Ah-mazing Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Here's another one that is tucked away in my brain and has been refined, and dare I say, perfected, over the years.  I mean really, who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie??

1 C. butter, softened (I always use salted butter!)
3/4 C. granular sugar
3/4 C. packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1-2 tsp. vanilla (if you like a stronger vanilla presence, use 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. sea salt (trust me on this!)
2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl cream butter and sugars together.  Add eggs until well blended.  Add baking soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla and mix in thoroughly.  Add flour, blending until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop cookie dough by the spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes in the center of the oven.  I like these to look ever-so-slightly gooey in the center when I pull them out, and then I leave them on a cooling rack to set up.

Variation: Double Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Add 1/3 C. Cocoa powder to the flour, and use dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.  You'll also want to reduce the heat to 375 degrees, and bake for about 10 minutes.

The Tried and True...

So, before delving into some of the new things I have tried, I thought it would be best to share of few of my very favorite recipes.  These are the ones I have been using for years, and don't have to run to the ol' cookbook to grab the recipe.  We'll start with one of our family favorites...

Honey and Sea Salt Popcorn

1/2 C. popcorn kernels, air popped
2 Tbls. butter
2 Tbls. honey
Sea Salt, to taste

This one's pretty easy.  Pop the popcorn in an air popper.  In a small dish or cup, microwave the butter and honey together for 40 sec. on high.  Pour the honey butter mixture over the popcorn, season with sea salt to taste, and toss to coat the popcorn evenly.

Now the really fun thing about this recipe is you can mix it up by adding cinnamon, cayenne, or any of your favorite seasonings to the honey butter.  I've also replaced half of the butter with coconut oil to add a bit of a coconutty flavor.  Mix it with some Honey Chex cereal and chocolate chips dried fruit for a quick and healthy snack mix.  The possibilities are rather endless here.  What would you toss in?

Trying, and failing, and trying again...

Confession: I have typed and then promptly erased what I have written on this post about 10 times so far.  This is one of my main hesitations with starting a blog.  What should be a simple few sentences will cause hours of agonizing over choosing just the right words, of communicating just cleverly enough to not be thought stupid, of reading, then re-reading over and over again to make sure everything is just so... (sigh).

But, this is life.  We try, we fail, and we try again.

Since joining Pinterest not too long ago, I have had much experience with this whole trial and error process!  So many great ideas!!  So little time!!  But I have tried quite a few of the ideas I have come across, and a few friends suggested that I start a blog to share my successes (or failures).  So, here we are.  I hope you find this helpful, and maybe even mildly entertaining...