Recipe: Almond Milk Chocolate Chippers

These turned out amazing. They weren't too "almond-y", and they had just the right amount of chocolate. They are just like regular chocolate chip cookies except instead of vanilla extract, you use almond (or almond-flavored liqueur), and you put in almonds. I thought they were a great cookie for the holidays, or any time of the year really. They would be great to serve for a party or for kids, and of course, I'm sure Santa wouldn't be able to help himself either.

Taste grade: A+

Baking them was really easy too. Like I said, they were just like chocolate chip cookies, but with minor alterations. Little clean-up and easy to make.

Bake grade: A+

Over all, I highly recommend these cookies. Here is the recipe:

Almond Milk Chocolate Chippers (from Santa's Favorite Cookies: Sweet Treats for the Christmas Season, 1999)

1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons almond-flavored liqueur*
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. To toast almonds, spread on baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Remove almonds from pan and cool; set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 375.

Place flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl; stir to combine.

Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well blended. Beat in liqueur. Gradually add flour mixture. Beat at low speed until well blended. Stir in chips and almonds with mixing spoon.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 9 to 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cookies stand on cookie sheets 2 minutes. Remove cookies with spatula to wire racks; cool completely.

Store tightly covered at room temperature or freeze up to 3 months.


*If you don't want to use the liqueur, use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract for 2 tablespoons of liqueur. I used 1/4 of a teaspoon for a very light taste of almond extract.

New Venture!

I remember when I was younger my mom used to take me to Jo-Ann Fabrics about a month or two before Halloween to pick out a sewing pattern for a Halloween costume. We'd get the fabric and all of the materials and I'd watch her sew my costume. She did this until I was about 9 or so. After that, sewing was pretty much out of my mind and realm of things to do.

Recently, after obsessing over certain clothing sites and not being a huge fan of their prices, I thought it would be a cool idea to learn how to sew myself, especially since it seems to be a dying art. I told my mom that I had an interest, and lo and behold she hooked me up this Christmas with a basic Christmas craft- a holiday stocking! I have to say it was a lot of fun. It got me acquainted with the sewing machine and gave me a basic idea on what it meant to actually sew. I learned that a lot of it (most of it, actually) is cutting and ironing. I'm pretty excited to start a new project soon, maybe a shirt or something.

In any case, I'll be adding sewing to this blog too. For those of you who want to learn or already know what it's about and are good at it, maybe you can follow along, give me pointers, or what have you.

Stay tuned!

Appetizers, Finger Food, Buffets, and Parties: Review

Over all, I give this book a B.

It has some interesting recipes, but I'm not sure that the end products were the greatest. I felt like the pictures were more flashy than the taste was in most cases. I do have to say, though, it did give me more experience with new dishes (bread pudding, souffles, etc.), that I wouldn't have normally tried, so for that I'm happy I cooked with it. However, I'm pretty eager to move on, haha. I definitely would have to say that it is not a "must have" for the kitchen.

So, what's the next book? Santa's Favorite Cookies: Sweet Treats for the Christmas Season.

Stay tuned!

Recipe: Hot Crab Souffles

Admittedly, I didn't know what to expect as I made this. I've never eaten or made a souffle before, and I have to say it wasn't as I had imagined. In fact, everyone makes a big deal out of making them, but I thought it was incredibly easy to make. The place I felt it was lacking was the taste. It was a lot fluffier than I thought it was going to be, and I didn't feel as though the curry powder was the best spice to use. The problem with curry powder whenever I use it is that I can never seem to balance it out. It always seems like there is something missing to me, but I can't figure out what. I highly suggest that you have something else to go with this dish, like a salad or something. It's too light to eat on its own, unless you are having it for a light lunch.

Taste grade: C

As for cooking it, I thought it was actually kind of fun. I gathered up all of my materials before I made it and had them measured and at the ready. The eggs were the hardest to separate, but I learned that if you crack them in one bowl and then just take a tablespoon measuring spoon and scoop out the yolk, you can get it done fast. It was really cool watching the stiff egg whites mix with the crab mixture, too, and watching it get all fluffy.

Cook grade: A

Here's the recipe:

Hot Crab Souffles (Appetizers, Finger Food, Buffets, and Parties, 2009)

1/4 cup butter
3 tbsp fine wholemeal (whole-wheat) breadcrumbs
4 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
1 tbsp Malayan or mild Madras curry powder*
2 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
7 tbsp coconut milk or milk
2/3 cup whipping cream
4 egg yolks
8 oz white crab meat
mild green tabasco sauce
6 egg whites
salt and ground black pepper

Use some of the butter to grease six ramekins or a 1.75 litre/3 pint/7.5 cup souffle dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs in the dishes or dish and roll them around to coat the base and sides completely, then tip out the excess breadcrumbs. Preheat the oven to 400.

Melt the remaining butter in a pan, add the spring onions and Malayan or mild Madras curry powder and cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute, until softened. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute more.

Gradually add the coconut milk or milk and the cream, stirring constantly. Cook over a low heat, still stirring, until smooth and thick. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the egg yolks, then the crab. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and Tabasco sauce.

In a clean grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are stiff. Using a metal spoon, stir one third of the whites into the crab mixture to slacken, then fold in the remainder. Spoon into the dishes or dish.

Bake the souffles until well risen, golden brown and just firm to the touch. Individual souffles will take about 8 minutes, while a large, single souffle will take 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately.

*I used regular curry powder since I couldn't find what they were talking about.

Over all grade: B

Recipe: Polpettes

Over all, I think these were really good. I think they are a good side dish. They are pretty much mashed potato patties with onion and feta cheese. The feta really added to the taste and made them a little bit unique.

Taste grade: B+

Cooking them took a little longer than I would have liked, especially for a side dish. In the recipe it says that you need 1.25 lbs of potatoes. I used about 5 potatoes (4 medium-large and 1 small). At first I thought this was too much, but I don't think it was. I then peeled them, cut them, and put them in the microwave for 20 minutes instead of boiling them over the stove top.

As for frying them, this was trickier than I thought. In the directions it says to fry them until brown. Well, let me tell you that they mean very dark brown. If you only lightly brown them, they fall apart. Also, you'll need more oil than what the recipe requires. This process took me a long time (most certainly longer than I wanted to stand in front of the stove).

This recipe also made a lot more than I anticipated.

Cook grade: B-

Ok, so here's the recipe if you want to try them on your own:

Polpettes (from Appetizers, Finger Food, Buffets, and Party Food, 2009)

1 1/4 lb floury (mealy) potatoes
1 cup feta cheese
4 spring onions (scallions), chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp lemon juice
plain (all purpose) flour, for dredging
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and ground black pepper
fresh dill sprigs and shredded spring onions (scallions), to garnish
lemon wedges to serve

Cook the potatoes in their skins in lightly salted, boiling water until soft. Drain and cool slightly, then chop them in half and peel while still warm.

Place the potatoes in a bowl and mash until smooth. Crumble the feta cheese into the potatoes and add the spring onions, dill, egg, and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. (The cheese is salty, so taste before you add salt.) Stir well, until combined.

Cover and chill until firm. Divide the mixture into walnut size balls, then flatten them slightly. Dredge with flour, shaking off the excess.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the polpettes, in batches, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot, garnished with spring onions and sprigs of dill, and serve with lemon wedges.

Over all grade: B