The best chocolate chip cookie recipe . . .

. . . I have ever used. Ever since college when I tried to bake my first batch of chocolate chip cookies (instead of just eating the dough) I have been searching for a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. It seemed that every time I baked a batch of cookies there would be something not quite right. Was it the oven, the cookie sheet, me, or the recipe?

Evidently, it was the recipe.

I finally used my great aunt's recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I have had this recipe for years, but for some reason it had slipped through the recipe cards and I never used it.

Unless I ever find a better recipe for chocolate chip cookies, this is the recipe I'll be using from now on. This recipe makes about 4 dozen (good-sized cookies - I don't waste time making tablespoon-sized cookies) cookies and we are already down to the last dozen (in fact I am munching on a couple as I type this - gotta watch out for crumbs in the keyboard).

Great Aunt Florence's Chocolate Chip Cookies:

What you will need:

• 2/3 C. light brown sugar
• 2/3 C. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 small pkg. chocolate chips (I just dump in as many as I want)
• 1 C. Crisco
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 C. flour
• 1 T. boiling water

Combine the first seven ingredients and mix well. Add flour and water and beat well. Now, I am not sure why the water should be boiling, but I used boiling water and had great success so that is how I guess it should be done.

Drop whatever size you want (recipe says teaspoon, but I prefer more of a dollop) on a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Be sure not to over bake!

There really is no bad chocolate chip cookie. Unless it is a burnt chocolate chip cookie!

Happy Baking! :)

Check out our Spring Gift Basket brochure

Spring is in the air and we have just finished our Spring 2007 Gift Basket brochure and uploaded a PDF copy to our website. It is three pages long and includes a good chunk of the gift baskets we offer. Included with the gift baskets are snippets of Michigan trivia and facts to enlighten (perhaps) you and some to make you smile. View our Spring 2007 Gift Basket brochure

You can print it out and share it with your friends, relatives, bosses, casual acquaintances, people you pass on the street, and even coworkers. What a deal! :)

Have a Great Day! Enjoy the warm weather. We might still have some winter come back later in the week.

Remember this when you eat your corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day

A little known fact for you to spout out at the dinner table on St. Patrick's Day - Over 46,000,000 pounds of cabbage are harvested annually in Michigan.

Michigan gas prices hold steady at their highest prices in the past few months

The average price of regular unleaded in Michigan is $2.54 as of this morning. It has hovered around the $2.50 mark for a little over a week now. One year ago we were paying $2.46 which doesn't make our current prices look too terrible until you see that just one month ago we were paying $2.26 per gallon. According to MichiganGasPrices.com the lowest gas price in Michigan is at the Marathon station in Mount Morris at Dort Hwy and Mt Morris Rd for $2.39. The highest price is at the Zephr station in Newberry on Newberry Ave (M123) for $2.67!

Gas price data courtesy of AAA's Fuel Gauge Report.

The first Robin of Spring has arrived!

I know that technically spring does not officially begin until next week on March 21, but we have had some warmer weather the last couple of days with highs tomorrow reaching the mid-60s. Next week when spring officially begins the forecast is calling for winter weather with temps in the mid to upper 30s. So celebrate spring early. The Robins already are. My son spotted the first Robin of the year this morning.

If the Robins are back can spring really be too far behind? I hope not.