Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies and Northern Bean Soup

What, oh what, to do do with leftover ham? I look forward to making a ham each year not so much for the ham, I mean, I like it too, but for what I can do with it afterward. My very favorite is Ham and Northern Bean soup, it just has the perfect balance of flavors for me and its dead easy.

Here is the recipe.....

Northern Bean Soup

bag of northern beans
2 cartons of chicken broth
one cut up onion
leftover ham bones
cubed ham

1. I usually soak the beans overnight in water, but if you are short on time, you can boil water add the beans, and let them soak for an hour. drain away the soaking water and add the beans to the crockpot.
2. Add the Chicken Broth
3. Cut up the onion and throw that in too
4. Add the ham bones to the crockpot.
5. Set the crockpot to high and walk away.
6. About an hour before you want to serve, remove the ham bones and add the cubed ham meat back in. Let it all warm up.


















Oatmeal Chocolate chip Cookies

Brian has been bugging me to make these again for days. He has even been giving me unsolicited back rubs, and then dropping hints about them. It worked, I'm easy... I made the cookies.

By the way, these came out a little dry, but I wonder if its because my butter was frozen and I had to thaw it (in the eighties flashback country themed bowl, I lurve that). So I had to add about 2 TBSP water to make it all work.

3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (opt.)
3 c. Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 Package semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie, 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire cooling rack. Store in tightly covered container.


Playlist:

Snowpatrol - Chasing cars
Muse - Time is running out
Maximo park - Girls with Guitars
Fratellis - For the Girl
Placebo - Space Monkey
Cooper Temple Clause - Blind Pilots
Kasbian - Processed Beats