Tim's favorite or Paradise Cookies

These are the cookies that Tim and his sister, Linda fought to take home after the wedding. Enjoy!

Makes 5 dozen cookies.

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking soda

10 ounces white chocolate (chips or bars cut in chunks)

1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped into chunks

1 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt with electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, beat well. Stir together flour, and the baking soda; gradually add to butter mixture,beating until well blended. Stir in white chocolate chips, coconut and macadamia nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. (Edges are golden brown and center is set.) Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely.

Addict...

I have to admit I am a bread addict. I absolutely LOVE fresh bread. I will pick a restaurant based on how good their bread is. I always wished baking fresh bread was not so time consuming so I could it eat every day. Thanks to http://theitaliandishblog.com/ I can. I was very skeptical today when I found this recipe but decided to dive in. It turned out to be the easiest bread I have ever made. No kneading, No special ingredients, Barely any mixing and best of all I can keep the dough in my fridge and use it as I want. This is great considering the hubby and I are on a diet. Plus, with no kids in the house we couldn't eat an entire batch before it was too "old" for my liking. I haven't had a chance to play with this recipe yet, but trust me I will. Enjoy... (My notes are in purple...)

	My Very First Loaf. YUMMY!

Artisan Bread Artisan Bread makes four 1 pound loaves. (or a bunch of rolls) 3 cups lukewarm water 1-1/2 tablespoons granulated fast acting yeast (2 packets) 1-1/2 tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt 6-1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached all purpose white flour * I used bread flour Mixing and Storing the Dough 1.  Warm the water slightly.  It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100 degrees F. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours.  2.  Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5 quart bowl or a plastic container with a lid. (Note: I dump all this in my KitchenAid mixer, let it mix it for just about 10 seconds and then put it in the plastic container.  I just find it easier to let the mixer do this part).definitely the way to go if you can. 3.  Mix in the flour - kneading is unnecessary.  Add all of the flour at once, measuring the flour by scooping it and leveling it off with a knife.  Mix with a wooden spoon - do not knead.  You're finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches.  This step is done in a matter of minutes.  The dough should be wet and loose. 4.  Allow to rise. Cover with a lid (not airtight).  Lidded plastic buckets designed for dough storage can be purchased many places.  (I used a really big mixing bowl w/ a lid and left it slightly ajar).  You want the gases to be able to escape a little.  You can also do this in a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and puncture a small hole in the top. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on top), about two hours. Longer rising times will not hurt your dough.  You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temperature.  So, the first time you try this method, it's best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or at least 3 hours) before shaping a loaf. (I made a loaf w/o refrigerating and had no problem) Baking 5. Shape your loaf.  Place a piece of baking parchment paper on a pizza peel (don't have a pizza peel - use an unrimmed baking sheet or turn a rimmed baking sheet upside down).   I had no problem using a cookie sheet and wax paper. Sprinkle the surface of your dough in the container with flour.  Pull up and cut off about a 1-pound piece of dough (about the size of a grapefruit), using scissors or a serrated knife.  Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball as you go.  Dust your hands with flour if you need to.  This is just to prevent sticking - you don't want to incorporate the flour into the dough.  The top of the dough should be smooth - the object here is to create a "gluten cloak" or "surface tension".  It doesn't matter what the bottom looks like, but you need to have a smooth, tight top.  This whole step should take about 30 seconds!  Place the dough onto your parchment paper. 6. Let the loaf rise for about 30 - 40 minutes (it does not need to be covered).  If it doesn't look like it has risen much, don't worry - it will in the oven.  This is called "oven spring". 7.  Preheat a baking stone on the middle rack in the oven for at least 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.  Place an empty rimmed baking pan or broiler pan on a rack below the baking stone.  This pan is for holding water for steam in the baking step.  (If you don't have a baking stone, you can use a baking sheet, but you will not get the crisp crust on the bottom.  You will still have a great loaf of bread.  Baking stones are cheap and easy to find - Target carries them - and are a must for making pizzas, so go out and get one as soon as you can.) Again with the cookie sheet here. I also went ahead and put the shallow pan full of water in the oven during preheating. 8. Dust the loaf with a little flour and slash the top with a knife.  This slashing is necessary to release some of the trapped gas, which can deform your bread.  It also makes the top of your bread look pretty - you can slash the bread in a tic tac toe pattern, a cross, or just parallel slashes.  You need a very sharp knife or a razor blade - you don't want the blade to drag across the dough and pull it.  As the bread bakes, this area opens and is known as "the bloom".  Remember to score the loaves right before baking.  9.  Bake.  Set a cup of water next to your oven. see note above Slide the bread (including the parchment paper) right onto the hot baking stone.  Quickly pour the water right into the pan underneath the baking stone and close the oven door.  This creates the necessary steam  to make a nice crisp crust on the bread.  Bake at 450 F for about 25 - 30 minutes.  When you remove the loaf from the oven, you will hear it crackle for a while.  In baking terms, this is called "sing" and it is exactly what you want.  10.  Cool.  Allow the bread to cool for the best flavor and texture.  It's tempting to eat it when it's warm, and that's fine, but the texture is better after the bread has cooled. You know I couldn't resist it fresh from the oven! 11.  Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in your lidded (not airtight) container and use for up to 14 days. Every day your bread will improve in flavor.  Cut off and shape more loaves as you need them.  When your dough is gone, don't clean the container.  Go ahead and mix another batch - the remaining bits of dough will contribute flavor to the next batch, much like a sourdough starter does!

Let's start with COOKIES!

My daughter got married a few weeks ago. Because she wanted to keep things simple we opted for coffee and dessert. I hired a barista and made enough cookies (12 different types and over 1200 in all) for everyone. Through it all, I discovered I like to play with cookie dough. OK, not like play dough but I enjoy experimenting and making a recipe my own. My first recipe is Killer Cookies. They started with a basic peanut butter/ chocolate chip recipe and morphed into what has become my kids favorite cookies. As for the crazy name, my daughter named them earlier this year after her then boyfriend fed them to an allergic friend (an er visit and ventilator followed). I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Killer Cookies

2 c. brown sugar
1 c. unsalted butter
1 c. peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 c. regular oats (no instant)
2 c. giant chocolate chips
1 c. walnuts


1. Cream sugar, butter and peanut butter. 
2. Add vanilla and eggs, mix well.
3. Stir together flour, soda and salt. Mix well into sugar mixture.
4. Stir in oatmeal, chips and nuts.
5. Scoop onto cookie sheet using a 1/4 c measure. Keep 3 inches apart.
6. Bake in a preheated 325 oven for approx. 16 minutes. do not over cook. 7. Remove from pan and cool on rack.