There is a bakery in Rossland, Canada that makes the most epic cookies ever. They are made with browned butter and dusted with flaked salt across the top. If that wasn’t enough - this bakery dots the top of each cookie with the chocolate ‘chips’ that are in the cookie.

It’s ridiculous how good they are. After eating more than my share of them, and going back to buy more, I decided I should figure out the recipe. So I figured out the recipe. The hardest part was finding the chocolate chips that were the right shape. They need to be flat and round - not like the ‘drops’ that you can usually find.

The bakery also uses dark chocolate. I could not find dark chocolate in these ‘chips’ but I am constantly on the hunt and I will find them one day and turn them into these cookies and we will all eat them in one sitting.

When you’re making the cookies, the tricks are:

• Browned butter is not a job to do when you’re in a hurry. It’s a fine line between brown butter and burned butter. Also, you should do it on low heat which means it takes FOREVER.

• Salt the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven and dot them with the extra chocolate. Both things need to melt into the cookie and cool together to make it work.

• This batter gets weird as it cools down. I recommend baking them off quickly. I have two ovens here, but you can also put two cookie sheets into the oven as long as they are both in the center of the oven.

Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

“Hooper’s Dupers”

makes two dozen

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cup chocolate pieces

salt flakes

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and continue to cook, whisking, until the butter turns brown and begins to separate into solids. Catch it before it gets too dark. I like it to be about the color of dark amber. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

STEP 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine together the butter with both sugars. Whisk in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.

STEP 3

Add the flour and baking powder. Blend until just barely combined then pour in one cup of the chocolate chips. Mix well.

STEP 4

Bake 10 minutes. When the cookies are done, immediately sprinkle the top of each one with flake salt. Top each cookie with two chocolate chips and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container for one week.

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My famous chocolate chip cookies

The original, the OG, inspired by Ruth Wakefield’s original recipe. And if you don’t know who that is, you’re in luck! The post has the whole history of the cookie.

Clam Chowder is literally my favorite soup ever. We took a roadtrip several years ago down highway 101 which goes down the coast of Washington, Oregon and California (at some point it turns to Highway 1 but I can never remember where that happens). Every restaurant that we stepped into, I got clam chowder. Some were great. Some were gloopy. Some had too much dill. Some had too many potatoes. One was even red which is the most dreadful thing you can do to chowder.

Clam Chowder

Serves 4

4 strips bacon, chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

4 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic

¼ lb potatoes, finely chopped

1 can clams

8 oz clam nectar/ clam juice

4 cups seafood stock

1 bay leaf

1 cup half and half

¼ cup flour

2 tbs parsley, chopped

1 bag oyster crackers

STEP 1

In a large pot, cook bacon until browned.

STEP 2

Add onion, celery, potatoes, and garlic. Cook until onions and celery are softened. Stir regularly.

STEP 3

Pour in stock and clams. Don’t drain the clams before – pour the liquid into the pot. Add the bay leaf. Cover and cook 20 minutes.

STEP 4

Whisk together half and half with the flour. Very slowly whisk in 1 cup of the hot soup broth.

STEP 5

Pour flour mixture into the soup pot and stir until incorporated.

STEP 6

Serve with fresh parsley and oyster crackers on top.

I am dying to have a tiki bar. It doesn’t fit into my house currently - so every once in a while I’ll pull up a few elements to make it seem “tiki-bar-ish.” But what I really want is the real deal. I want the gaudy tiki statues, the grass cloth walls, custom swizzle sticks and a record player blasting Jimmy Buffett. I want shelves crowded with a collection of tiki mugs. I want a terrible bar name inscribed on napkins and matchbooks. I want it to smell like coconuts and sunscreen.

Image borrowed from Kiel James Patrick’s Instagram account @kjp

I can’t wait until the day I can shake up a fruity cocktail from behind the bamboo bar. The counter will be slightly sticky because it’s been splashed on so many times that no amount of wiping will get it entirely un-sticky. But we won’t care. We’ll continue to shake drinks full of pineapple juice and coconut cream and continue to let them drip all over as we pull out the giant pieces of pineapple that hold little drops of the cocktail on the ends. I’ll make crab rangoon and coconut shrimp to serve instead of dinner because every meal is better when you’re sitting on top of a rattan stool.

We’ll listen to Jimmy Buffett on repeat and dance while wearing leis, floating dresses, and goofy shirts. I’ll light tiki torches lining the path leading to the bar. We’ll find a vintage tiki god to guard the entrance so there’s no bad ju-ju.

I’ve started collecting the mugs already - I’m knee deep in quirky glassware. I already have the perfect name. I just need a location. A place to pop on a rattan barstool and fill the top of a glass with slices of pineapple, tiny umbrellas, and wedges of lime.

Etsy Swizzle Sticks | Custom Tiki Mugs | Jimmy Buffett Vinyl | Pyrat Rum | Aloha T-Shirt | Rattan Tray | Pitcher | Nick Kuchar Print | Vintage Tiki Ashtray | Flamingo Punch Bowl

I have been super interested in the Banza noodles - they are made with chickpeas instead of regular flour - which means they are packed with protein, fiber and have less carbs. There are definitely a few applications where these noodles aren’t exactly like their wheat filled counterparts, but when they are cooked in the sauce, they are perfect!

This soup is one of those dinners that I make when I have no idea what I’m doing for dinner. I almost always have carrots, celery and onion in the house. This goes even faster if you use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shred it. I’ve gone that route before too as well and it’s just as delicious. And it cuts out about 10 minutes - which when you’re talking about 30 minutes total - that’s quite a bit of time.

Serve it with a big green salad, bread if you have teenagers, and enjoy!

One Pot Chicken Soup with Banza

serves 4

3 carrots, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cups chicken stock

1 bouillon cube

1/2 lb chicken breast, sliced

1 - 8oz box Banza cavatappi noodles

2 cups water

salt & pepper to taste

STEP 1

In a large stock pot, cook down carrots, celery and onion until soft. Season with salt and pepper.

STEP 2

Pour in chicken stock and stir in the bouillon cube (or equivalent - I like the paste version). Bring to a boil.

STEP 3

Add the chicken and cook until done. Then add noodles + 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and cook until the noodles are done. Season with salt & pepper.

Serve hot with a big salad.

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