Warm up the fire places!  It is the first day of fall, school is back in full force, and the catering business is getting ready for high season.

I just recently had my first holiday menu printed.  I know that may sound crazy since we have been in business for 4 years (yes, FOUR years!).  But, everything has been either word of mouth, the website, or individual menus that are emailed.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to hold them and pat them and pet them!  They are really so beautiful.  Thank you to the fabulous graphic artist, Jenn Streck!  It is funny how a menu makes me feel all professional inside, as if I haven’t been catering weddings, birthdays, baptisms and such for FOUR years.  This is a prime example of the mind playing tricks on me if I let her.

One of my most important offerings on the holiday menu?  THE COOKIE! Not that at any time of year the cookie isn’t important but during the holidays, they are very important.  We can make them and store them in the freezer for those last minute orders, like that school function we forget about or the random kids that end up at our house on a Friday night!  I love how baking a batch of cookies warms up the house with the oven temperature and the aroma.  Smells are such a key ingredient to making a house a home.

So, let’s get baking.  My two favorite cookies this fall are the lovely and ever so simple Chocolate Chip Cookie and the spicy, soft Ginger Molasses Cookie.  Today we will get the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe out.  Look for our Ginger Molasses next week if I can get my blogging life together.

 

G&H’s Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 cup Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line your baking pan with parchment paper.  In a standing mixer, mix your melted butter with your three sugars.  While this is mixing on high-speed, in a separate bowl mix together your flour, baking soda, and salt.  After the butter and sugar mixture turns a pale brown, about 5 minutes, add in your eggs one at a time and then your vanilla.  After this is incorporated, turn the mixer to low and add in your flour mixture slowly.  Don’t over mix, just until flour is incorporated.  Turn mixer off and hand mix in your chocolate chips.   Drop a tablespoon size of cookie dough on your parchment paper and bake for 13-15 minutes or until toasty on the sides.  Lastly, try not to burn yourself when eating them too soon after coming out of the oven.

I hope you can find the time to enjoy this beautiful fall weather with a good and simple cookie.  Here’s to the smells of cookies in the oven and gorgeous colors on the trees!  Cheers!