DIY Chocolate Peppermint and White Chip Cookies

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Christmas is approaching super quickly and I was super excited to test some new cookie recipes this year! One is a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips and candy canes, hence the name Chocolate Peppermint and White Chip Cookies! They were an instant hit on one of the doctors that I work with's birthday and a hit again in the cookie bags I made for my co-workers this year. I'm glad they went over well, because I loved them too! They are featured below with some yummy ginger snaps too (one of my good friend's Grandma's recipes) and another one of the ADORABLE pieces of bake ware that I got from my Grandma Sandy last year for Christmas. I really do believe in the power of baked good ;).   

Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 10-12 minutes, Total time: about 30 minutes

Makes about 18 cookies

Here's what you'll need:

Standard mixer

Spatula

Medium mixing bowl

Small mixing bowl

Rolling pin (or something to crush candy canes with)

Cooling rack

2 Cookie sheets

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips melted

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 stick (8 tbsp) butter room temp

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

4-6 crushed candy cane pieces

How to make it:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2) With your standard mixer, whip the butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and peppermint extract together for 2-3 minutes 

3) Meanwhile, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together well in a medium bowl

4) Melt the chocolate chips at 15 second increments in the microwave, stirring well in-between each increment to avoid burning. Once melted add this mixture to the butter and sugar combination

5) Add the egg and yolk into the butter/sugar/chocolate mix

6) Slowly add the flour mixture into the mixer while on a low speed 

7) Crush the candy cane pieces into small bites in a small bowl carefully with the end of your rolling pin

8) Remove bowl from mixer and add in chocolate chips and candy cane pieces by hand with a spatula or spoon

9) Roll into small 1 inch balls and place onto cookie sheet

TIP: If mixture is too sticky place in refrigerator for 5 minutes or so 

10) Place one tray at a time onto the center rack of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes

11) Let cool for 2-3 minutes before placing on cooling rack 

12) Enjoy!

Madi and I are looking forward to a quiet weekend together for Christmas as we both had to work last week and have to work next week too before heading to Florida for my brother's fiance's wedding shower and bachelorette over New Years weekend. We got to attend Christmas at DPAC last night for our church's Christmas service which was awesome as usual, and spent today resting as I am recovering from a head cold too (yuck). Excited to enjoy rest and relaxation (and hopefully read a book or two) with our time off! 

Thanks for reading,

- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: The Fever Code

Hello fellow readers,

My latest read was the final prequel in the Maze Runner series by James Dashner, The Fever Code. If you haven't read any of the Maze Runner series, you wouldn't understand this book very well. I definitely suggest reading them in the order that they were released. However, this book would make sense if you didn't read the first prequel, The Kill Order. For some reason the story line does follow but isn't necessarily dependent on The Kill Order to read easily. The Fever Code starts off with characters from The Maze Runner who are taken to WICKED to live prior to the maze trials beginning. The main characters from the original are followed the closest: Thomas, Teresa, Newt, Minho, Alby, and even Chuck. It really helps you understand most everyone's place in the maze and where they came from. That's really all I can say without giving away too much. Everyone knows that they all end up going into the maze, because that is what the first book is about. But the journey of getting there was super intriguing to me.

I read this book in a week, which did not have a lot of free time, so it was a quick and easy read, but also kept me wanting to read more. I think it is definitely worth reading if you are a fan of the series. Remember way back when, when I reviewed the first book, I thought it was super hard to follow and had a hard time keeping up with all the names? This book was not like that. Neither were the rest of the books really. I'm so glad that I gave the rest of the series a chance after not really loving the original, because they were SO good. Overall The Fever Code was 9/10. I really did enjoy it that much. I'm sad that the series is most likely over (book #6 PLEASE James Dashner?!) but honestly the ending answered a lot of questions and really closed the loop with questions I had from the first part of the series. I'm already getting excited for The Death Cure movie that is coming out in 2018, since the last one came out SO long ago!! (2015?!). I'll be attending opening weekend for sure!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia

DIY Spicy Turkey Soup

Hello all,

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and got to spend some time with family! If you have any leftover Turkey and don't want to have leftovers the regular way, try out this spicy chicken soup recipe that is a mock-Carrabba's Mama Mandolas Sicilian Chicken Soup! It is just as good with leftover turkey and pretty simple to make. It's a version of classic chicken noodle soup, but with a little bit different taste and ingredients. It takes about 2 hours between prep and cook time and has a good amount of servings, around 10-12 good size portions. See how to make it below.

What you'll need:


Others:
-Large pot
-Knife for chopping
-Cutting board
-Measuring cup
- Medium pot
- Large spoon
- Metal tongs

Ingredients:
- Leftover turkey
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 celery ribs
- 4 large carrots
- 2 green bell peppers
- 3 medium baking potatos
- 1 can (14. ozs) of diced tomatoes in juice
- 4 garlilc cloves
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 2 Teaspoons pepper
- 1 cup ditalini pasta

How to make it:
1) Finely chop the onions. Dice the celery, carrots, and green peppers into 1/4 inch pieces. Cut the baking potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces.
2) Place the onions, celery, green peppers, potatoes, tomatoes with juices, and turkey into a large pot.
3) Cover all with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil on high
4) Add the garlic, salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper and turn down to a medium-low boil
5) Let the soup boil for 1-1 1/2 hours
TIP: Skim the foam off of the surface of the soup during cook times during the cook time.
6) Remove any large pieces of turkey with large tongs and pull it into smaller pieces
7) Cook the ditalini pasta in a medium pot for 10-12 minutes
8) Turn soup to a keep warm or very low setting. Add the pasta and turkey back into the soup mix.
9) Mash some of the potatoes that you can see with the large spoon against the side of the pot and mix into the soup
10) Serve warm and enjoy

This soup turned out almost as good as the Carrabba's version, and was pretty simple to make. I haven't made any kind of soup from scratch other than general chicken noodle, so this is a good twist on a classic meal if you're looking to mix it up a little bit. I'm looking forward to the start of the Christmas season, including putting up our tree and decorations. But I do get sad that fall is ending, since it is my favorite season. Luckily the triangle still has some beautiful color on the trees, so I'll get to enjoy it if even for a couple more more days.

Thanks for reading,
- Olivia :)