Jenny's Cherry Cake Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

These are pert near as good as Stephanie's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, even if you're a purist, and they'll sure do in a pinch. They're really quick and easy... even *I'll* make them, and I hate making cookies. I got this recipe from Vicki Johnson, daughter of Lois LeBaw - both good friends and excellent cooks.

 

1 Box Cake Mix, Cherry Flavor

1 Egg

½ C Vegetable Oil

¼ C Flour

¼ C Water

 

Mix together with a strong spoon, add however many chocolate chips you like - I use about half a bag. Add pecans (if you can get away with it; I can't... Lauren doesn't like nuts in his cookies!)

 

Drop by serving spoonfuls (in other words, these are BIG cookies) onto un-greased baking sheet and bake at 350º for approximately 12-14 minutes. Watch them closely - if they begin to brown around the edges before the time is up, they're done. Do not over bake. Makes about 1 ½ dozen big, soft, gooey, wonderful cookies.

 

If you're feeling adventurous (like Donna and Stephanie both get sometimes), use a different flavor cake mix. Strawberry, banana, vanilla - use different flavored chips. They all make excellent cookies!

 

Jenny's (Lee's Really) Milky Way Ice Cream

 

Melt in bowl:

6 Milky Way Bars

1 Can Eagle Brand Milk

½ C Chocolate Syrup

 

Add:

1 Qt. Half & Half

 

Divide Ingredients in half, put one half in container of ice cream freezer, fill to 'Fill Line' with whole milk. Freeze according to freezer directions. When done, do other half and combine. Delicious! (Especially good if you don't melt the chocolate all the way and it makes little crunchy chocolate shreds!

                                                                                                             

Louise's Ris a l'Armande or Christmas Rice

 

This is a traditional Christmas porridge from Sweden and the other 'North Countries'. Lauren's dad described it to me soon after we got together - but he didn't quite give me all the details. It was, literally, years before I found Lauren's mom's recipe, tucked in her well-loved copy of her Betty Crocker Cookbook. And by then, Dad had suffered through some pretty sorry 'guesses'... all without a complaint.

 

1 Quart Whole Milk

3 ½ tbsp Sugar

¾ C Long Grain White Rice

¾ C Blanched, Chopped Almonds

¼ C Sherry

2 tsp Vanilla

1 C Chilled, Heavy Cream

 

Bring the milk to a boil in a 2 quart saucepan and add the sugar and rice. Stir once or twice, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered about 25 minutes, or until the rice is quite soft but not mushy. Pour the finished rice immediately into a shallow bowl to cool quickly, then add the chopped almonds, sherry and vanilla.

 

Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form, then fold it into the rice mixture. Turn the pudding / porridge into a serving dish and chill before serving. Also before serving, hide a whole almond in the porridge. Whoever gets the almond will be married within the year!

 

A cold cherry or raspberry sauce or a spoonful of cherry liqueur is often served on top of the modern version of an ancient Christmas porridge.

 

(This recipe exactly fills the antique Dahl Christmas dish with the Christmas elves and Father Christmas on the top - in other words, it makes about 4-5 cups of porridge... enough for a family of six, especially after a big Christmas meal. You'll think the rice can never soak up all that milk, but it does - always takes mine longer than the allotted time to do so, however. I also substituted 1 capful of Almond extract in place of the Sherry... and instead of almonds, I hid the required pecan.)