Thousands, and Counting

Catchy title, huh?  Bet you're wondering, "Thousands of what?!"  Well, I'll tell you.  Thousands of a particular cookie have been made in my house and now in Ann's.  

Long, long ago, Nestle published a recipe called Toll House Pan Cookies and touted it as a summer cookie-- bar cookies which would take far less time to bake than sheet after sheet of drop cookies and therefore use less oven heat.  I gave it a try and made numerous batches. As time went on, I began to tinker with the recipe until I think the only things it has in common with the original recipe is that it has eggs, flour, sugar and butter.  As do pretty much all cookies.  

Anyway, it's become a family classic.  Quick, delicious, and perfect for any occasion.  I've given the recipe to many people and they all love it.  

So here, without further ado, is my recipe:

Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1½ tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2½ cups flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup vanilla chips

Cream butter and sugars well.  Add vanilla and eggs, beat until blended.  Mix dry ingredients and add a cup at a time, mixing well.  Add chips.  Bake in a heavy jelly roll (10" x 15") pan at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until top is deep golden brown.  

By Now World Famous Bar Cookies!

Ann substitutes peanut butter chips for the vanilla chips. You could also use all chocolate, but the mix really is good!  I cut mine rather small and get 4 dozen, Ann cuts hers larger and probably gets about thirty.  They freeze well; I put a few in the cookie jar and the rest in Ziplock freezer bags and then remove a half-dozen at a time as needed.  That way, since there just the two of us here, they don't get stale.  

For years I used an old inexpensive jelly roll pan and my cookies always caved-in in the center of the pan. One day I was at Ann's and noticed she had a heavy pan just that size and when I asked, she said she got it from Pampered Chef.  When I got back home, I immediately ordered one. (You can order on line and have it sent to your house--no need to wait for a party!)  It made all the difference. Ann, even though she has that pan, always uses her Pampered Chef bar pan and swears by it.  {Please note: this is not an ad for Pampered Chef, but simply info regarding the need for a substantial pan to make these (and probably any bar cookies) turn out perfectly.  Any brand of heavy baking pan will work.}  

Oh, and warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?  Oh yeah!  ♥

Victory . . . and a Yummy Dinner

Yes!!  The Seahawks won!  As long time Seahawks fans, this is one sweet victory.  What a team!

And here is where I confess that I usually can't stand the suspense of an important game like today's.  So I went to the grocery store, and let me tell you, it was empty (which was my hope)!  I roamed up and down the aisles, looked at sections I usually breeze through, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I returned home just after half time to discover that the 'Hawks were doing fantastically, and thus I was able to watch the second half while cooking dinner instead of hiding around the corner.

We were out of several needed items (no milk or eggs at our house), but I was also shopping for a recipe my long-time blog friend CJ posted today.  She is always tempting me one way or another--sewing machines, artisan bread, pressure cookers, the list goes on.  We "met" on a Bernina listserve probably eight or more years ago and we've kept in touch ever since.  

Anyway, the recipe was One Pot Kielbasa with Cabbage, Apples and Caraway and I'm here to tell you it is one terrific meal!  Here's a picture of my pot:

And here's a link to the recipe: Click here! Thanks, CJ!  ♥

And Now It's February!

Well, I won't go into a long-winded paragraph on how quickly time is passing, but...it's February!  

It's an absolutely gorgeous day outside.  We have about four inches of snow (yay!), and sunshine.  And it's supposed to be this way for a while, which is lovely as we've not had much winter this year.  I just snapped this photo from my dining room window:

Dan's at an all-day men's thing at church today, so this day is all mine.  They're even having dinner there, so I can play to my heart's content until eight or later!  I see some sewing in my future, as well as some knitting. I'm working on another scarf just like this one  and I'm enjoying it so much!  I have leftover chicken parmesan and spinach tortellini in the frig, so I'm set for the day. Oh, but I do have to climb on the NordicTrak before all the fun can start.  

The mention of the tortellini reminds me--we were in Coeur d'Alene for two days earlier this week (work stuff for Dan and I got to tag along), and we ran over to Spokane so we could hit Trader Joe's.  I kinda like that funky little store!  I'm surprised at how reasonable the prices are.  That's where I picked up the package of tortellini, and I must say I'm in love with their boxes of granola.  The sodium contents are low and the flavor is great!  (I love to stir it into my yogurt.)  I also found that they carry white whole wheat flour for a very reasonable price, so I bought a bag to give it a try.  The only other brand I've tried is King Arthur's, but it's hard to get locally and I'm out.  

Well, the NordicTrak awaits, so I'm off!  ♥

Computers

Back in the day, I took typing in high school. Of course, this was in the last century, and our typewriters were huge, manual monsters, requiring strong fingers.  It proved difficult to press hard and at the same time to type quickly.  Speed was never my forte.  There was one electric typewriter in the classroom and we all had to take a turn at it.  Oh my!  You barely touched a key and bang! it typed.  Scary for certain.  

When I was a Senior in high school, I started working at our local doctor's office, at first just filing charts.  As time went on, I was able to learn the different jobs: receptionist, insurance billing, typing in patients charts using comments the doctor would dictate into a dictaphone.  All the typewriters were electric, so I quickly learned to use them.  No longer scary, they were amazing with their plastic ribbons that created crisp letters.  And no more hanging capital letters, the bane of typists who didn't press hard enough on the shift key.

Fast forward to the mid eighties when Dan began to regale me with tales of an awesome machine called a word processor which the secretaries at his work used.  He said I'd love them!  I couldn't even fathom such machines.  Then I went to work for the school district as an aide for the gifted and talented department and part of my job entailed using word processing and spreadsheet programs on a little Apple computer.  It was out of the frying pan and into the fire, but as I learned the in's and out's, I was amazed at what I could do. Soon I was convinced that we need a computer at home, and so we purchased an Apple clone and the whole family was off and running.  Several years later, we upgraded to a PC and we've never looked back.

A month or so before I retired, Dan presented me with my very own laptop.  He had a laptop for his consulting business and we had a desktop in the basement, but this would be my very own toy--I could put all my machine embroidery software on it, haul it to my sewing room, or use it upstairs.  I've loved my personal "baby" for almost five years, so last Saturday when it went into a coma and then died, it was a sad day for me.  Fortunately son-in-law Eric is always willing to be our computer tech, so I put my baby into my briefcase and took it to him on Sunday for a final diagnosis.  He checked it over and was pretty sure it had died.  

Monday, Dan and I set out to look for a new computer. In five years, computers have changed a lot. My baby ran on Windows Vista, and while many have cursed that version, I always got along fine with it.  Now, it's Windows 8.1 and touch screens.  Oh. My. Goodness.  To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. However, after several stores and finally finding a sales person at one store whom we knew, we felt we were getting a handle on the search.  One big issue for me is my embroidery software which is a few years old and only lists Vista and Windows 7 as compatible operating systems.  I was relieved to hear that most likely any program that could run on 7 would also run on 8.  The touchscreen was kind of alluring, so having to get a new computer wasn't looking quite as dismal as it had.

Then, Tuesday evening, after nine, our phone rang and it was Eric.  He said he and grandson Keaton (age 11) had taken my whole computer apart, had searched the internet for possible solutions, had found an unlikely one, tried it, and . . . my baby, when they'd reassembled it, had started up!  They'd previously removed my hard drive and given it to me so I could put my files on a new computer, so Dan and I decided we had to take it back over, plug it in, and see if indeed my baby was alive and well.  We hopped into the truck, drove to Ann and Eric's, handed over the drive and waited while they installed it. YES!!  We had success!!

And what, you ask, was the unlikely solution to the problem?  A suggestion on the internet was that there could be a soldering problem with the motherboard and the solution was to bake it at 390 degrees for ten minutes.  Yes, you read correctly:  bake the motherboard.  So they did, and it worked.  This blog post is being typed on my baby and I'm thrilled to have it back home where it belongs.  

The above picture was taken this afternoon.  ♥

I Did It!

I got my little wool applique stocking done!  And it's hanging by the front door, where it is the perfect size.

Here's a view from a bit of a distance.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the directions for this project were terrible.  So, I sort of made this up as I went along, changing things I didn't like and doing what seemed right when I couldn't figure out what the directions were saying.  I like it!  ♥

January Days

It's been a dry winter and the last few days have been dark with lots of fog.  This means the days are not so beautiful, but the upside is that often, when it's cold enough, the fog freezes on the surrounding vegetation and creates frosted beauty that can take your breath away. Every little blade of grass and every twig will be covered with frost and the world becomes a fairyland.

Today, the frostline is higher than our house, but I just snapped this picture of the hill across the way.  The trees are white and beautiful with the fog hovering just at the top.

Sometimes we are tempted to call January "Janudreary", but it's amazing how any kind of white brightens up the day, even if it's not snow.  

Meanwhile, I continue to feel much, much better.  A little cough still lingers if I catch a whiff of any scent, but it's almost gone and I'm rejoicing!  I spent this morning running around town getting my hair cut and getting my teeth buffed and polished at the dentist.  I really need to be dusting and doing some laundry right now, but it'll wait a little longer.  We have leftovers for supper so I can putter where I want knowing I don't need to be in the kitchen.  Which reminds me; last night I made an old recipe for cauliflower and it was as good as I remembered.  

Frosted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower, cored and left whole

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 T mustard

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup grated cheddar (I used Mexican blend)

paprika

Rinse cauliflower and place in microwave safe bowl and cover.  Cook 6-7 minutes per pound. Mix mayo, mustard and onion powder.  Spread over cooked cauliflower and sprinkle on the cheese.  Add a sprinkling of paprika and microwave another minute, uncovered.  

Way back in 1980 when Dan got me my first microwave for Christmas (I was so in hopes of getting one, I was like a kid and could hardly sleep that Christmas Eve!), it came with classes at the local appliance store where he purchased it.  This was one of the recipes we were given. I think I could eat the whole thing if given the chance. Yes, it's that good!

And now, I really need to get that last load in the washer. By then the dishwasher will be done and I'll need to empty that.  The dusting?  We'll see!  ♥

Whew! Glad That's Over!

Have I mentioned I have a few allergies?  My body is strange (but then I think probably each of us has our own strangeness) and I'm  allergic to such unusual things as oregano, chocolate, perfume, and flowers.  Dan says it makes gift giving easy for him:  a new sewing machine now and then and he's covered!  :-)  (I'm not a jewelry lover, either.)  

Anyway, I digress.  A little.  Before Christmas I had a cold and seemed to have it licked.  Then, the Friday after New Year's, I worked, as usual, at the quilt shop.  Said quilt shop is also a flower shop.  I have had problems with the flowers in the past, but as soon as I got to work that day, I started coughing.   The florist was working away and had all manner of flowers spread out including my arch nemesis, lilies.  By the end of the day, I was toast.  I couldn't even talk without coughing.  I came home and by the next morning, I was sick, sick, sick and coughing up a storm.  Finally, after staying away from the shop, drinking lots of hot water with lemon and honey, and sleeping (when I could--cough, cough), I've come out the other side.  But I confess I'm leery of going to work again next week.  I may have to retire again because I don't think I can face another lily!  

Meanwhile, nothing much has been accomplished here at the resort.  I did finally start on my little wool stocking applique the other evening and am part way done.  I think it's going to be cute.

The directions for this little project are among the worst I've ever seen so I'm kind of making it up as I go along.  I have no idea if I'm doing it correctly or not, but as long as I like what I end up with, it'll be okay.  I hope to work on it when I'm done with this post.  Those pesky football games are on and I'm going to need something to keep my mind occupied because I don't think I'll be able to stand the suspense.