Barbara Bush's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups all-purposeflour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (12 ounces) bag semisweet chocolate chips, preferably Valrhona
2 cups quick- cooking oats (not instant)

How to Make It

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt onto waxed paper. Set aside.

Beat together butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until fluffy. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

Hearty Hamburger Soup

(from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 onion, minced
• 4 carrots, minced
• 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups water

3 (10 ounce) cans beef broth

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• ground black pepper, to taste
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Directions

1. Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat, and crumble in the ground beef. Cook and stir until the beef is evenly browned and no longer pink. Drain, and discard any excess grease.
2. 
   
3. Stir in the onion, carrots, celery, and barley. Pour in diced tomatoes, water, broth, and tomato soup. Season with bay leaf, parsley, garlic, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and cover; simmer for 2 hours, stirring frequently. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

1 large chicken or 4 breasts
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 stick of margarine
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 8 oz. Pepperidge Farm Cornbread Stuffing Mix
2 cans chicken broth

Boil, bone, and cube chicken.  Spread in bottom of 9 X13 pan.  Stir in undiluted soups.  Salute onion and celery in margarine.  Toss with Stuffing mix and spread over chicken mixture.  Pour chicken broth over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min.

Serves 8 -10

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 2 cups  parmesan cheese
• 1(10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1(14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 2⁄3cup  sour cream
• 1 cup  cream cheese
• 1⁄3cup  mayonnaise  and 2 tsp.  garlic- minced            
•  

• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix together Parmesan cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts.
3. Combine remaining ingredients and mix with spinach mixture.
4. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
5. Serve with crackers or toasted bread.
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7.  http://www.food.com/recipe/spinach-artichoke-dip-1209

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 cups chocolate chips, 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. In another large bowl stir together butter, both sugars, eggs, vanilla and cocoa. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture and mix until combined. Stir chocolate chips and walnuts, if using, and stir to distribute evenly.

For cookies: Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets and bake about 10 minutes. Cool on a baking rack.

For bars: Pat dough into a greased 9 inch square baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into squares when cooled.

ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP

1/2 lb. extra-lean ground beef
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. onion powder
5 3/4 cups chicken broth
2 cups thinly sliced spinach (without stems)
1 cup uncooked pasta (small stars)

In a medium bowl, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, basil, and onion powder; shape into 3/4 inch balls. (balls swell when cooked - make small - I browned meat balls lightly in a frying pan, before adding to broth)

In a large saucepan, heat broth to boiling; stir in spinach, pasta, and meat balls.  Return to boil, then reduce heat to medium.  Cook at slow boil for 10 min., or until pasta is al dente.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Trisha Yearwood's Pecan Tassies

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus 1 tablespoon butter, melted
One 3-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
Nonstick cooking spray
1 large egg
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of fine salt
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped


Directions
With an electric mixer, beat the 1/2 cup butter and the cream cheese until smooth. Add the flour and beat until fully combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 24-cup mini-muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, brown sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Set aside.

Shape the chilled dough into 24 balls, about 1 inch in diameter. Press each ball into a cup of the muffin pan, spreading evenly and up the sides, then spoon 1 teaspoon of the pecans into each muffin cup. Fill each cup with the egg mixture until evenly distributed, about 1 teaspoon in each. Bake until the filling is set, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, and then remove from the muffin pan.