Posts Tagged ‘recipes’

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.

I got back to Virginia late Sunday night, after spending several days in Oregon for a friends’ wedding. It was nice getting to spend an entire day with her, after not having seen her for two and a half years! I also got to visit with more friends, meet some new ones, and visit the Oregon Coast. Oh, and I spent a good chunk of time making bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages. Sadly though, I left my camera battery charger in the car, so I wasn’t able to take any pictures. Hopefully someone else got some they’re willing to share!

Needless to say, I didn’t have much time for blogging while I was gone. But I’m home again and ready to get back into the swing of things. To get things rolling again, here are a few tidbits I’ve found around the internet recently:

• Delightful Distractions is a sweet blog full of pretty printables, inspiration and crafting ideas, and Jesus-lessons
• Jellybean Junkyard created this “Give Thanks” board, and she shares how to make your own.
• Aren’t these diy coffee filter pomanders lovely?
• I love the Cinnamon Honey Butter from Texas Roadhouse, so I’m looking forward to trying this copycat recipe.

I’m bringing back The Sunday List. This weekly post is a collection of projects, recipes, products, and other sites around the web that have caught my attention during the week. I finish it off with a photo I took in those seven days, or one of my older photos that I recently edited.

• These DIY Moroccan lanterns featured on Design*Sponge look amazing, but are oh-so-easy to make.
• I just discovered Impel Clothing this week. Beautiful and modest!
• Seeing the Everyday is a print magazine I stumbled upon this week. It’s full of real-life prose from real people, gorgeous photos, and is a lovely reminder to enjoy the everyday moments of life.
• One of my favorite blogs, Ruffles and Stuff, is now on Facebook.
• Even though I’ve lived in the South almost my entire life, I’ve never had the experience of eating grits. However, I think I’m going to have to try this recipe for gouda grits.

This is one of the tulips from the bouquet my mom gave me back in May. I took this photo about a month ago but just got around to editing it this week.

My art journal class started on Sunday and I’m loving it! It’s been challenging and stretching me and it’s so much fun to see what the other ladies in the class come up with for their books and how each person interprets the assignments. Yesterday morning I started a page for an assignment and it turned into something completely different . . . my chai recipe.

So here’s a peek into my art journal, crooked writing, misshapen teacup and all. Oh, and the recipe for one of my favorite drinks!

{P.S. “Chai tea” is redundant, as “chai” is simply the Hindi word for “tea.” And, since real chai is made with milk, that menu listing for a “chai tea latte” is doubly redundant, since “latte” also means [with] “milk.”}

In order to give myself an outline of some of the non-work-related things I want to accomplish, I’ve set a goal of tackling roughly one project a week for a year, for a total of 52 projects (which means I have a little bit of catching up to do). I left approximately three months’ worth of projects undecided, to allow room for new inspiration and ideas and I’ve marked out the ones I’ve already finished this year. I’ll try to remember to post updates here as I finish each additional project.

Here’s the list so far:

1. Plant garden
2. Put up bird feeders and houses
3. Put up hanging flower baskets
4. Make cupcake liner wreath
5. Create and order wedding photo albums
6. Finish sanding dining room chairs
7. Finish painting dining room chairs
8. Finish painting laundry room
9. Sew sink skirt
10. Make curtains for kitchen and family room
11. Put up “white board” in kitchen
12. Set-up craft area
13. Make Baked Alaska
14. Paint “accent” wall in dining room
15. Paint cookbook shelf
16. Purge closet
17. Donate and/or sell crates of books
18. Sew covers for pillow forms
19. Dye napkins
20. Install another shelf in bathroom closet
21. Hang clock in living room
22. Read Large Family Logistics
23. Purge and file papers
24. Hang chandelier (requires finding one!)
25. Put knobs or handles on entertainment chest
26. Hold cookie exchange
27. Make quiche
28. Frame and hang/display wedding photos
29. Hang “Price of Freedom” print
30. Install flooring in craft room and get rid of the extra
31. Finish installing switch plates and outlet covers
32. Complete bedroom curtains
33. Hang plates on dining room “accent” wall
34. Install or hang a “headboard”
35. Have vows printed, framed, and hung
36. Scan, enlarge, frame, and hang letter from Michael
37. Write Grandma, Uncle Billy, etc. to ask questions about Grandpap
38. Paint the porch
39. Paint kitchen window sashes
40. Give bathroom second coat of paint over tub
41. TBD
42. TBD
43. TBD
44. TBD
45. TBD
46. TBD
47. TBD
48. TBD
49. TBD
50. TBD
51. TBD
52. TBD

Additionally, each week I want to:

• 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

What are some of the things you hope to accomplish this year?

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}

Today I’m thankful that my mom taught me how to cook – and to improvise when something doesn’t turn out quite right! I planned to make white chicken chili, but the quick-soak method I used on the beans didn’t work and they were still too hard when it was time to start dinner. I tried boiling them in the broth, but that didn’t help either, so I just strained out the broth, and made a thick chicken chowder (try saying that 5 times fast!). Not quite as chili-like as I had planned, but still delicious.

{Image is from stock.xchng.}