Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Salted White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Last week I couldn’t stop talking about cookies. And when Dave and I were discussing what my special dish would be he suggested cookies. I said, “Cookies are not a dish” But Dave said, “You having been talking and wanting cookies for weeks, so make some.” That is why I keep Dave around. He is a pretty smart guy when dealing with Chassie problems.

So then I was on the hunt for a cookie recipe. I have made a lot of cookies in my life but I have not made many oatmeal cookies. Most of them have raisins and I dislike raisins.

I was looking at one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen, and I found this white chocolate oatmeal cookie recipe. I thought this is perfect, no raisins and WHITE CHOCOLATE. (I love white chocolate).

So, bottom line: They didn’t last past Tuesday. They were quite possibly the best cookies I have ever made. I will make them again in a heartbeat. YUM!

Chili

Last Sunday when Dave and I were trying to decide what would be my dish of the week, we decided we needed something that was perfect for a cold winter night.

We decided on Chili.

And I had the perfect recipe I wanted to try. Katie Lee Joel’s Comfort Table is one of my favorite and most used cookbooks. And you can tell by its broken spine and falling out pages. And the Chili recipe I have wanted to make for years.

It called for ground pork, ground sirloin (which I couldn’t find) beans, cinnamon, and chipotles in adobo sauce. After some Dave research on the Internet we decided this was a St. Louis style recipe.

I am not sure if anyone cares to hear a written blow by blow (let me know if you do). So I will just do a pic blow by blow this time.

Bottom Line: I think I will make a few changes to the recipe (pepper choices, bean types) but I think this will be my go to Chili Recipe.

Yum!

LOST...I Mean Alcatraz

As I watched, something pulled at my mind…in the back. I didn’t notice it at first but as the show went on it was getting stronger. And it was…LOST.

Yup that’s right the late show, LOST.

I was watching the new show Alcatraz. (FOX, Mondays at 8:00pm). It started off good and I was totally enthralled with the emerging plot but LOST was sneaking in to my consciousness.

Okay, both are about an island. And both have Jorge Garica as a main character. Both have J. J. Abrams as executive producer. Both have missing characters. And both make you ask questions to yourself the entire time it is on the air.

But there are differences too. Alcatraz doesn’t have any polar bears, no airplanes, no sexy doctors, and the island is not in the middle of the Pacific, it’s in the bay of San Francisco.

So why was I thinking about LOST…it was nothing of above similarities. It was the music. Yes, the music. It had to be almost the same score as LOST.

The LOST music aside, how was the show?

It was good. Really good. I was upset when it was over, I would have sat there and watched it another two hours.

So Bottom Line: This could be the next LOST but its on FOX. And FOX needs to give it room to grow. And my opinion is FOX won’t keep Fringe, Alcatraz and Terra Nova. One or two will have to go.

But which one?

Are You There Chelsea?

New show on NBC Wednesdays at 8:30pm.

As with most new shows, it needs to hit its groove before I can make a true judgment.  But I thought it was a good first showing.

I really want to like this show. It is based on a book that is on my reading list this year: Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler. The book is a collection of memories and short stories from the life of Chelsea Handler. Chelsea Handler is American comedian, and TV star. I like her sometimes inappropriate humor because I’d like to think I have the same kind of humor. I just don’t get to share it will the world. And she shares my sister’s birthday, Feb 25^th.

The show follows Chelsea throughout her life as she delivers witty jokes and banter.

I love banter. “Gilmore Girls” was the best…but that is a different post.

The big question is can Laura Prepon fill Chelsea Handler’s big shoes?

Yes but she needs hit her groove. If she does it could be magical. If she doesn’t people will stop watching.

I think this is a wait and see game. I will update you later on if the show and Laura hit their grove.

Jaime Oliver's English Stew

My fancy dish of the week is Chicken and White Wine Stew by Jaime Oliver from Food Revolution.

Bottom Line: It was good. Real good. The chicken was tender and flavorful and the white wine add just a hint of a tart flavor.

I like this recipe because Jaime gives you variety. He breaks down the recipe into the main ingredients and then you can choose the protein. Lamb, chicken, beef and pork. Each protein has a liquid and a herb to match the flavor profile of the protein. I made the beef and Guinness before. But I have always wanted to try the chicken and wine. It is was the perfect time to try it with this food blog.

I only needed to buy chicken thighs and herbs from the store. Everything else I had at home. I will probably need a bigger pot in the future because I think I steamed the veggies instead of sauté them. I will add it to my Kitchen Wish List. (I'll post that later).

The only thing I wish I had done differently is the topping. Once the stew was done I transferred it to a casserole dish and added mashed potatoes to the top and browned it in the oven. The potatoes soaked up a lot of the stew. I would have preferred more of a stew like consistency. So next time I will try dumplings or pie crust topping.

Any ideas for next week?

The Bachelor/The Bachelorette

I didn’t watch the first installment. I am not sure when it happened, but I do know that they have me. I tried to stop, but I didn’t last long. So they have me until they decide to end it and I don’t think it will be anytime soon.

The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have been a winter and summer staple in my life. I can’t help myself. They have a great system to get me hooked for every installment. One of the finalists from the previous installment is the next Bachelor or Bachelorette.

This installment of The Bachelor is Ben. Ben was the finalist from The Ashley installment of The Bachelorette, she said no to his proposal. And Ashley is from the Brad installment of The Bachelor. And so on and so on.

I have heard many people say the producers pick who the winners will be. I don’t believe that is true.  I think the Bachelor and the Bachelorette pick who they want. And the producers cater to the Bachelor and Bachelorette with whatever they need. But I am not totally naïve to believe the show is a total and complete reality. I like to say shows like this are scripted not fake. Just like Professional Wresting. (And you can’t change my mind about the wresting, don’t even try).

Do I watch to see the women fight and bitch at each other for the man of the season?

Do I watch to see 25 hot guys shirtless and competing against each other?

Do I watch to see people make fools of themselves on national television?

No to all of the above.

I watch because I want to see the Bachelor and Bachelorette fall in love. Yes I know that is corny and they hardly ever stay together. But I am a closeted hopeless romantic. I want to see them fall in love and then when the show ends I dream and wish them the ever after…

New Year's Day Dinner

When I was younger, my mom would always make black-eyed peas and rice for dinner on New Year’s Day. My sister, brother and I would hate it. The black-eyed peas would be mushy and bland and I was never a fan of rice. But our mom would say you have to eat it, the rice symbolizes dollars and the peas are coins. And the amount you eat will be the amount you will earn that year.

As a child and teenager, I didn’t care about that. But as an adult money does matter. But I never made black-eyed peas and rice for New Year’s…until this year.

I didn’t want the same bland black-eyed peas I had when I was younger. I wanted an updated version. 

So I made Rosemary Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Hoppin’ John Salad.

I have made pork several times and every time I didn’t like it. But I had never made pork tenderloin before. So as people say a new year is for trying new things…

Everything was fantastic. It was a great way to start the New Year. Dave liked it too.

Recipe Details:

Hopping John Salad by Katie Lee Joel in Comfort Table

Rosemary Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin by Cooking Light in Everyday Dinners 

My New Year's resolution this year is to embrace my passions. Which are Food and TV. I know I am not going to be able to have a career in my passions since I can't act and I don't want to a chef. So I want to focus on them during my "off work" time.

Every week I will write about a TV show I love. It will either be about the series as a whole or just about a episode I loved.

And I will also make a fancy dish every week. I will write about where I found the recipe, how the cooking went and if I liked it.

So I will blog a couple times a week about my passions for one year. Next December I will read what I have written and hopefully I will have embraced my passions enough to consider this resolution complete.

Enjoy everyone.