I confess…it’s not even December and I’ve already been somewhat of a Grinch this holiday season.
You see, amidst the “Trimming the tree & listening to Christmas music!” and “Decorating sugar cookies & drinking eggnog after decorating the tree” posts on Facebook and Twitter this weekend – was me. Sitting at home with tubs of Christmas decorations in the basement, but without the will to put them up.
Why?
I thought I was the only one in my house that cared about the glittery lights and festive tree. The only one that got giddy seeing the decorations twinkling in the windows. In true Grinch fashion, I decided that after 3+ years of putting Christmas decorations up all by myself, I’d had enough. Ben didn’t really care, I thought, so why go through all the trouble for just me?
Imagine how giddy/shamed I felt when I woke up this morning to…THIS.
Ben saved Christmas!!!!!!!!
My dear, sweet, thoughtful husband knew I was feeling a little blue and, after I went to bed last night, put up ALL our decorations by himself! I MEAN!!!!!!
After I got over the shock and gulped back a few nearly-shed tears, I thanked “santa” and vowed to never throw myself such an evil little pity party again.
The grinch has officially left the building…
Merry,
Christmas! 
I suppose this makes up for stuffing his socks under the couch every night… 
In other news, you knew what was coming for dinner tonight…Prosciutto Wrapped Stuffed Chicken!!!
I honestly don’t think I’d ever had prosciutto before Ben and I went to Italy this Fall. Never before had I tasted the salty, silky lusciousness that is Italian dry-cured ham…I hadn’t LIVED, I tell you!
This super-easy recipe for Prosciutto Wrapped Stuffed Chicken, courtesy of President Cheese, paired the prosciutto with chicken breasts, feta cheese,
and sun dried tomatoes. YUM – ‘nuf said.
The “stuffing” part of the recipe was technically “rolling.” I laid a piece of prosciutto down, topped it with a chicken tender, feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes, then wrapped like a cigar.
The prosciutto is great because it sticks to itself and keeps everything tucked inside.
Baked @ 425 for 20 minutes…
and PRESTO!
Crispy, salty outside, warm and cheesy inside. Mouthwatering!
The prosciutto was SO crispy that you could really eat these like chicken fingers, but I cut mine up so you could take a look inside. Scrumptiously stuffed!
SERiously one of the best dinners I’ve had in a long time. And so easy! FYI I got the prosciutto at Trader Joe’s. What amazing ingredient DOESN’T that store carry?!
I paired my chicken with some simply steamed broccoli on the side. Da best.
After dinner, encouraged by my new, cozy Christmas decorations and today’s bone-chilling weather, I undertook a quick baking project – Chocolate Chip Cookies!
It’s a fact that the second best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe in the entire world (the first takes 3 days to make – I MUST show you some time) is from the Better Homes and Gardens RED Plaid Cook Book.
Imagine my surprise when I opened the Limited Edition PINK Plaid Better Homes & Gardens Cook Book I got for my birthday a couple years ago and found they had CHANGED THE RECIPE!
You see, I grew up baking from my Mom’s original 1970′s BHG cookbook and the ccc recipe that was inside it. That sweet, salty, chocolaty, flat, crispy, gooey, amazing recipe. The one in the limited edition cookbook? Fluffy, too sweet, and just…WRONG.
I called my Mom in a panic that day and made her recite the original recipe to me over the phone so I could write it in the margins. Ahhh, that’s better!
And here it is!
BHG Original Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Makes 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 bag semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- Cream cold butter and sugars until it’s the texture of cornmeal. Add egg and vanilla then mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients in three batches. Add chocolate chips and mix briefly.
- Bake in a 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Flat and crispy on the outside, chewy and gooey on the inside. Just the way I (and Santa – who eats them like chips) like ‘em!!!
Marathon festive post!!!!! Ho, ho, ho.
Off to go enjoy my evening – I hope you do the same!
~~~~~
Two Question Tuesday:
1. Do you decorate your house for the Holidays?
2. How do you like your CCC – fluffy, or flat?
FLAT… crispy and chewy is perfect… and I like bites with no chocolate… weird??
I *LOVE* that you woke up to decorated house!! <3 that is so SO awesome!!
I totally decorate. a lot. <3
Hehe – I always make 1 or 2 without chocolate chips ’cause I like those too!
I call those the ‘chip-free’ cookies — and I always make myself two!! I love chewy cookies… but my fave ccc is actually a ‘pan’ cookie (or as most people call them, bar cookies. They stay much more dense/chewy.
I’m not a HUGE decorator — but I blame that on the fact that we’ve been renters forever so I don’t want to go all out
IBE deserves as award!
YaY Ben! You got a real keeper there Kristin. As for decorating, nope. Last time a friend decided I needed a tree, they helped me put it up, and it stayed up till April cuz no one came to help me take it down. :\ As for the cookies, flat and chewy FTW.
My hubby’s grandma always has prosciutto, capicola, and red hots in her fridge. When I think a quick sandwich, I think turkey, cheese, a little mayo. At grandma’s, DH LOADS his with tons of prosicutto, capicola, and red hots. So I must make this dinner for him!
I like my CCC fluffy. I typically LOVE decorating for Christmas, but our apartment is so tiny. Therefore…my grandma bought us a tiny tree, like not even two feet tall, and that’s our decorations!
aww that was so sweet of your hubby to do that for you!!!!!!! and those cookies look absolutely delicious!
I don’t usually decorate much because I end up going to my mom’s at Christmas. Last year my boyfriend and I went to Ontario after seeing my mom to visit his family so I didn’t see the point….but I regretted it later so this year might be different…and I like the cookies flat, but chewy…*drooling* lol
What a sweetheart! I can’t believe he put up ALL the deocrations – even the tree – after you went to bed. What a great husband! Good job Ben!
1) I do decorate my house for the holidays. Just got it done last night, actually! So exciting. My favorite part is seeing how the lights look at night. So pretty!
2) Um, I’m a fluffy girl when it comes to choco chip cookies. I grew up loving soft batch cookies by keebler (?), and could never go back. But yours look tasty, too!
That was so awesome of Ben! My sister and I usually do the decorating by ourselves the day after Thanksgiving. We wait until the middle of December to do the tree because we get a real one. Also, that chicken looks delicious.
That is too sweet that he did that! Awww…!
And whoa… both dinner and dessert looks amazing today! bookmarking recipe now!
AWWWWWW Ben just touched my heart!!!! He DOES believe!
My husband usually helps me decorate the tree and the living room….until he’s had enough, and then I finish it!
I’m definitely a flat chocolate chip cookie fan!!
That is so sweet! My husband doesn’t really get into decorating either and sometimes I wonder why I even do it.
I am so in love with IBE!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t beleive you never had prosciutto before!!! That’s a SIN!
A+ for Ben! Wow, what a guy you have over there! Such a sweetie
I love gooey (like, barely done) chocolate chip cookies. I have been making the same recipe since I was about 8 years old & I actually have it memorized!
That is SO SO SO sweet!!!
That was so sweet of him. What a great surprise. I love my ccc to be chewey with a bit of crunch on the edges.
This time of the year I try to take an extra day off to put up decorations. If I’m working a typical week, I don’t think I’d have the energy. So an extra day always helps.
So far I have had to put up TWO Christmas tree! This year, in the same house, in the same corner, using the same ornaments! I call it Version 1 and Version 2. Let us hope there is no Version 3.
I love your recipes Kristin! And your pictures!!! So wonderful!
Big hug to Santa for pulling that off! LOVE IT!!!
Good job IBE!! IGE, you are so lucky to have someone to do that kind of thing for you!!
No, I don’t decorate for the holidays. I live alone. I have the Grinch-like attitude that “it’s just me hanging around here all the time, so what does it matter if I gussy up the house for the holidays?” I know – LAME. I should at least put out a wreath or something.
I like my chocolate chip cookies FLUFFY!! The more cake-like, the better. Also, the more chocolate chips, the better.
What a delightful post tonight! Talk about Christmas (score!), post delicious mouth watering recipe (score!) and end with cookies (score!). It doesn’t get better than that! What a sweetheart that Ben decorated for Chirstmas. What a wonderful surprise.!Sometimes it seems like the husbands don’t pay attention but they do! That’s the best!
It reminded me of a Christmas many years ago. We had been married for many years and had our son when one year, I had lost my job (company folded) and I was really depressed. I had always decorated everything and used to wait in giddy anticipation until it was the proper time to put up Christmas (back then, people waited until Thanksgiving to put up Christmas, lol). Well, that year, I couldn’t get in the mood. One day, my husband put on all of the romantic Christmas music, carried all of the boxes up and did everything he could to put me in the mood. I never thought he cared either and it was so sweet. We put up Christmas decorations together and it was one of the nicest Christmases. Your post reminded me of that.
Anyway, I MUST try that recipe. As for cookies, I like my chocolate chip cookies with only half the amount of chocolate chips. I place all of my favorite recipes in a binder and usually type up all of the recipes I use in a recipe software program called Cookbook Wizard. I can flag recipes and then print all of them off as a cookbook. I can edit recipes or make notes on them. Usually, I type them up so I can put notes in them on what to do first, etc. which is helpful for long recipes. My favorite cookie recipe is a peanut butter cookie recipe that I got from someone at work. You make the dough, chill for two hours and then roll the dough in sugar before you crease and cook them. They are the ultimate cookie!
The best ccc are fluffy…and I got a recipe out of a friend’s family cookbook that uses a package of vanilla instant pudding in the recipe and they are the BEST cookies! People always ask for the recipe!
What a guy!! We put up a tree, stockings around the house and lights on the outside…however, I must admit, I’m feeling a little Grinch-ish this year. Fluffy CCC are the best!
That is SO SWEET! I wish someone would do that for me. My mom and dad don’t care about the decorations, but I can’t do it by myself because it involves ladders and nails and things. I’ve been begging them to start decorating but with no luck!
Also – I tend to go doughy/fluffy cookies. But really I’m not picky
That’s so sweet of him! Big bonus points. We decorate our house a lot for Christmas. The kids love it but we’ve found that we’re trying to tame it down this year. Every surface in the dining room and living usually has something Christmas on it or in it. Less is more this time which is ok with everyone.
CCC must be fluffy and FULL of chips! Otherwise we send them back.
1) Decorating as I write this! Looooove this time of year!!!
2) FLAT – slightly crispy around the edges, and nice and chewwwwy in the middle! I can’t wait to bake all those goodies that only get made this time of year
Okay that is seriously SO cute of Ben! You are one lucky gal! Those chocolate chip cookies look delicious, but I have a question. If that’s are the second best, what’s the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world?
1.) We do decorate, but we don’t go crazy with knick knacks. Just a basic tree (REAL — can’t beat the smell) with colored lights and meaningful ornaments and some simple white lights on the porch! The only things we keep from year to year are our lights, stockings and tree ornaments. I just love collecting ornaments from vacations and important events. They always bring back such vivid memories when we bust them out every holiday season!
2.) I (think?) I like them somewhere in between fluffy and flat, but I discovered that my new favorite way to eat them is frozen. My M.I.L. moved in for a week after we had our baby in July and made like, 6 dozen CCC’s, which I froze most of, so that I wouldn’t eat them all. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered how delicious frozen cookies are and ate those ones before the fresh ones!
Yes, I decorate but it’s a chore… not really fun anymore. Maybe I’m sick of my decorations and that there’s so much I’d rather be doing. This year my hubby and I got out the tree and made sure the lights worked and our 9 yr old son decorated it all by his sweet little self while I made supper and my hubby worked in the garage. He had a blast the the “responsibility” and the tree looked amazing! I was very impressed!
I do not like small thick cookies, definitely more flat. And I like a chewy center and a cracked top. I think Subway’s cookies ROCK!!!
how sweet of your husband! we’re getting our tree tomorrow… can’t WAIT!
and i love crispy choc chip cookies with a little softness in the insides.
Sweetest freaking thing ever. Just saying.
Oh, we decorate! My husband made a comment the other day that he wants to skip December – unacceptable!!! He is rather stressed at work, so he really just wants to skip to Christmas vacation, but still.
Glad Ben saved Christmas at your house. I worked to save it at ours.
CCC – love both, but am partial to fluffy (and slightly crunchy). My mom’s recipe when I was growing up was fluffy and slightly crunchy – perfect for dipping in milk! Which is the BEST way to eat a CCC, imho.
i just think you are delightful
reading your blog is like a lil gift to myself every day
thank you
I love hearing about IBE and you. Cutest blog couple perhaps?!
And I love my chocolate chip cookies CHEWY! I love a salty, chunky texture–>that is key!
Three cheers for Ben!!!
1. I love decorating for the holidays.
2. Chewy, not cakey.
I love decorating for Christmas….just enough to make it look cozy but not so much it’s overwhelming to put away. And I love my cookies just the way you do. Mmmmm
We do decorate for Christmas, and to make it more fun I play Christmas music (LOUDLY), serve hot chocolate and Craisin cookies–they are so Christmasy with the red Craisins! They are our absolute favorite cookies (oatmeal raisin recipe with Craisins substituted). The sugar high probably helps get us in the festive spirit, too…especially after the cold trek outdoors to find the perfect tree.
Congrats to IBE–he may be in the running for husband of the year!
Your husband is a real sweetheart,that’s for sure.
Your dinner looks absolutely beyond delicious,ham and chicken and cheese?Yes please!
1. I like to put up a little tree (fake,since I don’t like to cut a real tree just for fun) in the living room,and I have a small wire Christmas tree that I put in the kitchen.Around Christmas day I also put on my fairy lights,which I love!
2. I don’t mind what the cookies are like,I do not discriminate
My husband doesn’t care if the house is decorated either. But we have 3 small kids (twins that are 6 & a 2 year old) so the older ones help me decorate & the youngest helped with the finishing touches. I’m a SAHM, so our tree is lit all day during December!
Cookies have to be gooey and soft!
That is so sweet of Ben!! Aaaand after seeing how easy those prosciutto wrapped chicken tenders are, I’m totally making them next week – thank goodness for Trader Joe’s!!
I LOVE decorating for Christmas – I make a special trip home just so I won’t miss out! And I love crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside chocolate chip cookies…fluffy just doesn’t cut it for me!
What an amazing husband you have! My hubs is still not in the Christmas spirit. It’s sad,because I SO AM!
I definitely decorate… but we’re on a budget this year so no buying new decorations! Which means we won’t have too many at all
Oh, well. We’ll make the most of it! I love it that much!
Fluffy cookies. All the way.
I always decorate for the holidays! I feel like you do though, that I am only doing it for myself, sometimes. How nice that Ben suprised you!
It could never happen that was for us, because he knows how particular I am in picking the perfect tree!
High five to Ben!! He is raising the standard for boyfriends and hubbies everywhere
The house is completely decorated – we actually took the day off on Monday so we could decorate stress-free.
And then the tree fell last night. But that’s another story.
I don’t really mind if it’s fluffy or flat, but I do LOVE a chewy CCC.
i would like to counter you “best chocolate chip recipe”
have you ever tried ALTON BROWN’s Chewy Chocolate chip recipe!?!
it is BY far the best chocolate chip recipe i have ever tried (and i have tried a ton!) Here is the link! TRY IT!!!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/the-chewy-recipe/index.html
way to go ben…… super romantic gesture!
amazing!!! seriously what a GEM. i hope that the next time you feel grinch-like about the holidays, thinking of this will get you right into the spirit! i was feverishly pushing off christmas up until a few weeks ago and i have NO IDEA WHY. merry merry!
Awww. Ben is zee best! Love the idea of wrapping the chicken in prosciutto!
Gotta have cookies that are slightly chewy around the edge and chewy on the inside.
How sweet of Ben to decorate! That’s awesome, and looks fantastic! My Christmas Tree was put up this weekend, and still am decorating slowly! I love Christmas Time!
Your dinner looks delicious, and so simple!
Awww, that’s so sweet! I don’t decorate because my husband is Jewish so it seems like too much work just for me. When we have kids I will definitely go all out, though! Also, those cookies look delicious! I like mine to be slightly undercooked so they are really soft and gooey!
Yay for Ben saving Christmas! I totally know what you mean about decorating for yourself. My husband puts the tree up, but I’m the one that puts all the lights and ornaments up and take it down again. I don’t think they realize how much work it is. Plus I’m super anal so the lights and ornaments have to be evenly spaced, etc.
I love how you posted what you were having for dinner this week! I recently discovered that same blog a couple of weeks ago and love that you adopted the idea
How absolutely thoughtful and sweet! Funny-my husband surprised me as well 2 nights ago by having the tree put up and shining bright when I walked in the door after work. What’s gotten into these jolly husbands?!
I was totally surprised because we were both feeling sort of “meh” about digging it out. Needless to say, I decorated it last night and am glad it’s up! I bet you’re glad too!
I used to love decorating for Christmas when my kids were small. They’re 20 and 18 now and most of the fun and excitement of Xmas has pretty much gone out the window. I put up the tree every year but its more of a pain than anything else. Husband couldn’t care less which sucks.
Anyway, chewy CCC’s are awesome!
too cute! reminds me i need to seriously start buying and putting up christmas decorations. this year is a first for me to decorate.
my boyfriend always leaves his shirt on the floor or on the kitchen table. drives me mad!