triple sec

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

March 10, 2015

Orange You Glad You Made Chocolate Chip Cookies?!?!

Ugh, I’m the worst! ha!

But you know what was the best?!?!?! Watching The Bachelor finale last night!!!!!

I had always told myself that I wouldn’t watch The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, but I was getting tired of being surrounded by co-workers talking about the episode that aired the night before without knowing what was going on and being able to chime in. So I started tuning in to watch the trainwreck that was Juan Pablo. And, damn it, I got hooked. So then we had to watch Andi on The Bachelorette. Which lead to us watching Chris, aka Prince Farming.

I mean, I still can’t actually beleive it’s a show that people watch. I’m ashamed. I think. It’s all so weird. But it’s a fun guilty pleasure (Just like Dancing with the Stars!)

Are you as excited as I am about The Bachelorette? With Brit AND Kaitlyn!!! Oh man, this should be interesting. Can’t wait for May 18th! I’ll get my wine and cookies ready!

And I might just need to watch Bachelor in Paradise as well to watch Ashley S. I swear she is just playing us all and it’s all an act. I mean, it has to be, right…

Anyway, these cookies have the perfect amount of chocolate and orange. I’ve loved that combo ever since I wacked into my first Terry’s orange. I stuck with the milk chocolate and orange combination by using milk chocolate chips in these cookies. Semi-sweet or dark work well but I think the milk chocolate is the best. I added a bit of instant coffee to make both the chocolate and orange flavors pop. And they really do!

Damn, I have to make these again. ASAP.

Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 Cups bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Cup (2 sticks) butter
3/4 Cup sugar
3/4 Cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon triple sec liquor
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
2 Cups milk chocolate chips

Process

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the bread flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugars until light in color and texture.
Add the eggs, triple sec, and orange extract and beat well until fully incorporated and smooth.
In 2 batches, add in the flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
Add the chocolate chips and gently fold in.
Roll out 24 cookies and place on parchment/sil-pat lined baking sheets.
Bake for 13-14 minutes or until, just set. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for at least 3-5 minutes before removing.

Thirsty Thursday: Blackberry Margaritas

April 25, 2013

So it seems fitting that I get through the entire winter without being sick and now… bam! I think it had really been well over 1 year and half since I had a cold and now all my good luck has caught up with me.

…

Thirsty Thursday: Chocolate Margaritas

February 14, 2013

When we’re home on the weekends we generally keep things low key, since the rest of the time we are running around traveling. On Saturdays we run over to Haymarket early in the morning so we can get all of our produce shopping done quickly and then the rest of the morning I try to lounge around watching Food Network Shows. For a long time the show Mexican Made Easy aired on Saturday mornings (now Friday afternoons) and I would glue myself to the sofa to watch Chef Marcela Valladolid for those 30 minutes whip up fantastic Mexican and Mexican inspired dishes. Plus I seriously want her wardrobe- so many tunics!

I’ve made several of her dishes but there was one that I saw and knew immediately I’d have to make. Plus I’ve made it repeatedly since then. And that would be her Chocolate Margaritas. I loved them the moment I made them. How could you not? Chocolate. Tequila. More chocolate. Since I love them so much I’ve made them quite often and overtime I’ve made some modifications. Mainly, instead of using heavy cream I used reduced fat milk. I mainly made this substitution just so I could drink more margaritas without feeling awful about the how rich they were. More margaritas for the win!

Today is Valentine’s Day so we decided on a theme that just screamed that to us so we each picked a chocolaty thing to share. And O.M.G. Amanda picked a kick ass Brownie Pudding. Seriously?? Seriously!!!

Chocolate Margaritas

Makes 4

Ingredients

To rim the glasses:

Chocolate syrup

Margarita:

1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 cup tequila
1 cup chocolate liqueur (recommended: Godiva)
1/3 cup reduced fat milk
1/3 cup orange liqueur
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Ice

Garnish:

Mexican or Bittersweet Chocolate

Process

To rim the glasses:

Put the syrup on a plate and roll the rim of the margarita or martini glasses with the chocolate syrup. Set aside.

To make the Margaritas:

Mix all of the ingredients, except ice, in a pitcher. Working in 2-4 batches, transfer the mixture to a shaker full of ice. Shake to completely combine and chill. Pour into the prepared glasses. Grate the Mexican chocolate on top of the drink.

Big Blue Cocktail

December 11, 2011

I live in the land of Patriots. But I am not a fan of these Patriots. No, I am sticking to my roots and I get flack for it up here. But I grin and bear it since I can always fall back on this game, this play. Bliss.

I am a Giants fan. I grew up in the tri-state area so they were always on in my house. I would cheer when I had no idea what was going on just to join in. I wore my dad’s oversized shirts to bed. Now, I have my own Giants shirts that I wear during games. (My brother has a Giants tattoo on his leg… now that is commitment!) I know they are having a rough season right now. But I’m not a fair weather fan! I am still cheering them on. Maybe those cheers are peppered with foul language but still I’m stinking to my men in blue. Especially after they were robbed last week with a bad call. I know they have it in them.

I had recently been going through old magazines and pulling out recipes. One was a really old issue of the defunct Blueprint Magazine. (Oh, how I miss that magazine.) I came across a Blueprint Martini on one of the pages and I knew I would have to make to enjoy while cheering on the G-Men. I made the cocktail form the magazine and it was just too much! Shocker here- I don’t like drinking straight vodka. Sure I’ll do a shot but this recipe called for 4 oz of it. I would have been on the floor! So I ended up reworking it and making it delightful! Now if only the Giants had won that game I would have been so happy. Let’s hope they beat the Cowboys today!

Big Blue Cocktail

*makes 1 cocktail*

Ingredients

1 oz of vodka
1 oz of Curaçao liqueur
1 tablespoon of triple sec
4 oz of seltzer
garnish with blueberries

Process

Put the vodka, Curaçao, and triple sec together in a chilled cocktail shaker, and mix to combine.
Pour the seltzer in a martini glass and then add the contents from the cocktail shaker.
Garnish with blueberries.