Have You Heard?

Look what came in the mail!

It's a Beanie Bag!  Four swatching samples of yarns from Shibui, a darning needle, and a Soak sample all in a cute little zippered bag from Jimmy Beans Wool.  All of this fun for only $10.  Cute idea and I love it because I get to see, touch, swatch a selection of yarns each month that I normally don't get to see in person.  I love my LYS, but let's be honest, there's no way they can stock everything that I hear about on Ravelry.  This is a fun way to be able to branch out and try some stuff.  Want to try it yourself?  Click on the link above and sign up.

In Which I Share My Cookie Baking Secrets

Over the years I have managed to acquire a reputation for making the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies ever. I have been asked many times what my secret is and if I would share my recipe. Well, here it is...

Go buy a bag of Nestle's Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips and use the recipe on the back of the bag. I do have a couple tips though for making them a bit better.

First, I always use butter.  Always.  Everything is better with butter, especially cookies, and I really do think that the flavor is just better with butter.

2nd, I double the vanilla.  I think the little bit extra just smooths out the baking soda and salt and makes the cookies taste a little better.

When you add the eggs you want to mix the mixture until it gets a little fluffy and almost starts to form peaks.  The you'll add the flour mixture.  This is, in my opinion, the most important part. The batter will be too thin so you will need to add extra flour.  How much really depends on the size of your eggs and how much liquid they provide to your dough.  Try adding an extra 1/4 cup and then give the dough what I call The Pinch Test.  Take a pea size of dough and give it a little pinch.  It should still be moist, and yet dry enough that when you separate your fingers, the dough stays behind.  If it's too squishy add a little more flour and test it again until you're happy with it.

I use a scoop to portion out the cookies.  My favorite is the OXO Good Grips Cookie Scoop and I use the medium sized one.  I like using a scoop to portion them because then they are all the same size and bake more evenly.

The next step is baking time.  I think that the recipe calls for 10-12 minutes, but in my oven that is way too long!  I set my timer for 7 minutes and take them out while they are still very blond and just lightly browned around the edges.  I tried to take some pictures of what they look like when I think they're ready to come out.

Just remember that the oven is 375 degrees, so they will continue to cook for a bit on the tray once you take them out of the oven.  So if you leave them in until the look done, they will actually be overdone :-(  Once they sit for a few minutes they will look a little more like you expect them to.

Give it a try and see what you think.  It will take some trial and error to find the right combination for your oven, but it's worth the effort.  Your family will thank you :-)

Of course it's also possible that I just have a magic oven!

Throwback Thursday

I'm thinking today of the fabulous vacation Tom and I took in September to celebrate our 30th Anniversary.  We went on a Mediterranean Cruise and spent a couple extra days in Rome.  It was the best vacation ever!

This is Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City.  It is so beautiful!  We took the guided tour which took 4 hours but we could have easily spent the best part of a day there.  There is so much art and architecture to see between the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.

I have about 500 pictures from the trip so I'm sure you'll see some more of them in future weeks.

Hump Day

Happy Wednesday!  Or Happy Hump Day.  Whichever you prefer :-)  

I remember when I was in college at UNH (Go Wildcats!) and telling my mother about my week.  My friend Kathy and I were responsible for snacks for our weekly floor meeting in our dorm, which was always on Wednesday and known as Hump Night.  My mother's response was something along the lines of "Wait...... What did you just say?!?"  It still makes me laugh to think about that!  But we were over the hump for the week and probably snacking on something really gourmet, like S'mores, because we had figured out that we could roast marshmallows in the dorm oven if we used the broiler :-)

Today is a Hump Day for me though for a completely different reason.  I am knitting a Wenceslas and I have crossed the half way mark!  I have 2 sleeves completed and last night I finished the right front and cast on for the left front.  And that, my friends, means that I have officially crossed the half way mark and have more done than I have left to knit.

 These are pretty lousy pictures of the pieces I have finished, but the cables are so pretty I wanted to try to show them off.

At this point I'm pretty optimistic that I'm going to have a fabulous new red sweater for the holiday season.

Ten on Tuesday

I love to read almost as much as I love to knit.  What is it though about a book that makes you want to read it? What is it the magic hook that pulls you in?

This week Carole has asked us to come up with 10 Sentences that Would Be a Great First Line of a Book. It's not as easy as it sounds!  But here are my attempts.

1. Some people say that love is the thing that can transform anyone into a better person, only I know that isn't true.
2.  As I stood taking in the carnage around the room, darkness seemed to creep it's way into every corner.
3.  I know what I'm seeing is true, but I have no idea how I became a part of it.
4.  Today is my birthday.
5. I'm lying awake in bed as the sounds of a happy family beginning their day waft up the stairs of my house.  There's only one problem though, I don't have a family.
6. Memories are the songs that play forever in your mind.
7. I thought my life had no meaning to it, that I was just one of those people who would never experience something extraordinary.
8. Sunshine streamed in through the window in a way that should have brought warmth to the room.
9.  I was seven the day of the big fire that changed this town forever.
10.  I know it only takes an instant to change your life forever, because that's all it took to change mine.

I'm feeling a little dramatic, but it was fun to come up with these.  Click on Carole's link above and see who else is participating this week.  I'm betting there are some really great ideas this week!

Monday Morning

When Monday morning greets you like this, embrace it. Clearly it's going to be a glorious week :-)

“Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”

—John Muir, Our National Parks

Planning A Head

Hello my Blog Friends!

It's been too long since I last posted but it hasn't been for lack of thought. I bet you'll know exactly what I mean when I say that I would often be doing something and think "I should blog about this" but then in worrying about taking the time to do it justice.... well, time just slips away and it never quite gets done. So I've decided to turn over a new leaf and be more committed to creating a great space here. To that point, I have decided to commit to NaBloPoMo for the month of November.  I hope you'll visit here often and leave me an occasional comment!

To start this off, let me tell you about a plan I have for Christmas this year.  I have a pretty good sized extended family.  Tom and I both have 3 siblings, and with that, several nieces and nephews.  A few years ago I decided to knit hats for everybody on my side of the family.  Instead of choosing a pattern and yarn for each person I decided to just knit a variety of styles in a variety of yarns.  I put them all in a big basket and then passed it around.  I told everyone that if there was something in there that they loved, it was theirs.  It was a BIG hit.  I've decided to do it again, but this time for Tom's side of the family.  Since my goal is to NOT be gift knitting like a crazy person in December, I decided to start early.

The first hat finished for the gift basket is An Unoriginal Hat by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee knit with Malabrigo Rasta.  The color is Porrinho and there are no words to describe how much I love this hat.  I'm seriously hoping that nobody will love it like I do and I'll be able to keep it for myself :-)

The next hat I finished is Declan's Hat by Samantha Kirby.  This is a free pattern and is extremely well written.  I used Ultra Alpaca for this and it practically knit itself!  Yummy yummy stuff and I might need a whole sweater in it!

I also knit this Habitat by Jared Flood using Peace Fleece.  This one is not going into the gift basket.  I had already promised to knit a hat for my FIL after he made a very generous donation for me when I participated in the Avon 39 Walk to End Breast Cancer in May.  (Perfect example of "something I should blog about but never quite did")

My hatpalooza has begun!  Do you have a favorite hat pattern?  I'd love to hear about it!