Mill Rose Inns Irresistible Cookies

1 Cup Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup White Sugar

Blend all of the above until creamy, then add:

1 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla

Beat until well mixed.  Sift together and then add:

2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda

Stir in:
 2 and 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips
 1 and 1/2 Cups Nuts ( We use Walnuts) Optional
3 Cups Granola

Mix well and shape into golf ball size.  Bake at 375F for 10 Minutes

Recipe Bio:  Jacob took Becky to Half Moon Bay as her Christmas present in 2014(went on January 1, 2015)  The Mill Rose Inn served these cookies that indeed were irresistible!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bacon, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
3/4 cup diced celery
10 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 cups half and half or milk, I used fat free

Directions:

In a 6 – 8 quart stockpot over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp.

Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. In the bacon fat, saute onions, carrots, and celery until the onions are translucent. Add the potatoes and cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sprinkle in flour and stir constantly over low heat about 5 to 7 minutes until well distributed over vegetables. Add broth and half of the bacon, reserve the other half for garnish.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste

Bring the soup to a simmer and cook over medium-high heat for 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. Mash some of the potatoes for thicker, creamier texture. Add half and half and.or milk and simmer for 5 more minutes. If the soup is too thick you can add more broth or water.  The soup should be creamy. Season to taste, and garnish with chopped green onions, bacon bits, sour cream, and Colby Jack cheese, if desired

Spinach Artichoke Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1 6 oz jar artichoke hearts, chopped small
1 cup cooked spinach, with Juices squeezed out
1/4 of a red pepper, chopped small
3-4 oz grated parmesan cheese, divided
1-2 tsp garlic salt
Jalapeno peppers (as many as you prefer) chopped small for the inside and a few whole slices for the top. (we use the kind from a jar, really good and not too hot)

Heat oven to 350 Degrees.  Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Spread in a baking dish, 8x8 works well.  Lay 8-12 whole jalapeno slices on top.  Sprinkle top with a bit of mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese.  Then bake for 30-35 minutes.  Serve warm with tortilla chips.

Side note:  All amounts do not have to be exact.  I made this up, so it could be changed in many ways.  Today we had no red peppers, so there was no red pepper in it, no big deal!

Recipe Bio:  This is a conference tradition for our family.  Twice a year we get to indulge a bit for this tasty treat.

Tarragon Chicken Salad in Cantaloupe Boats

Tarragon Chicken Salad in Cantaloupe Boats

Ingredients

3 cups diced grilled chicken, chilled
1/4 cup minced red bell pepper
2 tbsp. minced red onion
1 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
1-1/2 tbsp. orange marmalade
1/2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cantaloupe, halved and seeded

Directions

Tarragon Chicken Salad in Cantaloupe Bowls Prep time: 15 minutes Place chicken, bell pepper, onion and tarragon in a medium bowl. Whisk together remaining ingredients except cantaloupe and pour over chicken mixture; toss well to coat. Place equal amounts in each cantaloupe half. Makes 4 dinner or 6 lunch servings. Tip! For a pretty presentation, serve cantaloupe wedges on a bed of baby spinach.

Shopping List:

Chicken, red bell pepper, red onion, fresh tarragon, extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, orange marmalade, Dijon mustard, salt, black pepper, 2 cantaloupe

Recipe Bio: I have had this recipe in my book for a while without ever trying it. It just looks fun and delicious! Well, this week Sunflower Market had cantaloupe on sale 3 for $1, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity! I used dried Tarragon since I didn't have fresh and I used regular Balsamic Vinegar since I was pretty sure it would taste as good as White. We also had Mandarin marmalade so I used that instead of Orange marmalade. It was a hit. I served it with a creamy potato soup(by Bear Creek) and some toasted french bread to round out the meal. Yum!!

Oh Yeah! Pork Carnitas

Pork

• 3-4 pounds of boneless pork shoulder (may be called Boston butt) or 4-5lbs of bone-in pork shoulder

Spice rub

Note: This amount of spice works well for the amount of meat we normally use (3-4lbs), but it's a simple ratio so simply scale it for your amount of meat

• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp cumin (freshly toasted and ground if you can--it does make a difference)
• 1 tsp garlic powder

Braising liquid

• 3/4 cup orange juice
• Water to cover (for our pan that's usually about 2 cups)

Technique

1. Heat a dutch oven or other heavy bottomed oven-ready lidded pan over medium high heat with just enough vegetable oil (or lard if you have it) to cover the bottom .
2. Pre-heat oven to 300ºF
3. Cut pork into 1-2" cubes, trimming large sections of fat off (we need fat for the flavor, so just cut off any real large pieces). Toss pork pieces with spice rub.
4. Brown the cubed pork well in the dutch oven, going in batches so there is only one layer of meat at a time.
5. When all the meat is browned, deglaze the pan's bottom with the orange juice, stirring to break up the brown bits. Introduce all of the meat back to the pan and cover with water until it's nearly submerged.
6. Bring to a simmer, cover, and place in the oven.
7. Stir the pot after one and two hours, the pork should be very tender towards the third hour. When you're confortable with the tenderness, evacuate all the pork to a platter and begin to boil the braising liquid on the stove top.
8. After letting the pork cool for a few minutes work through with your hands to separate and discard any fat or gristle pieces that hadn't melted in the braise. Tear the meat into smaller pieces.
9. Turn your broiler on to high and place a rack towards the top
10. Toss the now shredded pork with some of the reduced braising liquid (that should have boiled down significantly by now) and spread in a single layer on a sheet pan.
11. Broil the pork for approximately five minutes per side until the outside begins to carmelize
12. Serve! We like it best in tacos, but there's no wrong way to eat carnitas.

Tips

• Carnitas saves in the fridge very nicely, we like to hold back an amount from the last step (broiling) just for the fridge. Later in the week we heat it up, broil and the result is undistinguishable from same-day carnitas.

Recipe Bio: I was at the store with Mom and found Pork Carnitas for just over $1 a lb. I bought 2 packages knowing that I had been wanting to try to make Carnitas for dinner sometime. I found this recipe on www.itsfordinner.com . We had them tonight for dinner and they were a HUGE hit! We ate them on warmed corn tortillas with shredded cheddar cheese and avocado slices, complimented with black beans, basmati lime cilantro rice and Juanitas Tortilla chips(LOVED these as well! got 'em at Winco) It was better than a restaurant and worth the work!

Delicious Clam Chowder

Ingredients:

• 3 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams
• 1 cup minced onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 2 cups cubed potatoes
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 quart half-and-half cream
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Fry 2-6 Slices of Bacon in a Large Skillet. Remove Bacon to drain off fat. Add onions, celery, potatoes and carrots to the skillet and coat with bacon grease. Then add clam juice(from cans). Add water to cover the vegies, and cook over medium heat until tender.
2. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.
3. Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe Bio: A cold, dreary December day in Penryn and we needed something warm us up. I found this recipe online at www.allrecipes.com. We ate this with a warm loaf of Sourdough bread, YUM!

MRS.GREEN'S CALIFORNIA RELIEF MAP CLAY recipe:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 teaspoons cream of tarter

2 cups water

2 tablespoons oil

mix all ingredients. Cook on stove (Medium heat) stirring. Let cool and then knead out lumps. Cover and refrigerate.

* I made 3 batches to have 25- 3 inch balls of dough. Clay will take 1

to 2 days to dry after making project.

Recipe Bio:Joshua made this in his 4th grade class. He loved it and wanted to make it again!