Great new cookie recipe

step 1. set out my butter to sit till it is room temp.

step 2. wait and wait for that darn butter to come to room temp.

step 3. finally butter at room temp. now get out toll house chocolate chip package and follow recipe on back for chocolate chip cookies.

step 4. pull freshly baked cookies out of the oven and wonder what I did wrong. Again. Because those darn cookies are FLAT!!!

Is is just me, but I can't make a chocolate chip cookie to save my life! Until now. I've been on a search for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. A recipe that produces a warm chewy chocolate chip cookie that does not look like a pancake when I'm done. I know there's a lot out there but I found the one I'm gonna use the rest of my days.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: Baking Illustrated, page 434)

Makes about 18 large cookies.

These oversized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra egg yolk to keep their texture soft. These cookies are best served warm from the oven but will retain their texture even when cooled. To ensure the proper texture, cool the cookies on the baking sheet. Oversized baking sheets allow you to get all the dough into the oven at one time. If you’re using smaller baking sheets, put fewer cookies on each sheet and bake them in batches.

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.

4. Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

One thing, I didn't follow step 4 and 5 exactly. I did scoop my dough out with a 1/4 cup and make a ball, then pull it apart so I got that jagged edge effect. But then I plopped the two balls, jagged edge up, on the baking sheet. so I came out with 2 dozen and slightly smaller cookies. (still bigger cookies than my usually toll house). And I baked my sheets one at a time, instead of two at a time suggested in step 5. I just cooked them at 325 for 15 minutes--exactly! No rotating for me. And I did cool them on the sheet. They turned out PERFECT!!! Yummy.

The lady to thank for my newly found chocolate chip cookie confidence:

The brown eyed baker. Here's the link to her site: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2008/06/21/thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Alrighty Then

OK, I just love the New Year.
And this year, I'm back to blogging. I don't want to intimidate myself again. So I am shooting for one post a week. Easy enough? I think so. Lets stay connected Lou!

So... we closed on a home in August, did some some serious stuff, including paint. And then we decided to move. It was rough. There was a lot of stuff. These were my color choices. ...and the fitting color of my dreams, for the accent wall, is the dark center green-blue. Its Behr's Agave Nectar. I have been up to my neck in projects. Its so fun. But, like Laura, I do need to document. So, I'll toast with my Martinelli's and... hope for the best!

A quick warm gift

Our family loves heating pads in the winter time. A few years ago my SIL and her family sent each of us one for Christmas. We all fight over the microwave at night. We love to use them for ear aches, headaches, muscle aches, and my children love them especially for warmth! It's cold here in New England.

We love to make them and give them away as teacher gifts, or gifts for extra special people.

We fill ours with regular long grain rice. There are other options out there, but this seems the cheapest.
There is no right or wrong size. I don't use a pattern. I just cut rectangles and start sewing and filling.
We add instructions inside the gift bag. Heat for 2 minutes on high in the microwave. I put together little gift bags with a note on the outside saying, "to warm you up on cold winter nights." I can't wait to give these great, personal gifts away.

an update from Laura

Poor Sad Craft blog. Lonely, ignored, neglected, does anyone even check on you anymore?

I humbly take my hat off to all of those amazing, talented, creative women out there who run a craft blog. Most have families and busy lives, still they keep their followers updated everyday with a new project or post. Thank you. (running a craft blog is Hard! Not that it's hard to do crafts, it's just hard to document it along the way, and make it interesting. Never mind the pressure of having to come up with your own idea. I'm a big, fat, copy-cat!) So with that in mind, let me introduce you to one of my FAVORITE sites. It is one of the few I go to daily. And am always trying out the crafts.

http://www.theidearoom.net/

Right now I am working on one of the crafts for my children and a few of our friends. I don't want to ruin the surprise so I will share later. But check it out if you haven't yet.

And know, K and I are still out there crafting, but we are probable camera-less and vowing to document the next project...

Slap a bow on it, and call it good

In my search for a creative Fathers Day gift I came across this easy, super cute, paper bow. I knew whatever I did, it had to include a bow like this. Since I was in charge of our primary's gift for the fathers, why not make 20 of these bad boys. http://thecraftingchicks.com/2010/06/medallions-ribbons-and-donuts-to-share.html The paper I used was called "Dude" how appropriate.


They turned out so cute, we attached them to apple pie caramel apples, that the kids made themselves. The end result was so fun, and the Dad's loved their gift.




And because I was on a roll, and loving the cute bows, I made some for my children's teachers and teacher helpers. (Our school just got out on the 18th.) We picked up some yummy turtle brownies from our local BJ's (like Costco). The kids each wrote out a cute thank you note, and then we attached the bow. G.'s teacher wore the bow like a corsage on her shirt all day.


I love G's note to his teacher..." Dear Mis Widacher I well mis you. I well nev forget how much you like wering crocs. Senc you were crocs so much I were myn often now." Hope you can decipher that. He is the cutest, I almost wish he never learns how to spell correctly. His writing won't be as much fun to read.

How cute are these?

Irresistable chocolate chip cookie bowls

Ice cream just found a new home.... a chocolate chip cookie bowl. These things were super easy to make, and worth the extra time (you can only make 6 at a time). They were originally found in Family Fun, but I found great instructions here: http://www.theidearoom.net/2009/05/chocolate-chip-icecream-bowls.html

I cheated and used store bought cookie dough, but next time I will try home made dough. Even though mine turned out dark and slightly overcooked, they were to die for.



We added plain Vanilla ice cream, Carmel, hardening chocolate, cool whip, and pecans. The Carmel and hardening chocolate were soaked up by the cookie bowl and lets just say...mmm.


The kids ate them to the last chip!

Place your orders.

I wanted to add some whimsy to my back porch, so I was inspired to make some fun food signs.

First I checked the back of Home depot in their scrape pile and found a board for .51 cents. Score. I cut it up for my 3 signs.


Next...continuing with my Red and Yellow theme, I painted the boards
Next came the lettering. I used sponge letters I got from Walmart, (sorry no picture)
Then I sanded, and glazed them, so they looked well used.
I attached them to the siding with self stick Velcro (easy to remove, when we move from this home, or in the winter time.)
I love the FUN element they bring to the porch, and they bring in more color!

Our potted gardens

Because of Kata's great idea, we were inspired to do our own potted gardens.

We chose tomatoes, cilantro, peppers, and Parsley(because I use it so much). We went for a Salsa garden theme. We wanted to grow onions too, but I read you have to plant those in the fall. Oh well, onions are cheap.





Can't wait till we have some bounty to harvest.

Should I? Could I? Would I?

Have you ever painted plastic? Could it really work and look good? Well, this was my latest project, to bring new life to these two run-of-the-mill plastic chairs.


So I got the red I wanted...Tomato red is what I am calling it.

I recently bought two of these yellow planters at Walmart. LOVE YELLOW and RED together. Hmm... makes me want hamburgers and hot dogs. Well, this is my BBQ area.

So I went for it, and here is the result. Decorating the deck is far from over, but these red chairs make me smile.

RE-Upolstering

This beauty has been in the family for about 7 years! I bought her at an estate sale in Missouri- My husband hates her- she has nearly been in the good-will pile 47times, always rescued by me! I finally stripped her down and started working on her. I even kicked my husbands car out of the garage for a week. I have her wood all done, and now need to get the new fabric on! The problem is- my new power-staple gun wont go into her! I don't know if its the hard-wood or what? I think I need a nail gun, maybe a brad-nail gun. That's how she was put together. But, I need to wait for the dust to settle before that purchase. This has been the reason for a messy house, lack of bloggage and well, a lot!

Fabric necklace

Ta...Daaa!

I took a 4 inch wide by 42 inches- sewed one side all the way down, and turned it. Ironed it- seem running down the middle.

Pinking sheers to trim up the edges, and make it a little raw.

I slid in this green trim- envelope-style...this green trim, YUM. (I found this in the upolster-trim section at JoAnns on clearance-it was my inspiration)

I just put it on my leg, and started folding it in a neckline-shape.

After I pinned my tucks, I started at the green trim and just sewed down the middle.

Found a coordinating fabric- I am freaking out about coral ever since my pal said the word! cut a 2inch by 20inch, sewed it together, tied a knot for the center of the flower.

Then I just kept winding the fabric, hot-gluing as I make the shape I desired.

Using lace, fold on itself to make a leaf.

Glued leaf to flower, and then to fabric.Oh, La la. Lovely.
Making jewelry is a total passion. I make things often. Its just tough to interrupt the creative juices to document, and then blog it. Ahhh, I did it. This was about a 30min project.

Cleaning fun!

I remember cleaning my school desk with shaving cream. I thought they would love it. Of course they all had to taste it because it looks like whipping cream.... so after a taste they realized it was just to eat. They had a great time writing letters, drawing snowmen etc. And best of all, you just wipe it with a wet rag- and the surface is clean!

Planting little gardens!

First stop, the nursery. They each had a wagon in tow- I think this was the favorite spot. We just went to our local nursery. (remember Edwards Laura?) We chose out of the huge selection of herbs. The best part is in the selecting. As you check out the herbs, rub/pet them with your hands- you can smell them sooo strong. Some of our picks were Lemon thyme, lemon basil (the lemon varieties were insanely smelling!) we also snagged a Pineapple thyme- and many others.
I had them all plant herbs. My darling friend Chelsea helped us out. She gave us amazing gardening tips. (like not planting tomatoes with peppers- didnt know you shouldn't do that!) She also saved us money on the potting soil. She went right into home depot and asked for any of their "torn" bags- she got crazy discounts just b/c the bag was torn! I never would have thought of that! But it all works the same...
S. Planted a Pizza garden. -Italian spices- oregano, Italian parsley, and basil. (and of course a flower....) we had so much fun. They kids have enjoyed the responsibility of watering their plants. They get hit about 3 times a day!

Snowflake Skirts, for Easter

During Spring break my sister, Mom and I decided to make Easter Skirts for all the granddaughters. The pattern is called the Snowflake Skirt. Since Mom had made these for them all at Christmas, we decided to shorten the top layer to showcase the fabric a little more.
They really couldn't be cuter! I ended up making 2 for S. and one for M. It was so much fun!

My Sister was on the cutting, Mom was on the Sewing machine, and I was on the serger. We just rotated, held crying babes, and had such a blast!

A Gift every Mom would enjoy

My Darling friend gave me Freezer Meals:
You know these hot/cold bags- well it came stocked with the freezer meals and things to go with them. It was so nice, I keep thinking- this is the cutest idea EVA! They were kid-tested and just such a thoughful gift. I had to share this amazing idea. its totally something I want to do (when I grow up I guess)