Goodness, it’s almost October!
Time to start getting ready for the holidays!
In Canada that means Thanksgiving… Halloween… Christmas… New Year’s… in addition to whatever else a person or family celebrates.
It’s all good.
During the past summer I posted the recipes that had been on the back of Safeway’s 2.5 Kg bags of Instant Skim Milk Powder.
If you missed the posts, the recipes were for Tuscan White Bean and Zucchini Soup,
as well as Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake,
They’re easy to make, and are perfect for this time of year.
The large bags of Instant Skim Milk Powder were not the only things Sobeys decided to discontinue when they bought Safeway.
Safeway used to sell 1 Kg bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
They were at a very reasonable price, compared to the brand names.
Safeway knew how quickly chips get used up by any home baker.
As with the bags of milk powder, the chocolate chips bag had a great recipe for ‘Our Favourite Chocolate Chip Cookies’.
It was a favourite of quite a few families, too.
A neighbour asked if I still had the recipe.
Of course I did, and now so does she, and so will you.
Hints:
If you don’t like walnuts, leave them out.
Do not overbake. Really, if you want moist and crisp cookies.
These cookies are soft when they come out of the oven, but will crisp up as they cool.
The cookies may be stored airtight for several days.
They can also be frozen.
About Halloween…
If you’d like to make the chips look like tiny spiders, it’s easy, and the kiddies love it.
All you have to do is:
After the cookies have cooled, melt about 1/4 Cup of chocolate chips.
Put the melted chips into a piping bag with a very small opening.
Pipe 8 spider legs onto the chocolate chips that are showing on top.
If you can’t see any chocolate chips on some cookies, don’t panic.
While the cookies are still warm you can place a chip or two upside down into the cookie and then add legs to the additions.
for a bit of variety, you could also bake a batch of
As you can see, it’s easy to go through a bag of chocolate chips during the holidays!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen cookies
Place the 2 oven racks in the centre of the oven.
Grease 4 cookie sheets
In a large mixer bowl beat until creamy
1 Cup unsalted butter, softened
Mix in
1 Cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Beat until fluffy.
Mix in
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
With the mixer at low speed, gradually add
2 cups flour
Beat only until mixed.
Mix in
1 1/2 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 Cups walnuts, chopped (optional)
Preheat oven to 350º
Scoop the cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls .
Place the dough balls 1 1/2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.
Bake 2 sheets at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are golden and tops are set when lightly pressed.
Cool 2 minutes.
Remove cookies and place them on racks to let cool completely.
About the sky this week, thanks to the folks at The Farmers' Almanac…
September 30 – This is the second New Moon of the month! It will occur at 8:11 p.m. EDT. The second of two new Moons in one calendar month is sometimes called a Black Moon.
Yes, we also had a New Moon on September 1st.
Having two New Moons in one month happens roughly once every 32 months, according to Space.com, so we haven't seen a Black Moon since March 2014.
There’s a Creedence Clearwater Revival song called Bad Moon Rising.
That’s about a Bad Moon not a Black Moon, so there’s no connection.
Nothing to worry about - no earthquakes, lightning or hurricanes.
Well, at least none that are connected to the moon.
If you were curious... When we have two full Moons in one month, that second one is referred to as a Blue Moon, as in "once in a Blue Moon", since it doesn't happen too often, either.
