Chocolate Chip cookies

These are just the right taste and texture! MMMM....Good!

1 3/4 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 c butter
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg choc. chips

* Heat oven to 375*. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl, set aside. Beat butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto cooking tray. Bake 10-13 min or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Homemade authentic salsa

A friend gave me this family recipe and its so yummy, and fool-proof! So, next time your at the store trade in that jarred salsa for simple, fresh ingredients!

1/2 of medium-large onion (white or yellow)
1-2 Serrano peppers, stem cut off top only, don't de-seed!
1 garlic clove
handful of cilantro (stems cut off bottoms, do a general chop to get most of leafy part)
1 20 oz. can of whole stewed tomatoes

*Put all ingreadiants in blender and blend/puree until desired texture texture. Enjoy!

**Note** This is not a chunky salsa, it is meant to be blended to a fine texture. For added/different flavor, fresh lime juice can be added!**

Sugar Cookies

These are my Aunt Judy's sugar cookies and I absolutely LOVE them! They bake up like cake cookies are incredibly soft and are easy on the wallet, as they have Crisco, not butter! Hope you all enjoy them!

Sugar Cookies

1C. shortening (preferably butter flavor)
1C. sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/2tsp baking soda
1 1/2tsp baking powder
2C sugar
1 1/2tsp vanilla
5-6C. flour

-Combine and mix shortening, sour cream, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Slowly add in remaining dry ingredients. Chill for at least 1 hr. Roll out to approx 1/4 in. and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350* for 10-12 min. Enjoy!

Coconut chocolate chip cookies

Best cookies I have made in a long time!

Ok, thats a lie! I always make good cookies! But, this recipe is a little different but super yummy so I thought I would share it! Better yet, come over and I will share the actual cookie! (For a limited time only!)

Coconut Crunch Cookies
1C butter
3/4C sugar
3/4C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1tsp almond extract
2C flour
1tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2C flaked coconut
1pkg milk choc chips
1 1/2C finely chopped almonds

Cream butter and sugar until light, fluffy. Beat in eggs, extract. Combine flour, soda, salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in coconut, chips, almonds. Drop by tsp-fulls onto baking sheet. Bake at 375* for 9-11 min. Yield 4 1/2 doz!

Good date night dinner

I got this from food network under Rachel Ray's 30 min. meals. This was what I made for Jeff for Valentines day and it was absolutely fabulous! I recommend this for any romantic night "in" for your man! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Fiery Shrimp Cocktail:

• 1/4 cup hot pepper sauce, eyeball it (recommended: Tabasco)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 lemon zested and 1/2 lemon juiced
• 2 ribs celery, from the heart, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
• 1 pound small to medium peeled, deveined and cooked shrimp, tails removed
• 4 pieces leaf lettuce

Creamy Parmesan Spinach:

• 3 boxes frozen spinach, defrosted
• 2 (3-ounce) bricks cream cheese
• 1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan, 2 rounded handfuls
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

Steak:

• 2 large T-bone steaks, about 3 pounds, 1 3/4-inch thick each
• Vegetable oil, for drizzling
• 3 to 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 4 slices white toast, buttered and cut from corner to corner

Green Onion Fritters:

• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 cup all-in-one pancake mix
• 1/2 cup water
• 7 to 8 scallions, cleaned, dried and trimmed of roots, chopped
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat a large griddle pan or 14-inch skillet over high heat.

Combine hot pepper sauce, ketchup, lemon zest and juice, celery and parsley in a small bowl. Add shrimp and coat evenly. Chill 20 minutes, then line 4 cocktail glasses or small dishes with leaf lettuce and top each with 1/4 of chilled shrimp.

Place spinach in microwave to defrost. Place boxes on a dish to defrost the spinach because it will leek. While spinach defrosts, place cream cheese and onions in a medium sauce pot over low heat. While cream cheese is melting and spinach is defrosting, continue forward with meal prep then return to spinach. When the cream cheese melts, add Parmesan and black pepper to the cheese. Drain spinach in clean kitchen towel, wringing it out until dry. Stir spinach into sauce, season with a pinch of salt, to taste, if necessary and let the spinach sit over lowest heat possible 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drizzle the steaks with oil and add to screaming hot pan. Cook 8 minutes on each side for medium doneness. After you flip the steak, baste it with Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper. When you remove steak to cutting board or serving platter, baste opposite side and season it up. Let meat rest a few minutes before you cut into it to let the juices redistribute. Cut meat from bones and portion into 4 servings. Push toast down in toaster, butter it and cut from corner to corner.

Fill a medium saucepan with 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil and heat to medium-high heat. Arrange a paper towel lined plate on the counter to place the fritters on when they come out of the hot oil.

In a bowl, make the batter by combining the all-in-one pancake mix with the water (the batter will be on the thick side). Add the chopped green onions and season with the cayenne, salt, and pepper. When the oil is ready for frying, drop spoonfuls of the batter into the oil and fry on all sides until golden brown and puffy. This should take no more than 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and drain on the paper towel lined plate. Season with salt while they are still hot.

Serve steaks on toast with green onion fritters and spinach alongside.