Mmm Cookies.

I know, I know. Everyone's probably cookied out from the holiday season, but come on, these are worth it.

White chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

Let's get started.

Cast of Characters:

• 1 cup of butter (or 2 sticks) softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Add the brown sugar, white sugar and butter to a large bowl (and fyi, I spelt bowl as bowel before realizing.. oh being a nurse..) Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Cream it together. All that means, is use a beater and get it to all mix together nicely. Trust me, this will be easier when the butter is soft.

Add 1 egg and beat the mix together. Add the second egg, and beat again.

Now from here on out, I forgot to take pictures as I was going along (super dumb, I know, sorry) but you can handle the rest. Add the vanilla, almond, salt, baking powder to the bowl and mix together. Add the flour in slowly and mix. Add the white chocolate chips and mix in. Make sure to chop the macadamia nuts up a little before adding. Then lastly, spoon them onto cookie sheets.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes until browned on top. 

THEY WERE DELICIOUS. 

Chili That Will Warm Your Heart

It's cold outside.

Some days all you want is something to warm your heart, so let's make some chili in the crockpot!

Cast of characters:

• 1 lb ground turkey (or beef)
• 1/2 onion
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
• 2 cans (15 oz each) kidney beans
• Spices:
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 1/2 ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

First, start to brown your turkey.

While that's browning, let's mix the spices. I had to buy almost all of these random spices, but they won't go bad for a looong time. 

You'll want a resealable container, you'll have a little bit left afterwards.. It almost smells like taco seasoning, wonder if it'd substitute well..

Cut up roughly half an onion (depending on your love for onions, you can use less or more) into small pieces.

Keep an eye on your browning turkey, add in the onion and 3 teaspoons of the spice mix.

Now it's time to add everything to the crock pot. Open the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and 1 can of the kidney beans, add to the crock pot.

Pour the last can of kidney beans in a small container, and mash it up until the beans are mostly broken. This helps to thicken the chili but still provide bean-y flavor. You could use a blender, but that's too much work.

Add that to the crockpot, and the fully cooked turkey. Add 2 more teaspoons of spice to the crock pot.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. 

When it's done, enjoy!

Apple Pie with a lattice top.

It's fall. That means it's obligatory to make at least 1 apple pie.

Cast of Characters:

• Apples (roughly 6 cups total)
• 3 Granny Smith
• 4 Cortland
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 stick butter
• Premade pie crusts (because I'm lazy and they're easy)

Peel, core and cut your apples. Throw em in a bowl. 

Mix in your sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Mix until all apples are completely coated.

Then you're going to put your premade crust into the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate.

Open the package and unroll it directly on the pie plate.

Press crust into the sides of the pie plate until uniform and smooth.

Pour your apple mixture right inside that beautiful crust.

Cut up half a stick of butter into "pats." (Who came up with that name?)

Place your pats on top of the apples. 

Set your pie aside. Time for the crust, but not just any crust, a fancy LATTICE crust. Yep, we're gonna do it.

Flour the bottom of a baking sheet, don't do it on a counter because we're going to be cutting the dough. Protect your surfaces and use a baking sheet.

Unroll and place your pie crust on the baking sheet.

Use a pizza cutter to cut your dough into 1/2 inch strips.

Let's LATTICE. 

Start by placing 5 strips horizontally on your pie. Space em out evenly too.

Fold over every other strip, so strips 2 and 4.

Place one dough strip down the center on top of strips 1, 3 and 5. 

Fold strips 2 and 4 back over the vertical strip.

Fold strips 1, 3 and 5 over. 

Place another strip vertically.

Fold strips 1, 3, and 5 back over. See how pretty already?

Fold over strips 2 and 4 to the left.

Place another strip vertically, and fold strips 2 and 4 back over.

From the other side, fold strips 1, 3 and 5 to the right.

Place a dough strip vertically and fold the strips back over.

Complete the last strip by folding strips 2 and 4 to the right. Place the last vertical strip and fold strips 2 and 4 back over. Lattice complete.

Cut off the ends until flush with the side of the pan. Use the remainder of the dough to create a ring around the outer edge.

Ain't it pretty.

Let's go a little crazy and spruce it up a bit, shall we.

Roll out the remainder of your dough. 

Cut into strands in groups of 3.

Begin to braid the dough (yeah, just as you would hair, same way). 

Place on the outside of the pie.

Place in a preheated oven at 425.

Bake for 15 minutes. 

Here's a sneak preview of the beautiful pie.

Then take out, and cover top with tinfoil. 

This helps keep the crust from over browning.

Bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Take it out, let cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

Homemade Applesauce!

Um, yum. Applesauce you can make yourself.

Super simple way to enjoy all those fall apples, using your crockpot! 

Let's see the Cast of Characters:

• 8 Apples. I used:
• 4 Cortland
• 3 Golden Delicious
• 1 Granny Smith
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 lemon (for zest and juice)
• A cinnamon stick

You'll also need a vegetable peeler, an apple corer, a knife, cutting board, and most importantly a crock pot.

Let's begin.

Peel all your apples.

I have a secret, peel all your apples into a shopping bag so it's super easy cleanup.

Core your apples.

Get yourself an apple corer (they take the core out!) They're fairly inexpensive and make your day a hell of a lot easier. 

Cut the apples into 1 inch pieces (or whatever size you're good at cutting stuff into..)

Throw them into the crock.  

Measure out 1/3 cup of brown sugar. 

Throw that into the crock.

Zest your lemon.

Lemon zest is used for flavor, it's taking the outside of the lemon peel. Use a cheese grater.


Throw some lemon juice in. Recipe says 1 teaspoon but I just squeezed.

Top with a cinnamon stick.

Cook for 6 hours on low. Mix every few hours to help mix together those soft apples.

After six hours, you'll have soft apples that begin to slush into sauce.

Here's how it looks 4 hours in. Softening up.

Depending on how you like your apple sauce, you can keep it chunky or you can run it through your blender for a softer, smoother consistency.
Store in the refrigerator, preferably in little mason jars. The applesauce will be good for 2 weeks.