Pound Cake

I am a firm believer that cake is just not cake unless it is covered in icing, and not that fake whipped crap, but a good, thick, sweet buttercream icing... Except for a perfectly cooked pound cake. I have one recipe for a Triple Chocolate Poundcake that is smothered in icing and is amazingly delicious, but for some reason, I'm perfectly happy with regular ol' pound cake without icing. I was searching the web for a good pound cake recipe several months ago, and I found several. This is the one I decided to try first, and it was so amazing that I didn't even bother trying any of the others. Here's the URL to give proper credit: http://cooksrecipes.com/cake/cold_oven_pound_cake_recipe.html. What I find cool about this recipe (pun intended) is that it is a cold oven cake. That means you put the cake in the oven, then turn it on. There's some scientific background to doing it this way that affects the texture and yadda, yadda. I looked it up, but I don't remember all the details. This is the only cake I have that cooks this way.

3 sticks margarine (softened, 1 1/2 cups) 
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs (at room temperature)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk or heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
Confectioner sugar for topping

Grease and flour angel food tube pan, bundt pan, 9X13X2 inch baking pan, or two loaf pans. Cream margarine and sugar. Beat together thoroughly until it is really creamy and light colored. 

Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt gradually to mixture. 

Add water and vanilla and mix well. Pour into pan, and place into cold oven. 

Turn on oven to 350 degrees. Bake about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Again, my oven is so extremely hot, that at about the 35-45 minute mark, I have to begin turning down the temperature of the oven. When I'm done cooking, I've usually got the oven down to 250-275 degrees. Otherwise my crust gets very, very dark and overdone. Let cool 5-10 minutes, and then turn out onto rack or cake plate. Sift confectioner sugar onto pound cake.

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

My chocolate chip cookies are a staple I have been making since I was about 4 years old and baking with my dad. I remember trying to stir the dough as he added the flour and not being able to stir and having to hand the bowl and spoon over. I use the recipe pretty much exactly as on the package, except for that I slightly overflow my vanilla. Always have. 

2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter or margarine (I use Country Crock, and be sure to allow plenty of time for it to soften)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (room temperature)
12 ounces chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (optional - I usually use pecans when I add them)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs and mix well. 

Stir in flour, baking soda and salt until completely blended.

Add chocolate chips and nuts. 

Place by rounded spoonful on to baking sheet, bake for about 9-11 minutes. 

The key to soft chocolate chip cookies is to NOT overcook them. These in the photo were baked for about 9:10 to 9:20. Always set the timer for less - you can always add baking time. So if you are not sure how your oven responds, set the timer for 8 minutes and add additional time. That will give you a starting point for your next batch. Just remember that the oven gets hotter the longer it is on, so you will likely need to reduce your baking time with each additional batch by about 10-20 seconds.