Your Brother's Famous Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ stick butter-flavor Crisco

½ cup brown sugar, packed

½ cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½  teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream together the crisco and sugars.  Add egg, vanilla and milk and mix together.

Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix.  Stir in oatmeal, then stir in chocolate chips.

Drop the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until they are light brown.

They come out best if you use a cookie scoop and an insulated cookie pan.

Makes 2 dozen.

Yogurt Marinade and Tzatziki

Full fat yogurt has more body. If your yogurt is watery, drain it in a strainer to firm it up.  (Put a few layers of cheesecloth or a cloth towel in a wire strainer. Put yogurt on top of cloth and put strainer over a bowl. Refrigerate for a few hours until whey collects in bowl.)

Yogurt Marinade (for Chicken, Lamb, Beef)

1/2 cup yogurt
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced (I use a press)
2 t. dried thyme
2 t. dried oregano
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1/4 t. cayenne pepper (optional)

Mix all ingredients with meat and marinate at least 2-3 hours (overnight is good, too).

Put on bamboo skewers, alternating with squares of red onion and red bell pepper. Cook in grill pan.



Tzatziki

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 c. yogurt
3 T olive oil
2 T lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T minced fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together and refrigerate until served.

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

1 lb. russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
4 cups water
1 17-ounce can creamed corn
1 17-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups half-and-half
salt and pepper to taste
at least one pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
chopped fresh chives (optional)

Put potatoes, onion, bell pepper, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in both cans of corn and half-and-half. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 20 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until opaque, about 8 minutes. (If using pre-cooked shrimp, just simmer until shrimp are warm but try not to overcook them.) Garnish soup with chives. (I never remember that.)

Meatloaf

Mom's Meatloaf

My son recently told me he loves my meatloaf more than any other meatloaf in the world. Awww.

The most important tip: Do not forget to put the ketchup squiggles on top!

2 lbs. hamburger
2 eggs
1/2 c. ketchup
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. dried parsley
1 t. dried oregano
1 cup grated carrot
2/3 cup breadcrumbs

All measurements are approximate! You can mix by hand or in a stand mixer.

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix hamburger and wet ingredients together. Add spices and carrot and mix. Add breadcrumbs some at a time and mix until mixture is no longer goopy. Form into a loaf in a baking pan. Squirt squiggles of ketchup on the top. Bake for about an hour. Slice and serve with more ketchup.

It's easy to cut proportions in half to make a smaller loaf. Shorten baking time a little.