Only cookies I make

Double Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup HERSHEY'S Milk Chocolate Chips
1 cup REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips
Directions:1. Heat oven to 350°F.2. Beat butter, sugar and peanut butter in medium bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, blending well. Stir in milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.3. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Remove to wire rack; cool completely. About 3 dozen cookies.

These store really well in the fridge if you don't want to make them all at once.

My favorite meal to make for company...

This soup is delicious, easy to serve, AND you can make it a day ahead to avoid the stresses that I always experience before company like cleaning kitchen or house with the kids running around :) I also like making this to bring to someone that needs a meal after having a baby, etc (we have tons of babies born where I live in student housing!) Or, sometimes, I will even just make it for our little family :) Always great as leftovers! My husband loves it.

I like serving this with homeade Lion House rolls (bottom of post). I love dipping bread in this!

Tools that I recommend if you're into fun kitchen tools or just Pampered Chef:

Ultimate Slice 'n' Grate (potatoes)
Chopper (for the onions)
Scissors work great for the bacon and Kale
And, of course a trusty garlic mincer ( I love my Pampered Chef one, because I don't have to peel it!)
Oh, and a shredder if you want to get really nifty and use it for sprinkling Parmesan Cheese on top just before/after serving (Ya! Like they do in Olive Garden!)

I believe that these tools make this meal easier and faster to make, if not even a little more fun :)

Zuppa Toscana (From the Olive Garden)

1 lb. ground Hot Italian sausage
½ lb. bacon, chopped
7-9 medium potatoes, cut lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced or shredded
11/4 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)
2 cups kale leaves, chopped
4-5 (14.5 oz.) cans chicken broth - enough to just cover the potatoes & onion
1 pint or less heavy whipping cream
Salt & pepper to taste

(Optional: grated parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top after serving)

Brown sausage & bacon. My friend that gave me this recipe says: "I microwave the meat in separate dishes in 3 min. intervals and drain the fat after each interval. Usually cooks in 6-7 min." (I actually bake my bacon in the oven for 30 minutes on 350 in a broiler type pan lined with foil) Set aside. Place broth, potatoes, garlic & onion in a pot; simmer over medium heat until onions and potatoes are tender. Add sausage and bacon. Simmer 10 minutes. *Add kale and cream, season with salt and pepper. Heat through and serve.

*If you are making this a day early, stop here. Don't add the Kale and Cream until you reheat it the next day. I let mine cool a bit before putting it in the refrigerator.

Lion House Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant or non-instant)
2 tablespoons dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup butter, shortening, or margarine
1 egg
5 to 5 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or bread flour

Method:
In large bowl or electric mixer, combine water and milk powder; stir until milk dissolves. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. Add 2 cups flour; mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then for 2 minutes at medium speed. (Dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed in by hand). Add about ½ cup flour and mix again, by hand or mixer. Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour).

Scrape dough off sides of bowl and pour about one tablespoon of vegetable oil all around sides of bowl. Turn dough over in bowl so it is covered with oil. (This helps prevent dough from drying out). Cover with plastic and allow to rise in warm place until double in size, about 45 minutes.
Scrape dough out onto floured board. Turn dough over so it is floured on both sides; gently flatten to about 1 inch thick. With rolling pin, roll out to a rectangle about 18 inches long, 8 inches wide, and ¼ inch thick. Brush with melted butter. With pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut dough in half to make two strips about 4 inches wide. Make cuts through strips of dough every 2 inches, making about 18 pieces of dough.

Starting with short end, roll up one piece of dough, with butter on the inside. Place roll on parchment-lined pan with other short end down on the paper. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough. Be sure all rolls face the same direction on baking pan. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, or until light to medium golden brown. Brush tops of rolls with melted butter. Serve with Honey Butter. Makes 1 to 1 ½ dozen rolls.

Helpful Tips for Making Rolls
Always add flour gradually and keep dough as soft as you can handle. A soft dough will produce a lighter roll.
It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour called for in the recipe—add only enough flour to make dough manageable.
To shorten dough's rising time, use one of these methods:
1) When dough is thoroughly mixed, oil bowl and cover dough with plastic wrap. Fill sink or larger bowl with about 2 inches of hot water or enough water to come about half or three-fourths the way up outside the dough bowl. Place bowl of dough in bowl of water and allow to rise until double in size.
2) Just before mixing dough, turn oven on lowest possible temperature. Place a pan of hot water on bottom oven rack. When dough is thoroughly mixed, place in oiled bowl. Cover dough with plastic wrap; place in oven. Turn oven off, shut oven door, and allow dough to rise until double in size, about 50 to 60 minutes. Shape or cut into desired rolls. Place rolls on greased or parchment-lined pans and allow to rise until double in size. Bake according to recipe.
Brush top of rolls with butter when first taken from oven.
How to consistently make attractive, good-tasting rolls? Practice! Practice! Practice!

Honey Butter

Ingredients:
½ cup butter, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup honey
Method:
Whip softened butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and honey gradually. Beat for 20 minutes. Makes 1 cup.

Cherries Jubilee Cheesecake Bars

Cherries Jubilee Cheesecake Bars

Cherry cake mix and frosting make this 3-step recipe a no-fuss alternative to traditional cheesecake.
Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:3 hr 5 min Makes:36 bars

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® cherry chip cake mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy cherry frosting
3 eggs

1. Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat dry cake mix and butter with electric mixer on low speed until crumbly; reserve 1 cup. In bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan, press remaining crumbly mixture.
2. In same bowl, beat cream cheese and frosting with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in eggs until blended. Pour over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumbly mixture.
3. Bake about 45 minutes (about 42 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until set; cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours until chilled.

For bars, cut into 6 rows by 6 rows.
Store covered in refrigerator.

I made this for Easter Breakfast and it was yummy

Cream Cheese Stuffed Cinnabundt
20 Rhodes Bake and Serve Rolls, thawed on the counter for about 1.5 hours
1 lb. light brown sugar
2 sticks salted butter
4 Tbsp. cinnamon sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
In a bowl, combine cream cheese with 1/4 cup brown sugar and combine well with spatula. Cover and place in refrigerator.
Lightly coat bottom of bundt pan with cooking spray.
Melt butter, then add remaining brown sugar and stir well. Bring to a light boil to caramelize then pour 1/3 of the butter/brown sugar mix across bottom of bundt pan.
Remove cream cheese mix from refrigerator. Take one roll at a time into your hands and pull outward on sides to increase size slightly. Place approximately 1 Tbsp. of the cream cheese mixture into middle of roll. Fold dough around the mixture, pinch closed, then roll into a tight ball. Evenly place 8 balls across bottom of bundt pan.
Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. of sugar/cinnamon.
Pour second 1/3 of the brown sugar/butter mixture over 8 buns.
Repeat process with remaining 12 dough balls for second layer. First the dough balls, 2 Tbsp. sugar/cinnamon and finally the remaining butter/brown sugar mix.Let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour then bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees F.
You may need to lay a piece of foil over top of pan after 40-45 minutes if buns start looking well done.
Remove from oven then immediately turn over onto large plate. Remove bundt pan. Serve warm or room temperature.