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boyfriend and I are examples of "polar opposites". last week, he adorably puppy-happy dragged me into his kitchen and said "you're going to be so proud of me, I spend almost 200 bucks on groceries today!". I think I counted a good 10 boxes of totino's pizza rolls... those are what, 3.99 a pop?

All the ingredients should be fresh. The suggestion that the dough should be cold is correct. I chill the dough for a couple of hours before making the cookies. I also keep the bowl of dough in the fridge in between cookie batches. The recipe on the Tollhouse cookie bag makes great cookies. However, I double the vanilla and add pecans. Yummy cookies!!!

I agree with almost everything that has been said so far...BUT -- Sometimes it's just the recipe. Every time I have made the recipe off the tollhouse bag they come out thin -- if you want a thicker cookie, you need a recipe that is aiming for that. Here's the one I use from the January 1996 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine:

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 1 1/2 dozen 3-inch cookies

2 1/8 cups bleached all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark), 7 ounces
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 - 2 cups chocolate chips or chunks (semi or bittersweet)

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

3. Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined 20-by-14-inch lipless cookie sheets, about nine dough balls per sheet. Smaller cookie sheets can be used, but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and baking time may need to be adjusted. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month—shaped or not.)

4. Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.) Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

Good luck with your cookie adventures!

Dominic
the zen kitchen

"ABC" sausages: Andouille, Boudin, and Chorizo!

Unfortunately I've had a lot of experience with this lately. When I lost my mom last month I think we all ate our own weight in smoked brisket, potato salad and washed it down with Shiner beers and Lone Star. Seemed to fit the bill. My mom made great fried green tomatoes, always fried in bacon fat. That's going to get made before too long on one of my inevitable bad days.

Comfort foods: chocolate, mac 'n cheese, pastel de choclo, instant noodles with rendang flavour, surinam food in general, whole wheat bread with cold pasta sauce (I know, disgusting). Basically, I love to eat ^_^

I'm with Tiki that sometimes the act of preparing it is enough, no matter what it is. I'm currently low carbing it, so most of my comfort food are off limits. But losing myself in the chopping and stirring a pot of chilli helped a lot last night.

And when I'm eating carbs and I have a bad day, I reach for grilled cheese, mom's lasagna, or a big brownie.

When I am sad or stressed out I go to Fairway Supermarkets in Harlem (free parking! already feeling better) and buy a Baguette, 1/4 pound of Serrano Ham, some olives, pesto sauce and some manchego cheese. I make a sandwich with all that and have the whole thing by myself! I am so full afterward that I fall sleep for a good couple of hours; I almost always feel better equipped to deal with whatever it is bothering me after I wake up.

@Buslady: grilled cheese bread pudding?!!? I never thought to combine those two favorites! (just kidding)

Mac and cheese for me, all the way

potato chips, those with lots of msg in them, and a can of coke to wash the aftertaste. this always work for me!

Hot homemade cider prepared with granny smith apples, fresh ginger, cinnamon sticks and a handful of raisins. Put fresh lime juice and honey in the cup when I drink it.

I've found WD50 to be extremely interesting, rather than orgasmic. Had dinner there last week -- very good, perfectly cooked beef with a smear of spiced coconut cream and gnocchi flavored with black coffee. It took me a while to sort of deconstruct the flavor-profile (hunhh...the beef and coconut are a sort of pared-down Indonesian rendang, and Java grows great coffee...) and as someone who really enjoys thinking about food, that was a very pleasant and, yeah, interesting half-hour. And the gnocchi were also perfectly cooked, making me realize that all the gummy ones I had eaten unhappily before had been badly made, and probably with the wrong potatoes. So, all in all, an enjoyable meal. But in terms of orgasmic taste, I'll take a grilled steak, hold the coconut, and hash browns (coffee on the side, thanks) any day.

And while I likes my bone marrow on toast just fine, truth is, I likes my bread and butter better.