A Box Full of Christmas

We have a bookshelf.  Still.  A good friend of mine wants to replace her bookshelves with ebooks, and I can see her point.  Books are big, they take up space, some have horrid spines with tatty edges.  Perhaps she dreams of filling that space of old paper and dried glue with something more . . . well, more.

We don’t buy a lot of books anymore.  I borrow from the library like an addict seeking their next big hit.  Buying a book feels more like an investment – will its physical presence pay off in the end?

And then there are books you want to buy for everyone you know and that guy down the street because, obviously, their bookshelf is deficient and paltry without it.

Our book club’s first selection was John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.  It’s epic while being so very simple.  It’s a tearjerker, a laugh-maker, a thought-creator all in one.  It’s about love and death and disease, but even more so it’s about life.  You’re forced to look at how you treat life and the lives of those you know and don’t.  It explodes the question on how we deal with death while we’re alive and if our lives are filled with a life worth its deserved weight.

It’s all kinds of wonderful and I was ecstatic that it was our first choice.

However, no matter how many ideas, thoughts and cookies I brought to the table, I can’t share it adequately when no one shows up.

One person did come, and I tried not to reveal my true fanaticism about this book or else scare her away, but in the end I was still left with an abundance of thoughts and cookies. (Is a club still a club when there are just two?)

I made sugar cookies and snickerdoodles because not only do they make the holiday that much more sparkly, but they’re my grandmother’s favorite cookies.  She would always have a pile of them at her house on Christmas and we would be allowed to eat as many as our sugar-blitzed stomachs wanted.

She’s in her 80s now and hasn’t cooked or baked for a few years since my grandfather died.  We aren’t quite sure why she stopped cooking, but it was one of the first things that would become a part of the list of symptoms we would later see.  Holidays are still full of home-cooked meals and desserts, but they’re brought in by the rest of the family.

Her cookie recipes weren’t exactly special.  She wasn’t adventurous, either, with her cooking and preferred to do things exactly by the book.  But while her cookies wouldn’t win a blue ribbon, they won a place in my memories forever.  They’re what make me feel like Christmas is here, that the world is that much cozier and that for one sugary, spiced second, it’s all okay.  They remind me of warm houses, tall trees, bustling noise and bossy relatives.  They remind me of smiles, laughs, and the thrill of being at grandma’s for Christmas.

Which is why I’m packing them and sending her a tin of cookies and cocoa this year.  It’s alright that I didn’t share them with others at our club meeting.  It’s okay that I’ve stuffed myself with memories sprinkled in sugar.  It’s all okay because in the end, it’s my grandmother who’ll open a box full of Christmas.

(And The Fault in Our Stars?  It has a permanent spot on our bookshelf.)

The Impending Sugar Crash

Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday.

Cheap candy, cheaper decorations and pathetic attempts at scares makes for a grumpy me.

Is there a Halloween cousin to Scrooge?  That’d be me.

iScribbler aka iScareNot

(Let’s ignore how in my heart of hearts I really can’t wait to give out candy to adorable kids in bee costumes from my own doorstep.  Or how I secretly wish I had enough nerve to dress up in a cute costume.  Or how I really wish I could just eat all of the candy we bought for our coworkers. Yep, not at all reasons why I grump Halloween.)

It’s also the month that officially kicks off the Sugar Rush.  A time of no holds barred, kick in your teeth, cavity inducing, recipe hunting baking that starts off with simple brownies and culminates to confections of every cavity-inducing sort at Christmas.

And I’ve started off with a bang.

Our office loves parties.  There’s a special group of people that plan these extravaganzas and I’ve joined their ranks.  Like all parties, we need food and that’s where I step in.  I bake.  A lot.  So much my own teeth ache just thinking about it.  Because what I bake for these parties aren’t my typical “healthified” version we have at home.  Nope.  It’s 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of sugar baking.  It’s a sugar rush that never crashes.

I live out my baking fantasies on my coworkers. 

As the hubby told a coworker who asked if we ate like this at home:  No.

First were the Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies up above.  Take a normal brownie mix, whip up a pumpkin cheesecake layer, top, bake and cut out with a cute pumpkin cookie cutter.

Office Workers 1, Take home leftovers 0

Next up:  Toffee Chip Cookies with White Chocolate Icing

Take my brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe toss in Heath Toffee bits in place of chocolate chips and drizzle white chocolate candy coating on top. Result was a chewy, thin cookie with a lot of toffee flavor and a dash of creaminess.

Office Workers 2, Take home leftovers 0

This week I made two different desserts for our pizza party on Friday.  The chocolate chip cookie pies got me voted the unofficial “baker in residence”.

I used Bakerella’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie and made them into individual pies with my silicon muffin tin.  I then topped them with whipped cream.

Next up were Caramel ‘n Chocolate Pecan Bars.  I used a cat cookie cutter I had bought for 79 cents and made about 10 large cat bars.  I followed the recipe exactly except for adding a few white chocolate chips to brighten things up a bit.

I placed them in my nifty Halloween treats basket and took them into work. (The black plate to the side contain the rest of the bars.)

Office Workers 4, Take home leftovers 0

And that was just October.  In November there’s a proposed Chili Cookoff, a book club, a Dr Who Club, Thanksgiving and a birthday.

Excuse me as I prep my bed for the hibernation that will surely hit me like a ton of sugar come January.

Right now, though, I’ll just buzz through the holiday season with a smile.

Let’s Pause a Moment…for Cookies

Between juggling large stacks of errors at work and a terrifying feeling of intellectual drought, there’s this:

A new 29 gallon tank fitted out with a Penguin 200 Whisper filtration system and a Hydor Bubble Maker that arrived on our doorstep at the beginning of the month. We ordered the new digs from Doctors Foster and Smith and received everything on time except for one small problem.  The tank was shattered.  The tinkle-tinkle noises coming from the box as I excitedly opened it should have been the clue.  A pile of glass was not a good environment for Zoe.

This is Zoe, by the way.  Our seven year old Shubunkin goldfish.

She’s been growing into a 5 inch beauty (not including the tail) and needed a new home.  The sweetie will probably fill in the new tank just nicely once she moves in.  Whenever that will be.  Because not only did we have to wait a bit to get a new tank (which was handled easily and swiftly by the customer service lady), but I’ve managed to crash the nitrogen cycle right when it was getting ready to finish.

If you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, don’t worry.  Unless you plan to keep fish, then definitely worry.  Go here, in fact, to read up on it asap.

So, it’s more than 4 weeks since we’ve started to do the fishless cycle and I’ve not only managed to crash it, but the pH, too.  I’m not sure why this time it’s all going to hell in a hand-basket, but I’m just thankful that I’m not putting her through it.  As it is, she’s blissfully unaware that I’m making her new home a death zone. 

Obviously, tough times call for soft cookies.

Obviously.

And I’ve even managed to “lighten” them a bit.  Trust me to do what I can to make even a chocolate chip cookie taste decadent but be slightly healthier.

The recipe came from my sister-in-law years ago and I had yet to make them.  Color me ashamed, but I was constantly getting distracted by other things to bake and just never got around to it.  Lately, however, the memory of soft, chewy, chocolatey cookies was dominating my every thought.  Probably because  since I can remember, cookies have been my comfort food.  Good cookies, that is.  Not just any cookie.  No hard bricks in this house.

In her recipe, she calls for 1 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Um. No.  That much sugar makes my teeth ache. 

So, I subbed 1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar with lovely results!  Sweet, soft, and chewy? Check!  Not bulging around the seams with sugar?  Check!

I also used 1 cup of semisweet chips, but then hacked to death some dark chocolate chips until they were near powder.  I left a few chunks in there for goodness, but I tried to pulverize them so that they would seep into the dough and give it a deep taste.

The butter?  I didn’t touch the amount, but I did go the brown butter route for the first time in my life.

And I’m not going back.  Nothing can induce me to make a chocolate chip cookie without browning the butter first.  Ever.  It turns a delicious cookie into a miracle with hints of caramel/toffee/soul changing flavor.

Trust me, brown those sticks and they just might make you forget how much life can stink. 

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Note: I followed the directions here on how to brown my butter.  Also, her recipe calls for scooping the dough out with a #20 disher, but I haven’t a clue what that is, so I just used two spoons.  Her method will give you about 18 extra large cookies.  My method gives you about 35.  I also froze most of mine after I scooped them onto the wax paper to bake later.  It’s a great method to regulate how many you’ll consume in one sitting. )

(Another Note: I used to be a make and bake kind of gal, but I let this batch sit in the fridge overnight and they were amazing the next day.  I’m sure they’d still be amazing if you stir and baked, but give the overnight rest a shot. The flavors really seem to meld together if you let them mingle.)

Ingredients

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter (1 cup), browned (or just melted, if you’re too chicken )
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar
• 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips + 1 cup dark chocolate chips, chopped

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a pan over low/medium heat – just enough to bring it to a low boil.  Allow to brown as described here.  Remove from heat immediately and set aside.
2. In a bowl or a gallon sized plastic bag, measure out flour, salt and baking soda.  Stir well to combine or shake bag.  I prefer the bag method.
3. Pour butter into a large bowl and add sugars.  Cream together until combined.  Add eggs, milk and vanilla and cream some more.
4. Slowly incorporate flour mixture into the butter mixture with a spoon.  Thoroughly mix.  Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Cover the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or transfer dough to a sealed container.  Let sit overnight.
6. Ready to bake?  Preheat oven to 375.
7. No need to warm the dough – just scoop out onto a lined baking sheet and cook until golden brown (or whatever floats your boat).  For a #20 disher, it apparently takes 14 minutes.  For a 1.5 inch ball of dough, it will take about 10 minutes.  Either way, watch them carefully and take them out when they’re the color you want.