Today's cookie is absolutely amazing. I think it will quickly become my go-to cookie of choice. It is the Butterscotch-Cashew Blondie. Chock full of butterscotch morsels, toffee bits and cashew chunks. It was the perfect cookie to end my week of baking. Our friends Tom and Brett are coming over for dinner tomorrow. Tom thought that the Cream Cheese Swirled Blondies of earlier this week looked good. I think he will really enjoy the Butterscotch-Cashew Blondie as an end to dinner.
Well, my vacation is almost over. In honor of that, I finally shaved off my vacation beard this morning. It's like I'm a new man. I ran a few more errands this morning. I had to pick up a few gifts for our nieces birthday parties this weekend. My father is in town from Florida this weekend. We'll pick him up at the birthday party on Sunday, and then take him to the airport Monday morning. Greg's on-call for work this weekend, so that should keep him pretty busy. The last weekend he was on-call he logged about 40 phone calls from clients at all hours of the day and night. I really appreciate that he's sticking with this new job and the excruciatingly long commute to Lakewood. Hopefully something closer to home will materialize soon.
Friday, March 28, 2008
friday's cookie of the day
Thursday, March 27, 2008
gallery hopping
Well not really hopping, I guess. I spent a while at the Akron Art Museum early this afternoon before meeting a former co-worker for lunch today. You can't take photographs in the galleries, just in the lobby. This is photo of the fun furniture in the lobby. It's actually quite comfortable. The sculpture in the background is Claes Oldenburg's pink Inverted Q. I took the photo with my iPhone. It's really handy for that sort of thing.
thursday's cookie of the day
This is my favorite cookie of the week, so far. It is the Pine Nut Cookie. An Italian classic. My dough was a little stickier than I expected so added a couple more table spoons of flour. The flour, along with wet hands, made rolling them quite a bit easier. I have quite a few errands to run, so this is my first morning baking expedition this week. And that mug in the picture above is one of my favorites. I like the stripes.
I'm off to have lunch with a former co-worker, do a little shopping, then later tonight we're off to celebrate Jennie and Hannah's birthdays.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
wednesday's cookie of the day
The Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar. I remember making a version similar to this when I was in high school. Martha's recipe is just as good. Tomorrow's cookie, an italian classic, involves pine nuts and almond paste. Stay tuned.
soaking up the sun
Tucker enjoys when either of us is off work during the week. On bright and sunny mornings, the front door opens and Tucker gets an opportunity to bask in the warn rays.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
it's two for tuesday
Made another quick batch of cookies this afternoon. Martha's Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. They took a little more time in the oven than directed, but they sure look tasty. I'm waiting for them to cool a little bit more. Those chocolate morsells are molten hot. I also had some time to package up the cookies that I made earlier today. Tomorrow's cookie...Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars.
tuesday's cookie of the day
Ladies and gentlemen...the Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookie. Today's cookie of the day. These took quite awhile to make, but they were fun to put together. They're probably better for you than a real oreo. Tomorrow's cooking school. That should be fun.
Monday, March 24, 2008
monday's cookie of the day
While I'm on vacation this week, I'm going to try to make a cookie a day from Martha's new cookie cookbook. Today's cookie was the Cream Cheese Swirl Blondie. It's pictured above. Greg has picked out tomorrow's cookie, the Cream-Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookie (Martha's version of a fancy oreo). And there's no possible way that we could ever eat all these cookies by ourselves. If you want some, let me know. I may even have time to deliver them or time to run to the post office to mail them.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
time off from work begins today
I'm on vacation from work until April 1st. My plans? Not much. Just some relaxing and organizing. Michele had us over for lunch today. She knows my aversion to all things ham and had some delightful chicken salad from West Point for me. That was thoughtful. We brought cheesy potatoes.
The rest of this afternoon is for relaxing and catching up with assorted stacks of magazines. I have a weird obsession with magazines. I think that I have about 12 subscriptions going right now. And I'm pretty sure that Martha Stewart Living is renewed through at least the year 2010. So yeah, this afternoon is all about laying in the new comfy bed with my magazines. Tucker's asleep at the foot of the bed in a pool of sunlight pouring in from the window. Greg's next door in the guest room/office paying bills and watching college basketball. In my quest for relaxation, I think that I have found the perfect CD. Duncan Sheik's Daylight album. It is the essence of calm and relaxation. It's one of those albums that you can play straight through from track 1 to 11. Highlights include Genius, On a High, and Good Morning! And what do you know...there's also a song titled, Magazine.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
cookie time
This week I purchased Martha Stewart's Cookies Cookbook. My plan is to bake at least one cookie per week. Today, I began that quest with the Lime Meltaways. They turned out very well. I still have a roll left that I put in the freezer to make another batch later. The photos below are the cookies right out of the oven, followed by the finished cookie after it's been dusted with confectioners sugar. They truly do melt in your mouth.
Friday, March 14, 2008
a hot mess
This was my favorite skit from last week's Saturday Night Live. Amy Pohler is spot-on in her impression of Project Runway winner Christian.
this weekend
Greg is on-call for work this weekend. That means he'll need to stay near home and a computer all weekend. I stopped at Blockbuster on my way home from work tonight and picked up some movies for the weekend. It's too bad he wasn't on call last weekend when the weather forced us to stay home for most of the weekend anyways.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
awesomeness
The best partner in the world spotted these at a store this morning and brought me home a bag. They taste like actual chocolate covered cherries without the texture issues.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
snowed under
We received over a foot of snow this weekend. The biggest storm of the season. The Library was closed on Saturday, so Greg and I stayed in, in our pajamas and watched season one of the Gilmore Girls on DVD. Above is a picture of Tucker going out the back door. He was having a difficult time with the high snow, but he still enjoyed himself. The event that I would have had to work today at the Library has been canceled, so it will be another quiet relaxing day at home.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
the ohio primary
I have to admit. I got a little choked up this morning as I cast my vote. How incredible to be handed a ballot with a woman and an African-American as my two candidates to choose from.
Monday, March 3, 2008
weekend wrap-up birthday edition
We celebrated Greg's birthday on Sunday. He turned the big 3-6 on the 28th. We had a few friends over for baked ziti, salad and birthday cake. We had a fun night. Greg is such a special guy. I've never met a more sweet guy. I'm very lucky to have him in my life and that accepts me for the kinda "high maintenance" guy that I can be at times.
