January Randomocities

 

It took a bit of time after Christmas before I was ready to start baking again. Partly because we had baked goods around that needed to get eaten!

 

I started off with something I knew Todd would like ... so he wouldn't roll his eyes too badly about the fact that I was baking again! This is a variation on my basic Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. I've finally gotten to the point that I've got it memorized. Instead of regular chocolate chips, I made this a half-and-half batch: 1 part Cranberry-White Chocolate, and 1 part White Chocolate-Macadamia Nut:

 

Here we go.... and off the top of my head:

1 cup butter-flavor shortening (Todd would prefer butter over shortening, but I think it keeps them more tender.)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar.

Beat those together, then add:

2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (mmmmmmmmmmm.... I love the smell of vanilla extract. Only the Real Thing, please!)

When that's well combined, and scraped down off the sides of the bowl and beaters, add the dry ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

At that point, I take it out of the mixer stand, and I mix in the chocolate chips by hand. It seems like no matter how careful I am, if I mix the chips in with the beaters, it chops them all up.

2 cups (or 1 12-oz package) chocolate chips -- or other chips.

Since I was making the variations, I divided the dough into 2 sections, and then added the nuts and chips and dried cranberries.

By the way, have I mentioned that I love my Silpat mats? No? Well, I do.

I'm kinda weird about shaping the cookies. I like to form them into flattened cylinder-shapes. I know.... I'm way too worried about it, huh.

Anyway. Bake at 375 degrees for exactly 9 and a half minutes. Well, in my oven, that is. Just bake 'em till they're done, and NOT overdone. I hate crunchy cookies. A little gooey in the middle is the way to go!!

There's no final pictures. Sorry! Maybe because we ate them???

So, about this same time, we finally took down all of the Christmas decorations, and put the living room back to normal. I'm thinking it was at least January 17th for that.

Yes, we were SOOOOOOooooooooooooo sloooow.

In that process, you'd be amazed (or maybe you wouldn't) at the odd assortment of junk stuff that finds its way under sofas and tables.....

(And that was after I'd already put away the spare Lego pieces and threw away most of the actual garbage.)

And, on another unrelated thought.....

Last week, Todd and I went out to dinner with his parents. We don't have a lot of restaurant options, but we went to one of our favorite national chain restaurants. It turned out to be not one of the better trips there. The service was not bad, but the food.... um, ... needed a little help.

So here's my question. When you go out to dinner, don't you expect to get a little something that's perhaps a step above what you might eat at home? Isn't that part of the point of going out to eat, anyway?

Besides the I-don't-have-to-wash-dishes-afterwards part.

So, I ordered a hot chocolate, which is not typical for me, but it sounded good because I was cold. (Hello -- winter in Idaho, especially lately ..... BRRRRRrrrrrr!)

So my hot chocolate came, and it was a bit disappointing. First, it wasn't hot. Second, it wasn't all that chocolate-y. Maybe the fact that.... Third, it wasn't fully mixed------ had something to do with that. And fourth, it was pretty darn plain, for being Restaurant Hot Chocolate. The thing is, even when I make hot chocolate at home, it's more exciting than what I'd gotten that evening at the restaurant.

The next morning, which was equally cold, I decided to make hot chocolate, and do it RIGHT. Please don't think you're going to get some amazing homemade-from-scratch hot chocolate recipe here. I've used up my one recipe quota, and let's be real: I use hot chocolate mix ANYWAY. I'm kind of a need-it-now kind of person when it comes to hot chocolate.

This is more of a thought on ........ how I DRESS my hot chocolate!

Ok, usually I don't put marshmallow creme in my hot chocolate, but I have a partial jar leftover from Christmas that I wanted to use up. And I was really in retaliation from the previous night's not-hot chocolate, so I went a bit over the top. I do keep mini marshmallows on hand for hot chocolate.

Marshmallow creme first, then the whipped cream. The canned stuff comes out looking all decorative, which makes it nice for catching the chocolate curls:

Chocolate curls are so easy, just a vegetable peeler and a bar of chocolate. Temperature of the chocolate can make a difference, but I was probably too impatient to even worry about it. If I'd used a thicker bar of chocolate, the curls would have been wider.

(When the hot chocolate really is HOT, then the whipped cream melts down before you get too many photos snapped of it!)

And yes, in case you were wondering, it was pretty delicious!

Then, after my Writing on the Wall Post, I knew I was long overdue for update my board with some inspiring thought:

No, that's not the whole thought, but at least I caught the misspelled word before the rest of the family saw it!! HA!!

And finally, my little four-year-old is growing up! In Primary, at Church, she received her first CTR ring! You know.... the cheap one with the green face that rots on your finger? Yep, that one! CTR= Choose the Right. It's a great reminder, for anyone.

(She was pretty excited!) And she's at that wonderful stage where she gives you that super-fake grimace every time you ask her to smile for the camera.

LOVE that little girl!!