Chocolate Chip Cookies For My Valentine

This weekend, in honor of the holiday, I made sweets for my sweetie. These cookies are my hubby's absolute favorites. The recipe comes from a cookbook my mom made for me from her own favorite recipes. Thanks mom!! :)


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup margarine (or butter - I like margarine, make sure it's softened)
1/2 + 1/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
(nuts optional - hubby and I hate nuts, so I always omit them!)



In a medium to large sized mixing bowl: combine margarine, shortening, sugar & brown sugar then stir/cream together with a mixer.

Add eggs and vanilla to mixture, cream together.

Stir in flour, baking soda, salt. Mix all that together and then add chocolate chips (and nuts if you want)





Bake at 350° till golden (12-13 minutes depending on how crunchy you want them)

Let them cool on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Make Your Own Croutons

Do you have a loaf of bread that's going dry? Make homemade croutons. They're easy to make and taste great! This recipe is from an awesome book called "The Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyczyn (it's chocked full of great money saving tips, so check it out).

Croutons

4 slices of homemade bread (you can also use french bread or regular white bread from the store, but I think homemade is the best)
2 Tbs. Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
2 Tbs. salad oil (I used olive oil, but you can also use veg. oil)

Slice bread into 3/8" cubes and place in bowl.


Add seasonings and oil. Toss to mix or stir gently with a spoon. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees until crisp.


Let cool on the cookie sheet then store in a glass jar or a container with a secure lid. (I always sneak a few warm croutons, they taste DELICIOUS). My mom also says they taste great in soup, such as tomato. YUM.