Day 195/365--Collapse

My daily contribution to my year long "Around the House" photo project. 365 photos. Blogged here.



When we moved in most of the windows in the house had fake "dividers" stuck on the windows to make them appear paneled. Some were in sorry shape, barely hanging on. My mother decided this was unacceptable and very helpfully removed all of the ones in the top windows of the eat in area. Apparently the cats have decided she had the right idea. Lately they have been helping the bottom ones along.

Quotables #10

I remember loving Shel Silverstein's poetry as a child, but I hadn't thought about him in years. Until I saw this quote on Marisa's side bar:

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be."
--Shel Silverstein

Quiet. Steady. Full of possibility. Adventure. Hope.

Day 194/365--The New Desk

My daily contribution to my year long "Around the House" photo project. 365 photos. Blogged here.



The addition of the laptop means that my usual haunt has changed. My desk now sits empty while I hang out on the couch. With Jack's supervision, of course.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies

It's hard to go wrong with either coconut or chocolate, so naturally they are brilliant together. I used this recipe from Joy the Baker as the base. You might recognize it, since I also used it as the base for the Mint Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cookies we made for Christmas.

Ingredients
8 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate , 60%-72%(chopped or in chips)
3 Tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) butter
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coconut

Directions
PREHEAT oven to 325F. Lightly grease your baking sheets.

CHOP your chocolate into very fine pieces. Slice your butter into small pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl or double boiler with the chocolate.

MELT the chocolate and butter together. Be very careful not to scald the chocolate. Joy explains "To avoid heating the chocolate too much and possibly burning it, the best method is to heat till the butter is melted and the chocolate has partially melted, then remove from the heat. Stir until all the chocolate melts."

BEAT together sugar and eggs in a separate bowl.

MIX chocolate mixture, vanilla, flour, baking powder, and salt into the sugar and egg mixture. Add your chocolate chips and coconut last.

DROP the cookie dough by rounded tablespoon onto the cookie sheets.



BAKE 10-12 minutes or until the tops have just cracked. Watch the first batch carefully to see when this occurs to prevent overbaking.

LET SET a few min then REMOVE to wax paper to finish cooling.

My Thoughts

1. These cookies turned out perfectly fudgey and delicious with beautifully cracked tops. The mint version had spread more. The difference is the mint pieces melted, whereas the coconut helped the dough keep it's shape. Consequently the texture of these is better.

2. These cookies are so good as to be dangerous. Both the hubby and I find them difficult to stay out of. Make at your own peril. ; )

Day 193/365--Full Sink

My daily contribution to my year long "Around the House" photo project. 365 photos. Blogged here.



The amazing thing about an amazing kitchen? The part where you want to cook in it. Where "coulds" become "dids". Today, we did make Belgian waffles and blackberry compote. And then we left the dishes right there. Because we could.