One of my favorite cookie recipes calls for melted chocolate pieces. Well, I didn’t feel like melting chocolate so I decided to use some Hershey’s Chocolate Spread that I had on hand. Have you tried this stuff?? OMG, it is really good stuff. It’s similar to Nutella and I know many of you love Nutella….the chocolate hazelnut spread. I love chocolate and I love hazelnuts, but since for some crazy ass reason, I dislike the word Nutella, I won’t eat the stuff. Those of you who know me and follow my blog, know that I have this crazy word association thing.  Yes, yes…I know it’s weird, but let’s not get into that right now. So, anywayyyyyyy, I used this Hershey’s spread and I am I glad I did.

So, I made the cookies and wow, they are good. This cookie has ground oats  also, so that kinda makes em healthy-ish. They have great chew, they’re rich, chocolatey and wonderful.

Hershey’s Chocolate Spread Cookies

1 cup old-fashioned oats (ground into a powder in the food processor)
¾ cup old-fashioned oats (not ground up)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, plus 2 tblsp. (slightly softened)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tblsp Hershey Chocolate spread
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Place the 1 cup of ground oats in a bowl and stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar together, about 1 minute. Add egg, and beat until combined. Add vanilla and chocolate spread and beat until combined. On low speed, add flour mixture and remaining 3/4 cup of un-ground oats, mix to combine. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.

4. Using a scooper, scoop balls of approx. 3 tablespoons of dough and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake until cookies are cracked and set on top but still look a bit moist. About 14 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets on wire rack.

One of my favorite sandwiches is a basic egg salad. LOVE. I don’t like it with pickle relish, onion…..don’t like it with lettuce. I just want an egg and mayo mix. However, I do occasionally like it with some crumbled bacon. Yep. I used to make bacon and egg deviled eggs and one day I decided to put a couple of deviled eggs on a piece of bread and loved it so much, I started making egg salad with bacon. Good stuff and simple.

Bacon and Egg Salad

4  eggs, boiled  and cooled
2  strips of bacon, fried and drained of all grease
1/2 cup mayo +/- depending on how you like it
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tblsp sour cream (I always add this to my egg salads)
fresh jalapeno, minced (optional)

Chop your eggs and bacon up and combine in a bowl with the mayo, black pepper and sour cream. Chill until nice and cold. Serve on your favorite bread.

Two ingredients!! You gotta be asking how a frosting can only have two ingredients, right?  No? Not impressed? Not curious? Aww, come on. You don’t even need a mixer! Now, are you curious? This stuff is WOW. When I first tasted it, I shouted out a loud HOLY S*#T!!!! But it was meant in the best way. 🙂

You are going to want to just shove a big ol spoonful of this stuff in your mouth. It’s that good. So, I have used this frosting for chocolate cake, vanilla cake, strawberry cake…..I’ve even dipped some strawberries in it. It’s all good.

Oh, I should tell you…..this frosting sets up best in the refrigerator, so it’s best for a baking dish type cake….like a 9×13 or 9×9. Just spread the frosting all over your cooled cake and throw it in the fridge. I tried it on cupcakes and it works ok, but you can’t get much frosting on the cupcake without some of it spreading down the sides. But if you really want to  use it for cupcakes, I would chill the frosting first and then frost the cupcakes. But then, chill them again before serving. Make sense?

Ok, you’re going to be able to whip this stuff up faster than it took you to read this post.

Easy Fluffy Marshy Frosting

1  8oz container of Cool Whip, thawed
1 tub Marshmallow Cream/Fluff

Soften the marshmallow cream in the microwave for 15 seconds. Dump the marshmallow cream and the cool whip in a bowl. Whisk it together until smooth and combined. Spread it on a cooled cake and chill. That’s it!

The cake pictured, is my Wacky Cake:

Wacky Cake 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350. In a square 8×8 baking dish, put all the dry ingredients. Add the oil, vinegar and the water. Stir it up, but don’t over mix. Everyone over mixes…….GEESH. don’t do it.
Bake for approx. 25 minutes or until you poke a toothpick in it and it comes out clean. Let it cool completely.

What is it about garlic and butter together? It smells so amazing, it tastes so good. What a great combination. Traditionally, Japanese cooking does not include a great deal of garlic. But there is a popular Japanese restaurant that makes this amazing fried rice, using lots and lots of garlic butter. Oh, I think I just drooled a bit. M-mmmmm. If you have been to a Benihana restaurant, you know exactly what I am talking about. But if you haven’t been to a Benihana, you don’t have to go! Stay home and make it!

Now, I love fried rice. I have several different kinds that I make. I tend to stick with my basic fried rice that I grew up on. I have kinda resisted making this version with the garlic, because I felt that I was going against tradition. My mother would never eat fried rice with garlic! I can just hear her now…..”ohh, Japanese no put the gahlic”. 🙂 But something tells me she would like this. I always put bean sprouts, egg and green onion. Sometimes I add green beans, sometimes I don’t. Put the veggies you like. It’s really good with chicken too.

If you haven’t been to a Benihana and have not had garlic butter fried rice, you are in for a treat.

Garlic Butter Fried Rice

Serves 2(as a main dish)

3 cups  cooked cold rice
2 green onions, Sliced
1 handful bean sprouts (optional)
1 cup fresh raw green beans, chopped (optional)
1 scrambled egg (optional)

Garlic Butter:

1/4 cup softened butter
4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2 tblsp soy sauce

In a small bowl, mix together the 1/4 cup of butter and 4 cloves of minced garlic. Add the 2 tblsp of soy sauce and mix. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, add a  couple tablespoons of oil.  Throw in the green beans and toss around for a couple of minutes. Add the bean sprouts, green onion and sprouts. Stir in the garlic butter. Add rice, salt and pepper. Toss all together until well combined.

It’s hot. I hate heat. Heat makes me lazy…..and cranky. It also makes me want ice-cold drinks. One  of my favorite adult drinks, is the Wallaby Darned at a steakhouse restaurant called Outback. I love this drink. It’s peachy, slushy, cold, refreshing and delicious. It does have vodka, but if you are not a drinker….whattt????……you could certainly leave out the vodka. I used to live across the street from this restaurant and it was way to easy to walk across the street……mozy on up to the bar and see that big ol machine spinning that slushy drink.  These days, they don’t use those slushy machines. They make them to order, in a blender. They are just as good, if not better. But since they are so easy to make, I just make my own. Mine is even better annnnnnd more fun. You know why? I use my little ice cream maker!!! Yep, I sure do. I make several drinks in the ice cream maker. Margaritas are wonderful this way. Mmmm-mm-m-mmmm. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can use your blender….it’s certainly quicker, but I just think its fun to make them in the ice cream maker.

So, it’s going to be another hot day and I just happen to have some peaches. Hmmmmmmm, what to do…..what to do….

Are ya thirsty?

Wallaby Darned (my version)

2  oz vodka
2  oz peach schnapps (must use this)
1  cup peach nectar (I use Kerns…comes in a can)
2  cups frozen, chopped peaches (I use fresh and freeze them, but you can buy a bag of frozen peaches)
4  oz champagne or white wine
1/2 cup ice (or a bit more) for blender method only

Blender method:  dump everything in your blender and give it a blitz….blitz…blitz. Let it blend away until its nice and slushy smooth. Yummmmm.

Ice cream maker method: put the frozen peaches in a food processor and chop them up quickly so they don’t completely thaw. Then mix them in a bowl with all your other ingredients. Turn on your ice cream maker and let it go. It will take a few minutes, but it’s worth the wait, trust me. So, so good. Slurp, slurp.