Chocolate Chip Cookies and a New Job

As I’ve mentioned, I like to bake people things when I feel bad about something I’ve done/will do to them. It’s my way of pathetically begging them not to hate me.

This time around, I have to have that terrifying “I’m leaving” conversation with my boss. There’s nothing wrong with my current job, but I just accepted a position in a school (!) as a Work Experience Coordinator, so I have to move on. For those that don’t know, I earned a Master’s and License in School Counseling last year, and since then, I have been searching doggedly for a job (counseling, ideally, but really anything in a school). So this is a very good, very hard-won opportunity for me. I am excited and terrified.

SO. My boss is very nice, so I’m sure he will be supportive, but I’m the kind of person who just fears making any kind of waves, so I wanted to have something that would ease us into the conversation.

So………………….COOKIES!

I love me some cookies, and I am on a constant search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I like my CCCs crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. And when I say chewy, I mean chewy. A bakery near my house (Rustica) makes the perfect CCC, so if I could just steal their recipe, I would. But I don’t know it. So I just keep trying.

Here’s the recipe I used tonight. It’s not The One, so the search continues. But it’s okay.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Throw your white and brown sugar and butter into a bowl and mix until smooth.

Then add the egg, and if you were a normal, intelligent person, you would also add your vanilla at this point. Unfortunately, I’m me, and I cleaned out my spice rack when I re-did my kitchen, and forgot that I never bought more vanilla. So…there’s that. Mix your egg AND YOUR STUPID VANILLA in.

Now the dry stuff. Mix in your flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Then the chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Give them some good distance in between because they will spread a bit.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway through.

Let sit on the sheets for a couple of minutes afterward, then transfer to cooling racks.

Put them in a nice tin for your boss/co-workers.

And of course save some for the roomies.

 

 

Alex Goes to the Fair

We go every year at least once, and we do a lot of stuff. This trip was kind of a mini version (no horticulture, no international bazaar, no crafts, etc.), but I’m glad I got to go with my whole fam.

The first thing I ate at the fair was (part of) this ice cream sundae in a plastic boat. It was obtained in the new West End section, probably at the totally awesome 1950s diner-looking creamery place. I didn’t know, and didn’t care because there was an ice cream sundae available to me. I don’t ask questions.

We trucked it to the Miracle of Birth barn to meet up with the rest of the family. Miracle of Birth barn = BABIIIIEEEEES.

BABIIIEEEES!!!! BABIES! AHHH!!!

I could have eaten this little guy in one bite. One bite.

Next, we did our big food haul.

The cheese curds went too fast. (I blame myself.)

We took in some sights.

We rested our tootsies outside the green living building and watched some bees.

I couldn’t not get an apple dumpling.

And then my nephew did some Zumba.

And we called it a day! Like a bite-size trip to the fair.

Also, don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there are a lot of people at the fair.

Chocolate Strawberry Trifle

It was my mom’s birthday this week, so I made her a cake..type..thing. I didn’t want to make a plain cake (not special enough for my special mama), and I was kind of in the mood to try out a trifle. Trifles are AMAZING. I think I’ve really only had one, and it was made by my friend, Cherish, who went to baking school. So that’s probably why I think they’re so great. But I’ve only seen white cake versions of trifle, and my mom needs chocolate, so here’s what I did!

One could easily make this dessert from scratch, because it’s not a “difficult” thing to make, but it does have a lot of components, so I decided to take a couple of shortcuts.

I used boxed cake mix and jello pudding (instead of custard/mousse). I didn’t actually end up using the Cool Whip, because I found that I had time to make my own whipped cream.

So first things first, you make your cake (in 2 round pans):

Taking a picture with one hand while pouring cake mix with another: NOT EASY.

While you wait for that to bake, you make your pudding. Like I said, trifles aren’t difficult to make, but they involve a lot of steps, and it seems that breaking those steps up is the best way to do it. I made the cake and pudding in the morning, then ran some errands while they cooled/chilled in the fridge, and did the rest in the afternoon.

Slice up some strawberries (or whatever fruit you’d like, but come on, with chocolate cake? It’s gonna be strawberries).

I actually sliced these the night before (and put them in the fridge), so they could stew in their yummy juices for a while. I lie to you in my posts, but I tell the truth in the captions. 🙂

Then you make yo’self some delicious whipped cream. My heart broke a little when I bought that Cool Whip because I’ve NEVER used Cool Whip before, and I hope I never have to. I just didn’t think I’d have time to make my own, but I did! Yay!

Now you get to assemble! The best part! So thunk your cake pans upside down on the counter until the cake plops out, and shove one round to the bottom of the trifle dish. Then spread a layer of fruit, a layer of pudding, and a layer of whipped cream. Repeat once, and keep a couple of strawberries to garnish the top.

Refrigerate until serving.

By the way, as I wrapped my mom’s birthday gift, Jane hopped into the wrapping paper bin.

HAPPIEST CAT ALIVE

 

I’m Not a Crazy Cat Lady, You Gotta Believe Me

I only have 1 cat, I do not dress her up in human clothes, and I only anthropomorphize her sometimes. Only sometimes.

But I did go to the Walker’s Catvid Festival.

This event is not really for people to watch Cat Videos (because do you see that tiny screen up there? yeah…it would be a much better idea to youtube these things in the comfort of your own home). This event is for nutty cat lovers to gather together with all of the other nutty cat lovers (and…just like our feline friends…demonstrate an appropriate level of respect for one another’s personal space by making as little actual contact with each other as possible).

On my walk back to my car, I noticed this little sweetie pie hopping down from his front porch, so I greeted him, and we cuddled for a while:

Then as I continued down the sidewalk, he followed me down the block until I crossed an intersection.

What a little sweetie.

Also! I encountered this little dude as I headed into work this morning.

 

Irish Fair

Hooo boy this weekend was busy!

Saturday, I went to the Irish Fair.

Got to see some sheep herding:

Petted some Irish Wolf Hounds:

Dat face!

Listened to some traditional musicians:

And danced!

(backstage)

Then I went to a family get-together, where there was some kayak racing:

And my nephew snagged my phone and took a selfie…

…and this really artsy one of me:

After that I worked on plans for a Renaissance Fest dress (yes, I’m going to attempt to make one).

Sunday, it was back to Irish Fair for more dancing!

Once more with feeling!

And then I saw a Fringe Festival show! Ack! A busy weekend! I love summer because of the weather and because there are so many fun things to do, but I prefer the pace of winter. I need a weekend.

 

Elf House!

I was taking a walk with my nephew this weekend, and we came upon a cute little yard pond…

With a cute little elf house!! (One of my favorite things in life along with 50s Diners, boots, and any and all animals.)

Also on that walk, there was this very large tree next to a power line….and the power line held a large chunk from that tree. Look, is this not the weirdest thing?

And one more thing, I just have to put this here because I think it’s funny and cute. When I told my nephew that I was going to take a picture of the elf house, he plopped himself down next to it in a very specific “I’m posing for the camera” stance, assuming that I must have meant that I was going to take a photo of him next to an elf house. His grandmother has taught him well. Look at his super serious “getting my picture taken” face: