2009/10/21

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt (reduce to a pinch if using salted butter)
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips, chunks, or a combination

Method:
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
  • Add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed.
  • Add flour and baking soda, mix until just combined.
  • Stir in the chocolate chips. I like using a combination of milk chocolate and Skor toffee bits. Or dark and white chocolate!
  • Drop heaping tablespoons of dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly. I like to use a small ice cream scoop for uniform-size cookies.
  • Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before removing. Transfer to a wire rack.
  • Try to eat just one!

Bargain Books

Whenever I'm at a second hand store, I go through the children's books there, because at 69 and 99 cents each, they're a great bargain! I make a thourough search of all the shelves, snatching up any Dr. Seuss on sight, and maybe a few other promising-looking hardcovers on the way. I'm collecting the Sesame Street Treasury and Sesame Street Library books, too, they're great classics! I love the illustrations in the ones from the 70's. I keep trying to get more old school Golden Books, but they're hard to find! So far I've only found Tawny Scrawny Lion.
Some of Callum's favorite books like Hide and Snake have come off the shelves of Talize here in Hamilton.
One day I ran across a book I remember reading in grade school. I squealed for joy (ok, I squealed in my head) as I snatched it off the shelf, recalling how much I loved it. Socks For Supper is a story of an endearing older couple who don't have much except a turnip garden. They eat turnips every day and gaze wistfully at the neighbor's cow, wishing they could afford one so they could have milk and cheese. They search for something they could trade to have that luxury, but they don't even have materials to make anything.
The wife ends up using the old man's sweater to knit socks to trade for milk and cheese. I still remember feeling so happy for them as they feasted on the milk and cheese, and even though the cheese was just a yellow ball, I imagined how delicious it must have tasted to them after eating turnips for so long!
I won't give away the ending here! If you want to find out how Socks For Supper ends, you'll have to come over, or borrow it from me!


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September Photos

Playing with Daddy
My almost-dead gerbera bounced back!
A friendly cat came to visit us one day. So Callum said to him "C'mon, cat, go for a walk!" Then he took off...and the cat followed!
He made a face..."fathe" out of these pegs. (Eyes, nose, mouth)
He likes making triangles "try-gang-goh" out of the cupboards. So proud of himself.