New Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe last night.  It's a keeper.  Not sure which I like better, this one from DanaMadeIt or Mrs. Fields.  I cut the recipe in half (except for the eggs.  The whole recipe calls for 3 so I used 2.  Still can't figure out how to split an egg in half.)  As half made 4 dozen, and that's more than enough, here's the half recipe.

Dana Made It Chocolate Chip Cookies.
1/2 c Crisco
1/2 c butter
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar

mix these together.  I put my Crisco and butter in the microwave to soften as the Crisco was frozen and the butter was straight out of the fridge.  Once combined, add

2 eggs
1 t vanilla.

Beat for 3 full minutes.  Seriously.  Just do it.

Combine in a separate bowl
 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups plus an 1/8cup (I eyeballed this amount) flour.

add 1/2 at a time to the butter/egg mixture.

Then mix in a bag of chocolate chips.

I have a 1 TBSP scooper, so using that this recipe makes 4 dozen cookies (plus enough to nibble dough while baking)

Place 12-15 scoops on an ungreased, regular (not non-stick) cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes till just barely turning golden brown.  (I baked mine for 10 minutes).
Cool slightly on tray prior to transferring to cooling rack.  Make sure your spatula is clean as if it has chocolate/cookie goo on it the cookies will crumble/tear.

Mammoth Cave Trip

We went on our first official trip of 2014 this past weekend.  We left Saturday morning after breakfast to drive to Louisville, KY to spend the night. 

We are just leaving the house in these pictures, and yes, that's snow outside.

Titus still quite proud of his newly lost teeth (from Thursday)

 

We broke the drive up into approximately 2 hour segments.  Our first stop was at a kart track outside of Indy.

Brian wearing the sweater I knit for him this winter.

 

We stopped at a really cool park in Louisville.  It was rainy, but much warmer than the snow that we left behind hours before.

 

We also stopped at a glass blowing place, which was really cool!  We didn't understand the tour information from online, so didn't see any actual glass blowing, but will probably go back another time to give it a try.

 

One of the kids favorite parts of any trip is the hotel.  Brian gets hotel points when he is gone for work, so we get great deals on fancy rooms.  I love hotel points :-)

After the required jumping on the couch, watching TV and swimming, we headed out for dinner.
We went to Chuy's.  It was awesome!!  The ladies making tortillas were so fun to watch.  Made the wait seem like no time at all.

 A good picture of me.

 Tortilla making.  These ladies are incredibly fast.

Sunday morning.

 Kids watching some cartoons waiting for me to get ready for breakfast.

 After breakfast we headed to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green.  The kids had fun in the children's area and looking at all the corvettes.

 Titus pretending he's taking work orders at an auto shop and Isabele looking on.

Brian watching the kids play.

 Titus and Brian looking at a display.

After the museum we stopped at Sonic for some lunch and then headed to Mammoth Cave National Park.

 Isabele waiting for Titus and Brian.

Brian, Isabele and Titus posing in the cave.  We went on the Domes and Dripstones tour.  It took about 2 hours and was easy walking with about 300 steps down and 200 or so up.  Isabele was very intimidated at the beginning and Brian ended up carrying her down those 300 steps.  After we got down the steps, she got much braver and walked the rest of the tour.  She was thrilled that she didn't have to bend over in the small spaces and found it quite amusing that Brian had to duck a lot.  Titus was a trooper, followed the rules to a T and did all the steps on his own.

 

After we were done with our cave tour and a stop at the gift shop, we headed back to Indiana.  The kids did a super job all around.  After an hour nap before we stopped to grab gas and dinner, the kids managed to stay awake until we got home that evening at 10:45. 

 

Isabele's Easter Dress and Bolero Jacket

Here's Isabele in the dress I made her for Easter.  Both the dress and jacket are fully lined.  I had fun making the outfit. 

Cutie.

 She's trying out the twirl-factor of this dress.

 

 Spinning!

 

 

Looking like such a big, little girl.

 

Yes, I let her play in the sand a bit, too.

Saving Dinner 2014 week 12 Classic for 6

Day 1.  Citrus roasted chicken.  Good.  Would smash the rosemary more and use a bit less of it.

Day 2.  Beef and Tortilla casserole.  Tastes good.  Looks kind of gross, so not a for company dish.  Might look better if done puree the tomato and sour cream parts.

Day 2.  Red Bell pepper soup.  I made a half recipe and it would still feed 6 people.  Tastes good.  I froze the leftovers.  Haven't used it yet.

Didn't do Day 4 or 5.

Day 6.  Eggplant Marinara with Penne Pasta.  Really good.  Easy to make.  Feeds an army - easily 8 to 12.  Good the next day too.  Froze the leftovers, haven't used them yet.

Our First 60 Degree Day

After school I surprised them with ice cream cones for after school snacks, and let them eat outside, barefoot.  Life doesn't get much better than that, right?

 

Yes, they were both barefoot.  And yes, that's snow in the background.  Pictures were taken on       10-Mar-2014.

 

As I'm writing this post on 25-Mar-2014, it snowed off and on all day and the low tonight is 15.  Luckily the snow didn't really accumulate. 

The canal is thawed between the two bridges.  The lake was frozen over when I went past at 5:30 this evening.  Forecast is for above freezing for the next week (after it warms up tomorrow).  I bet there is still ice on the lake on April 1st, but hopefully it's getting closer to being ice-free. 

Titus Last Friday

 

He's getting so big.  This is what he picked out to wear to school on Friday.  Complete with real tie (and yes, as his mother, I can tie a tie).

So when you are old, Titus, and you say you don't have a first grade class picture, here is what you wore to school the day of your class picture that I didn't purchase. 

Easter Dress

 

Front of Isabele's Easter dress.

 

Back of Isabele's Easter dress.

 

I made this dress - just finished it today.  It is fully lined in the light blue you can see on the front view.  Isabele has had it on a couple of times for fitting, but hasn't had it on since I finished hand-sewing the hem.  Overall I'm very pleased with the way this turned out.  I'll add pictures of Isabele wearing it when it warms up a little and I can get some good outside pictures (which might take till Easter at the rate we are getting rid of winter this year).

 

I'll have to add some close-up shots to my sewing / crafting blog for my personal reference.