Minestrone & Monster Cookies!

Finally, my book has arrived!

It's very large!

The reasons I haven't written a new post in a week:

1) been waiting on the book. There are only so many SS recipes online
2) school started
3) my parents are great cooks, so it's tempting to go to their house every night for dinner
4) option 3 is cheaper

But I've really been missing these fun recipes! So I'm committing to cook more often.

Neither of these 2 recipes are from SS (didn't get the book until 5pm), but at least Minestrone is continuing in my Italian theme. Monster cookies are in a category of their own. We'll get to that later.

Minestrone is my very favorite soup, especially on a cold rainy night. But I was a little disappointed in the quality of my pictures tonight. It's challenging to take a decent picture of soup. But I promise it's sooooo good! And easy!

First I sauteed 1/4 cup chopped celery, 1/2 cup chopped carrots & 3/4 cups chopped onions and some olive oil in a large pot for almost 10 minutes.

Then I added about 8 cups of chicken broth, 1/2 jar spaghetti sauce, 2 peeled and diced potatoes, 1 can Italian stewed tomatoes (I blended them first), 1 can navy beans, 1 can Italian cut green beans, 3 handfuls of fresh spinach, 2 bay leaves, some basil, salt, pepper. I covered it and let it simmer for an hour. Then I added half a cup uncooked macaroni pasta and let it cook for another 30 minutes. Another really good thing to add if you have it is a fresh Parmesan rind. It really adds some great flavor.

Yum. This soup is delicious and comforting. I separated mine in a few quart sized zip lock bags to freeze and eat later!












MONSTER COOKIES!!

Katherine Sandifer introduced me to these years ago, and I am forever grateful! Seriously, these cookies transcend all others. Your life will change when you take your first bite.

First I mixed a stick of softened butter in my mixer, then gradually added 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup plus 2 tbsp of brown sugar. It's important to make sure the butter is softened just right before mixing. I know from experience that if the butter gets too melted, the texture of the cookies won't be the same. While the mixer was on medium speed, I added 3 eggs, 2 cups of peanut butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp baking soda, pinch of salt & 4 1/2 cups uncooked oats. Then I took the bowl out of my mixer and added almost a whole bag of M&Ms and almost a whole bag of chocolate chips. Mix it with a spoon. Here it is!

I baked them in a 350 degree preheated oven for 7 minutes. Let them cool a couple minutes when they get out. They should be undercooked and require a fork to eat! At least that's how I like them. I didn't get a picture of a cooked cookie because I scarfed them down too fast when they came out of the oven.

Sorry this isn't a great post. I need to go study! I will start my SS recipes again in a few days!

PS - does anyone know where to buy rabbit meat??