Chocolate? Yes, Please!

I love chocolate!  I found this recipe and they made the most delicious chocolate cookies with chocolate chips.  I found it on allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe websites!  Once I made the dough, I measured out balls 1 Tablespoon large, then divided the balls in half, rolled them into a ball.  Cutest bite size cookies!  Great size for lunches.

Here's the recipe: 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies I

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 45 Minutes Servings: 48

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	In large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or just until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Thoughts and feelings

Right now I am feeling frustrated and a little disappointed that the bread I have been working on for the last 6 hours has not turned out.  This project all started when I saw online that a garage sale/fundraiser/bake sale was being held tomorrow for a 14 year old name Jacob Watson.  Jacob was one of Joshua’s students this last year.  We went and visited him in the hospital when he was first diagnosed with Leukemia. 

Since they are having a bake sale, I thought I’d make and donate some artisan bread.  It is easy (normally), beautiful (normally) and tastes great (normally).  I quickly made up the dough and left it to rise.  During that time I went to buy a new baking stone as ours had seen its last day a few weeks ago.  Quick trip I thought.  Run to the store, run in, grab the stone, pay for it, home in 30 minutes.  Wrong!  It took me 4 stores until I found it.  Finally, I get home, season the stone, and get everything ready to bake.  When I go to put the first loaf in the oven it won’t come off the pizza peel.  Now this is not the first time that has happened.  In fact, it has happened every time we try it.  Stupid pizza peel. (Side note, we bought the pizza peel for $30 to my protest against doing so.  Tonight at the first and second stores I went to, I saw the same one for $10.  TEN DOLLARS! Ridiculous.  I should hold to my guns about not spending that much.  Paying more does not always mean it will work better.  Stuff sticks to it all the time and drives me crazy.)    

Back to the story; finally I get the first one off the peel and into the oven onto the new baking stone for the stones debut.  As it is baking, the stone cracks in half.  WHAT!!  STUPID STONE!  I still have 2 loaves to go.  So I decide to use the larger half of the stone anyways to cook the rest of the loaves.  Each loaf comes out looking …well…, not as beautiful as normal.  I have just tasted one.  It’s not very good.  Not only am I’m rethinking taking anything to the bake sale but it’s now nearly midnight, I am tired, have had to clean the kitchen again, used up most of my flour and thrown away 2 of the 3 loaves of bread.   I’ll just have to wait to see if the 3^rd is a nasty as the others.  Either way, I can’t offer to have it sold.  I suppose it’s a tender mercy that I tasted it and did not subject others to it as well. 

Good Bye Wasatch Mental Health

Today was my last day of my internship at Wasatch Mental Health.  I really enjoyed my time there but alas, I am a relieved to be done.  I am now closer than before to completing my masters degree.  I also do not have to deal with those kids yelling or staff dynamics.  I have learned through my time there I believe in positive reinforcement as I saw it change behaviors better than negative punishments. 

Now I have a few weeks to recollect myself before beginning my last 8 months of the program and beginning working at LDS Family Services as a therapist and hopefully in adoptions as well.

One of today's projects

Ugly 80's light fixture makeover. 

I strongly dislike the way this light fixture looks but buying new one is not in the budget for right now.  So, since Joshua is out of town I decided to do a makeover using something I love and he does not....spray paint.  In honor of him though, I bought the "Brushed Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze" spray paint.  I figured I could try it and since I did not like the light the way it is, if it looked bad, I still would not like the light the way it is...and we could always choose another color to paint it.  

Here is how it turned out:

Before - Dinning area light fixture

After - dining area with same light fixture

I love it!!!

Home Sweet Home updates

The Garden:

It grows a little more each day.  The after picture is a month old now.  Since this picture I have torn out the lettuce and planted winter squash in its place.  The 12 pepper plants have not produced anything as of yet.  A bad bug kept eating their blossoms before they could have a chance.  Two nights ago I went on a bug killing rampage.  The garden is no longer organic to say the least.  But the bugs are gone, including a great reduction in the number of earwigs outside and inside the house, and there are 2 jalapenos growing now!!!!  Here are some pictures:

Before - Garden a few weeks old

After - Garden a month ago - recent pictures to come soon

Joshua's Mother (Elisa) and Dad (Glenn) came up during the last week of June to install beautiful handcrafted, specially designed cabinets for our downstairs room.  Dad did a wonderful job designing, building and installing them.  We were able to help lacquer and seal and sand and wax each piece.  I really enjoyed the time we had together, working and visiting.  Elisa again was priceless in her helping us.  She is so efficient and has long eyes to help us work through various projects such as landscaping the front yard.  With their help we accomplished more in those few days than we had in the month and a half we had lived here.  Here are some pictures of some of the projects:

Before - the ugly recesses in the wall next to the wood burning stove

After - the recesses are filled with wonderful bookcases.  Don't worry the book cases have been straightened up now so they look better.

After - beautiful knotty alder wood cabinets.

Landscapping:

After - water efficient plants.  Before it was overgrown with weeds and tulips (in the early spring)

 

 

Donut Falls Hike - July 22, 2011

Several Friday's ago Joshua and I went to for a hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon to Doughnut Falls (a waterfall that has eroded a hole in the rocks and now falls through it like it is a doughnut).  We live so close to world class hiking, camping and ski resorts that we want to take advantage of it.  I enjoyed being outside again.  Here is some of what we saw. 

Near Doughnut Falls

Me downstream from the fall

Joshua and I on our hike

Poor angle of Doughnut Fall

The view from the top of Doughnut Falls

Joshua on our hike

Me when we were above the fall

Memorial Weekend 2011

Time to play catch up on blogging.  I keep thinking I'll soon have the time to do it but that time probably will never be here.  So here goes.  Here is Memorial Weekend 2011.  Jasmyne, Daniel and Caleb drove up from Arizona see our new home and visit.  Having them was very nice.  We played on the love sack (Giant bean bag chair), went to the park, played with the neighbors, went to the mall, went to church and went cardboard sliding at the park.  I am so glad they were able to come.  They are such fun people to be with.

Here are some pictures I took when we were cardboard sliding down the hills and playing at the park.