Monday Matters

1. My mom put on an awesome (very last minute) party on Saturday for my birthday (which is tomorrow)!!!  She made my favorite foods for dinner, and even made TWO cakes!



Birthday Bunt Cakes!!!  Yellow Cake with Chocolate Creamcheese frosting and Coconut Cake!!!  

1. Dinner consisted of Chicken Marsala (it's not really chicken marsala....Because we don't use Marsala wine....So it's really just chicken marinated and cooked in wine with onions and mushrooms - my very best favorite meal as a kid), Spanish Rice, and Salad


2. Cake?  How about TWO cakes!  I asked my mom if I could request yellow cake with chocolate frosting....Her reply?  That Nonni (my grandmother) had requested Coconut Cake....But since it was my birthday, she insisted on making what I wanted!  So I got two cakes!  SO YUMMY!!!


2. We did a TON of work at the house this weekend.  We starting trimming down the front bed which has 15 years worth of untrimmed Juniper Bushes (yes, seriously, the neighbor told us of the non-ambitious previous owner, and how he never trimmed the bushes down).  I'm pretty sure all of the neighbors are excited that they'll soon be able to see around the corner without bushes being in the way.  The only problem?  There is too much yard waste to bring to the landfill ourselves.  I called public works - they won't make a special trip to pick it up....So we're on to devising a Plan B....



It's hard to see in the picture, but there is a totally overgrown area in the corner (with a dead tree, as well)....It's cleanup time!!!

3. In more house news, my Aunt Regina (who is selling her amazing house) is selling us her dining room set.  This set is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my entire life.  Dining room table with two leafs and covers, eight chairs, full hutch (with a light inside!), and a butler station.  It's amazing.  I can't wait until my house is DONE!


4. The new contractor came over to my house on Friday with his plumber.  They're starting to finish everything this week (hopefully).  Everything that the previous plumber did is wrong, and they have to redo almost everything.  Oh lovely.


5. My friend Victoria at Mission-Food made a Mexican Fiesta yesterday and it looks A-MAZING and I can't wait to try the Gronk-Amole.  That's right.  You heard what you heard.  GRONK!!!!!


6. I made Chili for dinner on Friday and it was really good.  However, I'm starting to think that there were just too many beans (it was fine on Friday at dinner....Leftovers for lunch - not so much).  Don't get me wrong, I love anything with beans, but I feel like it's too much beany texture.  I might need to revise.


7. I've read a lot about the Will and Kate photo scandals on Perezhilton lately.  I feel really bad for them.  Talk about an invasion of privacy.  I don't understand how people can think it's okay to stalk people while they're on a PRIVATE estate and then publish pictures of their private rendezvous.  I hope those people get in some serious trouble.


8. So speaking of Perezhilton.....I love reading celebrity gossip and wondering WHAT ON EARTH is going on in their heads when they make decisions, and then have to live with the results.  Maybe it's the fame that makes people think that they're invincible....and able to get away with anything (like stealing jewelry, hit and run accidents, or smoking pot while driving).  At the same time, I feel bad for these people when they are so heavily publicly scrutinized for every single one of their actions (see point 7), even stupid people like Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart....For goodness sake - let them sort out their relationship problems in PRIVATE!!!


9. I made waffles for breakfast yesterday.  Nothing fancy, just plain waffles.  Flour, Baking Powder, Milk, Egg, Oil, and a little vanilla.  Scrumptious.


10. I think I have a problem with stealing napkins and plastic-ware at work...



Need a napkin?  I have a few to spare....And some spoons....

11. Wouldn't seeing Gronk on your way to work make you happy, too???



GRONK!!!

Monday Matters

1. On Thursday night, I got to bake not one thing....But TWO things!!!  How exciting is that???  I've been itching to bake for SO long, and while I made the Apple Crisp last weekend, I still felt unfulfilled in the baking department.


1. The first thing I baked was my Trippy Dippy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Chocolate cookie, white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and almonds.  DELICIOUS.



2. The second thing I baked was my Call Me Maybe Blondies.  Basically, a chocolate chip cookie in brownie form.  With three different kinds of chocolate chips.  Why the title, you ask? Well, Blondie sang "Call Me" and they were maybe like a Blondie (really like a cookie bar).  So Call me Maybe.  Blondies.  Either way, delicious.



2. I baked said goodies for a Bachelorette party this weekend, which was a lot of fun!  A jam packed weekend of Wine Tastings, Boat Rides, Dancing, and lots of drinking.





Hanging out with the Bride Katie (left) and her soon-to-be-sister-in-law Tina (right)

3. My husband and I drove into work together this morning and it took us an hour and twenty minutes.  Seriously.  I should have taken 50 minutes.  It was like torture.  All I kept thinking was "When is my house going to be ready???"


4. Speaking of my house, the painter started putting color up on the walls this weekend!!!  How exciting is that????  I haven't seen it for myself yet, but I'm thinking a ride by after work today will be delightful.


5. Today I experienced the glory of "Mobile Deposits."  My grandmother gave us a check as a housewarming, to help us pay for the new bulkhead that we bought.  Instead of having to go to the bank to deposit it, I'm now able to do it FROM MY PHONE!!!  Take a picture of the front, take a picture of the back, enter the amount, and I've got a pending deposit.  Amazing!


6. When I got into work this morning, I remembered that they are officially starting their "United Way Campaign."  While I'm all about donating money to people in need, I absolutely dread the thought of sitting through a Month of people screaming at me to donate money, to buy raffle tickets, to donate to a silent auction, to BUY from the silent auction, to buy at the live auction, to pay to take a picture with a CPR doll, etc etc etc.  It just gets  to be too much.  Today when I walked in, they were setting up little golf tees all around the place....It's called "Putt and Pledge..."  What is it about?  I HAVE NO CLUE.  I deleted the email.  All I know, is that the campaign starts today, and if I donate in the first 8 hours, I get a free half day of vacation.  DONE.


7. It took a long time, but I think I finally figured out how to get my blog posts to post onto Facebook (and on the Blogger feed) with the picture I want.  It's all about the first picture you add into your post.  I used to be able to picture a picture for Facebook, but that doesn't happen anymore so I now have to be super careful about the first picture I choose!!!  I'm trying!! :o)


8. I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's WEEK 1 PATRIOTS GAME!!!  We got to hang out with friends, eat yummy food, and watch the game.  Oh, and see our favorite players - like Gronk - try to spike the ball, and not realize that it had already dropped out of his hand.  Priceless!




9. My birthday is officially in 8 days (September 18, people!) Last birthday in my twenties. Any good ideas for celebrating??

Trippy Dippy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Trippy Dippy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Do I have your attention??

I thought so!

Imagine a chocolate chip cookie that is as far from ordinary as humanly possible.  Well, I have something crazier!  The only thing trippy about it is the three different kinds of chocolate, but you'll definitely be super happy with the final product (and they're not horrible for you....Nutrition Information below!!).

Trippy Dippy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa earlier in the week, and she and a friend made a cookie recipe that looked so delicious.  I made a couple little modifications, and the end result was so delicious...And and Ina would say, "How easy is that?"

The Ingredients

2 1/3 cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 tsps Baking Soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks Unsalted Butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
1 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 cup White Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup Almonds, chopped

(NOTE:  If you happen to have Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder, but all means, use it.  Just decrease the Baking Soda to just 1 tsp.  I didn't have the Dutch Processed, and wasn't about to go out and buy it when I had 2 opened containers of the regular unsweetened.  The only difference is the Dutch Processed will make the cookies a little darker)

The Method

• Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside (Note:  I usually dump all the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, but I felt like mixing the cocoa powder and the flour was somewhat important, so I actually combined the dry ingredients ahead of time)


• Cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until well combined.


• Add the egg and vanilla (I beat these two together before mixing into the sugar/butter mixture, but it's totally not necessary)


• Mix until well combined


• Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well (I literally dumped the entire contents of the dry ingredients in....Just don't go putting the mixer on full speed unless you want a flour shower.  Pulse the mixer until some of the flour is mixed in first)


• Add the chocolate chips and almonds and mix until well combined.




• Drop scoopfuls of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookies sheet (I use a small ice cream scoop - or a "cookie scoop"

• Bake at 350* for 15-17 minutes (they will seem very soft when you take them out of the oven, but they will harden as they cool - so don't over-bake them!!)


• Move to wire racks to continue cooling after a few minutes

Note:  Each recipe makes ~108 cookies:
Per Serving:  76 Calories * 9 Carbs * 4 Fats * 1 Protein * 0 Fiber * 37 Sodium

Enjoy!!!

Call Me Maybe Blondies

I love the term Blondies.  I don't know why.  Technically, they're a cross between a cookie that's baked like a brownie....Right?

In any case, you can call this a Blondie.  Maybe. 

I am obsessed with the idea of baking a cookie like a brownie.  I tried, once, a long time ago, to make chocolate chip cookies with the creamcheese filling in brownie style.  I failed.  Miserably.  So this time, I decided to take a step back and just make the brownie.  Or in this case, the Blondie.

Call Me Maybe Blondies

The original recipe that I found was complicated, with beating butter for 8 minutes, and adding tons of air into the batter in order to make the mixture nice and fluffy and I honestly did not have the patience.  Plus, I wanted a delicious, decadent, dense brownie.  So I made it my own.  And here we go!!!

The Ingredients
1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
1 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
2 1/3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 large Eggs
2 tsps Vanilla Extract
2 1/2 - 3 cups chocolate chips (I used a mixture of white chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chips....Because that's what I had left...And it happen to all amount to 2 1/2 cups.  You can put whatever you want here)
Chopped Walnuts - OPTIONAL (I did not put in any nuts)

The Method

• Beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy


• Add the Eggs and Vanilla Extract and mix well


• Add in all of the dry ingredients and once again, mix well (you are more than welcome to mix all of the dry ingredients separately and add them into the wet ingredients, but as I've mentioned before, I have no patience for that.  Just dump it all in together - just be mindful of not giving yourself a flour shower!!)


• Mix in the chocolate chips (and nuts, if you've decided to add them in)


• Spread the mixture into a GREASED 9x13 pan

• Bake at 375* for 30-35 minutes (insert a toothpick in the middle to ensure it is cooked all the way through - the top center should not jiggle when you move the pan).


• Allow the pan to cool on the stove.


• Once the Blondies had sat in the pan for a good 30-45 minutes, I inverted the pan onto a cooling rack, and then transfered onto a cutting board so they were sitting right-side up again.

• Cut into 24 bars 

• Allow to cool completely before plating/stacking

Note:  24 Servings
Per Serving:  28 Calories * 36 Carbs * 15 Fat * 3 Protein * 0 Fiber * 119 Sodium

ENJOY!!!