WELL... I whipped up the two batches, stuck the dough in the freezer, and I've been making daily 12-cookie batches this week and I haven't come to any  conclusions.  Sara says the white ones are better; Bethy votes for brown...  So, now it's up to you guys!  Next time you're in the mood for oatmeal chocolate chip and want to try out a new recipe and feel like maybe making one of these, tell me which one you like best!  And it's not too tricky to make two different batches simultaneously (if you're in a big cookie-munching mood) because these have virtually the same ingredients, same oven heat, and same cooking time!!

Oatmeal Raisin (- Raisins) (+Chocolate Chips)

Ingredients:
3 cups quick-cooking oats (I've tried normal biggie oats and they really aren't as good in this cookie)
1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt (I always use less)
3/4 cup butter (softened, if you're not lazy like me)
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I've been using light brown and they taste good to me, too)
1/2 sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk (I used rice milk and it turned out great)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (I use 60% cacao the Ghirardelli brand and those are prrretty tasty!)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt (I always use less)
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (or light, what the heck!)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 cup chocolate chips (I use the same Ghirardelli chips I mentioned above)

Directions for both recipes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare greased cookie sheets.  (I always grease with the vegan butter alternative called "Smart Balance.")

2. In a big bowl, stir together dry ingredients.

3. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, and other liquids.

4. Combine dry and wet.  Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are golden brown around the edges.  I let the cookies sit for a couple minutes on the warm pan before taking them off and letting them totally cool on a wire cooking rack.

PS. Regarding the determination of the superior cookie, I thought I'd add that IF we're going by the best dough... WELL... the traditonal (brown-colored) oatmeal chocolate chip wins, no question!!

But I had to ask myself, "How does that Help Me Lose 25 Pounds." After some thought, I decided this isn't about denying myself, it's about bettering myself.

So, I enjoyed Half a delicious cookie. That's HALF the cookie calories I would have normally consumed. That is an achievement, not a failure.

We had an impromptu cookout at Kinder Farm Park with my dad, brother & sister-in-law, and nephew and niece (Matt, Ashley, Jake & Hailey) for Labor Day.  I guess since we all packed so fast that was the reason we seemed unprepared.  We had no utensils for eating, no tongs or forks for grilling, no kindling for the charcoal grill, and no napkins!  Luckily, Emma insisted on carrying her two tea party knives - Grandpa used those to open hot dog packages, turn hot dogs on the grill, and to take them off the grill.  I brought great potato salad, but no spoon to dish it.  We ended up using chips to get it out and eat it with.  Yum - nothing like Doritos & potato salad!  Here's a glimpse of our day.[caption id="attachment_249" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dad grilling"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_250" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Brooke's crazy crawl - don't get those knees dirty!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_251" align="alignleft" width="427" caption="Pushing the stroller"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_252" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Hot grill!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_253" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Plastic knife & Sesame Street plates"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_255" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Cook those dogs!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_256" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Emma, throwing leaves/dirt on poor Jake!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_258" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Laughing"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_259" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Laughing at someone"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_261" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="Peek-a-boo Jake!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_262" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="After chocolate chip cookies - thanks Ashley for taking this one!"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_263" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Chocolate!"][/caption]

I'm quite positive the part did not go to me.  Not quite the point of the story though.

On the way into the conference room, I turned and saw a tall man who looked like Rod Stewart.  He introduced himself, which, I'm ashamed to say, I do not remember his real name.  I think it was Steve, or George, it was one of those I'm sure.  Anyways, he told us he's a Rod Stewart impersonator.  His name was Nearly Rod.

So, he said hey, we said hey.  We chatted before the audition and after, he was a really nice guy.  He is apparently married to a Cher impersonator named Almost Cher.  I'm not sure if they have children, but I do know how many houses they own.  At least that's more than some people.

I went and did laundry at the laundry mat the other day.  I had forgotten how washing clothes at the laundry mat was somewhat time consuming.  Oddly though, it flew by, I washed every article of clothes I owned in two hours (washes and drying multiple loads at once) and managed to do it all for about 7 bucks.  Not too bad.  Like i said before, it took two hours, but it felt like 30 minutes.  I immediately summed it up to the book I was reading (Killing Yourself To Live... SO GOOD) but when I read at home time slows down.  I thought maybe it had something to do with how much I was thinking there, about life, about how I feel unhappy right now even though there is no clear reason why I should.  I thought about how I feel as if I'm in a rut and no matter how hard I try, I can't get out.  How all I want to do is get in the car and drive, and see places I haven't seen, do things I haven't done, and meet people that will change the course of my life in an instant.  But then I summed it up to a simple fact.

Life goes by quicker when you live it in 20 minute increments.

Work deosn't seem to be going well.  I don't know what it is, it seems the harder I try, and the more work I do, the further I get behind.  Really, it isn't anyone else's fault but mine.  But it feels like I can't get ahead anymore.  Yesterday I got all my cookies and pies baked, and afterwards, it just felt... futile.  It didn't matter, it didn't matter one bit because after I cooked all of those, it just felt... pointless.  I dunno, maybe I'm just depressed.  I dunno...

The flyer:

This chocolate coffee cookie recipe has a very strong chocolate flavor that combines wonderfully with the coffee flavor. If you don't like coffee in your cookies, or if you're just not in the mood, omit the coffee, and still get lovely cookies.

Chocolate coffee cookies/ Chocolate by "Al Hashulchan" edited by Karin Goren (makes 20 cookies)

200 gr. Bittersweet chocolate, chopped
50 gr. Butter
2 eggs
2/3 cup (130 gr.) sugar
1 heaped teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/4 cup (35 gr.) flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
300 gr. Bittersweet Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 170° C.

Melt chocolate and butter in bowl.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and coffee for about 2 minutes, until the mixture combines.

Add the egg mixture to the melted chocolate beat well, until the mixture combines.

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the chocolate-egg mixture, also add the chocolate chips, and beat only until you get a smooth mixture. Do not over mix. This cookie dough batter will be a lot watery than other, and it is fine.

Using a 1 ounce scoop or a 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto greased cookie sheet (or one an oven baking tray that was covered with parchment paper) about 4 cm. apart.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, until the cookies become shiny, and cracked. The centers will still be soft.

Cool completely in the sheet and only then transfer the cookies to the cookie rack.

Store in an airtight container.

A blondie is simply a variation of a brownie but contains no chocolate.... so it really is something quite different than a brownie. The similarity comes through in the method and also all the ingredients, excluding chocolate of course, are similar but the blondies primary flavor comes from brown sugar. As with brownies a multitude of mix-ins can be added and slight variations to the ratio of ingredients can be manipulated to alter the end product. You can cajole your blondies to be more cakey, chewy, crispy... or whatever you desire.

Usually I am a purist when it comes to blondies and brownies. Added ingredients are merely a distraction from the pure flavor and texture that I crave... but again this particular craving urged me to include milk chocolate chips. If you know me at all you know that milk chocolate is not typically in my vocabulary. Most often chocolate isn't chocolate unless it's bittersweet. I don't know what came over me that day but it was super sweet blondies laden with milk chocolate chips that I desired and who am I to say no to my cravings?

One other note.... I made these two days in a row (don't worry - I shared them with a multitude of people) The second time I made them I was short an egg.... since I am using my own chicken eggs they are quite a bit smaller than conventional eggs (they are also a beautiful blue/green color - I really must show you soon). So the first batch I used four of my eggs and the second time I only used three but I also increased the amount of butter. The second batch was my favorite. They were super chewy!

So if super sweet is what you crave... please try these.

Another add-in suggestion, which is what we would do at Spago. Once blondies are baked and cooled poke multiple holes in bars then fill the holes with caramel sauce. Warning - this version is ridiculously sweet!!! but so delicious.

Blondies with Milk Chocolate Chips

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter 

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 large eggs (or four eggs from a bantam chicken)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk chocolate

For chewier version decrease eggs - I used three small instead of four so I don't know exactly how much the recipe would change if you eliminated an entire egg... if you try this please let me know how it goes. I also increased the butter by two tablespoons bringing the total up to 12 tbl.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 12-inch square baking pan. Mix flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda in medium bowl. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Remove saucepan from heat. Add sugar and whisk to blend. Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually stir in flour mixture (batter will be thick). Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips  Bake blondies until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Cool blondies in pan on rack. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Cut into squares and serve.

I hope everyone had an relaxing labor day weekend. I sure did in the Sierra Mountains, which is about 4 hours away from Oakland. Between a hilarious adventure along Upper Billy Creek and jumping in ice cold water in nothing but a Sarong, I'd say I had a very nice time. :-)

I'm doing something a little different with today's post by categorizing the meals together, starting from Saturday, August 30th and ending with Monday, September 1st. Let me know if this is easier to read.

Breakfast

Saturday:

Kashi H2H cereal with almond milk and a cup of black coffee

Sunday:

First day at camp and I'm still eating the same thing in the morning. haha. Coffee was made with a stovetop espresso maker and hot water (American)

Monday

Americano

A boca burger with ketchup, lettuce and mayo

Lunch

Saturday:

Same sammy as above with a side of veggies

Sunday:

Some fuel during a 7 mile hike.

Tapenade with sun dried tomato pesto and cheese in 1/2 a pita bread

A delicious nectarine

Monday:

Salad right after we finished unpacking our camping gear.

Dinner

Sunday:

Basil pesto with loads and loads of cheese accompanied with sauteed veggies and mock ham

Saturday:

What could go better with camping than a hot mug of chili and vegan cornbread?

Monday:

Tonight's dinner was at Champa garden. Penang curry with tofu and veggies. So good! Hopefully I get a chance to work on my curry paste sometime this week!

sauteed veggies: Eggplant, basil, tofu, onions, and green bell pepper

The owner was trying a new dish and gave us a test run. It's a rice salad. There was a plate with lettuce, mint and cilantro that came with it also. Eating it was very similar to loc lac, but without the dipping sauce. Quite crunchy with hints of lime.

Snacks

Saturday:

redvines and a banana

honey graham cracker and a nectarine

a vegan chocolate chip cookie early in the day and crumbs of them later that night with almond milk.

Sunday:

After the hike, I was in dire need of something refreshing. There was no fruit in site....so I gave in to my weakness--Dr. Pepper soda. I also had some chips

Monday:

These chips were so addicting that I just had to buy a bag for myself. Along with the chips, I also snacked on a fruit bar.

plus a mango candy and half an orange.

Why yes, it was a freaking Cookie Truck; Truck as in Ice Cream Truck (complete with oven, vending window, register, and credit card digital swiper machine).

Of course we stopped, and paid $1.25 each for a little hunk of heaven in the form of a chocolate fudge brownie (I had mine topped with white chocolate chips...yum). And yes, we devoured it milk-less while walking down the street, moaning at the ooey-gooey deliciousness of each mouth watering, chocolate morsel-filled bite of hot steaming freshly baked brownie.

...so much for combating the obesity issue.

When I was presented with free tickets to the game, I jumped at the chance to go.  I hate sports with a fiery passion.  I don't get the allure.  I have no idea why people want to talk about running yards, and stats, and blah, blah, other boring stuff.  When I was in high school and college, I enjoyed going to football games.  But that's because I liked hearing the shoulder pads click when the players tackled each other.  Also, I thought that it was a great place to meet boys.  Now a days, I know better.  A professional football game is not where you go and meet single men.  Instead, it's a place where you drink over priced beers and try to get a man's attention while he yells at players miles away that will a) never hear him, b) never take his sporting advice even if they could.  Still, I enjoy going to the games and people watching.  I enjoy my chicken tenders as I wonder about the life of the middle aged fat man dressed in head to toe purple camo.  Is he happy with his life?  Does he actually think that cheerleader on the end is going to go home with him? 

Lit'l Smokey happened to be there when I was given the tickets, and I invited him to come along.  As he loves me deep down inside-so deep down that he doesn't even know it-he said yes. 

The day of the game arrives...and it's freaking pouring.  I mean raining cats and dogs.  There's so much rain that it's practically like we're living in a waterfall.  It sucked.  Thankfully, the rain cleared and we were able to make it.  We decide to get some dinner first.  He offers to pay since I brought him along.  I told him that wasn't necessary.  So we're outside the restaurant and I stop at the ATM machine.  It was wicked awesome when I tried to withdraw money from my account, only to find out that I had -$95 in my account.  So not embarrassing when I told him that I had less than no money in my account and he was going to have to pay for everything.  Just the kind of impression I was hoping to make.

Okay, so screw dinner and screw the game. Let's get to the good stuff.  I learned more stuff about Lit'l Smokey that night than I had ever hoped to learn.  As we are both recently single, we enjoy spending quality time bitching about how crappy relationships are, and how much our exes suck, and that we still love them, and that we need to get some ass, etc.  Well, Lit'l Smokey went into overshare drive, and this is before we started boozing it up.

You're in luck, kids, because I'm going to share with you what he told me:

1. Baby Tramp told him that she had never had a cookie with a guy before she met him.  She told him that she thought she was broken.  He showed her the light, so to speak.  When I told some of my girlfriends this story, they all had the same reaction that I did: Baby Tramp lied through her baby teeth.  Guys, I hate to break this to you, but when a girl tells you that, it's a lie.  We just say it to you to make you feel all manly and sexually competent.
2. Baby Tramp didn't give good head.  I'm sure this is probably because she'd rather have a binky in her mouth than a dick.  I'm just saying.
3. He loved it when the 2 of them were doing it doggy style and she grabbed his smokey sac.  I could have lived my whole entire life not knowing this.  Really.  Ugh.  Yuck.
4. Baby Tramp was one of those girls that was...how should I put this?...like a sprinkler.  I think you get my drift.  If you don't, then you're going to need to learn a little something about female ejaculation.  Ugh, just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
5. The first time he had a bartles & jaynes was when he was in 8th grade.  Yeah, you read that right, 8th grade.  Oh, and here's the best part.  The girl that gave it to him, also gave one to his very best friend.  On the same night.  Right in front of him.  I was shocked to hear that she later went on to develop a coke problem and then became an escort.

I'm sure you'll all be shocked to hear that later on, when he made a pass at me in the parking garage, I rejected his advances.  After all his "sweet talk" that night, there was no way that I was going to hook up with him.  Oh, and also, it was kind of hard to reject his advances because he actually never made them.  Unless his idea of seduction is talking about how hot the sex was with Baby Tramp.  Yeah, didn't quite do it for me.

Humor-Blogs.com

CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• ¾ cup butter or margarine (softened)

• ½ cup sugar

• ½ cup light brown sugar

• one tsp vanilla extract

• 2 fresh eggs

• ¼ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp baking soda

• 2¼ cups flour

• 2 cups large milk chocolate chips

• one cup walnuts (chopped)

• ½ cup dried shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine sugars, butter, eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, baking soda, and shredded coconut. Add walnuts and chocolate chips. Drop one-inch balls of dough two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake cookies at 350°F for 12 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheet and let cool.

ENJOY!!

19.  Galaktoboureko - 3.5 stars
20.  Lemon Yogurt Cake (with Splenda) - 2.5 stars
21.  Key Lime Pie - 4 stars
22.  Twilight Madness - 4 stars
23.  Chocolate Lime Souffle - 3.5 stars
24.  Gingerbread Cookies - 4.5 stars
25.  Fortune Cookies - 2.5 stars
26.  Flan - 3 stars
27.  Pecan Pie Bars - 4.5 stars
28.  Blueberry Lemon Pavlova - 2.5 stars
29.  Mango Cardamom Bread Pudding - 3 stars
30.  Hummingbird Cake - 3.5 stars
31.  Dorie cookies - 3 stars and 4 stars
32.  Raspberry Angel Food Cake - 3 stars
33.  Cottage Dill Bread - 4.5 stars
34.  Blueberry Muffins - 4 stars
35.  Crepe Cake - 2.5 stars

TWiB Birthday Edition

There weren't any 5 stars recipes this trimester, but here are the top performers.

1. Gingerbread Cookies - 4.5 stars
2. Pecan Pie Bars - 4.5 stars
3. Cottage Dill Bread - 4.5 stars
4. Key Lime Pie - 4 stars
5. Twilight Madness - 4 stars
6. Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters - 4 stars
7. Blueberry Muffins - 4 stars

This is the overall list for all of 2008 so far.

1. Brownie Tart - 5 stars
2. Chocolate Creme Brulee - 4.5 stars
3. Cinnamon Pie - 4.5 stars
4. Cottage Dill Bread - 4.5 stars
5. Eclairs - 4.5 stars
6. Gingerbread Cookies - 4.5 stars
7. Pecan Pie Bars - 4.5 stars

Are you in the mood for some yummy ice cream and cake? That’s what I thought! Please meet Tammy of ‘Milk and Cookeez.’ She is my most recent Etsy member feature and I have to say, her products look so scrumptious! She makes handmade soaps that looks good enough to eat, and in the shape of ice cream scoops! Yum! The best part? All gourmet and handmade from natural ingredients, so they are a super sweet treat for that body of yours...what could be better!?!

Tammy  recently took the time to answer a few questions, so let’s find out more about this talented artist…

What is the name of your store and what do you sell?

Milk and cookeez, We sell yummy fun for your tub. Gourmewt looking goodies that look good enough to eat, but are for bathing. They are made from natural and organic ingredients. I do use some 'fragrance" oils according to customer reccomendations.

How did you get into your craft?

While trying to decide what extra gift to give my daughter's 2nd grade teacher.

What is your latest project?

Scoopz, and tub truffles with fruit flavors

Where can we find your products?

www.milkandcookeez.com amd on etsy under crsanthmum and soon lollishops.

Milk and Cookeez Blog: www.milkandcookeez.blogspot.com/

Now run and stop by her sweet little shop to show her some love…

Come back tomorrow for a new feature! of more beautiful handmade goodies!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups of packed dark brown sugar
1 cup of butter flavored shortening
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh if ya got it)

For the frosting, I used the royal icing recipe from my Magic the Gathering Cookies, sans food coloring.

Preheat oven to 375.

Line baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.

With an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and shortening. Then add the eggs and molasses. In a separate bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients (except for the icing stuff, of course), and then add to the wet mixture in thirds.

Roll dough into 1 or 2 inch balls and then smoosh down so they are about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until they loose that wet look to them. Note: It is impossible to tell when the edges are getting brown on these. If you DO see the edges getting brown, they are overbaked and will be hard.

While the cookies are cooling, mix the icing and put in a piping or ziploc bag. Once the cookies are totally cool, drizzle the icing or decorate as you wish.

Happy Baking!!