Eats So Sweet

5 YEARS!!!!  I haven’t posted in 5 YEARS!  Wow, a lot has changed in my life in those years……but the most important things I’ve learned are to always stay true to yourself and food is essential to life, therefore make it good!

In 5 years I haven’t stopped cooking, but I don’t do it nearly as much as I’d like.    Life happens and my girls are growing up, which makes life busy, but we still find time to cook and bake!  So here I am, back to my blog to share 5 years of recipes that I cannot wait to share with you!    Not only will I share my own recipes and my family’s recipes, but other recipes I find along the way – the ones that are worthy of blogging about.   Whether I get them from other blogs, Pinterest or friends or relatives, if they are great and I make them (with or without tweaking) you will eventually find them here!

My goal is to post a new recipe once a week (or more), but considering I haven’t been here in 5 years and I now have a full-time job teaching on top of being Mom to a teen and a tween who keep me busy, I promise to do my best!  🙂

I am super excited to be back and can’t wait to cook with you!

Stay Tuned!

~gianna~

As I’ve mentioned before I am a chocolate chip cookie failure!  I just can’t make a perfect chocolate chip cookie….and here is another recipe to prove that!  HA!  These were BIG, and delicious……and we all enjoyed them!  BUT there were slightly brown and not as soft as I thought they’d be….surprised?  I’m not!  That’s how I roll in chocolate chip cookie baking.  It’s embarrassing, it really is….. but I’m trying!

I found this recipe on Pinterest and here is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.   And as I said before they were great…very tasty and we all enjoyed them and I followed the recipe EXACTLY!  Maybe you’ll have better luck and your cookies will look and feel just as the originals do!  Let me know how that goes!

Panara Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
Combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and mix together.
Mix dry ingredients slowly into wet ingredients and blend well.
If the dough is crumbly, stir in water 1 teaspoon at a time until it just holds together. The dough should not be sticky.
Add in chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.
Using ¼ cup measure, scoop out dough and form into a ball. Continue until all dough is balled. Approx 24 cookies.
Place dough in the freezer for 2 hours or up to 3 months.
Place frozen cookie onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 min.
Let cool 2 minutes.

ENJOY!

***notice the brown, crispy look??***

They were HUGE!!!

~gianna~

The big day is finally here!!!   And we are having a party!  My family is split this year….my youngest daughter (Ava) and I are hoping for a Seahawks win and my husband and older daughter (Olivia) are hoping the Broncos can pull it off!   Should be exciting!!!

What’s on the menu, you ask?  Well…..I’ll be making things I’ve already posted on here and adding a few more surprises!  This year we will be having:

Pepperoni Bread

Wings

Sloppy Joe Sandwiches — NJ Style (much different than the rest of the world) — Recipe Coming Soon

Bacon & Cheese Dip — Recipe Coming Soon

Artichoke Dip (made by a friend)

Pigs in a Blanket (made by friend)

Football Themed Cupcakes (made by a friend)

Snickers Dip

I’m ready for some food….and football…are you?

What’s on your menu for the Super Bowl???

Who are you rooting for?

~gianna~

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens….bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens…

So I’ve already told you many things I love in my first post……but here are some more of my favorite things when it comes to food, cooking and baking!  Some of my must haves in the kitchen and what I always have on hand for cooking too!

TOP 10 FOODS:

• Bacon
• Avocado
• Seafood (pretty much any and every kind)
• Bread (especially with butter — YUM!)
• Peanut Butter
• Soup
• Ranch Dressing (not really a “food” but it should be)
• Chicken
• Potatoes
• Green Veggies

Top 10 Foods I ALWAYS Have on Hand

• Broths of different flavors (chicken, beef, vegetable)
• Pasta of different shapes and sizes
• Tomatoes of different shapes and sizes (crushed, paste, diced, sauce)
• Avocados
• A full spice cabinet and rack
• Ground Turkey
• Frozen Shrimp
• Chicken breasts
• Vidalia Onions and Garlic
• Bacon

Top 10 Small Appliances and Knick-Knacks

• Bagel Guillotine
• Small scoop — for cookie dough, meatballs (like this)
• Waffle Iron
• Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer
• Stick Blender (I have this one)
• Meat Thermometer
• Saute Tongs
• 1 cup prep bowls
• Scoop N Drain (I have this one)
• Cheese Grater (with multi size grates)

SING WITH ME!

When the dog bites….when the bee stings…when I’m feeling sad…….  I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feeeeeeellll…. sooooo…. baaaaaad!

~gianna~