Monday Menu ~ Oooh...This IS A Good Cookie!

I know it's Tuesday, but Monday was filled with so much...including the field trip to learn all about our salmon.  This is not the first time I've gone on this field trip, but I am so excited to announce that it is officially my last!  Most things, when I acknowledge it's my last, choke me up and make me want another baby.  Some things, like these salmon, make me throw my hands up to heaven and thank the Lord that I never have to do this again!

I watched how many eggs come out of one female for the last time:

I watched how little milt from one male it takes to fertilize all those eggs:

I watched children handle fresh salmon eggs for the last time:

Great learning opportunity, for sure.  Very educational, for sure.  Grateful to be able to see all that close up, for sure.  But that's enough.  And, for the record, I did rotate my pictures, but they will not cooperate.  Blogger...thumbs down to the new picture loader!!!

On Sunday, I made dinners for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  It feels so good to have those dinners ready to heat-n-serve, to not think about dinners for a few days.  One was a new recipe, and I had intended to share it here.  But the reviews were mixed.  Brad loved it, one kid loved it, one tolerated it, and one was somewhere in the middle.  And I'm still not sure about it.  So I won't share it.  BUT!!  Have you seen the Bravo show "Top Chef Just Desserts"?  Love it.  The drama is too much.  There's one guy who needs his mother to have a talk with him.  He's too much.  But the food is so fun to watch!  Some wacky ideas, but I mostly salivate through it all.  Recently, they had to prepare a bake sale for a local high school.  A chocolate chip/walnut cookie made the judge ask for the recipe.  You could tell through the t.v. that it was a good cookie.  You could tell from the way the judges moved their mouths while tasting it that it was a good cookie.

So I'm oh-so-thankful that Bravo has shared the recipe!  It is my current favorite chocolate chip cookie.  It takes a lot for me to shift my loyalty.  But the shift is on.  I LOVE THIS COOKIE!!!  Sometimes I like nuts in my cookies, sometimes I don't.  In these, I love them.  Love them.  Love them.  Love them.

Here's the recipe, from bravotv.com:

Chunky Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Like most of my chocolate chip cookie recipes, I think these cookies bake up more nicely when the dough has been chilled a bit.  A couple hours is fine.  I used a heaping scoop with my 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, and they needed to bake about 12 minutes at 345.  They should be golden around the edges, and beginning to set in the middle.  Fall chill is in the air...what a great time to bake some yummy cookies!!