Two Of My New Favorite Recipes

Well....I guess some could say the nesting instinct has started to kick in for Nicole.  I always enjoy cooking, but over the past week I have been scouring cook books, and organizing pretty much everything in our house.  Therefore I believe I am nesting.  Today I wanted to share the recipe for my favorite Chocoloate Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies and my Southwest Chicken Chopped Salad.  I am trying to perfect the art of cookie making before our child enters this world.  My mom is great at many things, but it is a running joke in our family that she is not a baker.  What matters is the effort, and she will read this so I will reminisce on the time she wanted to make sugar cookies with pink sprinkles for my birthday in  kindergarten.  To say the least they were very good, but the sprinkles had trouble sticking and the shape was a little off.  They were made with love so in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter :) Love you mom

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Stolen from Ina Garten herself: (My intention was to put a pretty picture of the freshly baked cookies, on a nice dish....well as you can see there is one left after two days so I guess that is a good sign)

1/2 Lb. Unsalted Butter Room Temperature
1 1/2 Cups Light Brown Suger, Packed
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter
2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Lb. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (This weekend I used half chocolate/half white chocolate)

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Mix butter and sugars until light and fluffy in electric mixer
Add the eggs, one at a time
Add the vanilla, peanut butter, and mix
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the batter mixing only until combined
Fold in Chocolate Chips

Bake for exactly 17 minutes, I typically use an ice cream scoop to lay the cookies on the cookie sheet and they make a medium sized cookie.

Southwest Chopped Salad

This is the perfect salad for a hot summer night!  I paired this with a Simi Cuvee we got in Sonoma last December for my husband to enjoy :).  Any riesling or slighter sweeter wine compliments nicely

1 Head of Iceberg lettuce chopped into small pieces

1/2 Red Onion chopped into small pieces

1 Small Can Black Beans, Drained and washed

1 Small Can Shoepeg Corn, Drained and washed

1 Small Red Pepper

1/2 Pint of Cherry Tomatos cut in half

1 Large Avocado

2 Breasts of chicken chopped into pieces, cook on the stove with cumin/paprika seasoning

1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro

1/2 Fresh Squeezed Lime

Sprinkle With Mexican Cheese

Top with Tortilla Strips

Dressing: Any Chipotle Ranch you find that you like!  I feel like everyone has different tastes for dressing!