Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Who's cookin?

If you are giving up chocolate or sweets for Lent, I will go on and apologize right now. 'Cuz if you keep reading, you might get a huge hankerin' for some of these Yum-O chocolate chip "picnic cookies"!

And before I go on even more, I want to give a huge shout out to Hollee, my sweet friend from college who designed my new header! I love it and it gives the blog such a clean, crisp look (I think). Thanks Hollee!

Oh, and be sure to check out the winner of the shakers at the end of the post!

Here's what you need: the recipe (as found below) or this awesome cookbook,
and the following ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup, 2 T. flour
6 oz. chocolate chips

Can you see the excitement on his face?
You might be wondering, why are you posting this recipe for chocolate chip cookies? Well . . . the main reason is because they only make about 15 cookies! Many of you might think, that's a bad thing - you can never have too many chocolate chip cookies! However, when you love them as much as I do, and your husband doesn't eat sweets (crazy I know) and your three year old only gets them when he eats a decent meal (which isn't often), GUESS WHO eats (almost) the entire batch of cookies?? I'm not going to answer that question. I like to bake, but because of the aforementioned problem(s), I only bake when I can give it away.

Another reason - I love this cookbook (and so does Lawton)! Santa brought it to him for Christmas and on a weekly basis he will get it out and peruse it saying, "What can we make today, Mommy?" It is very kid friendly, has good basic recipes, and each step is illustrated with Poppy and Sam. If you are familiar with Usborne books, then you will know who Poppy and Sam are and their Farmyard Tales. If not - these are great books!

If you have been looking for a good Children's Cookbook, I recommend this one. You can buy it HERE. Here's a look at the inside . . .
Here' s why you should do it: First of all, the end product should be reason enough. Ha! But, it gives you a good opportunity to spend some quality time with your child, and it gives them a good basic knowledge of cooking! They will learn some math (measurement) and work on some motor skills (stirring, sifting, dumping, etc). I'm not afraid for my son to be cooking in the kitchen . . . his wife will LOVE me one day - and who knows - he could be the next Ace of Cakes!

Alright - the details . . .
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. The cookbook says to grease your cookie sheets - I just lined mine with parchment paper (did you know this is the secret to fabulous cookies?)
2. Put the sugar, brown sugar and the butter into a large mixing bowl. Stir them together really well with a wooden spoon.
3. Continue stirring them together briskly. You are trying to get the mixture as smooth and as creamy as you can. (Make sure you stick out your tongue as illustrated to get the mixture smooth and creamy! ha!)
4. Break the egg into a small bowl and beat it well. Pour the vanilla into a measuring spoon, then mix it in with the egg.
5. Pour the eggy mixture into the mixing bowl and stir it in (using a wooden spoon). Then sift the flour into the bowl and stir the mixture.
6. When you have a smooth mixture, stir in 4 oz. of the chocolate chips. You'll use the rest of them later. ( I just dumped - and I'm sure more than 4 oz! Who knows what 4 oz. looks like - and can you have too many chocolate chips? ummm . . . no!)
7. Put a heaped tablespoon of the mixture onto a baking sheet. Use up the rest of the mixture.
8. Flatten each cookie slightly with the back of a fork.
Sprinkle the top of each one with some of the remaining chocolate chips.
9. Bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes, until they are pale golden brown. They should still be slightly soft in the middle.
10. Leave the cookies for a few minutes, then use a spatula to lift them onto a wire rack. Leave them to cool . . . and try not to inhale them all with a nice, big, tall, cool glass of milk! Yummy!
Just so you know . . . Lawton did not eat his spaghetti for dinner that night (which he loves) and didn't touch the ONE meatball we required him to eat. Meanwhile, Carolina inhaled FOUR meatballs! (diced up, of course) So. . . Lawton didn't even get to eat his cookies that night! I sent them to his school to share for snack - the temptation was too great for me!

And what was Carolina doing while we were baking? Trying to find any crumb she could under her high chair! :)

Alright, for the winner of the (very small) giveaway -
#22 Leah J!!!
e-mail me at chadandlaurabeth(at)yahoo(dot)com so I can mail you your shakers!
Thanks everyone for entering!
Guess what? I just decided to give away one of these cookbooks because I love it so much!
Leave a comment - and spread the word to your friends! Thanks for stopping by - winner will be announced on Saturday!

28 comments:

  1. I'd love to win the cookbook! My 3 year old daughter really enjoys helping me in the kitchen.

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  2. Oooh, we love a good cookbook around here! Jack and I made cookies the other day and I'd forgotten how much fun it is for the kids. They look so pretty with the extra chips on top...NEVER thought of doing that!

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  3. Great idea. Jackson and I made the BHCC cookbook chocolate chip pound cake this week. I think I have already eaten half of it:( The cookbook looks great, and I would love to win it. I got the Paula Deen's kids cookbook for Xmas and love it.

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  4. I would love this cookbook for my little one and I to have fun together baking!

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  5. I just recently found your blog and LOVE all of your great ideas!!

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  6. I have the same problem as you with cookies, but I'd love to have the cookbook anyway! :) Really glad you started this blog.

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  7. what a great cookbook!
    ps- i'm SO excited leah won the shakers, she's great:)

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  8. Sounds like fun. I like the idea of making SMALL batches (I can sympathize with you since my husband is allergic to chocolate and therefore can't "help" me finish off any chocolatey goodies I may make....it's a blessing and a curse!)Usborne Books are so great...have you ever seen the "Talkabout" Board Books?

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  9. Cookies are my weakness. I love usborne books, they are so well made and colorful!
    -Courtney Guthrie

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  10. Alice S
    alice232 at embarqmail dot com

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  11. I love the look of concentration on Lawton's face. The Usborne books are great! We have a few for the kids and I don't know who likes them more, the kids or me. :)

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  12. I'd love to win the cookbook!!!

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  13. I found your blog from Elizabeth's. I love all your ideas. A few of them have gotten us through some long, winter afternoons when we are completely over play-doh and coloring! Casey (from GHP)

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  14. I can't wait until I can use your great ideas with Izzie. I hope that she loves to bake and cook as much as I do.

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  15. I would love to win the cookbook!! I have two little ones that LOVE to help me in the kitchen!! Your blog is great!!

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  16. LOVE the blog! David and I baked cookies a few days ago- before I saw this post- so unfortunately my family did inhale them all:)

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  17. I found your blog off of Christine's blog! I went to LU with you, but was a year or two younger than you. Carrie Coulter Portis. Anyways, I love this blog and plan to use some of your ideas with my two year old! :) Thanks for sharing with us!

    crcportis@comcast.net

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  18. Grant LOVES to cook with me & I love to bake. The perfectionist in me has a hard time letting him do it his way, but a kid's cookbook might be the perfect way to ease him in!

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  19. Laura Beth, THat sounds like a neat cookbook. I love to let Sophie help me bake when I get the chance.

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  20. We LOVE Poppy & Sam! I want the cookbook!!! ;) Thanks for the 1st aid today- I need to get some of that Neosporin spray. Brody finally let me put Mater on his boo-boo before his nap.

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  21. Laura Beth, I LOVE this new blog. You are so creative and smart. Lawton and Carolina are blessed to have a great "Momtessori" around!

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  22. What an awesome cookbook. I would love one for my nieces!!!

    Rene

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  23. You've made me hungry! Brad doesn't eat sweets either. What's wrong with our husbands?!

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  24. Yum. Those cookies look really good! I want to do some baking now, lol!

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  25. Yes, I would love to have this cookbook! I love the blog by the way!
    Jenny

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