salted chocolate chip cookies

these delicious chocolate chip cookies amplify an unheralded hero: salt. if you've ever had a cookie, piece of cake, or other baked good and judged it "good, but not worth the sit-ups", there's a high probability that the baker was too conservative with the salt. though this recipe calls for three (!) types of sugar, i will let you in on my cheat: 3 of those packets of turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) from your local coffee shop equals 1 T. do with this what you will.

salted chocolate chip cookies adapted from smitten kitchen
3/4 c. butter, room temperature
3 T. sugar
3 T. turbinado sugar (or sub. brown sugar)
1 heaped c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
flaky salt (sea or kosher)

preheat oven to 350°. cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. add eggs and vanilla, beating until incorporated. beat in salt and baking soda until combined, then the flour on a low speed until just mixed. the dough will look crumbly or dry at this point. fold in the chocolate chips.

scoop cookies onto pan(about 1 1/2 T. mounds). sprinkle each with a few flakes of salt. bake for 10 minutes.

extra dough can be formed into balls and frozen on a plastic wrap-lined pan until solid, then transferred to a freezer bag. baked from the freezer they need, at most, 1 minute more baking time.

grilled honey vinegar chicken

well, it's been a while since i posted, but i've been cooking between then and now, please calm down. and let's get back to the food. there are two cooking skills that i refuse to learn because my husband does them so well: making fried rice and grilling. but sometimes you gotta prep that meat for the grill, ya know? this is a great marinade that my sister jen introduced me to. the combo of spices, sweetness, and tang from vinegar - so yum.

grilled honey vinegar chicken
2 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1 1/2 t. paprika
2 t. garlic salt
1/4 t. cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 c. honey
4 T. apple cider vinegar
about 2 lbs. chicken thighs or drumsticks

mix honey and vinegar in a bowl and set aside. measure all spices into a gallon-size zip top bag. toss chicken with spices in bag. grill until internal temperature is 160 degrees. a few minutes before removing from the grill, brush with the honey/vinegar mixture.