Homemade Oreos?

I got a new book a while back called "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It." This is a girl after my own heart with recipes for all sorts of food projects like homemade ricotta cheese, pop tarts, mayonaise, beef jerky, jam, pickles, etc. I love it! So many things to try and this was my first venture into the book. While these cookies look and taste delicious, they are not Oreos! Next time I think I will try some bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet and maybe try a few other tweaks. They are good but I think it may be tough to duplicate the almighty Oreo, chemical additives and all. Who doesn't love an Oreo?

They would have looked a bit more like them if I had a cookie stamp but alas, I don't have one so it was a no go!

Skillet Rosemary Chicken

Found this recipe in Food Network Magazine. I really haven't found too many recipes I want to make from it but this one was amazing! Totally delicious, beautiful to look at and even better the next day! I will definitely be keeping this one on rotation at our house. I added a little extra garlic, used a whole cut up chicken and omitted the mushrooms. I also used extra potatoes, one bag of red, white and blue potatoes from TJs. Yum!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/skillet-rosemary-chicken-recipe/index.html

Homemade Pretzel Dogs

So, a few weeks ago Matthew and I were over at Wetzels Pretzels in need of a quick lunch before dropping him off at school. We picked up a pretzel dog & lemonade for him, paid our nearly $7, endured the sales girl with attitude and the blasting Eminem in the background only to give me an idea. Why don't I just make my own? It would cost about the same for 2 pretzel dogs at Wetzels, not to mention all the unpleasantness that came along to make about 8 of them at home with ingredients that I control and have a bunch to freeze for later. So, voila, here they are! Easy as can be, fun, cheap to make and way less fattening with Trader Joes turkey dogs plus no nitrates. I also made 6 additional soft pretzels on their own!

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I am always testing out new cookie recipes and have been testing several different chocolate chip cookie recipes out lately to see if there is one that really sings to me! This one was delicious, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Just the way I like them! Lots of chocolate and a hint of coffee but not so much that you can easily guess it. I will definitely be making these again. As a side note, I chilled the dough overnight before I baked them. I do think it makes a difference in the texture although it doesn't need to be overnight to accomplish this.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/follow-that-food/espresso-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe/index.html