California

Here are some pictures from my December trip to southern California. The pictures aren't great, but they are nice to look at on a snowy Ohio day.

In the valley.

Lilies?

Palms.

Neighbor's flora.

Oranges.

Lemons and roses.

It was a nice trip, but it was weird to see Christmas decorations in such high temperatures. Odd to see so many things in bloom in December, too.

Suspension

My mom got the DVD box set of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century for Christmas and we watched the first two-part episode today. I remember watching the show as a kid, but I don't know whether I've ever seen the pilot. What I do know is that I was completely taken by surprise when the theme song started and the familiar tune had lyrics!



When the end credits rolled, I found out the song was sung by Kipp Lennon, who has a website with audio clips available for download. Do yourself a favor and download Suspension (Theme from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) immediately! It is awesome.

Pumpkin Two Ways

I didn't take a picture of our Thanksgiving dessert table, but here is a picture of the pumpkin pie (add 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp vanilla and reduce cloves to 1/8 tsp) for which I made the crust from scratch. It's fairly simple and makes a world of difference in taste. It lost some of its flakiness as the days went on, but so does store-bought crust.

Not pictured: Red Velvet Cake, pumpkin roll and pumpkin cheesecake.

My grandmother took the leftover pie crust dough and leftover canned pumpkin and made these pumpkin empanadas. They were delicious cold and more delicious when reheated for 5 minutes in the toaster oven.

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

I made cupcakes for a birthday party for a boy who turned one. The mom of the birthday boy thought it would be fun to decorate them with the theme of the party, which was, "what are little boys made of?" I guess the modern version of the classic poem is frogs and snails and puppy dog tails so that's how we decorated them.

This one shows off my new cupcake stand, which was a birthday present. It's shiny!

Frogs and dogs

Snails, which were my design. Believe it or don't!

Three for the show.

The cupcake baking cups (liners, papers, whatever) were primary colors, which were a great find. The cupcakes were pumpkin with cream cheese frosting. I accidentally made too much frosting, so I made a second batch of cupcakes the next day (cutting down the sugars to 2/3 cup each). Those got decorated with mellowcreme pumpkins.

Negative Ghost Cake

Here's the cake I made for a birthday that fell a few days before Halloween and was celebrated on All Saints Day. The cake is yellow and the frosting should have been white chocolate buttercream frosting but was instead semi-sweet chocolate buttercream frosting because I have some chocolate chips that melted and reset while still in the bag and, while still usuable, can't be used for cookies and the like.

I think the eyes and mouth were put on a little low and were possibly too big for the cake, but you get the general idea.

2009 Fall Television

For some reason, I'm just not that excited about television this fall. A lot of my favorite shows got canceled, and the new shows I've been watching are okay I guess. Regardless, here's my list of what I'll TiVo, what I'll watch live (if I'm home) and what I'll watch online for the fall season. I might watch some On Demand, but since I still don't really understand what shows are consistently on the On Demand channels I can't plan on it.

If you need to see a prime time fall schedule in order to make your own choices, click here.

Monday
8:00 PM
TiVo: How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Live: Heroes (NBC)
Online: House (FOX)

11:00 PM
TiVo: Little People, Big World (TLC)

Tuesday
8:00 PM
TiVo: V (ABC)

Wednesday
8:00 PM
TiVo: New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)

9:00 PM
TiVo: Modern Family (ABC)

9:30 PM
TiVo: Cougar Town (ABC)

10:00 PM
TiVo: South Park (Comedy)

Thursday
8:00 PM
TiVo: FlashForward (ABC)
Live: Vampire Diaries (CW)
Online: Community (NBC)
Online: Bones (FOX)

9:00 PM
TiVo: The Office (NBC)

9:30 PM
TiVo: 30 Rock (NBC)

Friday
8:00 PM
TiVo: Smallville (CW)
Live: Brothers (FOX)

9:00 PM
TiVo: Ugly Betty (ABC)

10:00 PM or in repeats
TiVo: Degrassi: The Next Generation (Teen Nick)
TiVo: White Collar (USA)

Saturday
nothing unless something is repeated from earlier in the week

Sunday
9:00 PM
TiVo: Masterpiece Contemporary (PBS)

10:00 PM
TiVo: Iron Chef America (Food)


That's 1 show each on TLC, PBS, USA, Food Network, Comedy Central and Teen Nick, 2 shows on CBS, 2 shows on CW, 3 shows on FOX, 4 shows on NBC and 5 shows on ABC. I'm already behind on a bunch of shows since I didn't set Season Passes right away, and I forgot to watch shows live, Online or On Demand.

Oatmeal Cookies

I baked these cookies for dessert and served them with mulled cider on Sunday. I made them "Quaker Square style" with no raisins in the cookie dough but with a single raisin on the top of the center of each cookie (placed after the bake). It had been a long time since I baked oatmeal cookies, but I've been meaning to make them since I bought a big canister of oatmeal a few weeks ago. I might experiment with the recipe since they tasted good but flattened out more than I would have liked. Maybe I'll try a different recipe altogether.

Sunshine Chiffon Cake

I make this cake just about every year for my little sister's birthday and apparently, I've never posted a picture of it. I forgot to bring my camera to the party so here's a picture of the piece I took home.

The cake itself has a nice lemony flavor and is similar to an angel food cake in texture. It was served with a raspberry coulis and fresh whipped cream. Also vanilla ice cream and potato chips -- it was a birthday party after all.

This cake is also known as the go-nowhere, do-nothing cake.

Sweet Potato Pie

I went to a clam bake that had leftovers so I came home with some clams and sweet potatoes. I asked for A sweet potato, but came home with four. I used the (three dozen!) clams in Manhattan clam chowder, which turned out great, and the sweet potatoes in the pie pictured above.

I thought the sweet potatoes were incredibly sweet so I cut the sugar to 3/4 cup. I also added cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I used a graham cracker crust because I had graham cracker crumbs that needed to be used up.

There are a lot of variations to sweet potato pie and this one was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want to use evaporated or sweetened condensed milk or make the filling too custardy. The end result tasted just like I thought it would from reading the recipe. I love it when that happens!

Blackberry Muffins

I had some out-of-town guests that requested muffins. I should have made blueberry but the blueberries I found at the grocery store were expensive and not that great looking. I went to the farmer's market, but there were no blueberries to be found. I did find blackberries so I made blackberry muffins. I figured they were close enough to blueberry. They almost were.

Next time they're in town, I'll bake blueberry muffins.

Brownies

For Labor Day, I baked some brownies. They were delicious when served with a cold glass of milk, which is how I ate the last of them today.

At the barbecue they were served as pre-dessert for some, with ice cream for others and with ice cream and peach pie for the rest. I didn't make the peach pie but it was beautiful and delicious and I should have taken a picture of it at the party since the piece I took home wasn't that pretty once it got to my house.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

From the Ultimate Muffin Book. I made them with mini milk chocolate chips, but I think I like them better with regular semi-sweet chocolate chips.


The recipe was supposed to make a dozen muffins but it made eight muffins and six muffin tops.

Here's a better perspective of the muffin top. It's about half as tall as a cupcake-sized muffin. I guess it would be the top of a jumbo muffin if it was an actual top of a muffin.

I'm not sold on the muffin top pan yet. The first tops I made stuck to the pan. These didn't stick, but they turned out darker than the muffins even though they were baked at the same time. Maybe a 400 degree oven is too hot for the pan. Also they don't taste like the top of a muffin. They taste like a muffin baked in a shallow muffin tin.

Kelleys Island

I spent about a day on Kelleys Island. I took just a few pictures at first because it was cloudy. The next morning it was bright and sunny so I took some from the ferry as I left.

Boat dock

Kelley Mansion

Sun-kissed lake

White cranes

It was a very relaxing time. We didn't really do anything, but that was the point. It's that kind of island.

Tiger Party

Here's the cake for a baby's first birthday party. The ears are made of cupcakes so the little guy could dig in and make a mess without destroying the main cake. The cake was yellow Special Birthday Cake. The orange and white frosting was Won't Melt Whipped Creme Frosting and the brown was Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting. I frosted the cake white and handed over the decorating duties to the baby's mom. I think she did a great job.

I don't know why I thought we needed cookies in addition to the cake, but these are Swedish Sugar Cookies cut-out in the shape of no. 1 with orange frosting and chocolate sprinkles or "jimmies" to give them a tiger look. You can never have too many sweets at a party!

Hummus

This was my third time making hummus. The first time I used canned chick peas/garbanzo beans. The second time I used freshly cooked chick peas and made two different kinds: regular and jalapeño. This time I cooked the beans yesterday and used tahini along with the other ingredients.

I only had half a lemon so I had to use ReaLime juice to get the tang I wanted. I didn't measure any of the ingredients, but I'd guess about 1 1/2 cups beans, 1 Tablespoon of tahini, 1 Tablespoon of lemon/lime juice plus some lemon zest, 2 large garlic cloves and 1/4 teaspoon salt. I stopped my food processor a few times and taste-tested the spread until it was the right flavor and consistency.

I drizzled some olive oil and a little lemon zest over the hummus before serving with some lightly toasted whole wheat pitas.

Zucchini Bread (and Muffins)

New recipe! I got this recipe from a relative who got it from a friend who got it from a relative(?) or maybe a friend. The recipe doesn't call for eggs, but I don't mind. Very moist and delicious. I should probably just delete this earlier post since I won't be making those again.

If you look closely at the first muffin, you can see some nice bits of green from the skin of the courgette. I love this time of year when I can get young, tender, fresh and cheap summer squashes.

No, I didn't get a new kitchen. The picture was taken on my mom's new granite counter top. Isn't it pretty? The quick bread/muffins were baked in her new oven too.

What I'm Watching

I don't understand why I keep reading about how there is nothing to watch on television. I'm still watching/TiVo'ing plenty. And I don't see it ending soon since new shows are starting everyday.

Earlier in the "summer" (after the television season supposedly ended) I watched episodes of canceled shows that the networks were burning off like Pushing Daisies and Valentine. There are a few shows that I'm watching in reruns like House and Smallville that I stopped watching during the regular season or that I didn't record because they conflicted with other shows.

As for new summer programming, I have a long list. Some I'm only letting myself watch in real time because I'm embarrassed to TiVo them, and they're on all the time: Dance Your Ass Off, Tori and Dean, Daisy of Love, Charm School with Ricki Lake. Others I have season passes for: Eureka, Iron Chef America, Burn Notice, Chowder and Merlin. Torchwood's Children of Earth episodes are being saved on my mom's TiVo since I don't get BBC America.

MTV is showing seasons seven and eight of Degrassi: The Next Generation and Comedy Central is rerunning episodes of Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist. New episodes of Monk and Psych start in August.

That's a lot of TV.

Save Ohio Libraries!

I've recently become reacquainted with my local libraries. I go there about once a week to use their resources. Of course, since I'm now using them regularly, Ohio's Governor Ted Strickland wants to cut their funding!

The Save Ohio Libraries and the Ohio Library Council websites have details about this issue, and you may have seen protesters on the news. (I actually saw the linked video on News Channel 5 before I saw it on NewsNet5. That almost never happens!)

I emailed my state representative and state senator in Columbus to let them know my views. If you want to contact your elected officials, but don't know who they are, the Save Ohio Libraries website has links to help you find their names. Also, if you don't know what to say, there are sample letters to copy.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

I've been wanting to make this recipe since I found it back in February. As you can see, it was more a ribbon of fudge than a tunnel. I have several theories as to why:

1. I used just shy of 2 cups of walnuts since that was all I had. It was more than 1 3/4 cups but less than 2 cups. I also might have not chopped them small enough.

2. Butter doesn't really work, and I should have used margarine (yuck).

3. My Bundt pan sucks, which won't matter in the future because I threw it away since I scratched it by being too aggressive in taking it out of the pan.

The taste was somewhere between cake and brownies, in other words, delicious. The fudgy part was just that, fudgy.

This was a Flag Day birthday cake. I think the birthday guy liked it.

Almond Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Double leftovers. I made some cupcakes to use up the egg yolks that I had from making a meringue-based frosting for different cupcakes and to use up the leftover frosting itself.

I substituted almond extract for vanilla for something different. I cut down the recipe since I had 5 egg yolks, but it still made 12 cupcakes and 2 heart-shaped ramekins.

Pancakes

Gridlin'

Delicious stack of pancakes

I was in the mood for pancakes this morning. Well, I was actually in the mood for pancakes from the Inn on Coventry, but I wanted to stay home. I used the KitchenAid recipe with a few substitutions. 1 1/2 cups plus 1 1/2 teaspoons of self-rising flour that I'm trying to use up, 1 teaspoon of baking powder because of the flour substitution and no salt because of the flour substitution. I used canola oil because melted shortening sounded gross. It really only took about 45 seconds of actual mixing to make the batter.

I've always been good at the cooking of pancakes and the first was just as tasty as the last. I guess I don't need Aunt Jemima Complete. Maybe I'll make waffles next time with the mystery waffle iron in my kitchen.

I'm Your Man

I watched Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man the other day. Mr. Cohen is best known for his version of Hallelujah, which might itself be better known as sung by Rufus Wainwright (from Shrek) or Jeff Buckley. I was familiar with the songs in this movie since they popped up on my late beloved Launchcast station. His songs are great, but I have to admit I prefer them as interpreted by other people.

Here's an example of his singing style.




This is the version of "Tonight Will Be Fine" that was on the DVD as performed by Teddy Thompson.




The movie itself was good. It was partly a biography and partly a documentary about a tribute concert. It's worth a viewing and the soundtrack is definitely worth a listen.

Happy Birthday!

Special Birthday Cake with Vanilla Italian Buttercream Frosting

The yellow cake recipe comes from on old cookbook that was compiled by a local church in the 1960's(?) and is a family favorite. The frosting is Warren Brown's recipe and was my first meringue-based frosting. Pouring hot sugar syrup into whipped egg whites is a little scary but was easier done than anticipated. I made the cake for my dad's 60th birthday.

Easter Desserts

For Easter dinner at my grandparents' house I made an Apricot-Coconut Cake with a whipped cream and sour cream frosting. Some people don't like coconut (2 people, it turns out) so I only put coconut on half of the cake.



When I took the first few pictures, I thought the toasted coconut looked like hair so I made a face out of jellybeans.





Here are some pictures of the sliced cake. The filling between the layers is apricot preserves.

With coconut

Without coconut

The day before Easter, I helped one of my friends make a Coconut Cake with cream chese frosting and topped with untoasted coconut.

My grandmother made some Mexican bread pudding or Capirotada. Her version is made with raisins and pecans.

All the desserts were delicious!

Dewey's Pizza

Dewey's Pizza
18516 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, OH 44107
216-228-2299
Dinner; April 12, 2009
Party of Two

Candied Walnut and Grape Salad

Half Socrates Revenge and half Wild Mushroom pizza

Even though I've been to the Dewey's on the eastside for both eat-in and take away many many times, I've never taken pictures or written a review of the place. I guess I had to go to the westside location to get the job done.

Dewey's has some of the best pizza around. Both locations have windows where you can watch the dough being tossed and the rest of the pizza making taking place. In fact, both stores have a similar look to them. Comfy, bright and cheery.

You can't really tell from the picture I took, but the crust is thin like a New York pizzeria. It's that magic blend of crispy and chewy and a perfect base for the white or red sauce and lots of toppings. Our pizza had a boatload of toppings. The pies never want for toppings, but this was a little ridiculous in a good way.

You can order any pizza as a half with any other pizza regardless of whether one has red sauce and one has white sauce. I always get at least half a Wild Mushroom pizza unless I'm ordering with someone who hates the smell of garlic. I prefer the white sauce, but the red sauce is good too.

I've had most, if not all, of their salads, which are truly phenomenal. The candied walnut and grape is one that I've ordered frequently. Diner 2 has a walnut allergy so we got them on the side. I ate them all.

The menu always includes a seasonal salad and pizza. I hope they bring back their strawberry and macadamia nut salad because that was killer.

I don't like to get negative in my reviews, but I will say that I was sorely disappointed with my westside Dewey's experience because they did not have my beloved Barq's Red Cream Soda on tap. They have Mr. Pibb on the westside! Who prefers Mr. Pibb? I told the waitress, "That's why Cleveland Heights is better."

Bloodsuckers!

On taxday from 10 AM - 6 PM at the Powerhouse, the Red Cross is holding their 12th annual Bloodsuckers Buffet. It's one of their biggest blood drives, and their goal this year is 300 pints.

But donating is only a small part of the reason to go. Everyone who attempts to give blood gets a goodie bag filled with all sorts of fun stuff. Okay, it's mostly coupons and bumper stickers. And a t-shirt! Also a pen! There are door prizes where I've won anything from cds to tickets to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The buffet part of the event is always good, and they even have the Lorna Doones and Oreos you get at most drives.

I'm already signed up to try to donate in the early afternoon. They take walk-in donors, but you can make an appointment at the American Red Cross website. If you see a gal with a couple phlebotomists inspecting her arms for a good vein, it's probably me.

Pecan Cake

I wanted to make a dessert for St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. I flipped through some recipes I cut out of Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living magazines and found this one for Pecan Cake with Rum Frosting.

This cake wasn't the one I was looking for, but I came across it first and it sounded so good. I know the second picture sucks, but this was the best of the individual piece pictures I took and I wanted to show a view of the actual cake since I kept the cake in the pan for transport and serving. I stuck to the recipe as written with the exception of dyeing the frosting green to be festive and having to bake it slightly longer than suggested. It must have been the glass pan's fault it took extra time.

Tonight on Turner Classic Movies...

A while ago, my cable package got rid of CMT and added TCM. I just about never watched the country channel but have watched a lot of the movie channel.

I'll be watching tonight starting at 8:00 PM. There is a special called, "Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood" about animator/director Chuck Jones after which they are playing classic Warner Brothers cartoons like "One Froggy Evening" and "What's Opera Doc?" The special reruns at 10:30pm and is followed by "The Phantom Tollbooth," which Jones directed.

If you need to know more about Jones before committing yourself to this evening, check out his website.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I thought these cookies looked so cute on the baking sheet, all nice and lined up. I didn't use the Jif recipe this time. I like the Jif recipe better because they have a soft and chewy texture, but these are a safer choice to take to a party because they aren't too soft or too crisp. They held up well throughout the week, too. The first batch I made were so successful that I made another batch a few days later.

Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Glaze

These pictures are kind of ugly, but the cake was delicious.

Chocolate cake, faux ganache filling, strawberry glaze. This cake had to replace the one I wanted to make when I couldn't find a recipe that I liked. I wanted a chocolate cake with a fudge filling, topped with a strawberry glaze. Ideally, this would have been a Bundt cake. Unfortunately, the only from scratch recipes I could find involved nuts and the birthday boy doesn't like nuts so it wouldn't work. The strawberry glaze was a little thin and spread a bit more than I wanted, but that was because I added a few extra strawberries to make it pinker.

And the Oscar Goes to...

Picks in all caps and bold

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

I really hope Slumdog wins because it was my favorite of the five.


BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins
Frank Langella
Sean Penn
Brad Pitt
MICKEY ROURKE

He's been cleaning up for playing a faded wrestler, plus his dog just died and he needs to thank her again.


BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway
Angelina Jolie
Melissa Leo
Meryl Streep
KATE WINSLET

Holocaust + accent + aging makeup = Oscar


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin
Robert Downey, Jr.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
HEATH LEDGER
Michael Shannon

Oh c'mon!


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS
Penelope Cruz
Viola Davis
Taraji P. Henson
Marisa Tomei

Hard one to call. If Amy doesn't get it Taraji will although I liked her better in Hustle and Flow.


BEST DIRECTOR
DANNY BOYLE (Slumdog Millionaire)
Stephen Daldry (The Reader)
David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
Gus Van Sant (Milk)

Same reason as Best Picture


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
MILK
Wall-E

I think they'll throw Milk a bone here.


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

I heard it was a hard adaptation.


CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

I think it's between Slumdog and Changeling, but I hope Slumdog cleans up most of the categories for which it's nominated.


FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

It's been playing at the art houses for a while, and I don't know much about the others


ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung-Fu Panda
WALL-E

I hear they won't go back until they've kissed a girl.


EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

This one usually follows best picture, doesn't it? Milk better not win this because I totally saw a boom mic in one shot.


ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
THE DUCHESS
Revolutionary Road

I'm going with the most periody of the choices. Benjamin Button might get more love than I think.


LIVE ACTION SHORT
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)

Holocaust movie.


ANIMATED SHORT
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory -- Lovestory
Oktapodi
PRESTO
This Way Up

If Wall-E doesn't win Presto might not win.


COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

Same reason as Art Direction unless they give it to Australia to make Hugh a happy host.


MAKEUP
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

I liked the makeup more than the movie itself. I particularly liked the chins on the old people.


ORIGINAL SCORE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Wall-E

Hoping for a sweep!


DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
THE WITNESS - FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306

I'm going with the longest title.


DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
MAN ON WIRE
Trouble the Water

That crazy French guy was on the talk show circuit. Plus, it's the twin towers.


SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Wall-E
Wanted

I like the way the host said Millonaire. No "yun" sound


SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Wall-E
Wanted

Hmm. Wanted might pull an upset and sweep the sound categories but I'll stick with Slumdog.


VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
THE DARK KNIGHT
Iron Man

Bat-pod!

Heart and Soul

Tomorrow night, Rozi's Wine House in Lakewood is hosting a Charity Wine Tasting to raise awareness for congenital heart disease. It's $25 and no reservations are required.

A friend and I went last year, and it was incredible. But, we made the mistake of getting there an hour or two after it began and didn't get to sample all of the wines. We did get to taste all of the food that was prepared by Lolita executive chef Matt Harlan, which was great. We talked to the chef for a while too, and he's a really nice guy.

So, if you are in the area and have the money and time, come out and drink with us. If you have lots of money you can bid on the silent auction items. Last year they were auctioning off a chance to ride a Zamboni. Who doesn't love a Zamboni?

Super Bowl Cookies

I was invited to a Super Bowl party that was also a potluck event. Naturally, I brought a dessert. I debated about what to bring, but ultimately I decided to make chocolate chip cookies because I thought I had all of the ingredients in (I didn't and had to run to the store on Sunday morning) and because they're ready in a flash.

I made one batch in a large pan so they would be thin enough to cut with a football cookie cutter after they cooled. I made the other batch with my signature no burnt chocolate chips on the bottom method. I used about a quarter cup of dark brown sugar and half a cup of light brown sugar instead of just a 3/4 cup of light brown sugar in the recipe to make the cookies a little browner.

I was surprised that the footballs were eaten faster than the regular shaped ones. I prefer the regular cookies. Actually, I prefer the edges that were left in the pan after the footballs were cut. I like a crispy cookie.

Whipping Cream Pound Cake

whole cake

slice

I had half a pint of heavy whipping cream set to expire in my fridge so I needed to find a recipe. Not far into my searching, I found this one, which sounded pretty good. The pound cake was really delicious and actually tasted better a few days later.