Dinner with friends, and a fudge SUCCESS!

After a whirlwind past week and weekend, I'm finally getting caught up and am excited to share with you how I spent my Valentine's Day! I don't know about you, but sometimes I just like an excuse to get dressed up...so I invited some girlfriends over for a dinner party complete with fussy food (risotto!), sparkly dresses (sequins!) and decadent desserts (nutella!). I even busted out my chef's jacket to protect my dress while I pranced around the kitchen in heels. [Men, are you hearing this? I cook and I wear heels in the kitchen.]

All the ladies, minus the one taking the picture

For dinner, I stuck with some classic yet elegant basics. One package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts turned into fresh herb-seasoned chicken cutlets (halved longwise, pounded thin, flour-egg-breadcrumbs, air-dried on a rack over a baking sheet for 10 minutes, pan-fried), and they were served up with easy sauteed spinach and creamy risotto - both infused with a hint of lemon and garlic to tie it all together.

Not the most creative presentation...but delicious!

The star of the show on Valentine's Day has got to be dessert. I wanted to make sure I had two different things to offer my friends - one intense and rich and sweet, the other a little lighter but still satisfying. Martha Stewart's cranberry-almond biscotti (though made with whole wheat pastry flour) was a great Valentine's Day treat because of the pop of color from the red cranberries, and they were perfect for dunking in coffee. This other recipe, though - OH. EM. GEE. Probably the best fudge I've ever had, and more importantly, it turned out like fudge and not like dirt candy! SUCCESS! Thanks to Nnr for directing to me to Cookin' Canuck's hilarious blog post with the recipe from Giada.

Chocolate Nutella Fudge with Sea Salt

(adapated from Cookin' Canuck)

1 (14 oz. ) can sweetened condensed milk
1 t vanilla extract
1 heaping c dark chocolate, chips or chopped (I used 72% cacao)
1 c Nutella
3 T unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Sea salt, approximately 1/2 t

Line an 8x8 square pan or a pie dish with parchment and spray with cooking oil. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, chocolate, nutella and butter to a medium glass or stainless steel bowl. Place the bowl over a small saucepan filled with a few inches of boiling water, and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth, about 5-7 minutes. Empty the mixture into the pan, and sprinkle the top evenly with the sea salt - depending on the grain of your salt, you may want to use a little less than the 1/2 t called for. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. When ready, use the parchment to lift the fudge from the pan and cut into 3/4-inch squares. Note: limit yourself to 8 pieces of fudge per night, and bring the rest in to work when it gets too hard! :)

Harry Potter's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Friday night, my friend Jess and I settled in for a night of Potter-watching and getting psyched for the 7th movie release (on Thursday night at midnight, in case you live under a rock). In between Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, I decided that freshly baked cookies would accompany our movie-watching perfectly. Half an hour later, we were sitting down to a batch of these. Fresh from the oven they're chewy yet crispy, and I like the nuttiness from the oats and whole wheat flour - plus, there's a little less sugar than normal.


I can only imagine that Harry, Ron and Hermione would enjoy these cookies as much as we did!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes 2 dozen small cookies, or 1 dozen big cookies - if you ask me, go for the BIG ONES!)


3/4 cup rolled oats, coarsely ground in blender/food processor/coffee grinder
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips


(Per usual, adding up to 2 T of ground flaxseed or oat/wheat germ/brand is optional and encouraged!)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray your cookie sheets with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, combine ground oats, flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Add oil, both sugars, egg and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, and beat until just combined. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the chocolate chips. Eat an enormous bite of your dough. I used a large spring-loaded cookie scoop to make a dozen large cookies (about 2 T worth of dough), but two spoons would also work well. For smaller cookies, drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheets about an inch apart. If you want more dome-shaped cookies, leave the scoops as-is; if you want them to spread a little, flatten the tops with your fingers. Bake about 14 minutes, rotating cookie sheets one time. Leave on the sheets for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.