Chocolate and other food groups

Happy Thanksgiving! I made this pie for the holiday this year and it was a big hit. Easy to make and yummy. Diamond Cookie Pie 1/2 c. butter, softened 3/4 c. brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. flour 1 c. chocolate chips 1 c. nuts - the recipe called for walnuts, but we used pecans 1 9-inch uncooked pie shell In large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Blend in flour. Stir chocolate chips and nuts. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 325 for 50 to 55 minutes or until top is golden brown or pick inserted into center comes out clean. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

I generally put recipes I enjoyed in here, but I decided to share one I *didn't* like. After all, you readers (all 5 of you! JK, mostly) might like to know about my flops too. So here's one that failed to live up to my expectations and why. Roasted Garlic Soup This one comes from Mark Bittman's huge cookbook, How to Cook Everything . I'm on a mostly soft food diet right now, so soup is my mainstay. But not this one. 4 Tb. olive oil 8 cloves garlic, peeled 1 Tb. ground cumin or paprika or 1 tsp. chili powder (I used cumin) 4 thick slices French or Italian bread 4 c. chicken or beef broth Salt and pepper to taste Place olive oil in large, deep saucepan and turn heat to medium. Add the garlic cloves and cook, stirring and turning occasionally, until they are golden brown. OK, here's my first mistake. I don't keep garlic handy all the time. I buy the prechopped stuff in a jar. The actual cloves tend to sit around too much and when I want them they are all shriveled....

My friend Jodi gave me a big bag of plums from her trees. I finally got around to trying something with them, and this is what I made. I wish I had a picture, but the plums were amazing. Not much to look at on the outside, but wow, deep red rich color inside. Just gorgeous. Plum Coffeecake Crumb Topping 8 medium sized plums, but I needed about 20 small ones 1 c. butter, softened 1 c. sugar 1 1/4 c. flour 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. lemon peel 1/4 tsp. salt 4 eggs heavy cream, optional Prepare Crumb Topping and set aside. Slice plums if large or halve them if small; set aside. Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour 13x9 pan. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, salt, lemon peel, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Spread batter evenly in pan; top with plumbs. Pinch small pieces of crumb topping and sprinkle on top of plums. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until top is golden and cake tests done. Serve warm with cream. Crumb Topping : In small saucepan, melt 1/2 c. butter. Re...

I made this for book club last night, and I thought it turned out really well. It's from an old ward cookbook and comes courtesy of Lacy and her mom Linda. Mandarin Orange Cake 1 vanilla or white cake mix 3/4 c. vegetable oil 4 eggs 11 oz. can mandarin oranges with juice Combine ingredients and mix according to cake mix directions. Pour into greased 9X13 pan and bake until done. Cool thoroughly and top with pineapple topping. Pineapple topping: 1 9oz. carton Cool Whip, thawed 1 3oz. box vanilla instant pudding (I substituted banana cream, and it was yummy) 1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple, slightly drained Combine pudding mix, pineapple, and just a little juice. Fold in thawed Cool Whip. Spread on top of cake and store in refrigerator over night.

My daughter Ellen and I love these cookies, but Sarah hates them. It all depends on whether you like the idea of licorice-flavored cookies. Anise Cookies 1 3/4 c. flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1 1/2 tsp. anise seeds 1/2 c. shortening or margarine 1 c. sugar 1 egg 1/2 tsp. vanilla Combine dry ingredients. In large bowl, cream shortening and add sugar, egg, and vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. Roll by tablespoons into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes.

This weekend Randy and I went out to the Bombay House in Provo for a yummy meal. I got the Chicken Briyani and Randy got the Baygan Bharta, which is a roasted eggplant dish. Plus their fabulous bread. For dessert, Randy got the Kheer, which is a rice pudding, and I got Gulab Jamun. It was so delicious that I came home and googled the recipe. This is the link I found: http://www.ivcooking.com/p269_18.php It has step by step directions for making your own. I can't wait to try it. The dish at the restaurant had a coconut syrup, rather than a spiced one, but I love cardamom and I'm sure this one is great too.

I had heard a lot about this cookbook. Apparently, the author is known for a food column by the name, The Minimalist, because he goes for simple, easy recipes with few ingredients. So I got this one from the library to see what I thought. At first, I was most impressed by the size. It's huge! But don't be fooled by the title. It won't really tell you how to cook everything . It does, however, teach basic cooking principles which would help you create your own recipes or analyze someone else's. But after trying several recipes from the book, I am not sure it's worth it. The first one I tried, Kale and Potato Soup, was good, but not great. I put that down to the fact that I used canned broth instead of homemade. The next one, Easy Tomato Sauce, was too bland. It was easy, but it wasn't as good as the stuff from a jar. I also made the Bruschetta, and that was good. Then I tried the Bitter Chocolate Sorbet. It sounded so easy - just cocoa powder, sugar, and water. W...

Made these for New Year's Eve. Fast to make and yummy too. Orange Cookies 1 white cake mix 2 eggs 1/4 c. oil 1 c. flour 1/3 c. orange juice 1 Tb. finely grated orange peel (I used one orange for both) Preheat oven to 350°. Combine cake mix, eggs, oil, flour, orange juice and orange peel. Drop by spoonful or scoops onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-13 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. (Undercooked is better than overcooked.) Remove cookies and place on nonstick rack to cool. For frosting, I added orange peel and 1 1/2 tsp. orange juice to canned frosting. Very yummy.