Cookie Quest - the search for the best Chocolate Chip Cookie

Growing up, my mom and I always used the same chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook she received when she got married. I made them so often I think I've memorized the recipe. For a while, our cookies came out the same, then mine started to get flatter and flatter while hers stayed rounded. And for a while, the flatness was good - they were neither too flat nor too thin - but then they started getting too thin. I did a little bit of research into why that happens and came up with a few solutions: my butter was too soft, I beat the butter for too long, or I didn't add enough flour, or some combination of those three explanations. I tried experimenting with the recipe to fix what I was doing wrong, but to mostly no avail. Adding extra flour made the cookies thicker, but they were less chewy that way, and I like them chewy. Using cooler butter didn't seem to make much of a difference, although refrigerating the dough before baking helped a bit. And beating the butter less seemed hard to do, since I generally don't beat it for as long as the recipe says anyway.

The factory that makes this chocolate is about 15 minutes from our house. We went on a tour!

Bridal Shower Bites - Aunt Josette's Leib Kuchen

 I have been wanting to make these cookies since Aunt Josette sent the recipe for the shower, mainly because of the note she wrote on the recipe: "Grandpa Kessler loved these cookies!" One of (the many) great things about Aunt Josette is that she and Uncle George are a part of both sides of the family. As kids, that meant that we got to see them at family reunions on both sides, which then meant that we saw them probably more often than any other family members. Which was awesome. They bridged the gap for us between the Kesslers and the Mootses, which led to little insights like the one on the recipe. Grandpa Kessler loved these cookies.

I trust Grandpa's cookie recommendations

Bridal Shower Bites - Meaghan McCallin's Hot & Smoky Baked Beans

We had an impromptu cookout last weekend for Memorial Day before we headed over to Fenway Park to watch some good ol' American baseball (the Phillies were in town.  Our resident Philly Phanatic got tickets for both games.). While brainstorming about what sides we could make for the cookout, we hit upon Meaghan's baked beans recipe. Part of me feels like a traitor making non-Boston baked beans in Boston, and the other part of me figures that the rules are probably a little different in Cambridge. Anyway you make them, baked beans seem like a pretty quintessential cookout side dish, so I figured we could give them a go.

What's better at a cookout than baked beans?

Bridal Shower Bites - Aunt Joyce's Ginger Ale

And we're back to our regularly scheduled programming after last week's foray into Icelandic cuisine!

Aunt Joyce's famous homemade ginger ale!

Honeymooning

First of all, a big thank you to everyone who came to our wedding! We had such a great day, mainly because all of you were there (besides the getting married part, which was also pretty awesome). Anyway, as you know, Matt and I just got back from our honeymoon - a week in Iceland - so I thought I'd take a break from the bridal shower recipes to fill you in a little on Iceland and some of the food we had over there (the good, the weird, the tasty).

Mr. and Mrs. Williamson in Iceland

Bridal Shower Bites - Aunt Kitty's Chicken Pie

Happy Sunday!

Things have been a little bit crazy here in the Boston/Cambridge area this week, but are thankfully starting to get back to normal. I wanted to make Aunt Josette's cookies during my unexpected day-off-work / governor-mandated-lockdown, but didn't have all of the ingredients (and couldn't go get them, either.  That's what a lockdown will do). I ended up making a banana bread instead with an old banana that I found in the freezer. I should have spent the time writing this post, though, since we actually made this recipe a few days ago, but I spent more time than I should have just watching the news (again, that's what a lockdown will do to you).

Bridal Shower Bites - The Radel's Veggie Chili

And we're back with the another Bridal Shower Bites! This time, we're trying out one of the recipes from Aunt Carol and Reen: a veggie chili recipe passed along from Mark, Jr. I was originally worried that since spring's a-coming, it would be a little too warm for a chili recipe, but luckily Boston has refused to follow Punxsutawney Phil's prediction of an early spring and we're still having cool enough weather to try a new chili recipe. Phew!

And we are enjoying them!