Monday, February 20, 2012

Cookies!!

Long time ago, in a faraway French City a man craved some chocolate chip cookies. His wife, bedazzled by French cooking and feeling the same, searched for a recipe. None seemed to satisfy the "accurate" taste of a chocolate chip cookie. Feeling creative, the wife adjusted one such reciepe.

Well, we were in France. And French cooks are not to be bothered with such an American treat of chocolate chips. I found a fun way to "create" chocolate chips and make an interesting cookie. Here is that treasured recipe:

"French" Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 chocolate bar dark/milk hazelnut, chopped
1 chocolate bar dark/milk, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl combine flour, salt and baking soda.
In a large bowl cream butter and sugars. Mix until smooth. Add vanilla and eggs, beat well. Gradually add flour mixture until well combined. Stir in chopped chocolate bars. Mix until well combined. Drop spoonfulls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove cookies from the sheet and let them cool on racks.

Note: One chocolate bar must be dark chocolate and one must be milk. You can find either with or without hazelnuts. (semi-sweet ;) )

Recently my husband craved these little morsels again. So I obliged him and made them. I was afraid they wouldn't taste the same as they did in France, but I got excellent reviews.

 Oh and French people do approve....while we were in France Ben took them to work and all loved them so much they asked for the reciepe!!! So take a walk on the French side and enjoy some cookies!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Big Mess!

We have been renovating our upstairs for almost 2 years now. We finally have been able to drywall the upstairs after a several month wait.

Now my house is a mess!!! I know construction work is messy, but its even messier if you have to live in it. Everything is in bigger piles the floor is DIRTY and I'm trying to face it will decorum and without STRESSING too much.




It has been an effort. But our upstairs is getting drywalled!!! All the closer to getting the paint, the carpet and our bedroom officially done upstairs.

But the work is never done. We still have one room upstairs still to do, which I have waited for a long time and will probably wait some more. Nevertheless I am happier to be even closer to finishing what work we need to do.

Hopefully see you soon!