Favorite Marinade

If I have the time to marinate our steaks, this is our favorite recipe to use. It’s easy to do and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. Plus, it makes a  sauce for basting while it’s cooking.

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sherry or red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 Tbsp Granulated sugar
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 pounds Round steak (or any other cut) 3/4″ thick

1 Tbsp Cornstarch
2 Tbsp water

Combine first 8 ingredients in small bowl. Stir well. Put into plastic bag.

Cut steak into serving size pieces. Add to marinade in plastic bag. Let marinate in sealed bag in refrigerator about 18-20 hours, or at least overnight. Cook on medium-hot grill for about 7-8 minutes per side for medium.

Pour marinade into small saucepan. Sitr cornstarch into water. Add to marinade. Heat and stir over medium heat until it boils and thickens. Baste meat often during last part of cooking. Serves 4.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

These were introduced to us by Steven way back when he lived with us. We like them because they are soft and chewy and chocolatey (kinda like their name).  I try to limit myself to making these only a couple times a year but it doesn’t always work out that way…

1 1/4 cups softened margarine
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional and I opt-out)
2 eggs

Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla;  blend well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Blend into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-9 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet until set, about 1 minute. Yield about 4 dozen cookies.

Oatmeal cookies

I made these for our camping trip this weekend. I like it because it makes lots of cookies. They are a twist on the traditional too – I used Skor bits to change it up a bit.

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup wheat germ
12 ounces chocolate (chopped) or 1 1/2 cups golden raisins or 1 cup Skor bits

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine brown sugar, sugar and butter in mixer with paddle attachment. Starting with mixer on low and increasing to medium speed, beat until the mixture is creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, scrape bowl and mix to combine.

Combine rolled oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and wheat germ in a large bowl. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture then mix on low until just combined, about 10-15 seconds. Remove bowl from stand and stir in choice of chocolate, raisins or Skor bits.

Line baking pans with parchment paper. Form balls of dough and place 4″ apart on pans. Bake until golden and just set, about 18 minutes for large and 14 minutes for small cookies. Remove from oven and let cool on pan for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Boiled Butterscotch Cookies

I made these as a change from the traditional haystack cookies. They turned out to be really yummy! Make sure you have a glass of milk handy though

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

1/2 cup hard margarine or butter
2/3 cup skim evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butterscotch chips
3 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup medium coconut

Put margarine, evaporated milk and sugar into saucepan. Heat and stir until boiling. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Add butterscotch chips. Stir until melted.

Add rolled oats and coconut. Stir well. Cool 5-10 minutes. Drop by tablespoonful onto waxed paper. Chill until firm. Store in airtight container.