cookie cookie cookie

If anybody is in need of a new basic choco chip cookie recipe, this one is AMAZING. If you already have one that works for you, you may disregard this post. I am TERRIBLE at making the basic cookie. Mine are always crispy or flat or just plain hideous. This one turned out like none I have ever attempted. It has some very specific instructions and perhaps that is what made it so delicious. They were so good that I ate my two (or maybe it was three!) and sent every last one to the neighbors or with Kent for his anatomy group! I definitely didn't need them tempting me all the next day at home.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, MELTED
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp accidentally and they were fine)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet or milk chocolate chips


DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325. Line pan with wax paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. I made mine a lot smaller than this! Cookies should be about 3 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted (DON'T OVERCOOK). Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
The melted butter and lower baking temp are KEY to the recipe working out.

Maumee Holiday Hustle 5K!

Friday after Thanksgiving Kent and I ran the Holiday Hustle in Maumee! It started at 5:30 so ended up being a chilly night race! we all got glowsticks to wear around our necks and there was lots of free food and great t-shirts! It was a lot of fun! Kent ran much faster than I did (he's trying to keep up his Air Force run pace so he passes the fitness test come June) but I was pretty proud of my pace--especially with the stroller and all.
I couldn't believe how many people ran! At the beginning of the race we could barely move because it was so crowded. It was especially hard with the stroller because I couldn't maneuver anywhere! at one point somebody cut right in front of me and clipped the wheel of the stroller and we jerked forward and zeb got a little whiplash! had he not been buckled in, I may have lost him! He got quite the fright. There was a big light parade after the race but our sweat was freezing to our bodies so we decided to head home and warm up! This will be another continued Ohio tradition. We had a lot of fun.

Merry Christmas!

I have been called a scrooge, but there is no need to name call any more. Thanksgiving is over and Christmas celebrations can commence! We put up our tree and all of our decorations! We have lights adorning our windows and we keep them lit all night long (I am unplugging other appliances and household items and turning down the heat at night to make up for the excess energy consumption)! We have our Christmas candle filling our home with great smells! and we have cheeseballs coming out our ears :) We hope you enjoy the music playing on our blog as well, it is one of our favorite Christmas songs!

We had to get an artificial tree this year because of the whole leaving to Utah thing. I remember the first year we got a fake tree at home. I bawled my eyes out and accused my parents of destroying Christmas and all of its associated traditions. Our fake tree is actually quite nice, especially considering that we got it for FREE! a nice family in the ward was giving it away and I snatched it up lickety split :)

We head to Utah just three weeks from Tuesday! That is way too soon! I can't wait for Zeb to meet everybody! Laney...no squeezing him to death when we get there.

I really thought this one was funny and fitting. Yes, I can be a bit overwhelming, but at least I'm willing to admit it.

You Are a Red Crayon

Your world is colored with bright, vivid, wild colors. You have a deep, complex personality - and you are always expressing something about yourself. Bold and dominant, you are a natural leader. You have an energy that is intense... and sometimes overwhelming. Your reaction to everything tends to be strong. You are the master of love-hate relationships.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Our crayon colors fit us perfectly! - Kent

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors. You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find. On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What Color Crayon Are You?

day 2 of the festivities

We were going to get up super death early and brave the sales but decided we really just wanted to sleep in! we got up and had breakfast and decided to head over to walmart at about ten. You'll all never believe it but EVERY doorbuster (except the mini 50 dollar dvd player) was STILL AVAILABLE! apparently this is a brand new Walmart and is the only big store in Ashland (no Circuit city, Best Buy, etc) so people just aren't really used to the big day after Thanksgiving sales! We got a much needed new computer for a steal of deal and the Starkeys got a snazzy GPS system. Craigo was so excited to drive back to South Carolina using it :)

Jack and Kathy (Craig's parents) took us on a tour of downtown as well. We even went to the hardware store and Zeb met Santa Claus for the first time. He was enthralled with his beard. He just sat and stared. He kept touching it as well.

Ashland is full of Amish people. I wanted to get a picture but apparently they believe that if you get their picture you are stealing their souls. Amy and I tried to be very inconspicuous about it but just as we were about to get the perfect shot, the man looked right at us! the flash was so bright and it was so obvious what we were doing. We kinda took off and he kept following us around the store. I think he wanted us to delete the picture or something. I know, immature you say, but I really wanted the picture! Amy has it on her camera so she is going to e-mail it to me. I'll post it as soon as I get it. I guess getting pictures of their buggies is fine so I got a few of those without any trouble.

ode to the Starkeys!

First off we must give a great big thank you to the Starkey family! Kathy and Jack were the greatest Thanksgiving hosts ever. We ate and ate and ate their food and then slept in their house and then ate and ate more of their delicious food :) Kent and I (and Z) had such a nice relaxing Thanksgiving. The weather was picture perfect on Thanksgiving day. Lots of gloom, snow flurries, and just plain chilliness. The drive was very pleasant as well. Kent and I really enjoy driving through Ohio, especially smaller towns like Ashland. We love the trees and all of the quaint farm houses (and the Amish buggies on the roads!) . It's so different from Utah.

I promised pictures and documentation of our holiday, so here goes. The food was stupendous. I can't believe how much I love sweet potatoes. I didn't really know that before. Zeb LOVED them even more than I did. We did decide, however, that it may have been the butter, sugar, cream, and spices that they were swimming in that we loved so much and not the sweet potatoes themselves. The recipe was Paula Dean's and I plan on using it again soon. It was so great to spend the Holiday with Amy, Craigo, Taylor and Peanut. I have the greatest family around! and even better that some live East of the Mississippi! It was all smiles the full two days

(minus the times we harrassed the little rugrats). Once all of the kiddos were in bed we went on a nice walk under the full moon (in the bitter cold) and then we came home and Kent ate lots more. Luckily for us we spent the night so the tryptophan didn't have any adverse affects on his driving.

We have so much to post it's crazy! I'll post about the next day sometime tomorrow! You'll all love the parts where Amy stole the soul of an Amish man and the part where we realized Ashland is the place to be for Black Friday shopping.

Giving Thanks!

Check out the big bird they are having for Thanksgiving Dinner! I thought my mum would get a kick out of it!

Most likely I won't be posting tomorrow so I wanted to post my giving thanks today. Since I won't be at my parent's house I thought I'd post my "thankful fors" on my blog instead of at the dinner table with them.

My life is charmed and I am so happy it's ridiculous! Potentially my list could be horrendously ginormous but after much deep thought I've cut it down to only so-so ginormous (in only slight particular order).

1. The gospel of Jesus Christ. All of the knowledge it gives me is what makes me so ridiculously happy.

2. The best husband in the world. Basically I am living with a man who is here just to make me happy!

3. The three best sisters imagineable. One beautiful and great to talk to twin sister Laney (with a stellar husband), one gorgeous and most loyal sis Metta, and one "stinks like cheese" but buckets of fun Daysa (she's pretty cute too).

4. the most outrageously adorable and perfect rugrat Zeb.

5. Two overzealous, amazingly smart and talented parents who taught me to be who I am.

6. one heck of an extended family full of --brother and sister/mom and dad-- type people!

and finally

7. a gazillion really great friends that make life enjoyable and that help make getting up in the morning a little more feasible.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

yet another recipe! please send me yours!!! or post them :)

I know this is probably a regular on many of your dinner tables but we just rediscovered it. there's nothing better than a quick, easy, and delicious dinner recipe! I've had the recipe forever but we hadn't made it in at least a year. This recipe is from Renae Mordecai (although altered in a few spots) and it is DELICIOUS. Kent gave it a 9.5! and with the modifications I made (very little dirty work like cutting!), it's ridiculously easy to make!












1 large potato (cut and peeled)
1 bag mixed veggies (I used the carrot/pea/corn/green bean variety..NO LIMA BEANS)
1/2 large onion
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
1.5 c chicken broth
3/4 c milk
Cubed cooked chicken (I used two small breasts)
pastry for 2 pie crusts.

Boil potatoes until almost done. While boiling potatoes, saute onions in the butter. When onions brown, add flour, s & p, and thyme to make a gravy like mixture. We used less butter and flour so it wasn't as thick. You can always add more flour if it's too runny. Boil for two minutes and then add cooked chicken (I let mine sit in the crock pot four hours so it was super tender) and all veggies!
I don't like for the pie to have a bottom crust but kent does. Either way works. If you put in a bottom, let it bake by itself for 7-10 minutes at 425. Put all of the filling into the pie tin, cover with crust, cut slits, and bake for 15-25 minutes at 425. It is delicious! it makes 1 large potpie.

my teeny elf- look at his pointy little ears!

here is one of my other finds! This was a bit of a splurge, it was 4.97. Sam Dockter, Z's little friend across the hall, has the exact same ones and they are SO cute on him that I couldn't resist! and then I was going to have them be Christmas pajamas and not open them until then, but really my favorite thing in the world is Zeb in pajamas! Oh, and speaking of great finds, kent and I also found a baby monitor at Goodwill for eight bucks (we had wanted to get one but didn't think it was worth the amount of money we'd have to spend). it works like a charm! It is so convenient to use while I am running. I can't hear him at all while I'm on the treadmill and the monitor makes it so that I don't have to stop and check on him every ten minutes. I am ever so grateful for life's little conveniences.

happy shopping!

Last night after Kent's classmate (also our hometeacher) came and gave Kent a much needed haircut (thank you justin!) we decided to go out to Fallen Timbers. I love the place! Outdoor malls during the holidays are the best! There were lights up and it was lightly snowing. It was however slightly bittersweet. We decided to go into the GAP to see if they had any jeans on sale for Z and I got all homesick! and I don't mean for my family or Utah, I mean homesick for the Gap! how pathetic is that? The regular Gap Christmas music was playing and the smell of new clothes floated through the air and I missed it! I LOVE working retail at Christmas time! For me it's what makes Christmas, Christmas! I've worked Christmas Eve the past five years and I've enjoyed every bit of it!! It's going to be so hard to go home and not work! I called Laney to see if she'd talk to my managers about letting me come back for just a week and luckily she talked me out of it. I'll go visit her while she's working and hopefully it will give me my fix.
So, back to Z's jeans! They didn't have any on sale but they certainly did have a plethora of other items! I couldn't believe the prices! Yet another benefit about living outside of Utah. Fewer children means lots more stuff for lots cheaper! normally the sale racks at our Gap at home are picked through and chaotic! Here they are fabulous.
I have posted just a few of our spoils! We got the coat for Zeb for SEVEN dollars! originally priced at 49.50! both pairs of shoes were 2.97, each originally priced at 24.50! Plus we used my gift cards that I bought with my discount way back when so we got an additional 30% off of those prices!!! I even got some halloween costumes for three dollars a piece! I am so pleased with my trip. All in all we made out like banshees. It is so easy to shop for the rugrat. Everything's cute when it's this small.

the hoarder.

He is a blanket hog. He absolutely loves them. We have a shot of him on video but we can't get it to upload so this picture will have to appease for now. Z loves going to sleep at night! Around eight every night he'll give us that whine indicating he is ready for bed. We'll take him to his room and deposit him into the crib where he will promptly roll over onto his side, give a sigh of contentment, grab a few blankets and nuzzle his face in them (or Tigger), and then fall fast asleep. Where and why did we get such a good little rugrat?

AMMENDMENT to post: he may go to sleep wonderfully but waking up is not so dang cute. This morning he woke up at FOUR FREAKING THIRTY and STAYED up. I showered and got ready for church at five-thirty and then cleaned up the house. ew GROSS. I cursed myself with that post last night. yzhacc.