my Aunt Ruthie’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. She recorded it for me on an old grocery list and the title read exactly as it’s listed above. I’ve made the cookies so many times in the last few weeks that I could do without them for some time (and that’s saying something because I love me some cookies).

Prior to becoming a mother I romanticized the notion of cooking with my small child. What I didn’t foresee was the reality of kid fingers double-dipping in the dough, a little mouth eating straight from the mixing bowl when Mommy’s back was turned, and copious amounts of flour dusting the kitchen floor. Note to future mothers: cooking with your child also takes a lot more time than cooking by yourself! However, when Liv and I do cook together, I’m always rewarded by two things. One, the chance for a decent photo opp. And two, the opportunity for me to get better, with clear boundaries and more patience, at instructing and oftentimes disciplining my child. Apparently human beings aren’t born with the knowledge that they should never double dip! Imagine that.

After lots of baking with Liv by my side, I learned that she likes flour. Here’s my little helper with her very own pile:

And here’s my little helper patting it into just the right shape for…

licking off the counter.

Now, doesn’t that look yummy? I mean really, who WOULD’NT want to eat straight flour?

Ah, my goofy girl. And just so you know, I’m sparing you the photos with Liv’s tongue stuck out. She’s into that kind of thing these days, the tongue-sticking out thing. Will that phase be ending anytime soon?

You’ve been patient. So without further ado, I give you my Aunt Ruthie’s cookie recipe.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 C brown sugar
• 2 C white sugar
• 1.5 C Crisco
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 t salt
• 3 t baking powder
• 4 t vanilla
• 4 C flour

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix ingredients.
3. Stir in 1 package chocolate chips.

Notes

• For the best chocolate chocolate chips, add one large package of instant chocolate pudding mix.
• This recipe makes a lot of dough! You can roll the extra dough into foil and freeze until you need it.
• One more thing. If you’re using large eggs, add another half cup of flour to the dough.
• Want to know how long to bake the cookies? I had to guess on this one. It’s approximately 10 minutes, mas o menos.
• Aunt Ruthie, I hope you don’t mind me sharing your recipe with the world…

Foods can be seasonal. I had no idea of this concept until one day in college when my friend Carolyn started rattling off a list of delicious fall foods her mother would be making soon. It’s funny what sticks in your head—I’ve managed to forget much of my three years at Missouri Baptist for some reason—but I remember walking the hilly sidewalk to our cars on a warm St. Louis afternoon and thinking gloriously of pot roasts and pumpkin pies.

Think of being stuck in the confines of your living room on a blustery winter day. It feels like weeks since you’ve seen the sun shine and it has been months since you’ve seen anything green and growing outside. You’re cuddled up with a mug of hot chocolate, but you’re longing for a freezing mug of dark Scottish Ale on the outside terrace at Lazlos. You can’t wait until you can pick your Roma tomatoes and long green cucumbers, then eat them on a sandwich mere moments later. So, here is today’s question:

What food or food-related activity means summer to you?

Share a childhood memory, a favorite restaurant, a long recipe, a newfound favorite summer food. You type it, we’ll read it and let our mouths water a bit.(I’ll update this post later with my own favs. I’m cuddling a feverish 4 year old now, poor kiddo, and typing is a challenge.)

Before 2008, I never wanted to own something I borrowed from the public library. But along came that Curious George soundtrack and, voila, I had the gimmees bad. Tomorrow is the return date for two more library items that I can’t wait to buy as well:

The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger
Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

There’s a group of folks out there that are baking their way through Greenspan’s cookbook. Sounds like fun, eh? There’s no way I could make that commitment right now, but I’d love to do it someday. One of the bakers blogs at Cafe Johnsonia and I find her posts really inspirational. In particular I enjoyed her guest post at Just An Orange; it reminded me of the creative joy of cooking.

Though I am a far cry from chef material (desserts are more my thing at any rate), I do post a recipe every so often at Needs More Butter, the recipe blog of my friends from Community Dinner.

Microwave? Check.
Tea, sugar and mugs? Check.
Mixer? Check.
Bread maker? Check.
Kitchen sprite? Check.

Yup. All’s accounted for.

I’m anxiously awaiting the outcome of some dough in my bread machine. I’ve made several loaves successfully with the machine, most of which came from premade mixes. However, I’m trying to be brave and I really want to make homemade bread and rolls. This afternoon I’m attempting to make some dough in my machine, then bake as rolls in the oven. Will I succeed or will I (and the bread) fall flat? Stay tuned…

UPDATE:

They came out beautifully [big sigh of relief], and they’re edible, too! Whew. After a particularly frustrating evening of parenting, I feel relieved something went my way tonight. Now I’m encouraged to try my hand at other recipes.

Ingredients (Salad)

• 1 head Bok Choy
• 1 bunch, fresh green onions
• 1/2 C butter
• 2 pkg Ramen Noodles
• 2 oz sesame seeds
• 1 C almonds

Directions (Salad)

1. Chop the bok choy and green onions and place in a large bowl; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a skillet, melt margarine and add Ramen Noodles, sesame seeds and almonds.
3. Stir until golden brown; set aside.

Ingredients (Dressing)

• 1/4 C vinegar
• 1/2 C sugar
• 3/4 C oil
• 2 T soy sauce

Directions (Dressing)

1. In a saucepan, boil dressing ingredients for 1 minute.
2. Combine all salad ingredients just before serving.

Recipe by Sara Mann, taken from the Zion Cookbook. I used napa cabbage yesterday and the recipe still turned out delicious. Also, make sure you smash up the Ramen noodles while still packaged as you want the crunchy topping to be in small pieces. I only chopped half a bunch of green onions and added only 1 oz of sesame seeds (simply because I didn’t buy enough) and like I said, the salad was still great.

Ingredients

• 12 eggs
• 2 t white vinegar
• 3-4 T mayonnaise
• 1/2 t mustard
• s & p
• paprika

Directions

1. Hard boil all eggs, cool completely.
2. Remove shells, cut in half, remove yolks to a separate bowl.
3. Mash yolks, mayo, mustard together in bowl; add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Scoop yolk mixture back into the hard boiled eggs.
5. Sprinkle with paprika.

This recipe has been altered slightly from the original one, Deviled Eggs II from allrecipes.com, my favorite recipe site.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C butter
• 1 1/4 C graham cracker crumbs
• 6 oz chocolate chips
• 6 oz butterscotch chips
• 1 C flaked coconut
• 1 C walnuts, chopped
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a 9×13″ pan, melt butter.
3. Sprinkle the ingredients over the butter in this order: crumbs, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and walnuts.
4. Pour sweetened condensed millk over all.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe by Suzanne Gage, copied from the Zion Church Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/6 c vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp EACH oregano, garlic powder, dry mustard, salt and pepper
• 1 loaf bread dough
• 4 oz pepperoni
• 1/2 lb Italian sausage
• 1/2 c cheddar cheese
• 1 c mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preparation: Place beaten egg, oil and all spices in a bag. Put the meat and cheese in a bag and keep the dough separate. Freeze.
2. Thaw. Roll out the dough, spread the oil spices on top, then add meats and cheeses. Roll like a log, seal the ends and sides. Bake 350 for 30 min.

**I’ve written this up as a freezer meal (because that’s how we do it), but you can alter the preparations for a fresh meal as well. I spray my baking pan with Pam and then also spray the top of the bread dough before baking. A friend of mine butters the top and adds parmesan cheese. This recipe is versatile and can be doctored up according to your tastes. Add green peppers, mushrooms, onions, black olives, etc for more flavor.

Baker’s Clay

2 C flour
1/2 C salt
3/4 C water

Combine all ingredients in mixer with dough hook attachment and knead away for a few minutes… OR… Combine flour and salt in a bowl, then slowly add water with fork and mix all with hands. Knead for 5 minutes. Roll out shapes and figures to desired thickness. Make a hole in the dough for ornaments to be hung later. Bake at 350 for 10-60 minutes, depending on thickness. Cool and paint. [Sara Mann, Zion Cookbook]

**Thick shapes may need to bake up to 2 hours, I’ve discovered. In lieu of acrylic paints, nail polish works great. This is a simple and fun craft to do all year round with your kids (or by yourself, I just use my child as an excuse to do fun kid-type activities).