Fake-o Mrs. Fields (with Honey Bunches of Oats!)

These cookies have just the right amount of crunch. 

3 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 TBSP milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats w/ Almonds (or flaky cereal)
1 cup oats
12 oz pkg milk chocolate chips

Mix butter through vanilla. Add sugars, egg, and milk. Whip for 1 minute. Set aside. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt. Alternate adding flour mixture and vegetable oil to butter/sugar mixture. Mix well. Fold in Honey Bunches of Oats, oats, and chocolate chips. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350' for 10-12 minutes.

Thanks go to my boyfriend's mom for this recipe. :)

Peppermint Patties

This is my 100th recipe! Wow. It's been a long, perilous journey of trials and errors, mistakes and accidents, triumphs and surprises. OK- enough of the reverie...

What's this you ask? Why it's a a dark chocolate enrobed peppermint confection. More commonly known as the York Peppermint Pattie. It seriously tastes EXACTLY like the real deal. And I would know. In my apartment lives the connoisseur of peppermint/chocolate candies, none other than my roommate herself.

2 1/2 c confectioner sugar
2 TBSP light corn syrup
2 TBSP water
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
pinch of salt
1 1/2 TBSP shortening
1/4 cup confectioners sugar for kneading/dusting
1 12-oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips

Beat sugar, corn syrup, water, extract, shortening, and salt until combined. Knead by hand on counter, incorporating more confectioners sugar as you go. Roll out between two pieces of saran wrap (or parchment paper if you're not a poor college student). When flattened to 1/4 inch, place in freezer for 2 hours, or until firm. You MUST freeze them or they'll be impossible to work with.

Remove from freezer and cut into circles. I used a cup, but if you have a cookie cutter, go ahead. Not too large or the pieces will flop all over the place, but not too small or you'll get frustrated. 1-1/2 inches is great. Place on baking sheet and freeze for another hour. While filling is freezing, melt your chocolate.

When rounds are frozen (they won't get solid), start dipping. Use a fork to dip the rounds in the melted chocolate and place on the parchment to dry. If chocolate gets difficult to work with, microwave it. If patties become too soft for dipping, back to the freezer they go!

Orange Chicken

I found a new love. It's called orange chicken. It's much better than Panda Express and tastes fresher. Though I'm sure it's just as fattening. Dang.

2 lbs boneless,skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 1/2 c flour
1 egg (beaten)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Orange Sauce:
1 1/2 c water
2 TBSP orange juice
1/4 c lemon juice
1/3 c rice vinegar
2 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP orange zest (grated)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp garlic (minced)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 TBSP cornstarch
2 TBSP water


Combine flour, salt, and pepper into Ziplock. Dip chicken in egg and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375' in deep fryer/wok until completely cooked and a little crispy. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine water, lemon juice, OJ, vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, and garlic. Bring to boil. Combine 3 TBSP cornstarch with 1/4 water in a small Tupperware and shake vigorously. Stir slowly into sauce until it thickens. Dump chicken in sauce and stir around. Strain chicken and serve with sticky rice.

Thanks to Bobby for this recipe!

Amy's Favorite Grasshopper Pie

This is my roommate's 22nd birthday cake. She's convinced this is what grasshopper pie should be. However, it's merely ice cream with a bunch of toppings on it. But since it was her birthday, I let her believe what she wanted and made it to her "exact" specifications. Plus a little twist of course. Me? Follow a recipe to exactness? HA!

1 row (about 19) Oreo cookies and 3 cookies (crushed) for topping
7 TBSP butter (UNSALTED)
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
Hard shell chocolate fudge ice cream topping
1/2 box Junior Mints, crushed/chopped

Oreo crust:
Preheat to 350'. Crush Oreos (do not take out filling) in Ziploc bag. Melt butter in bowl. Mix Oreos with butter and smash with hands (or the bottom of a glass) in pie pan to form a thin crust. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until "crispy." Let cool a bit.

Pour in soft ice cream until full. Top with hard shell topping and crushed Oreo/Junior Mint mixture. Cover with saran wrap and place in freezer for 3+ hours, or until set. Take out 15 minutes before you want to eat it, or you won't be able to cut it. Trust me on that one.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies

These babies are everything I ever wanted in a cookie. Salty, yet sweet. Crunchy, yet soft. Basically the zenith, nay, the apogee of a perfect treat.

3/4 c butter
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 c plus 2 TBSP flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 package milk chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely crushed pretzel sticks

Preheat oven to 350'. Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, and salt, beating just until blended. Beat in chocolate and pretzels until combined. Drop by TBSP onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-14 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Shrimp Linguine

The only shrimp I ever liked stared at me with baleful eyes from inside a fish aquarium at Petsmart. So you can imagine my delight when this creamy surprise tickled my tastebuds with its 9 billion legs. Yeah, that was kinda creepy, but too bad.

Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. They's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.

1 1/2 pounds cooked fresh shrimp
6 TBSP butter
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 TBSP chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta until al dente. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet. Add garlic and saute briefly to release flavor. Add cream; heat just to boiling, stirring frequently. Lower heat, and stir in shrimp, parsley, basil, and thyme. Continue cooking until shrimp are just heated through. Do NOT overcook shrimp! In case you didn't read that last sentence, DO NOT OVERCOOK SHRIMP. Remove sauce from heat.

Drain pasta and toss with the sauce. Toss again with the cheese and salt and pepper to taste!

Eggs in Purgatory

Also known as Eggs in Hell.

1 TBSP olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onions
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Fresh ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
15 oz can crushed tomatoes
Salt
4 eggs
Chopped fresh basil

Heat olive oil in frying pan. Add onions, red pepper, and a generous amount of black pepper. Cook until the onions are soft. Add garlic and cook until it begins to brown. Add tomatoes and reduce heat. Simmer. Use a spoon to make 4 wells in the tomato sauce and crack the eggs into the wells. Cover and simmer for 4-6 mintues for set whites and runny yolks. Serve with fresh basil on top!