Magical Concoctions in the Kitchen

I know what you are thinking! Chocolate and potato chips...disgusting. But I am here to tell you, you would be in the wrong. First of all, it's chocolate, folks. That should be enough to at least keep you reading and, hey, give the potato chips a chance. I mean, when chocolate and caramel began their love affair, who would have thought that sea salt would make them a happy threesome and now they are starring roles in ice cream, cookies, cakes, and sauces. They are decadent and they satisfy that salty followed by sweet. Now we have it all together making it a convenient one stop shop. When we grab for that handful of popcorn, chips, or whatever poison tickles your fancy, you don't have to frantically search for the chocolate hidden in the back of the pantry. It's packaged all in one little, beautiful treat.

I am going to share a secret with you. I come by this salty-sweet craving honestly. My mother is the one to blame. Growing up, on many Sundays of my childhood, my mom would disappear into the kitchen and stay in there for quite some time. This, I feel I must tell you, was unusual. Cooking or baking was not a joy for her and it begs the question, where did I get my love for baking from? That's another story for another post. It wouldn't be long before I would hear a whirring followed by a popping noise. Sunday night popcorn was well underway, or in the Jonas household...Sunday night dinner. Mom would emerge from the kitchen holding an enormous metal bowl filled with buttered popcorn and...are you ready for it...fudge pieces scattered about the popped kernels. Mom's favorite way to eat popcorn, yes, there are many ways, was to pour a mug of milk and fill it with popcorn. The fudge was the side dish. My sister and I would turn our noses up to it but Mom insisted that it was a legit meal because this was the way Laura Ingalls Wilder ate her popcorn. So, if a well known American author can eat popcorn and milk on a Sunday night so could the Jonas Women follow suit as they watched Siskel and Ebert's At The Movies.

Hence, the obsession was born. Now, why am I putting this recipe on my writer's blog? Easy. It's because it's in the third installment of the Season's Series, Falls Descent. Much of what I write about is much of what I know. Sure, I don't run with Gods (my husband being the exception), faeries and witches, but I do know baking and I do know how a good recipe can transport someone to a place, a single moment when the world stopped and all the comforts that make you feel safe and loved can whittle itself down to a single bite. Sheer bliss. I try to capture this in my books and this happens for Rowhyn, when things in her world just aren't right, she turns to the only thing that will make it so.

Rowhyn had never been one to bake but she had been in the presence of greatness watching Nissa create such wonderful concoctions that even the most sour of days could turn sweet. She wanted this now for herself. She supposed that she could magik herself up something delicious but Rowhyn was never one to turn away from work. She needed work right now to distract her from her feelings and her current reality.

She didn't know where to begin when she opened the pantry. Rowhyn was hungry and she wanted to devour everything. She reached for the chocolate chips and as she grabbed the flour, the potato chips were calling to her. She would grab those to. What the heck? It was her recipe, her choice. Rowhyn got to mixing the softened butter and all the wet ingredients followed by the flour. After sampling a few chocolate chips, she dropped them in, and over them, sprinkled the crushed potato chips. Rowhyn took care to scoop them onto the baking sheet, waiting impatiently as they rose to a golden brown. Once the timer rang, she wasted little time in taking them from the oven and breaking one apart, the chocolate burning her fingertips. The first taste brought her a sweet and salty sensation like no other. It was good. Real good and after her third cookie, she really couldn't remember what had her so wound up and on edge. She thought about it and a smile came to her when she realized what had cured her ailment. It was getting back to the basics and feeding one's soul by busying her own hands. It was a certain form of therapy, something magik would never come close to doing for her.

That was a little taste (sorry for the pun) from Falls Descent, due out this spring, but enough of the service announcement and onto what you really are curious about...the recipe. Don't worry, it's not that scary, I promise and I will be here to hold your hand every step of the way until that very first bite.

Chocolate/Potato Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temp

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs, room temp

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cup chocolate chips

2 cups kettle potato chips

1.) Preheat oven to 375*

2.) Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use your favorite baking sheet. I love my baking stone.

3.) With standard mixer or really good biceps, beat the butter and the sugars together. Add in eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt. Mix real well.

4.) Add the flour

5.) Stir in the chocolate and potato chips.

6.) Drop onto baking sheet.

7.) Bake for 9-11 minutes

And Enjoy. It might be a bit unorthodox putting two unlikely ingredients together, but then, I found that by doing so, it makes the story, and life for that matter, so much more interesting and sweet...a little salty too.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by!