peskypippi.comBecause I have a lot to say…

Chocolate-chip cookies…again?

No way!

Do you want to be the coolest Mom ever? How about making one giant cookie…with giant impact. What ’til your kids see this! They will be stunned and awed, just like in Uncle Buck. Remember the giant pancake?

Click here for my best chocolate-chip-cookies-on-Earth recipe.

So, instead of plopping the dough as you would for individual cookies, make one giant plop onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and smash down and smooth out with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees about 12 minutes and keep an eye on it. Take it out just before you think it’s done (the one in the pic is a little overcooked…my bad…I was on Twitter).

Once cooled, you can frost it to make a smiley face, as in my birthday “cake” last year. Click here to see that beauty. Or you can cut into a heart. Brilliant…just in time for Valentine’s Day!

C is for Cookie. Or for “Crap, I just ate too much damn cookie.”

This peanut butter cookie recipe is my grandmother’s. I have her recipe card–stained with butter–written in her curly script. She made these cookies in the Great Depression. So not only are these suckers tasty, they are best served with a glass of American history.

Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, eggs.  Add in baking soda, Then flour. Mix dough. Roll into balls and place onto parchment paper-line cookie trays. Flatten criss-cross with a fork (can dip fork into water so it doesn’t stick). Bake about 8-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. I take them out a little early for chewy cookies.

Then I proceed to eat about seven. These Great Depression cookies are perfect for the anti-dieters.

By now you’ve heard that January Jones of Mad Men fame has been eating her placenta (she gave birth to her baby and the infamous placenta last fall).

I couldn’t resist Googling placenta recipes. I was curious if you add it to stir-fry, bake it, freeze it, or add it to chocolate-chip cookies.

You might be surprised at how many recipes there are. Let’s see, I found roast placenta, placenta cocktail, placenta lasagna, placenta spaghetti Bolognese.

It seems like the most popular way is to dehydrate your placenta (think beef jerky). Turns out that the placenta is packed with vitamins and some believe that the placenta can be used to help in the early stages of postpartum depression.

Placenta. It’s what’s for dinner.

On the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, I dragged out my Cake Pop machine because I needed to redeem myself after my #CakePopFail. You see, awhile back I wrote about Cake Pops Gone Wrong.

In three easy steps, you too can make Leprechaun Balls. And just watch the faces light up!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Is that spinach in your smoothie, or are you happy to see me?

I wrote about the ease and nutrition of protein breakfast smoothies awhile back. Check that here. My newest ingredient? Spinach. Yeah, you heard me. They are officially renamed to Pippi’s Peppy Popeye Smoothies. These nutrition-packed suckers are perfect for when I am running late. Getting the kids out the door for school. And oops, I forgot one of my earrings. And my navy tights don’t match my black outfit. And where is my phone and where are my keys? Time to go. NOW.

But wait! Don’t forget to eat your salad for breakfast! (Seriously, you can’t even taste it. It just looks a teensy bit gaggy.) You, too, can buzz up the smoothie while yelling “Hurry! Time to go! Finish your breakfast! Brush your teeth! Shoes on! Jackets! Backpacks!”

Just talk to my friend Sara, who also sneaks in vegetables. She’s on Twitter @Sar_Wah and her blog is http://www.tisthelife.com/. She’s a super healthy Mum who tries to eat right and have a fulfilling life. Go Sara!

Pippi’s Peppy Popeye Smoothies

• a blender
• a cup or so of nonfat milk
• a banana
• big scoop or 2 Tbs. protein powder (preferably plain)
• handful of frozen blueberries
• two ginormous handfuls of washed, fresh spinach

Check out the jumbo bag of spinach. I don’t know whether to eat it. Or sleep on it.

Breakfast is important. Partake! And maybe, with the added spinach, you can kick some ass today.

Got balls? Sagging cake balls?

I received a handy-dandy cake pop maker for Christmas. Here’s how it works:

1. Plop in some cake batter.
2. Close the lid.
3. Wait 7 minutes.
4. Presto. Your cake balls (cake pops) are ready.
5. Time to frost and decorate. Just like Martha would.
6. Stick a stick in them and serve. Or gift them to your neighbors. With pride.

They are supposed to look like these:

But mine turned out like this. My neighbors sure are lucky!

Cookie recipes have been flying in as a result of a little, global cookie contest. Tasters have voted. Here is what they said:

‘Tis the season of sharing. So here is my recipe, y’all:

Pesky-Pippi’s-Best-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-on-Earth Recipe

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
• 3 cups chocolate chips (I like half semi-sweet, half milk chocolate…then you can use the rest of the bags for nibbling.)
• sea salt

1. 1. Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.
2. 2. Cream butter and sugars together for 5 minutes.
3. Add eggs and vanilla.
4. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Mix in chocolate chips.
6. Drop onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven.
7. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown. (I like mine chewy and a little undercooked. I also like raw dough, so there you go.)

Enjoy! Peace out,

Pippi

Do you have a kick-ass chocolate chip cookie recipe? But is your cookie the best chocolate chip cookie on Earth? We’ll just see about that.

My buddy Bernie all the way in Australia–check her on Twitter @TheBernieBrand–and I, from the United States of America, are co-hosting a global contest of sorts. No legal fine print, just roll with it.

We are searching out the word’s best chocolate chip cookie recipe. Barring a taste test, we are evaluating cookies based exclusively on looks. Kinda like a fashion show for chocolate chip cookies.

Email your recipe and photo of your cookie to peskypippi@gmail or message me on Twitter @PeskyPippi. No stock photos: I am no chump. Deadline: Sunday, December 11. I will feature the YOU and your cookie in an upcoming blog. Imagine the bragging rights in your last-minute Christmas letter.

Yeah, quick deadline, but win-win for everyone. Imagine all the baking going on around the globe this weekend.

Wondering what to do with all of that extra Halloween candy? What? You ate it all? If you did, this recipe is not for you.

But if your kids’ Halloween candy loot is still plentiful, rummage through and grab about 20 “fun size” Snickers, 3 Musketeers, and Milky Ways. Chop them up into little pieces and set aside. (By the way, why do they call them fun size anyway? You eat them in two bites and then bam, the party is over.)

Now you’re ready to rock Pippi’s Positively Pleasant Halloween Candy Cookie Recipe. (Say that three times. Now, say it three times with a mouthful of Snickers. Not so easy, is it?)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup softened butter
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• 2 ½ cups flour
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• about 16-20 miniature candy bars chopped up

Note: You can certainly use more candy bars if you like to nibble when food-prepping. J

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350°
• In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, eggs
• In another bowl, mix together dry ingredients
• Combine the wet and dry ingredients
• Mix in the chopped-up candy
• Plop spoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheet
• Bake for about 8-9 minutes. Take out before you think they look done and allow to cool. Otherwise, you will burn the crap out of your tongue and that is never a good thing.

Oh, and don’t go on Facebook or Twitter while you are baking, as you will likely burn a tray or two. Like I did. Just now.

Calorie count? Well, consider this. You are combining candy + cookies. Sometimes it’s just best not to know.

Time for a recipe. Don’t hold your breath because I’m not much of a cook. I know how to make about five things really well: turkey chili, chicken-barley soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, tofu stir-fry, and chocolate chip cookies. Oh yeah, and gravy. Don’t expect a food blog out of me. I defer to my friend for that in her amazing foodie blog where she cooks with her children:

http://dashandbella.blogspot.com/

Three of my friends, just this week, said “I didn’t have time to eat breakfast.” No time? We mothers need to nourish our bodies with energy-fueling foods to help kick off our marathon days. Surely you can take just 2 minutes to make Pippi’s Peppy Pick-Me-Up Smoothie. (Trust me, they’re good enough.)

I make my power smoothie in the last, hurried minutes while the kids are grabbing backpacks and loading into the car for school. Multitasking, I buzz up the smoothie while yelling “Hurry! Time to go! Finish your milk! Brush your teeth! Shoes on! Jackets! Backpacks!”

Here’s what you need:

• a blender
• a cup or so of nonfat milk
• a banana (you can do 1/2 banana if you’re counting calories)
• big scoop or 2 Tbs. protein powder (preferably plain because I think vanilla is pretty gaggy and stay away from chocolate)
• handful of frozen blueberries (frozen strawberries work too but they aren’t as tasty)

Seriously. It takes 2 minutes to make. This has about 28 grams of protein, antioxidants, and keeps you full until lunch. And it’s portable. Except, crap, in my haste, I have spilled one on the living room carpet, one on the floor of the car, and one on the garage floor. So that’s three. But maybe you’re not as clumsy as me.

Caution: check your teeth for sticky, pesky blueberry skins, making for an unsightly smile.