What I Love About Being a Homemaker . . .

. . . on a random day in December:
Scented candles
An extra trip to town for dinner ingredients, because I just felt like having shrimp and lemon and garlic pasta tonight
Lowering the kitchen lights, lighting the Advent candle, and soaking in thoughts of the Light of the world
Getting to have a half-hour telephone conversation with my son who's two states away


Enjoying homemaking pictures from inspiring magazines, even if they are of iced tea in pretty crystal glasses while I'm two feet from the fireplace and wearing layers
Being home to get fires going, giving physicality to the statement, "Keeping the home fires burning"
Homemaking books from my shelves that inspire me to love my family even more

Food, glorious food
These are simple SMOKED SALMON APPETIZERS. Spread smoked salmon strips with softened cream cheese. Put sliver of dill pickle in center and roll up. Voila.

What do you love about being a homemaker on a random day in December?

Not So Fond o' This Fondue

I was hoping to be able to share with you a wonderful, festive fondue recipe, dense with Gruyere cheese, diced shrimp, white wine, and tarragon.
Alas, what I am able to share with you instead is this glop. Rhymes with flop.
The cheesiness never quite came together with the white wine - apple juice - lemon juice liquidness, save for about 20 seconds mid-cooking, and even then I had to whisk furiously to keep the whole thing from looking like a chemistry experiment gone awry.
As Julia Child liked to chirp, Never Apologize.
So I shan't apologize, but simply direct you, if you have a hankering for a nice, festive dinner of cheese fondue, to try instead this recipe.
Cheers.

Thankfulness and Potatoes

"O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" (Psalm 34:8)
Happy Thanksgiving. What a wonderful holiday filled with feasting and family and gratefulness for the abundance of good gifts from our Father in Heaven. (See James 1:17 :))
Among many, many other blessings, I am thankful for my mom's awesome cranberries (two kinds!), my friend Pam's make-ahead gravy (love that gravy), and, of course, pecan fudge pie (recipe, pg. 255, Queen of the Castle).

If you have extra mashed potatoes lurking in your fridge (see this post for a shining example), you will be overjoyed to learn of this recipe: chocolate-coconut potato candy.

You might also want to look into these delicious, light as air potato rolls.

Now go. Eat. Be filled with thankfulness.

And if you get a chance to go see the movie The Blind Side? Go do it. Awesome.

Elizabeth David's Pumpkin and Tomato Gratin

"If we were to bushwack our way back to the true source of modern American food culture, we would find that it is not Julia Child, but Elizabeth David." - The New Yorker

This is the first recipe I've ever tried from famed British food writer, Elizabeth David. It's a very colorful, tasty vegetarian dish, one I was especially happy to come across as I still have a pile of pumpkins and a constantly full windowsill of ripening tomatoes, smiling at me whenever I pass through the kitchen.

And just look at these colors. Aren't they beautiful?


I'm not gonna lie, this dish takes a bit of time to prepare -- you have to peel and chop pumpkins, chop and sautee tomatoes, put it all together and bake for 35 or 40 minutes. But it is tasty and filling, with the dominant flavor being tomato. I think it would make a lovely Thanksgiving side dish, if you're looking for an extra one and have the time.

I made a few minor changes -- omitting parsley, for example, and cutting down the salt a bit -- so I'll write it here the way I made it. The recipe comes from the book Elizabeth David's Christmas, edited by Jill Norman, compiled from Elizabeth David's notes after her 1992 death.

PUMPKIN AND TOMATO GRATIN
1 small pumpkin (2-3 lbs.)
2 T. butter
2 sticks celery, chopped
2 1/2 t. coarse sea salt
2 cloves garlic
1 lb. tomatoes, chopped
1 piece of bread, torn into small pieces
1 T. butter

Peel pumpkin and chop into small chunks, discarding seeds and gummy stuff in the middle. In large, heavy frying pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add pumpkin, celery, and salt. Cook gently, uncovered, until pumpkin is soft. (This took maybe 20-30 minutes? I kept spearing the little pumpkin cubes and tasting until it seemed suitably soft. At this point the dish is pretty salty, but don't worry; it all works out in the end.) In Elizabeth's words, the pumpkin should be "just beginning to look slightly jammy."

Remove from heat and place pumpkin in shallow gratin dish.

In the same pan, cook the garlic and tomatoes at medium-high heat until most of the liquid cooks off. ("The tomatoes are almost in a puree," says Elizabeth -- this took maybe 20 minutes or so.) Remove from heat, mix in with the pumpkin, and smush down the veggies till they're flat.

Top off the dish with the torn bread pieces and the remaining T. of butter, cut into little blobs. Bake in top third of the oven, at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, until golden.

Cranberry Scones

If you're a scone lover, you have to give these babies a try. They're made with heavy cream and lemon extract and dried cranberries. And they are good. Oh so good.
The recipe comes from a fun book I'm about a third of the way through: Confections of a Closet Master Baker, a memoir (with recipes) by Gesine Bullock-Prado. You can see her blog here. The author happens to be the sister of actress Sandra Bullock. But more importantly, she's a wonderful baker. She left Hollywood and a job at her sister's production company to start up her own bakery in Vermont. And I, for one, am glad she did. Because if she hadn't, I wouldn't have this scone recipe.

And I'm reeeeeally glad I have this scone recipe.

CREAM SCONES (with dried cranberries)

1/2 c. heavy cream, plus an extra T. or two for brushing the scones
1 egg
1 t. lemon extract
3 T. sugar, plus another couple t. for sprinkling over the scones
2 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1T. baking powder
6 T. (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits (I used salted)
1/2 c. dried cranberries

In small bowl, combine cream, egg, lemon extract, and 3 T. sugar. Set aside.
In large bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Drop the butter into the flour mixture and use your fingers (I used a pastry blender) to work in the butter, until your mixtures is the texture of coarse meal. Stir in the cream mixture and the cranberries with a fork, stirring only until a sticky dough will hold together. Knead gently for about 30 seconds on a floured surface. Pat into a 1/2-inch thick circle.

At this point, the author uses a 1 1/2-inch fluted cutter to make scones. I decided to cut mine into wedges instead.

Place scones on ungreased baking sheet. Brush with cream, then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake on the center rack at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes, until golden. (I baked mine for 15.)

Now the question of the day: Do you have a favorite kind of scone? And what do you think: glaze or no glaze?

Amish Overnight Blueberry French Toast

You've probably never seen an overnight French toast recipe quite like this one. In addition to the expected eggs and milk and bread cubes, it contains the added surprise of luscious blueberries, maple syrup, and cream cheese chunks.

Sound like a special holiday breakfast you might want to try?

I thought so.

The recipe comes from Suzanne Woods Fisher, author of a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, many of which have an Amish theme.
If you're in Barnes & Noble these days, for example, you might see
Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World. Suzanne's first book in her Amish fiction series, The Choice, will be released in January.

This recipe, says Suzanne, comes from an Old Order Amish family. "We stayed at their farm in July and had this for breakfast . . . and my husband couldn't stop talking about it. I wrote and asked the Amish mom if I could have the recipe and she gave it to me. My husband has made it a number of times . . . and he's a guy who doesn't know how to cook. Not at all. It's that good a recipe!"

Here, then, is Anna's Overnight Blueberry French Toast. Brought to you via Suzanne; via me; via blogger. Aaaah, the wonders of the internet.

ANNA'S OVERNIGHT BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST

12 slices bread, cut in one-inch cubes
8 oz. cream cheese, cut in one-inch cubes
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
12 eggs
1/3 c. maple syrup
2 c. milk

The night before, place half of bread cubes in a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Top with cream cheese,

blueberries,

and remaining bread.

Beat eggs, syrup, and milk together

and pour evenly over bread. Put in the refrigerator.

The next morning, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until well done. Serves six.

Homemade Food Gifts, Part Three

If you're thinking about making some Christmas food gifts this year, give these Sugar and Spice Nuts a try. They take only 15 minutes or so to make, and an hour or two to dry.

And voila! A lovely gift you can put in your cute little crazy quilt jars, or bag up to include in a care package for those you won't be seeing this Christmas.

Thank you to author and editor Susan R. Blaske Williams for this oh-so-addicting recipe.

SUGAR AND SPICE NUTS
3 c. pecans (or walnuts or mixed nuts)
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
1 T. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Put parchment paper on a cookie sheet (or grease cookie sheet) and bake nuts at 275 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine sugar, water, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in saucepan and heat to boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir in nuts to coat. With slotted spoon, remove nuts to wax paper, separating them as much as possible. Allow to dry for an hour or two, then package them up.

NOTE: If you're looking to make some homemade gifts this year, check out the Homemade Gift Carnival at Rachel's Cooking blog. And go visit Life as Mom, too, for more great food gift ideas.

Sharing Christmas Cheer

I have a guest post today from Susan R. Blaske Williams, author of Making It Home and publisher of Making It Home Magazine.

Susan provides tips for sending care packages to those you love, and even those you haven't met yet.

CHRISTMAS AWAY FROM HOME: HOW TO ASSEMBLE A CARE PACKAGE
by Susan R. Blaske Williams

There are so many things we can do to share some joy and Christmas cheer with others -- even those living far away or stationed in the military. One of those things is to create and assemble a Christmas care package.

Care packages can be sent to people we know, but they can also be sent to people we don't know through ministries and organizations who specialize in delivering care packages for special causes.

Who are the people to consider? College students, active military personnel away from home, military families home and abroad, prisoners, orphans, missionaries, disaster victims, nursing home residents, hospitalized children, unwed mothers or those in a crisis pregnancy, single parent families, and special friends and relatives who may be living far away.

How do I find mailing addresses for people I don't know? Conduct a search on the internet to look for ministries who distribute care packages to the specific people/groups you would like to reach, and speak to friends at church or in social clubs to ask for names of people who may like to receive a care package. Find out about the local organizations and ministries and ask about specific people you can help. Speak to the social worker at your school to locate a special family or child to bless.

What kinds of things should I include in the care package? This will depend on who will be the recipient of your package. Here are some suggestions:

For military service men or disaster victims, include things like toothpaste, tooth brushes, hand sanitizer, personal wipes, mints and hard candies (avoid things that can melt), combs, soaps, shampoo, lotions, medicine packs (Tylenol, Advil, etc.), vitamin packs, Band-Aids, disposable razors, ear swabs, nail clippers, magazines, crosswords or word puzzles, travel size games, pens, paper, envelopes, prepaid telephone calling cards, Bible, AA batteries, lighters. Liquid items should be in travel size bottles, and the bottles should be labeled if you are using generic bottles, especially for military personnel.

For college students, consider non-perishable food items such as soup mixes, hot cocoa mix, microwave popcorn, a disposable camera, stationery, school supplies such as mini-staplers, notebook paper, calendar, organizers, calculator, etc. If you personally know the college student, you can include family photos, personal keepsakes and gifts, stuffed animals and gift certificates to their favorite restaurants or local grocery stores.

Many prisons do not allow prisoners to receive packages, and those that do have a list of items that are accepted, for safety concerns. You will want to coordinate with a prison ministry to see what the rules for receiving care packages might be. Many prison ministries have pen-pal programs if you prefer this to sending a package.

Many pro-life ministries accept care packages for unwed mothers or those in crisis pregnancies, and they also accept care packages for children. Things like blankets, diapers, teething rings, layette sets, bottles, diaper ointments and wipes are welcomed.

You may also enjoy hosting a party and asking guests to contribute items to your care package --or to help assemble several care packages, including packaging and addressing them.

Here are some places that will help you locate people to send your care packages to, and will accept your care packages as donations for others:
for disaster victims, visit Operation Blessing at http://www.ob.org/programs/disaster_relief/projects/disaster_kit.asp;
for missionaries in the field, visit Love Packages at http://www.lovepackages.org/needed.htm;
for children in need around the world, visit Buckner Orphan Care International at http://www.helporphans.org/give/donationneeds.html;
for prisoners, visit Prison Fellowship at http://www.prisonfellowship.org/;
for a list of recommended items and mailing instructions for overseas military personnel and to sign up to be put in contact with deployed service men and women who may enjoy communicating as well as receiving care packages, visit Operation Military Pride at http://www.operationmilitarypride.org/

Susan R. Blaske Williams is an author, writer and publisher at Making It Home Publications -- including many topics on home, family, business and how to successfully combine all three. Learn more at http://www.makingithomewebzine.com/blog/

Crockpot Pork Roast with Apple Gravy

What's not to love about a crockpot recipe that's easy and tasty and kid-friendly, too? This pork roast fills the bill nicely. No pesky little vegetables to scare off junior. The gravy comes from the apple juice the pork simmers in.
Next time I'm going to add a bit of salt, and make sure to serve this with mashed potatoes, or maybe baked-- something to sop up that delicious gravy.

PORK ROAST WITH APPLE GRAVY
3/4 c. apple juice
2 T. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. vinegar
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/8 t. pepper
3-lb pork loin roast (cut in half if you need to, to fit in your crockpot)
2 1/2 T. cornstarch
3 T. cold water
(salt added, as needed)

Spray your crockpot with non-stick cooking spray (or grease with butter). Add apple juice, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic powder, and pepper. Put roast in crockpot, and cook on low for 7-8 hours. When done, put in oven to keep warm.

In saucepan, whisk together cornstarch and water until smooth. Add in juices from roast. Bring to boil. Cook and stir for two minutes. Add salt to taste.
Serve over mashed taters.
Recipe from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with your Slow Cooker.

Weight Watchers' Apple Crisp

This serves only two, so make sure to multiply accordingly. It's a tasty little autumn treat that's quick to put together and will cost you 227 calories, according to my Weight Watchers Quick and Easy Menu Cookbook.
APPLE CRISP
1/2 lb. apples, pared and sliced thin (about two small apples)
1 1/2 t. lemon juice
1 T. water
1 t. honey
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. margarine (I used butter)
2 graham crackers (2 1/2-inch squares), made into crumbs (I used crushed macaroons, left over from my Julia Child pear dessert)
Preheat oven to 375. Toss apples with lemon juice and put in small baking dish. Add water, honey, and cinnamon, and mix well. Dot the top with butter or margarine, and sprinkle over the crumbs. Bake about 30 minutes, until apples are soft.

OK. Two down. A few more apples to go.

What are some of your favorite ways to eat up those autumn apples?

10 Simple Tools That Should Be In Your Kitchen (but Probably Aren't)

Think your kitchen's well stocked with the basic necessities? Go visit Molly's post, here, where she talks to me about my kitchen must-haves, and see if your Top Ten list matches mine.

Molly and her husband blog about books, movies, and baseball, among other things, over at The Bumbles Blog. She also makes a mean spinach salad with maple vinaigrette.

Check it out. And share with the rest of us your top kitchen must-haves. What are the items you feel no kitchen should be without?

Almond-Oatmeal Scones

If you're looking for a tasty, healthy, full-of-fiber breakfast dish, seek no further. These almond-oatmeal scones, courtesy of Kari at the Eating Simply blog, are just the thing.

I can only presume you could freeze them, but I really can't verify because I ate them all. They were gooooood.

Roasted Pumpkin Kabobs

I've gotta confess, we have never been big vegetable eaters at our house. But this year Kahuna outdid himself in the garden department. And nothing screams, "Eat me up!" louder than free food.
I never did get pictures of all the pumpkins in the garden. But there were at least ten or twelve of them, most of which are now decoratively scattered throughout the house, inside and out.

The pumpkins used to be in that green patch in the foreground, where the little orange flowers are now. In fact, a few little pumpkins are still valiantly trying to produce.
Do you see that flock of wild turkeys in the background? How cool is that? In all the years we've lived here I've never seen wild turkeys. Until a couple days ago. Right before Thanksgiving.
Don't tell me you wouldn't be thinking the same thing.

Anyway. Pumpkins. I was talking about pumpkins.
This recipe for roasted pumpkin kabobs came from an old-ish issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I used just half of a 3-pound pumpkin because, frankly, I didn't expect to like it.
I loved it. Tomorrow I'm going to cook up the second half. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Serve as a snack, a salad addition, or a side dish.

Roasted Pumpkin Kabobs
1 pie pumpkin, about 2 lb. (I used half of a 3-pounder; I have no idea what a "pie pumpkin" is, but mine was orange. I figured that oughta work. It did)
1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used 2 t. of the already minced stuff you buy in the jar)
2 t. fresh sage (I used 2/3 t. dried sage because it's what I had)
2 t. finely shredded lemon peel (I used lime peel because it's what I had)
1 t. sea salt or 1/2 t. regular salt (I used sea salt)
1/4 t. ground black pepper
Spread a piece of foil on a baking sheet. Set aside.
With sharp knife, cut pumpkin in half. (This was harder to do than I thought.) Scoop out goop and seeds and save seeds to roast later, if desired. Throw out goop.
Peel pumpkin half with vegetable peeler. Cut into 1 1/2" - 2 " cubes. Thread onto metal skewers, and place on foil-lined baking sheet.
In measuring cup, mix together rest of ingredients. Brush half of oil mixture onto pumpkin kabobs, and bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 450 degrees, brush kabobs with rest of oil mixture, and roast for 15 more minutes, until tender.
Delicious.

Homemade Food Gifts, Part Two

After a previous post on homemade food gifts, Susy asked if I had a recipe for some cookie mix-in-a-jar that looks good and makes good cookies. I think this Chocolatey Peanut Butter Cookie Mix, from the Gooseberry Patch Gift Mixes Cookbooklet #1, fills the bill nicely.

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

3/4 c. cocoa

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

In wide-mouth, one quart jar, smush in the brown sugar. Then pour in the powdered sugar and pack down well. Next, add the layer of cocoa, pack down, and wipe the sides of the jar with a paper towel to remove any puffs of cocoa from the sides. In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt, then add that as your final layer. The whole thing should fit perfectly.

Add a gift tag with the following instructions:

Cream together 1/2 c. butter, 2 eggs, and 1/2 c. peanut butter. Stir in the dry mix. Feel free to use your hands :). Shape into one-inch balls. Place on greased (or parchment paper-lined) cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes. Makes 30 - 36 cookies.

If you want to learn how to make these cute little crazy quilt jar lids to top off your gift, see here.

Have you tried any homemade food gifts the rest of us should know about? Feel free to leave a link in your comments.

Julia's Chocolate Cake

Well I'm not too thrilled at how my Julia Child chocolate cake turned out, the one that took me TWO DAYS TO MAKE.

Neither layer would unmold properly, even with the buttered wax paper which resolutely stayed stuck to the bottom of the pan while the cake was dislodged by a knife, two spatulas, and moi.

Good thing I'm adept at jigsaw puzzles, because I had plenty of little cake shapes to fit together, tangram-style, to make this square.

I just looked up tangram in the dictionary and realized I could have made a cat.

It had better taste good, is all I'm saying.

Homemade Marinated Dried Tomatoes

After my last post, I got a couple questions about how to make your own marinated dried tomatoes. They're simple to do, and give you such a great, flavor-filled reminder of homegrown tomatoes throughout the year.

First step is to dry the tomatoes. You can do this in the oven on low heat (200 degrees) on a foil-covered pan for anywhere from nine to ?maybe 24 hours? The length of time depends on how big and how juicy your tomatoes are. You want them to end up the texture of raisins, with all the moisture sucked out of them.

Here they are, getting there. The two in the upper right corner look about done.

If you're fortunate enough to have access to a dehydrator (big thanks to my friend Angie for lending me hers this summer), you can use that to do the drying. It still takes quite a while -- maybe 24 hours or even longer, depending again on the tomatoes' size and juiciness -- but if you set up the dehydrator on a deck or in the garage, you won't be heating up your house throughout August and September.

What you end up with are flat little discs of tomato goodness that will be way smaller than the slices you started with.

Once you're done snacking -- and you will want to snack on a few -- grab a jar. I like to use wide-mouth pints. The wider mouth makes it easier to get your hand in there, and I think the pint is just a nice size.

No offense, you quart jars, or cute little eensy jars.

Pack the tomato slices pretty tightly in the jar and cover completely with olive oil. No part of the tomato should stick out; the oil is what preserves them. In the picture above, I still need to top off the jar with another inch of oil before closing 'er up. Any little bits of tomato sticking out must be jabbed down until they're fully immersed (and staying) or else removed from the jar. If you leave any part of the tomato out of the oil, it will get moldy and you'll have to throw out the batch.

And we certainly don't want that.

These should keep just fine in your pantry throughout the winter. I like to keep a couple on the window ledge above my kitchen sink. They make me smile.

As for The Prudent Homemaker's question about how many homemade dried tomatoes to use for the cheese ball recipe, I just eyeballed it based on a store-bought jar of roasted peppers I had in my fridge -- I'd say I used maybe 12-15 of the marinated, dried slices.

And that's probably way more than you really wanted to know about marinated dried tomatoes. Have a nice day.

Homemade Food Gifts

Well, it's getting close to that time of year again -- the time when we all start to figure out what holiday gifts we want to give to friends, relatives, neighbors, teachers. I hate waiting until mid-December to think about this because then I end up lunging for overpriced items that I could easily make myself if I weren't in panic mode.

So . . . Christmas in October. It works for me.

This cheese ball made with sun-dried tomatoes (or in my case, dehydrator-dried tomatoes; see tomato glut here) is super simple to put together if you have a food processor. Just four ingredients, whirled together, then shaped in a ball and rolled in toasted chopped nuts. Takes just minutes. And for those who don't like to cook -- there's no cooking involved.

This recipe makes a lot -- three good sized cheese balls, or six 1/2-cup balls for small gifts. Feel free to divide it by three when you're first trying the recipe to see if you like it. No sense in having all those cheese balls lying around.

The recipe comes from this book, Christmas with Southern Living 1993, which contains Christmas decorating ideas, crafts, and recipes. For a while I was on quite a roll, buying Christmas crafts and recipe books year after year. I'm thinking at this point I probably have enough. But they are awfully fun, and full of inspiring pictures, even if all you have time to do is admire the inspiring pictures.

On to the recipe:

CHEESE BALL WITH MARINATED DRIED TOMATOES

3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 7-oz jar oil-packed dried tomatoes, drained

1 clove garlic

2 t. dried basil

1/2 c. coarsely chopped pine nuts or almonds, toasted (I use pine nuts; put them in a skillet over medium heat for a few minutes until they start to turn brown)

Use knife blade in food processor bowl. Add first four ingredients and let the machine chop away. When tomatoes look to be pretty well diced (probably only 20 seconds or so), scrape the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate. (The recipe says to chill for three hours or more, but being the impatient cook that I am, I usually just proceed without chilling. It's a little sticky, but it still works.) Shape into three one-cup balls, or six 1/2-cup balls. Roll in the toasted nuts. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Serve with crackers.

Yum.

NOTE: My food processor is really a mini-chopper, so if I'm making the whole recipe, it works best for me to do it in three batches. I've never tried it in a blender, but that might work, too.

I'd love to hear what food items you make for gifts. If you've posted about some of your favorites, feel free to leave a link in your comment. My stomach and I thank you in advance.

ANOTHER NOTE: For more ideas from Works-for-me-Wednesday, go here.

Mocha Truffle Cookies

These cookies are soft and chocolatey and studded with chocolate chips -- all you could ask for from a cookie. And now that the weather's turning cool, baking a batch might help keep your kitchen warm, too.

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. chocolate chips

1 T. instant coffee crystals

2 c. flour

1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

1 c. chocolate chips

In large saucepan, melt butter and 1/2 c. chocolate chips. Remove from heat and add coffee crystals. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Into chocolate/coffee mixture, stir in sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Add flour mixture to chocolate/coffee mixture. Stir in the 1 c. chocolate chips. Drop dough by tablespoons onto cookie sheets (either greased or covered with parchment paper). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes about 30 cookies.