Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Cookies

I have been wanting to try at least one new recipe a week, so on a whim this past Thursday I whipped up a batch of cookies.  It's a good thing the recipe only calls for one egg- that's all I had!

These came out with a slight crispy outside, but a delightfully chewy inside.  I wish I had a picture of it, but when I make cookies and have some dough left over (yet not enough for a whole new pan), I make a "super cookie" for Dave and I to split.  Basically I put all of the dough together, flatten it out on the pan, and load it up with toppings.  For this one, I added mini chocolate chips and some flaked sea salt- it was an amazing variation on the recipe!

Ingredients:
2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
170 g (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I only had salted, so I used that and reduced the amount of salt in the recipe to only a small pinch)
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. 
3. Beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and beat well. 
4. Add flour mixture and beat until well incorporated, scraping sides of bowl as you go. 
5. Use a cookie scoop to drop large tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. 
6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until edges are browned. Cook on wire rack.

Recipe from A Spoonful of Sugar

Corn & Coconut Curry Chowder with Pale Ale

 Hooray - a new post!  This evening I made a yummy soup for dinner...very flavorful!

Ingredients:
6 large ears sweet corn, or 2 bags frozen corn (rinsed in cold water to thaw)
4 tbs olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/3 cup pale ale (we used Sierra Nevada)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cups vegetable broth (chicken will work as well)
2 cans (13.5 ounces each) coconut milk (we used light)
4 tsp red curry paste, or more to taste (we used about 1/2 tsp more)
large pinch cayenne, or more to taste
10 large leaves basil, thinly sliced
2 large red peppers, roasted and chopped (we used jarred)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 if using fresh corn, 450 if using frozen.
2. Place on a baking sheet, roast for 20 minutes. If using fresh corn, remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle. Cut the kernels off the corn, set aside.
3. In a sauce pan over medium high heat, sauté the onions in olive oil until soft, about 5-10 minutes. 
4. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the beer, salt, pepper, vegetable broth, coconut milk, curry paste, corn kernels, and cayenne. 
5. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
6. Using an immersion blender, puree until smooth.  Stir in the basil and the red pepper.

Recipe adapted from The Beeroness