From my kitchen: Grill N Chill recipes

Happy Wednesday! It's a beautiful day in the middle of what is otherwise turning out to be a rainy week here in Virginia! I have been a little disappointed in the wet weather since my parents are here visiting for the first time in 15 months, and we want to enjoy all the outdoor things the Williamsburg area has to offer. But on the other hand, I am thankful for the great weather the Lord gave us last week when we had the church teens and college students over to our home for our 2nd annual Grill N Chill. Grill N Chill is something that we started last year to be held at the end of the summer as a way of welcoming the new teens into the Youth group and say goodbye to our departing college students at the same time. We enjoy a great cookout meal with my husband's famous grilled burgers, some volleyball and basketball, some crazy games, and a time of devotions and reflection on the summer. We love our young people, and this year we had a total of 23 here for the Grill N Chill. I hope they enjoyed the evening as much as we did. I thought today I would share two popular recipes from our meal.

The first recipe is probably one of my most-requested. It is for my chocolate chip cookies, and while I have received and made many recipes for chocolate chip cookies over the years, these are absolutely the best. The recipe has been in my family forever, and everyone raves about them!

Chocolate-Chip Cookies

2/3 cup butter (I use half real butter and half margarine - you can use all of one or the other, but do not use a spread!), softened
2/3 cup Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In mixer, cream butter/margarine, Crisco, and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls (I use a cookie dough scoop) onto baking sheets and bake for 9-10 minutes at 375. The secret is to slightly under bake them - take them out before they look done and allow to cool on cookie sheets for several minutes before removing.

Another favorite dish included in our cookout is my baked beans, which come from Southern Living magazine.

Easy Southern Living Baked Beans

3 bacon slices, cooked and drained and broken up
1/2 small onion, diced
2 15 oz. cans pork and beans, drained
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 T. flour

Cook bacon and drain, and sauté onion in pan and drain. In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients. Pour into casserole and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly. I doubled this recipe and put it in my slow-cooker and allowed to cook on low for the afternoon. It is a great, easy way to make baked beans for a crowd.

Happy to share these easy and delicious recipes with you, and I hope you enjoy them!

Til next time,
Kathi