Oatmeal White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Yay!!!!  Today is the second time I've participated in the Secret Recipe Club. This month I was given a really fun blog to pick a recipe from.  It's called Everyday Sisters and is written by four sisters.  What a great idea is that?!?  They seem like a really fun group of gals and, let me tell you, their blog is packed with yummy looking recipes.  In fact, it was honestly really tough to choose just one.  Good news is, now that I've found their blog, I will be back often.
My family loved these cookies.  They had a nice crunchy exterior and chewy interior.  Don't you just love that combination?  They were loaded with lots of goodies that really made them fab-u-lous!!!  I had a kinda hard time getting the dough to come together well.  Not sure exactly what I did wrong but I just compressed the dough in a ball and flattened them slightly before baking.  It worked out very nicely!  I made mine with white chocolate chunks (from a Lindt white chocolate bar), dried cranberries and pecans.

Oatmeal Cookies:from Everyday Sisters
Ingredients:
12 Tbls (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
2/3 cup granulated sugar 
1 large egg 
1 teas vanilla extract 
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats 
1 1/4 cups flour 
3/4 teas baking powder 
3/4 teas baking soda 
1/4 teas salt 
1 cup of dried cranberries or raisins 
1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts 
1 cup of chocolate chips 
Instruction:
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. 
2. Stir together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the batter until just combined. Stir in the dried fruit, nuts and chocolate. 
3.Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto 2 large baking sheets (no need to grease them), leaving 2 inches between each ball of dough. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for several minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool further.

Herbed Cheese Polenta

Do you like polenta?  I do!!! The thing that sometimes holds me back from making it is that some recipes have you stirring it constantly like a risotto.  This recipe, from Giada, has you stirring occasionally.  That works for me!  It makes this oh so much more doable.  The flavors in this polenta are really wonderful.  I love all the fresh herbs, cheese, butter...I mean "Hello YUM".This recipe makes a very large batch so I generally cut it in half and it generously serves my family of four. I first saw this recipe over at my friend Kim's blog.  Check her out.  She's always cooking up something really amazing!!!


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Herbed Cheese Polenta Adapted from Giada's Family Dinners
8-10 servings
Ingredients:
10 cups water 
1 tablespoon salt
2-1/2 cups yellow cornmeal or polenta
1-1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cups whole milk (I used half and half)
10 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary 
1 tabelspoon chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
1.Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy pot.  Add the salt.  Gradually whisk in the cornmeal.
2.  Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, about 15 minutes.  
3.Remove from the heat.  Add the cheese, milk, butter, herbs, and pepper.  Stir until the butter and cheese melt.  Transfer the polenta to a bowl and serve.

Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

I can't begin to tell you how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this cake.  It's delicious, moist, dense, rich, easy to make, and, if all that wasn't enough, it's low fat.  Ya, seriously!  How amazing is that?!  It's  a wonderful treat anytime but yummy enough to grace your holiday table.  The glaze is very cinnamon-y so feel free to cut back the cinnamon a little if you want the glaze to be a bit more subtle.  When you make this cake be sure to use an electric mixer.  The batter is really thick and would be a nightmare to mix well by hand.  Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Glaze: adapted from Allrecipes

Cake:

Ingredients:

1-18.25 ounces spice cake mix

1-15 ounce can pumpkin

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup sugar

Glaze:

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a bundt cake pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix all cake ingredients together with an electric mixer until well blended, about 2 minutes.  Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly.

3. Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

4. Meanwhile make glaze by combining all glaze ingredients in a small bowl and mixing until smooth.

5. When cake is cooled, drizzle with glaze and serve.  Store any left overs in the fridge.  

Chicken Ragu

I sooooo LOVE this pasta dish.  It reminds me of the wonderfully flavored pastas that I tasted while travelling in Italy.  It's simple and perfect all at the same time.  Does that make sense to anyone other than me?  I got this recipe from a cookbook I just bought called The Italian Slow Cooker by Michele Scicolone.  When I read the reviews for the book on Amazon, trying to decide whether or not to buy it, this Chicken Ragu recipe was mentioned and highly acclaimed.  I knew after reading that review I had to have this book cuz I had to have this Chicken Ragu!  Well, we feasted on this the other night for dinner, and I have to say, I'm really jazzed I got this cookbook and I can't wait to try more recipes!!!

When you make this don't even think about substituting dried herbs for the fresh.  It's the fresh herbs that really give this that authentic, I wish I was back in Tuscany, taste.  Remember to start your pasta water early cuz when you smell this sauce cooking away your going to want to eat. You will have to remove the cooked chicken from the crock pot and chop it but that doesn't take much time.  Alls I'm saying is don't forget to get your pasta cooking early! Mine always seems to take an eternity when I'm hungry. LOL!
Btw-Ky I'm making this for you as soon as you get home from Italy! :)


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Chicken Ragu: slightly adapted from Michele Scicolone

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 chicken thighs
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 rib celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 28 ounce tomato puree
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, stripped from stocks
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 pound cooked penne

Instructions:
1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Transfer the chicken to slow cooker.
2. Lower the heat and add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the veggies are softened. About 10-12 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a simmer. Add the mixture into the slow cooker.
3.Stir in the tomato puree, tomato paste, herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours or until the chicken pulls away for the bone. Remove the chicken and allow to cool slightly. Remove skin and bones, and cut the chicken into bite size chunks. Add chicken back to sauce and toss with pasta.