I keep a large jar of cinnamon sugar in the pantry.  It is nice to have on hand for sprinkling on toast, hot chocolate, popcorn, or pita chips, or for making s’more-dillas, cinnamon rolls, or mixing into whipped butter.  Here is the ratio we use:

Cinnamon Sugar Mix

• 2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg, or more to taste
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1. Combine in jar with a lid.  Mix well.

I suggest buying your cinnamon in bulk if you can.  It will save you quite a bit and this amount lasts a long time in the pantry.

If you only want to mix up a few servings the ratio is 4 tsp cinnamon for every 1/4 cup sugar.

Hey folks!  Here is another fabulous guest post to keep you entertained while I am off sunburningbathing.  A super big THANKS to Krysta for bailing me out even with a million things on her own plate.  You can (and should) follow her at evil chef mom.  Can’t wait to get home and bake up some of these cookies…

So, ummm, I guess I should introduce myself. Hi, my name’s Krysta and I’m from evil chef mom.

“Hi, Krysta!”

Hey everyone! So I’m guest posting for Katie while she’s off in Hawaii, doing who knows what… all I know is I wish I was there with her. So like any good guest I brought a present. Cookies, to be more precise Thomas Keller’s chocolate chip cookies from his ad hoc at home cookbook. I’m sure regular readers of Chaos in the Kitchen will say “*cough* Whoever you are miss so and so she already posted a chocolate chip cookie recipe!”and I’ll say “I know. My daughter Katie already baked them and they kicked ass!” Sorry about the language especially on someone else’s blog but damn those we re some good cookies.

I need to pause right here and say something. I am a cookie addict. It started as a child and has become a full blown addiction as an adult. The problem is that I have enablers in the form of two daughters, Nancy and Katie who love to bake….all. the. time.

The difference between the recipe Katie posted and the Thomas Keller one is vanilla. Katie’s recipe has vanilla and Keller’s do not and it’s strange how different the two are because of one little ingredient. These are very in your face chocolate chip cookies. The chocolate flavor shines so make sure to get good chocolate because there is nothing to mask the flavor of these cookies.

ad hoc at home chocolate chip cookies: adapted from food gal

yield: 30 3 inch cookies

2 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
5 oz. 55% chocolate chopped
5oz 70-72% chocolate, chopped
8 oz. (2 sticks) COLD unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift flour and baking soda into a medium bowl, stir in salt. Put cho colate into a fine mesh strainer and shake to remove chocolate dust. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat ½ of the butter on medium speed until fairly smooth. Add both sugars and remaining butter and beat for a few minutes until mixture is light and creamy. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Add in one egg at a time until fully incorporated. Add dry ingredients and mix in on low speed until combined. Mix in chocolate.
Remove bowl and fold dough with spatula to be sure that chocolate is evenly incorporated throughout.
Using about 2 level tablespoons per cookie, shape dough into balls. About 8 per cookie sheet. Bake for approxamently 12 minutes until tops are not shiny. If you want, halfway through the cooking time you can rotate the cookie sheets. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.

Hey folks!  I am either playing in the sand, shopping, or eating, but I didn’t want to leave you with only the leftovers while I am gone.  A huge thanks to my buddy Josh from Beer School Blog for helping me keep things fresh around here.  These pizzas are great-especially for those of us who love a thin crust!

I love to cook. My wife isn’t a fan. When we got married 6 years ago, Amy and I made a deal. I’d cook. She’d clean up. So for the past 6 years, I’ve cooked most of the meals. I plan them out each week and even make the grocery list…and yes, even go get the groceries. I like it. Is that weird?

We eat at home most nights of the week and we both work long days. That said, I’m always looking for quick solutions for dinner. I’ve also been trying to lose weight so I’m always looking for healthy alternatives to the foods that I love.

I could eat pizza every night! But when you’re trying to lose weight, pizza is not your friend. All that dough, sausage, pepperoni…that’s a TON of calories! Knowing that, I decided to come up with a pizza that had all of the flavor and lot less calories. It’s not ground breaking or anything but it’s TASTY! More importantly, you can whip ‘em up in less than 20 minutes. If you have kids, have them help you out. Pizza is easy to make and kids love helping out. Right? I don’t have any…just two dumb cats so I’m guessing here.  🙂

Margarita Pizza

Serves 1, prep 10 minutes, cook 10 minutes

• 1 Whole Wheat Tortilla
• ½ cup Pizza Sauce (any brand but I use Trader Joe’s)
• Chiffonade of fresh Basil (4-5 leaves)
• 3-4 fresh tomato slices
• 8 slices of small pepperoni or 3 slices of big pepperoni (from the deli)
• ½ cup of Sargento 6 Cheese Italian Blend (any brand will work but this tastes GOOD)

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees
2. Place tortilla on counter
3. Spread pizza sauce on tortilla
4. Stack 4-5 Basil leaves, roll, slice in tiny little strips (what fancy chefs call a chiffonade)
5. Sprinkle Basil on top of the pizza (under the cheese or else it will burn)
6. Next, add cheese!
7. On top of the cheese, add tomato slices and pepperoni (if you want the calories and awesome taste. If not, skip the pepperoni)
8. Place little pizza on a pizza stone or other pizza cooking device
9. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes or until the cheese bubbles and the edges of the pizza get crispy
10. Eat.

This little pizza is about 470 calories. If you skip the pepperoni it’s under 400 calories. Easy. Quick. Tasty. The only thing that would make this dinner better is a cold beer. Is there a better combo than pizza and beer? I think not.

I love burgers.  I love them fully loaded and sandwiched inside soft, bakery rolls.  We tried experimenting with some new flavors recently.  I asked the deli to slice a round of brie and picked up some tangy horseradish and onion mayo.  The burgers were pretty standard-salt, pepper and a little Worcestershire sauce-to which mrChaos added a good dose of dried thyme.  On top was a nice pile of slowly caramelized red and yellow onions, tomatoes and romaine.  Overall, pretty delicious.

We’re on vacation!  I have a couple of guest posts scheduled for next week while I am gone, but otherwise I’ll see you in two weeks when I am sufficiently tanned and relaxed.  I’ll be checking in from time to time so don’t hesitate to drop me a note-especially if you can recommend some good eats on Oahu!-and be sure to show my awesome guest posters some love.  Finally, have a great time wrapping up your summer while we’re gone-school starts when we get back so it’ll be back to Monday, Wednesday, Friday posts.  See you then.