Posts Tagged ‘food’

I’ve been wanting to make chocolate chip cookies for several days, but the butter just wouldn’t soften! (I don’t like to microwave my butter to soften it, as it usually melts some and then the cookie dough isn’t the right consistency.) After four days, it was finally to a reasonable mush-level . . . then I realized that the brown sugar had gotten left in the car, which Michael had at work.

Nothing, however, was going to stop me from making cookies. So I went on a search for brown sugar-less cookies and found these. They looked sooo tasty, and I had all the ingredients on-hand. Or so I thought.

Apparently we used the last of the baking soda (along with the last of the vinegar), while unclogging sinks recently. Which meant I didn’t have the proper leavening.

Not one to give up easily, especially when I already have half the ingredients mixed together, I decided to try a substitution. I know, I know, there isn’t a substitute for baking soda. But I went ahead and added more baking powder and figured it was worth a try. If it didn’t work, the worst that would happen would be flat cookies.

But it wasn’t a failure! The baking powder worked! Actually, when Michael came home, after he came back from Cloud 9 when he tasted the first one, he asked how I made the cookies so fluffy. Success!

I made the cookies 4 different ways – with m&m’s, with white chocolate chips, with miniature chocolate chips, and plain. The ones with white chocolate chips look the prettiest, but our favorite is the miniature chocolate chip version. I also want to try them with chopped bits of Andes mints. Mmmmm. That sounds delicious.

The original recipe can be found here, but I made a couple of very small tweaks to my batter and cooking time to come up with this:

Double Chocolate Cookies

• 1 C. soft butter (not melted)
• 1 1/2 C. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp. vanilla
• 2 C. flour
• 2/3 C. cocoa
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• mix-ins, as desired

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Beat together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla till creamy.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Gradually stir into the butter mixture.

Mix in the chocolate chips, candies, nuts, etc.

Shape into 1″ balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.

Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a minute after removing them from the oven, then let them finish cooling on a wire rack.

My post on Monday (the reeaally long one), was about how I spent my birthday. But who says birthday celebrations can only last one day?

Checkout Line Take 1:

Sunday we dropped our car off at my mother-in-law’s and picked up her mini-van, then took off for IKEA. When we arrived, we picked up a loveseat and a slipcover for Bonnie and three long pieces of butcher block countertop for our kitchen, as well as three extra cushion covers for our new sofas . . . from the as-is section because they were missing the rest of the set.

Third Twine’s the Charm:

Outside, we began loading the van. And that’s when we discovered the bucket seats in the middle weren’t removable (the back seat had been taken out before we left). As it began to rain, Michael finagled everything around until the loveseat and counters stuck out just an inch or two. He opened the box of twine on the loading dock. Empty. Down the dock he went, to the next box. Empty. I saw him come walking back empty-handed and directed him to a third box I saw on the other side. Eureka!

Pop! Goes the Vehicle:

Twine in hand at last, he commenced tying down the trunk. He pulled down the trunk and then . . . pop! Back up it went. he pulled it down again and . . . pop! The same thing. His mom’s “smart” van sensed obstacles in the way and wouldn’t close. Finally Michael managed to get it to stay down and got it secured, while he got soaking wet. Then we hopped in the van to drive it into the parking garage. The “door ajar” alarm began to beep. And beep. And beep. sigh.

{image via}

Happy Birthday:

Inside IKEA again, and out of the rain, we headed first to the return counter to return the slipcover we had just purchased – since it was the wrong one! (At least we realized it before we left the premises.) Then we met up with my parents and one of my sisters at the marketplace restaurant. I helped my sister polish of her Swedish meatballs and then my mom bought chocolate cake for all of us. Mmmm. They all sang “Happy Birthday” to me in hushed whispers and we enjoyed my birthday cake and getting to see each other. Then we headed to the marketplace while my parents and sister went to the showroom.

Checkout Line Take 2:

Michael and I made a purposeful, yet not-too-quick jaunt through the marketplace, picking up the chandelier I wanted, as well as a few packs of batteries (IKEA sells batteries at an awesome price), a drawer organizer, a few storage boxes, a pair of curtains, the correct slipcover for his mom’s loveseat, and a kitchen sink. (Yes, really. We bought a kitchen sink.) Back outside we  took everything out of the car, folded the seats down instead of up (thanks to a brainstorming session with my parents), and managed to get everything into the car and the trunk closed. Then my mom called. “Did you remember to get the oil for your countertop?” she asked. Of course not. Why would we have remembered that? Guess we had to go in again.

Checkout Line Take 3:

Mom had told me exactly where the counter oil was, so we were able to walk right in and grab it. We passed my family on the way, so we stopped for a few more hugs then headed on towards the kitchen section. Oil in hand, Michael looked at me and laughed, “Is there anything else we want while we’re here?” I shook my head and we kept on until we got to the next-to-last section of the marketplace . . . the candles. We both spotted a chandelier that we loved, so we picked it up, along with the tapers that went with it. Then we grabbed a few lanterns and a bag of 100 tealights to go with those. Then we made our way to the checkout. Again.

{image via}

My Wonderful Memory:

About half an hour down the interstate, finally on our way towards home, I turned to look at Michael. “We were supposed to get your mom two slipcovers!” Oh well. I guess we’ll have to make another trip sometime.

My first official week of Project 52 has come to an end. Let’s take a look at my list.

• Send a letter
• Play the piano for at least an hour
• Play the cello for at least 15 minutes
• Read for at least an hour
• Photograph a specific theme or idea

Not too bad, though I didn’t pull out my cello or send a letter this week.

My “theme” for the photograph was to take a picture of something I did this week, so here we have Thursday night’s dinner:

I also worked on a couple of the projects on my list, but they’re not quite finished yet. They should be done sometime this week, so I’ll be able to check them off my list and share them with you by next weekend.

It’s a dreary day outside . . . cold, and gray, and rainy . . . so I thought I’d share some cozy recipes and links I’ve come across recently, to help cheery-up this dismal day.

• These hand knitted apple green fingerless gloved will keep hands warm and your fingers free. Bysweetmom {$24}
• Stir up a bulk batch of homemade hot chocolate mix and you’ll be ready to warm up from the inside out.
• Gray winter days are the perfect time to curl up inside with a favorite book, such as these editions of Little Women, Sense & Sensibility, and other classics. {$14}
• Creature Comforts has a tutorial on painting with tea, as well as a free printable card for you to practice on. Once you’re finished, you can write a note to a friend and send her a bit of cheer.
• Dandelion prints from HeyHarriet to remind you of spring. Don’t they make you smile. {$18}
• If you need a project to get you up-and-about, this Scruffily Quilt tutorial from Moda Bake Shop should do the trick. And when it’s finished, you’ll have a lovely quilt for snuggling!
• Mmmm. Just the spicy smell of this cranberry marmalade soap from Refresh Soap Company is enough to make you want to put everything down and take a warm shower. {$5}
• If you need a new warm-you-up recipe, try out this Broccoli Cheddar Soup. Bread bowls are not required, but they make it feel like a special occasion.
• The best way to turn a dreary day into a cheery day – remember to rejoice because God made today! {image copyright Reverence Media}

I don’t know about you, but I get some of the most bizarre spam comments. Sometimes they’re downright hilarious. Some are asking for my technical expertise with their iPads or Xboxes. Many of them are overflowing with compliments about my blog (that the bots obviously haven’t read). A few make what are obviously unfounded and very comical assumptions about me (“I can tell you ride a motorcycle”). And then I get the occasional off-the-wall comment that I actually find interesting. Like this one:

What are some creative cupcake flavors for my cupcake company?

Hmmm. Creative cupcake flavors. Beyond chocolate, I suppose. (Ooooh. Beyond Chocolate would be a great name for a cupcake flavor. I wonder what flavor.)

What are some of your most creative cupcake concoctions? (Do you like the alliteration?) Cupcake/muffin tins are on my shopping list and I’m ready to try something fun. Just don’t send me any recipes for Spam Cupcakes, please.

{Photo and cupcakes copyright Fair Cake Cupcakes.}

• If you’re looking for a fabulous DIY project, check out Green Submarine DIY. Green Submarine blogger Angela has started collecting some of her favorite DIY ideas from around the web and listing them in one spot, with lots of labels to help you find the specific project you want.
• Another place to look for DIY projects is the DIY Project Parade, a weekly link up at DIY Showoff.
• These Blueberry Sunrise Muffins from Hostess with the Mostess look yummy! I’m bookmarking this recipe to try for weekend brunch sometime.
• Emily of Jones Design Company was a guest blogger earlier this week at Finding Fabulous. Click here to see her tutorial for turning a (thrifted) cable knit sweater into a lovely throw pillow.
• Here’s another easy DIY pillow idea. This one utilizes a handmade stencil and fabric spray paint to make a bold design.
• Totally unrelated and not a link at all, but today my husband and I have been married for three months!

No photo this week – I didn’t find anything in my normal browsing and after half an hour of a dedicated search, there still wasn’t anything that captured my attention enough to share (and had sharing permission).

Follow this link to see if you have a BJ’s in your area. If you do, this trial membership is a great way to stock up on bulk products! BJ’s is like Sam’s Club or Costco, but they also accept manufacturer’s coupons, cutting your costs down further.

{Thank you, Money Saving Mom and Mojo Savings!}