1 cup Golden Flavour Crisco

1 ¼ cups lightly packed brown sugar

1 egg

3 tbsp. milk

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (I use Robin Hood)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking soda

Either:

1 cup chopped pecans and

1-350 gram package Hershey Chipits semi-sweet chocolate chips and

1-250 gram package Hershey Chipits Skor bits

Or:

1 cup sliced almonds and

1 ½ -250 gram packages Bakers’s white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and position the racks in the upper part of the oven.

Cream Golden Crisco and brown sugar, then add egg, milk and vanilla and beat. Add salt and baking soda to flour and stir with a spoon, then blend flour mixture into wet ingredients. I use an electric hand mixer for all these steps except adding the salt and baking soda to the flour.

Add chips and nuts and mix until they are evenly spread throughout the dough. This is best done by hand using a rubber spatula.

Scoop out lumps of dough using ice cream or mashed potato scoop and flatten with a fork moistened in cold water. Make sure the cookies are fairly round without little bits sticking out, as the little bits will burn by the time the main part of the cookie is done.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes total, turning the cookie sheets after 6, 10 and 14 minutes to ensure even cooking. After 14 minutes check every two minutes or so to make sure they don’t burn.

These cookies taste best when served cold, so keep them in the fridge. This also helps to keep them in one piece, as the ones with Skor bits can be a bit fragile.

1. Use an insulated (two-layer) baking sheet to get evenly cooked cookies (called Air-King or Bake-King, I think; sold at Safeway, Zellers, etc.)

2. The ones with Skor bits stick like crazy unless you use a non-stick coated, insulated sheet. If you don’t have a non-stick sheet, cool them in the fridge for about 3-4 minutes so they are solid enough to move and then loosen them from the sheet with a hamburger flipper before they get a chance to get permanently glued to the sheet.

3. The ones with white chips bake better on a regular (not non-stick) insulated cookie sheet. The darker non-stick sheets seem to cook the bottoms a little bit fast.

4. When done they will be golden brown with just a hint of moistness on top. You will know they have been cooked perfectly when they are crispy to the tooth, but still soft and moist inside once they have cooled off.

Pate ingredients:

4 ounces semi-sweet choclate (I use Baker's brand or Callebaut bulk chocolate from the Superstore)

2/3 cup cocoa

1/4 cup coffee liqueur

2 tablespoons extra strong coffee

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 cups whipping cream

1-425 g pkg. frozen raspberries

2 tablespoons orange liqueur (Triple Sec)

2 tablespoons orange juice

Chop chocolate finely. Put in a heat-proof bowl with the cocoa. Bring the liqueur and coffee to a boil in a saucepan and then pour over the cocoa-choclate mixture. Stir until it is smooth and thick, with no lumps of unmelted chocolate.

In another large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together, then add the egg yolks and beat them in well. Beat in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla.

In a third bowl whip the cream with a mixer until it is very stiff. This is easier to do if you keep the cream, mixer blades and bowl very cold. The bowl and blades can be kept in the freezer for a while before you start.

Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Don't overmix; just use a spatula gently.

Line an 8"X4" loaf pan with plastic wrap and pour in the pate mixture. Cover and store in the fridge overnight.

To make the sauce, thaw the raspberries. Drain off the excess juice into a glass. Puree the berries using a mixer, then strain several times to removes all the seeds. Add the orange juice and liqueur, then thin with the leftover raspberry juice until it reaches the desired consistency (about like maple syrup; this seldom requires more than two or three tablespoons of the raspberry juice).

To serve, uncover the pate, put a platter on top of the loaf pan, and invert the pan and platter. Remove the plastic wrap. Put a tablespoon or two of sauce on a small plate and top with a slice of the pate.

Not responsible for the cardiac results of this cholesterol special!

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