July 8th: Chocolate Chip Crisps AND Thai Noodle Salad

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Olivia and I planned to make these cookies today, but we ended up having help, as Jayna and Grace joined us for the baking. This went surprisingly well; each girl took turns adding ingredients and stirring or mixing. Plus, they were happy to snack on chocolate chips while waiting their turns. Yummy crispy cookies, from Best Summer Weekends Cookbook:


Chocolate Chip Crisps


1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups crisp rice cereal 
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or, as we did, a mix of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, yum!)


Preheat oven to 350 F.


Beat butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed of an electric mixer until light and creamy.


In a second large bowl, combine flour, oats, soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture, stirring until blended.


Gently mix in cereal and chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Underbake for chewy cookies; bake longer for crisp ones. Cool on wire rack.


Makes about 5 dozen cookies. (We made 61!)

Then - Supper. It's taken me almost two weeks to find the time to type out this recipe, but I couldn't let it go; this was the best meal I've made since Cinco de Mayo. Vietnamese and Thai food are some of my favourites, and this salad is much like lunches I used to buy when I was working, only better, because I made it myself. It's full of strong flavours: lime, cilantro and fish sauce. Greg and Olivia probably didn't love it quite as much as me, but I thought it was fantastic. I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day. I topped our salad with cooked chicken; you could also top it with shrimp or tofu or spring rolls. Yum yum. Awesome summer meal: from Best Summer Weekends Cookbook: Thai Noodle Salad:


Thai Dressing


1-2 fresh hot peppers, seeded and chopped, OR 1-2 tsp (5-10 mL) red chili paste
3 tbsp (45 mL) fresh lime juice
2 tbsp (30 mL) fish sauce
2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
1 tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil
2 tbsp (30 mL) crunchy peanut butter
1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
2 tbsp (30 mL) fresh cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped


Combine all ingredients for dressing and refrigerate until needed.




Thai Noodle Salad


6 oz (170 g) rice vermicelli or rice stick noodles
1/4 lb (125 g) snow peas (about 2 cups/500 mL)
1/2 red pepper, seeded and cut in slivers
2 cups (500 mL) lettuce, shredded
2 green onions, cut in diagonal slivers
1/4 cup (60 mL) peanuts, chopped
1 lime, thinly sliced 


Cook the noodles or vermicelli in a large quantity of boiling salted water until tender, about 3-4 minutes for the noodles and a scant minute for the vermicelli. Drain well, toss with a little dressing, and refrigerate until needed.


Blanch the snow peas for about a minute in lightly salted boiling water. Drain and immediately put into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and slice on the diagonal.


Just before serving, toss noodles with snow peas, red pepper, and remaining dressing. Arrange salad on a bed of shredded lettuce and garnish with green onions, chopped peanuts, and lime slices.


Serves 4.