2009 in Review

As I sit here, six hours before the new year, and look back on the past twelve months, I find that a lot happened this year. Nothing earth-shattering or life-changing (in a good way or a bad way) occurred, but it was a good year nonetheless.

The ability to reflect is actually one of the best things about keeping a blog. It's easy to go back in the archives and remind myself of all of 2009. So, let's review, shall we? :)

January

January brought my first "serious" photography purchases. I didn't know then what I would be getting myself into, but when I bought these items, it was the starting point of what would become a big part of my life. The initial purchase was a good lens. (And it is so hilarious to look back on those first photos now. SO BAD.) Then, we bought an external flash. The first photos I ever took with it were of food. Specifically, this recipe.

On a particularly frigid day, shortly before leaving work for the day, I visited CNN.com and saw the breaking news that would become the Miracle on the Hudson. This story really affected me for some reason. Even now, I see the TV specials about it and I can't help but cry (happy tears). It's just such an amazing story and I cannot believe that "Captain Sully" saved all of those people with his ability to handle a crisis.

For the first time since I started voting, I saw my guy get inaugurated as the President of the United States. I watched the entire thing streaming live on CNN.com from my desk at work, and I loved every minute of it. It was a magical and historical day.

February

In February, we jet-setted off to Las Vegas for a fun trip with friends. It was colder than we were all expecting, but it was fun and it was great to see everyone. We came home tired, but unfortunately, not any richer. :)

Against all odds, Tessa turned three. We didn't know if she would ever see her third birthday, so it was an enormous blessing to us. Can't believe she's almost four now...

On February 13, we woke up to terrible, horrible news. A plane crashed just outside of Buffalo, and all on board had perished. It hit very close to home (literally and figuratively), and is still difficult to believe.

Later in the month, I reunited with my girls for the first time in six months. Thankfully, we've been much better about getting together as of late. We make sure to schedule something every two months!

March

We welcomed a beautiful baby nephew on March 2. We went down to meet him on March 6, and found him to be every bit as perfect as we had imagined.

I started doing a weekly grocery run, instead of going on an as-needed basis. It changed my life. Now, I can't imagine doing it any other way.

Marie and I hosted a "bugs" baby shower for Kara, who was expecting our nephew. It went perfectly and I was so happy with how all of the special little touches turned out.

April

We celebrated Easter with my family. (And I made really cute cookies and cupcakes for the occasion!)

After a deep thaw, we grilled for the first time of the season. Can't tell you how good that feels after a long winter!

I moved offices at work. It sucked. I had to say goodbye to the coworkers who had become really close friends. Even though we keep in touch, it is definitely different. Eight months later, we're not as close. I have adjusted to my new location, but look back at those as "the good ol' days."

May

Swine flu became a huge deal. A partnership between Oprah and Kentucky Fried Chicken caused pandemonium and dominated the news.

We honored moms.

Tessa and I got caught in a downpour.

We got passports!

We welcomed baby nephew #3, Hunter. I was honored to be asked to photograph his birth, and witnessing his entry into the world is one of the best moments of my entire life.

June

I almost burned our house down.

I did my first "real" photo shoot, which was Hunter's newborn photos. I sort of cringe looking back at them, because I feel like I could do so much better now, but it was a starting point for me. I enjoyed it so much that it really took me to the next level in my photography journey. It was at that point that I really started taking it seriously.

We took a wonderful trip out west, visiting Seattle and San Francisco.

We marked our first wedding anniversary.

Michael Jackson unexpectedly died.

We watched my sister-in-law graduate high school.

July

We celebrated the U.S.A.'s independence (and my brother's engagement). Oh, holy hell. That was some party. Incidentally, July 5 was spent nursing the worst hangover I have had in a loooong time.

I decided I wanted to cut my hair. Drastically.

I paid off my car. Woohoo!!

Heather Drive had its first birthday.

I made the choice and embrace and love Terrell Owens as a Buffalo Bill.

We took our annual trip to the Poconos.

August

I officially chopped off my hair. (And donated it.)

I started my 101 in 1001 list.

I blew out 27 candles.

Our nephew, Brendan, turned two. As is tradition, I made his cake.

My photography really started falling into place.

September

We took a cool day trip to ride a really fast boat. And get soaked.

We went on an awesome weekend trip to Chicago, and loved it.

I had several paid photo shoots.

We started a newlywed map.

October

My brothers celebrated a birthday.

I declared the Buffalo Bills to be losers. AGAIN.

I suffered through jury duty.

My best friend's baby turned one.

I marked the second anniversary of my LASIK eye surgery. Yay!

November

My dad came to visit, which was fun. It's always nice to have the opportunity to see him.

Buffalo Bills Head Coach Dick Jauron got fired. Thank GOD.

We said goodbye to a precious grandparent.

As usual, Thanksgiving was a family affair. Times two.

December

Sort of randomly, we decided to visit Texas. We spent a long weekend exploring San Antonio and Austin.

I took some adorable photos of a "Santa Baby."

I found my first gray hair. Horrible.

We celebrated Christmas. A few times, actually.

And that brings me to the present. As you can see, it's been quite a year. I wish you all a very happy new year... with all good things to come in 2010.

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Jacked Up

My shoulder: It's jacked.

You know why?

Nintendo Wii.

That's right; the lovely Christmas gift that Santa brought us is now causing me great pain. I blame the fiery fencing matches while playing Wii Sports Resort with my husband. And maybe some of the ping pong, too. Or the basketball three-point shootout. Not really sure, actually.

I just know it hurts. I can't easily raise my arm above my head, or reach back to grab my seatbelt in the car.

Hopefully my muscles and joints adapt to this new level of video game play. I don't want to have to go to the doctor and say, "I hurt myself playing the Wii." Because that would just be pathetic.

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Pumpkin Scones

For our family brunch yesterday, I needed to bring something that could be prepared ahead of time but would travel well. I decided that scones would be perfect because I could make them the night before, freeze them, and they would be ready to go right into the oven when we arrived at Michael's sister's house.

I have come across a lot of scone recipes that I want to try, but chose these simply because I had some pumpkin puree in the refrigerator that I had to use up.

I've seen a couple of variations of these pumpkin scones from Joy of Baking, but decided to go with Annie's version. The only thing I did differently was to cut the dough into the scone wedges prior to baking, instead of afterward. I've made that change in the instructions below. Oh, and I didn't bother with the glaze, but I've left that information in the recipe in case you'd like to use it. I will say that I don't think the scones needed it... they were great by themselves!

These had the perfect amount of pumpkin flavor, and were nice and fluffy. The butterscotch chips were an awesome addition and really made the scone, in my opinion.

Pumpkin Scones
(Source: Annie's Eats, adapted from Joy of Baking)

Ingredients:
For the scones:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 8 tbsp. cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/3-1/2 cup butterscotch chips (or white chocolate or cinnamon chips, if you prefer)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- Dash of ground nutmeg
- Dash of ground ginger
- Dash of ground cloves
- 2 tbsp. milk

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk just to combine.

3. Add the cold butter chunks to the bowl and stir with a fork to combine. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs and the largest butter pieces are no bigger than peas. Mix in the butterscotch chips.

4. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir together gently just until the dough comes together. If necessary, knead a bit with your hands, but be careful not to overwork the dough or you will end up with a tough scone. (You may have to add more flour here; I did. The dough was simply too sticky to even handle with my hands. You want it to be somewhat sticky, but you should be able to knead it/form the round without too much of it sticking to your hands! Just add the flour a little bit at a time and work it in, trying not to overwork the dough in the process. I had to work with mine quite a bit and my scones still turned out just fine!)

5. Transfer the sticky mass of dough to a lightly floured surface. Pat the dough into a 8 or 9-inch round. Cut the dough into 8 wedges. Arrange wedges on a baking sheet, leaving an inch or two between each one. Bake immediately, or you can freeze for later use. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 22-25 minutes (may need to bake longer for frozen scones). If you are omitting the glaze, you can serve while warm (which I highly recommend!).

6. If you will be drizzling with the glaze, allow to cool to room temperature. To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and spices in a small bowl. Add the milk and whisk to combine, until a thick glaze is formed. (If necessary, add a bit more milk to achieve a consistency good for drizzling the glaze.) Use a whisk to drizzle the glaze over the finished scones (or use a plastic baggie with a tip cut off). Allow the glaze to set before serving.

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Christmas #3

This morning, we got up early and drove down to Michael's sister's house to spend the day with them. They weren't able to come up for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day this year, so we went to them today.

We were really excited to be with Brendan for Christmas because he is at the age where he is pretty into it now. He still doesn't understand everything, but he knows enough so that it's fun.

Shortly after we all arrived, we enjoyed a big brunch. Once our bellies were full, we couldn't hold Brendan back from the presents any longer, so we exchanged gifts. Although all of us enjoyed the things we received, this part was really all about Brendan and Logan.

At 10 months, Logan doesn't get it yet, but he's darn cute anyway. Melissa said that when I put this bow on his head, he looked like a girl. Probably, but oh well! :) We got Logan a little teether and a gift card to a local grocery store. We figure it's his favorite place because they carry food, formula, diapers and wipes! All the necessities, don't ya know?

For Brendan, we bought a little Fisher Price doctor's kit, and he was hilarious with it. He kept going around giving us all shots in the leg (and saying "All done!" afterwards), as well as checking our heart beats, blood pressures, and eyes/ears. The gift was a hit with him, for sure. Then he opened our second gift--a toy microwave with a bunch of fake food. The microwave actually works, with a little light and turntable inside. He was completely enthralled with it. He kept opening and closing, opening and closing... food in and out the entire time. He knew exactly what buttons to press for each food item, and was serving us all "dinner" in no time. It was awesome.

Max found all of this activity to be absolutely exhausting.

How cute is he? I love how he smiles and says "cheese" whenever a camera is pointed at him.

Look familiar? Max likes to be in Logan's face (and kiss his face) just as much as Tessa loves to be in Hunter's.

Since Thanksgiving, Logan has pretty much mastered crawling and is getting around quite well now. (Just as I predicted!)

Before we knew it, it was time for the long drive back home again.

The last three days have been absolutely exhausting. As much as I love Christmas, I can't wait for a bit of "normal life" tomorrow! And I'm soooo sleeping in!

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A Very Merry Christmas

Our Christmas festivities began last night with Christmas Eve at my in-laws' house.

Well, first we all went to Mass... my mom, Hunter, my grandma, my mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, Michael and me.

But then we went to my in-laws' for a feast. It's their Christmas Eve tradition to cook this HUGE seafood meal. Unfortunately, I have to throw a wrench in their plans because I don't eat seafood. Thankfully, my mother-in-law is very understanding and had some chicken there for me, too. :) Not that it was really necessary--I definitely could have gotten by just eating all of the sides!

While my mother-in-law did her "thing" in the kitchen, Cristina, Michael, and I snacked and watched Christmas movies (Elf and Home Alone).

After a few mishaps (the kitchen faucet stopped working = no water in the kitchen), we finally sat down for the much anticipated meal.

Michael snapped this photo of his plate. This is linguine and clam sauce with shrimp and scallops. And this is only the first course!

We took our time eating, staying at the table to relax, drink, and talk for a long time afterward. We finally moved back into the kitchen for clean-up, and then to the living room for presents! We received a lot of nice things. After dessert, it was late and time to head home.

This morning, we woke up and got set to open our presents here at home.

Do you see what Santa brought us, sitting under the tree?

Here's a closer look:

Yayyyy! (I think we were the last people on Earth without a Wii.)

Of course, Santa didn't forget about Tessa. It's funny because she always knows when her stocking is full, and she gets very curious about it.

Michael was good to me, too. I got a new iPod Nano, among other things. I had been getting by with my old iPod Mini, which looks like a freaking boat compared to what Apple has out now.

After exchanging our gifts at home, we headed over to my mom's house for the next Christmas celebration. My brothers, their ladies, and Hunter were all over. Shortly after arriving, we made piles of gifts for each person and sat down to go to town. Again, we got some really nice gifts for which we are extremely grateful!

It was really fun having Hunter around this year. He's still too young to know much about what's going on, but it was fun watching him play with the wrapping paper. He got a lot of useful gifts like clothes, diapers, and even baby food! But the biggest present was sent from my dad...

Here's Hunter sitting on top of it. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation, but sure did like the bow!

It's a new car seat! Woohooo! (You can tell he's excited.) Little man is getting big and will have to graduate to the bigger car seat soon.

Once again, Tessa was not forgotten. She loves her new toys.

After presents, we had a big breakfast that included pumpkin pancakes. From there, we all packed up all of our loot and went our separate ways for a while. Michael and I went home, hooked up our Wii, and relaxed for a bit. Later, we went back to my mom's for an awesome Christmas dinner (delicious lasagna!).

We're already exhausted and we still have another Christmas gathering to go... we'll be up again to do it all again tomorrow.

As for all of you blog readers... thank you for continuing to visit me here at Heather Drive. I hope your holiday was as wonderful as mine.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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"Five Snowmen" Ornament

Last week, I saw this project on a message board on The Nest. I obviously don't yet have any children of my own with which to do things like this, but I thought it would make a super cute gift from Hunter to my brother and Kara.

Today, Trevor and Kara had to work so my mom was babysitting Hunter for the day. Michael and I took a drive over to my mom's house with a box of six ornaments in hand. I knew it was going to be a challenge to get Hunter's perfect little handprint onto an ornament, so I was prepared to have to try multiple times.

Hunter was in a pretty good mood, which helped. The way we set it up: I squirted some white acrylic paint onto a paper plate. Michael held Hunter. My mom was in charge of the ornaments, and I was responsible for paint application and straightening out his little hand to stick onto the ornament.

As expected, it took multiple tries. Probably 10-12, to be honest. We were working over my mom's kitchen sink, and when we messed one up, she immediately rinsed the ornament so that we'd be able to use it to try again. We went through the six ornaments really quickly (none of them good!), and had to pause for a minute so my mom could dry them off for another round. Thankfully, by then we had learned from trial and error and we were actually able to get two decent ones during our second pass. :)

A few tips in case anyone tries this: I found that if he had too much paint on his hand, the handprint looked like crap. Also, it worked best to hold the ornament still, spread out his fingers, and then "stamp" the hand around the ornament.

I let the handprint completely dry before doing any other decorating. From there, the first step was to fill in and round off the fingertips a little bit so that they could be made into faces. Using the white acrylic paint and a paint brush, I filled in the fingertips so that they were solid white. Again, I stepped away for a few hours and let that paint dry, too.

Using a black paint pen, I drew on the snowmen's eyes and mouths. Then I used a tiny paint brush and orange acrylic paint for the noses, and also for the scarves and hats. I used white paint pen to write Hunter's name and the year.

The only change I really made to this project was with the poem. The post I had seen said to include the poem in the box with the ornament. I really wanted to include the poem on the ornament, so on the opposite side from the snowmen/handprint, I wrote out the whole thing using white paint pen.

These aren't just five snowmen
as anyone can see.
I made them from my hand
which is a part of me.
Now each year, when you trim the tree
you'll look back and recall
the Christmas of 2009
when my hand was just this small.

The final touch was adding the "snow" with a paint brush and white acrylic paint.

Since we ended up with two ornaments with good handprints on them, I ended up decorating an extra one to give to my mom (Hunter's grandma!), too. I'm extremely happy with how they turned out.

A cute project if you have little ones around next Christmas! They make wonderful gifts and keepsakes for parents and grandparents.

Merry Christmas!

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Slice and Bake Brown Sugar Cookies

I spent three hours making cookies today. Or, I should say... I spent three hours making the dough. The baking time is separate.

What? I've never told you I'm crazy?

Well, now you know.

But these are so ridiculously adorable and festive that I just couldn't resist. And perhaps it wouldn't take a normal person three hours to prepare these for baking. However, for me and my perfectionist tendencies, these involved rolling and re-rolling dough, measuring (yes, I busted out a ruler!), and cutting the dough along a straight edge with a pizza cutter.

Yes, I'm crazy indeed.

Let's just say that if cookies had a "difficulty rating," these would be labeled as "for advanced users only." If you aren't handy with a rolling pin, you should probably stay away. Well, stay away from making these cookies. I'm not saying you can't eat them. Anyone can do that. :)

The recipe from Bridget includes pretty detailed instructions on how to make each of the three designs pictured above (the stripes, checkerboard, and spiral cookies). The candy canes were my own doing, made from my dough scraps. I simply rolled out "snakes" of dough with my hands, and then twisted them together in the shape of candy canes. Cute, huh? They were the easiest ones!

These sugar cookies taste different from your typical cutouts, and that's because they're made with brown sugar. They're not too sweet--instead, they remind me a bit of a shortbread cookie. Bridget said that to her, they're essentially chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate. Either way, I think these are a winner. The recipe makes a lot of cookies, but they're small and pretty thin, so no need to halve the recipe!

All of these colorful designs look super impressive when put together on a platter, so if you do decide to take these on... you're sure to receive many comments on how pretty they are. And that's just a bonus. :)

Slice and Bake Brown Sugar Cookies
(Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles)

Makes about 8 dozen

The only difficult part of this recipe is rolling out the dough to an exact size. The best method I found was to initially roll it out to about twice the desired size, then trim the edges to a shape 1 inch smaller in each direction than you eventually want. Place the trimmings on the cut rectangle, cover with wax paper, and roll out to your final desired size (see photos above).

Ingredients:
- 4 cups (19.2 ounces) unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs, preferably room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (7 ounces) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped (I omitted)

Directions:
1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Break the eggs into a small measuring cup, whisk them lightly, and mix in the vanilla.

2. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand-held mixer). Beat the butter on medium-low speed until it’s smooth, then add the salt and both sugars. Continue beating on medium-low until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running, gradually add the egg mixture. Once the eggs have been added, scrape the sides of the bowl once, then continue mixing on medium speed for about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until evenly combined. Divide the dough into three equal portions.

3. For the striped cookies: Divide the first portion of dough into three more equally sized parts. Color one third red, another green, and leave the last one white. Between sheets of wax paper, roll each portion out to a 3-by-9-inch rectangle. Freeze the rectangles for about 10 minutes, until they’re firm enough to cut and stack. Cut each rectangle in half lengthwise to form two 1½-by-9-inch rectangles. Stack the rectangles of dough, alternating colors, to form a block of dough with stripes. Trim the edges if desired. Wrap in wax paper and freeze for at least four hours, or up to 4 weeks.

4. For the checkerboard cookies: (For these, I chose not to use the chocolate. Instead, I just used brown food coloring (Wilton) to color half the dough. I've left the original instructions here in case you'd like to do the chocolate.) Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on half power for about 30 seconds. Stir, then repeat the heating and stirring until fully melted, being careful not to burn the chocolate. Divide one portion of dough into two equally sized parts. Mix the chocolate into one half and leave the other plain. Roll each portion into a 9-by-3-inch rectangle. Freeze the rectangles for about 10 minutes, until they’re firm enough to cut and stack. Cut each rectangle into eight 9-by-3/8-inch strips. On a sheet of wax paper, lay four strips next to each other, alternating colors. Press the strips together gently to remove any gaps. Lay another four strips on top of the first layer, alternating colors between layers. Repeat twice more, until there are four layers of four strips each. Trim the edges if desired. Wrap in wax paper and freeze for at least four hours, or up to 4 weeks.

5. For the spiral cookies: Divide the last portion of dough into two equally sized parts. Color one half red and the other green. Between sheets of waxed paper, roll each portion of dough into an 8-by-8-inch square. Without chilling the dough, stack the squares, then tightly roll them together to form a spiral. Wrap the dough in wax paper and freeze for at least fours hours, or up to 4 weeks.

6. When ready to bake, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Slice the frozen logs into cookies about 1/8-inch thick. Lay the cookies on the prepared pan, about 1/2-inch apart. Bake for 7-10 minutes, just until the tops no longer look wet. Let the cookies cool on the pan for about 2 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks. Serve at room temperature. Stored in an airtight container, the cookies will be good for at least a week.

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Rest & Relaxation

What a way to kick off my holiday break!

Tonight, I experienced another first. Thankfully, this one was much more pleasant than yesterday's first.

I got my first massage! It was everything I dreamed it would be.

To make the deal even sweeter: My mom treated me. Thanks, Mom! Oh, and bonus: I got to cross off another item on my 101 in 1001 list. Woohoo!

And now that I've done it, I can't imagine how or why I went 27 years of my life without ever indulging in a massage before.

It was so warm, comfortable, and relaxing. There were a few slightly painful moments when she was working on my neck and shoulder area. She said that I had a lot of knots/tense muscles in there, and said she knew I would when I told her that I work a desk job. But even though it hurt a little, it was also the best part!

Oh, except for when she massaged my scalp. That practically put me to sleep. Unfortunately, the scalp was the last thing she did, so I was just getting into that "place" of deep relaxation when she was all, "OK, Heather, we're done." Bummer. But it was a nice, long, relaxing hour and it was just plain fabulous.

I feel nice and "loose" now, but I also feel a little bit sore! She said not to be surprised if my neck and shoulders ache a bit tomorrow. I never thought that a massage would end up causing me pain! I'm pretty sure it's worth it, though.

And now, I have 12 days of vacation from work! Yesss! I'm one of the lucky ones; my company closes for the holidays every year.

Is there anything better than the first day of vacation? I think not.

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Salt & Pepper

It is a sad, sad day on Heather Drive.

As I was driving into work this morning, I glanced at myself in my rear-view mirror. When I'm sitting in my seat, I have a pretty good view of the top of my head. On normal mornings, I'll often observe that my part is crooked, or I'll make note of the sad state of my highlights.

But on this overcast morning, the light through my sunroof shone just so... and suddenly, I caught a glimpse of something foreign. Something unexpected.

Could it be?

When I came to a stop in the parking lot at work, I had to take a closer look. I leaned forward to inspect, and to my horror, my eyes were not deceiving me.

My friends: I discovered my first-ever gray hair. There it was, sticking up right in the middle of my part, about 2 inches long.

Of course, it didn't last. I ripped the impostor out of my head as quickly as possible, accidentally eliminating three perfectly normal brown hairs in the process.

And you didn't think I'd come without photographic evidence, did you?

I give you... my gray hair. (It's the best I could do with a crappy cell phone camera.)

Look at it! Not only is it a shimmery shade of silver, but it is also thick, kinky, and coarse. Is this what I have to look forward to?? *shudder*

I don't even have a stressful job or rambunctious kids to blame.

I am 27 years old. And this is 10 different kinds of wrong.

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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

When it comes to cookies, there are generally two classes: crispy and chewy.

But... BUT... these chocolate crinkle cookies are in a class of their own. And even though I am usually 100% "Team Chewy," I have fallen head over heels for these babies.

I'm not exactly cheating on my chewy cookies, though. You see, these are actually a wonderful hybrid between the two classes of cookies. If crispy and chewy were to get together, these cookies would be their love child.

Or something like that.

The outside of these cookies is perfectly crispy. When you first sink your teeth into one of them, you don't immediately know what you're in for once you reach the middle. Because the middle? It's surprisingly chewy, fudgey, and cookie-doughy. The contrast is quite enjoyable. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Not only are these chocolate crinkles unique in texture, but they also taste delicious. The melted chocolate added into the batter gives these a brownie-like flavor.

Perfect for Christmas, perfect for New Years. Perfect for a birthday party in March. Perfect for a Tuesday in June.

Catch my drift?

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
(Source: BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking by Shirley Corriher; as seen on www.npr.org)

By rolling the dough balls in plain sugar first, the confections' sugar does not soak in so much and stays on the surface better. Corn syrup in the dough helps prevent crystallization to produce the soft chocolate center. Oil greases flour proteins to produce a tender to the point of gooey chocolate center.

Makes 3 to 5 dozen, depending on size

Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8.2 oz/232 g) spooned and leveled bleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 8 ounces (227 g) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 3/4 cups (19.3 oz/547 g) sugar, divided
- 1/3 cup (79 ml) canola oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) light corn syrup
- 2 large eggs (3.5 oz/99 g)
- 1 large egg yolk (0.65 oz/18 g)
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (4 oz/120 g) confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, beat together well the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 50 percent power for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for 15 seconds more and stir.

3. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together 2 1/2 cups (17.5 oz/496 g) of the sugar, the oil, and corn syrup to blend. Beat in the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Then on low, beat in the melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat in on low speed.

4. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. (I refrigerated mine and when I took it out the next day and tried to work with the dough, it was hard as a rock. If you do refrigerate it, make sure to take it out a good 1/2 hour to 1 hour before you actually need to do anything with it.)

5. Arrange a shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/163 degrees C. Line a baking sheet with Release foil (nonstick side up). (I used parchment paper.)

6. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 to 2-inch (3.8 to 5 cm) balls. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup (1.8 oz/51 g) granulated sugar into one bowl and the confectioners' sugar in another bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball lightly in granulated sugar first, then very heavily in confectioners' sugar. (By rolling in plain sugar first, the confectioners' sugar does not soak in so much and stays on the surface better.)

7. Arrange cookies 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the foil. For crisp cookies, bake 12 to 14 minutes. You can have several sheets of foil covered with cookies ready.

8. When one sheet is done, you can pull off the foil and move cookies to a cooling rack. Rinse the baking sheet with cold water to cool and then slip the sheet under another sheet of foil with cookies on it and get it right back into the oven. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

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Santa Baby

He is surely going to hate his Aunt Heather for this when he's older, but...

...I couldn't resist.

Sorry, buddy. You and all your pudge were just too cute not to photograph this way. I had a vision in my head and I forced you to cooperate. I'm sure I'll pay for it when taking your photos in future years. You know, when you can run away.

I did this little mini-session with 6-month-old Hunter over the Thanksgiving weekend. He wasn't in the greatest mood (teething, I think), so I was really pressing my luck with this. In an act of what was clearly retaliation, he did pee all over me during a fussy moment when I tried to comfort him. But it was a sacrifice well worth it in the end. Because I mean, COME ON. I may not have walked away with much to work with, but who cares when you end up with a winner like this? I think it's one of my favorites ever.

Once he was clearly done being naked, we did a few pics in his cute Christmas jammies. This one turned out cute:

Look! A little smile! (He wasn't offering much that day.)

We're going to try to take a few more nice photos of him this weekend, so Kara can give them to her family as Christmas presents. Here's hoping that this "Santa Baby" won't hold all this against me. :)

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On Fire

I don't often get too riled up about the news. But this? This story grates on every last nerve in my body.

In case you haven't been following this throughout the YEARS it has been going on, long story short: David marries Bruna. They have a son, Sean. When Sean is four years old, Bruna tells David she is taking Sean on a vacation in Brazil to visit her family. She is supposed to be back in two weeks, but never returns. (Note: This is called kidnapping.) David files charges and begins court proceedings to try to get his son back.

Meanwhile, Bruna remarries a rich Brazilian businessman, and builds a cushy new life for herself and Sean, not thinking for one moment how she has taken this boy from his father. Then, what do you know? She dies during childbirth. Instead of being returned to the U.S. to live with his dad, courts repeatedly keep Sean in Brazil with his stepfather, even though the rulings all seem to go in David's favor. Stepfather's side argues that Sean is happy, has been living with his stepfather for most of his life, and that he should be left alone because he wants to stay in Brazil. Oh, and Sean is now nine. Nine years old! This shit has been going on for FIVE YEARS.

Throughout it all, David has flown to Brazil and back a bajillion times to try to bring his son home, only to face another setback that keeps the boy with his stepfather. Repeatedly, David thinks he's going to get his son back, only to have his hopes dashed. What an emotional rollercoaster. Not only that, but what a waste of time. It has already been five years. Every day that goes by is another day that David and Sean are apart. Every day is another inch of space between them, another mile in the road to repairing their relationship.

This is the biggest clusterfuck of a situation. What is the deal with the Brazilian justice system? I mean, seriously. Remind me to never, ever go to Brazil. I wouldn't want to take the chance that I would find myself at the mercy of their courts.

Let's recap what this story has taught us:
1) If you want to kidnap a child, do it, and then flee to Brazil.
2) Don't forget to kidnap a child who is as young as possible. That way, the child will view you as his parent, and the courts will argue that the child is accustomed to this life, and is happy, so he should stay with his kidnapper.

The judge, who blocked the latest ruling that stated Sean needed to be returned to David within 48 hours, said today that he wants to put Sean on the witness stand. They want to hear from Sean and figure out what he wants to do.

A nine year old.

A nine year old who has been kidnapped, and has been living with his stepfather since he was four.

Surely these judges are smart people. Surely they can see how messed up this thinking is? Yes?

I understand that this child has a life in Brazil, and that he is probably happy. But it doesn't make it right. The only reason Sean was given the opportunity to get so comfortable in this situation and grow attached to his stepfather is because of the Brazilian government's mishandling of this case from the very beginning. The court is responsible for this mess. And it is its duty to fix it.

I just can't stop shaking my head. The whole thing is ludicrous. It's like saying that Jaycee Dugard should have stayed with her captor, because after all, she had been there for 18 years and she had made a family for herself; she had kids. Why not keep things status quo?

Ridiculous. It infuriates me. I'm all fired up.

Bring this child home.

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Sugar and Spice Cookies

When you make your Christmas cookie cutouts this year, you don't have to make plain ol' sugar cookies. Instead, you can make this variation on my favorite sugar cookie recipe, which incorporates some holiday spice. Again, this comes from Katie, who provided me with another awesome (chocolate!) variation that I tried out on Halloween.

I first made these back in the beginning of October, but never posted the recipe. When I made them then, we gobbled up many of the cookies ourselves, and even brought them for tailgating at the Buffalo Bills game.

So when I had to make something to send off for the holiday round of Operation Baking Gals, I figured these cookies would be perfect for the occasion. Especially since I could easily make them festive by using Christmas cookie cutters. I also tinted the glaze with food coloring.

These are so much easier to decorate than traditional sugar cookie cutouts since they are simply drizzled with a powdered sugar + vanilla extract + water glaze. I don't have the energy for traditional cutouts this holiday season, so these are an easier but still delicious alternative! Obviously, if you are feeling ambitious, you can decorate these with your traditional royal icing or buttercream frosting recipes as well.

I actually made the cookie dough a few weeks ago and put it in the freezer, which makes things much easier when it comes time for baking--just thaw, roll out, cut, and bake! To freeze, I wrap the prepared dough in 3-4 layers of plastic wrap, then put it in a freezer bag. It keeps fine for several weeks.

Sugar and Spice Cookies
(Source: Good Things Catered)

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups butter
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
- 1 tsp. orange zest
- 5 cups flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
- powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugars in a mixer for 5 minutes.

3. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly.

4. Add vanilla, almond, and zest.

5. Sift in flour, baking powder, spices and salt a little at a time. Do not overmix, this process should take about one minute.

6. Chill dough for up to a week in the fridge, or roll out and cut right away. (Or freeze it.)

7. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake cookies for 7-8 minutes (4 minutes for mini ones). Wait until cookies are cooled before icing.

You'll notice that the recipe for the glaze is not included; I don't really have a recipe, either. I simply dump some powdered sugar into a glass bowl, and add water a teaspoon at a time and stir. I add a splash of vanilla, and then more water if needed. The glaze should be smooth, but still a bit thick so it doesn't run down off the cookies. It's easy; you can't screw it up! If you accidentally add too much water and it gets too thin, simply add more powdered sugar.

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"Do Not" Christmas Playlist

One of the best things about Christmastime is the non-stop Christmas music.

There are XM/Sirius satellite radio stations dedicated solely to the season. There are Pandora internet radio stations with which you can celebrate Christmas 24/7. Even one of our local radio stations gives up all other music to play just Christmas tunes throughout the month of December.

I love all of this. I think it's awesome.

Except... well, except...

There are some really BAD Christmas songs. Like, seriously bad.

There are Christmas songs so bad, in fact, that I'd rather scrape out my own ear drums than listen to them. I think everybody has at least one Christmas song for which they feel this way.

My LEAST favorite? The worst of the worst in my mind?

Dominick the Donkey.

I told you mine. Now, you tell me yours. Let's discuss.

Annnnnd... GO!

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Chicken Piccata

A few months back, I was looking for new recipes to try. My cousin sent me this one and proclaimed it as her favorite. I put it in my bookmarked pages and planned to try it soon, but it kept getting pushed further and further down the list.

Earlier this week, when I was doing the meal planning for the week, I came across it again and decided that this weekend would be the time to try it.

The crispy, breaded coating nicely complements the tender, juicy chicken. The lemon/wine sauce spooned over the top kicks the chicken flavors up a notch and makes for a really awesome meal.

We served the chicken with homemade red smashed potatoes and some veggies. Everything came together pretty easily and we were sitting down to eat in no time.

Chicken Piccata
(Source: Ina Garten, Food Network)

Ingredients:
- 2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 extra-large egg
- 1/2 tablespoon water
- 3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
- Good olive oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- Sliced lemon, for serving
- Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

3. Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

5. For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

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It's Beginning

...to look a lot like Christmas!

I dug the ol' Christmas blog header out of the archives, and spruced things up a bit around here. I hope it makes you feel very... Christmasy. :)

I'll be back after the holidays with a more permanent "new look," but for now I hope you can appreciate Heather Drive's celebration of the holidays. I can't believe we're only two weeks away!

*ahem*

♪♪You better watch out, you better not cry... ♪♪
♪♪You better not pout, I'm telling you why...♪♪

*whistle* *hum*

♪♪...Santa Claus is coming to town...♪♪

*WHEEZE* *COUGH* *SNEEZE*

Ugh. Sorry.

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Sneezy

We are getting ourselves back into the swing of things at home. I am getting myself caught up.

Well, I would be. Except for the fact that for the first time in well over a year, and for probably only the second time in two years... I am sick.

Blechhh.

It started with a lot of sneezing while we were in Texas. Nothing bothersome, really. Just a lot of sneezing.

Now, it has taken over my poor nasal passages and I can barely breathe. I came into work this morning with a box of tissues tucked under my arm. My coworkers promptly ran in the other direction.

And to think that just yesterday, I was debating about whether I should get a free H1N1 vaccine being offered at work. (I didn't get it.) Not that it would have prevented my cold. I'm just saying that if I'm this miserable with a stuffy nose, H1N1 would be... well, not fun. To say the least.

Add to that the WEATHER--which is snowy and freezing--and there is nowhere else I'd rather be than on my couch under a cozy blanket with my personal heater (whose name happens to be "Tessa"). And my kleenex.

To bed. To bed, I said.

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Somewhere in the Middle

"Do you even know where Oklahoma is??"
"Somewhere in the middle?"
- Sleepless in Seattle

#47 on my 101 in 1001 list: Travel to at least six different cities for weekend getaways/vacations.

San Antonio and Austin are #2 and #3. We are doing well with our pace, and on track to meet this goal.

The bonus is that we were able to add two new pins to our newlywed map:

Nice! More pins in the middle! :)

Now, if only we could get some pins in other parts of the world...

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Adios, Texas

We didn't have much on the agenda for today. We woke up a little later than usual, packed up everything, checked out of the hotel, loaded the car, and took off back down I-35 to San Antonio.

And well, we ended up back at Mi Tierra. Yes, again.

One more lunch. One more taste of authentic Mexican deliciousness before heading back to the land on which we live (which happens to be the land of awesome pizza, subs, and bagels, if you must know).

And in case you didn't believe me when I told you that it looks like Christmas exploded inside of Mi Tierra, check out the section where we ate today:

Amazing, isn't it? We ate in the bar area last time, and this is the diner/restaurant area that we didn't see before. Knowing what I know now, I'm glad we got to experience both!

After another amazing meal, we picked up a couple more empanadas from the bakery to enjoy during our travels home. Then we essentially killed the rest of our time by walking around downtown San Antonio and doing a little shopping. It was pretty uneventful in terms of landmarks and photo opportunities, so I don't have much else to share.

Before leaving, we got to experience one more example of the ass-backwards operations of the San Antonio Airport. We could not, for the life of us, find the rental car return. I can certainly say we've never had that problem anywhere else, as there are usually signs everywhere and it's pretty easy. Not here. Nope. We circled the airport twice before we finally dug out the stinking address and had to plug it into our GPS.

But after that, everything else went smoothly, and we (once again) appreciated on-time flights.

We had a great little visit in Texas. There was much to love (especially the food). We think the amount of time we spent there was pretty perfect, so if you're thinking of a trip--all you really need is a few days.

It's good to be home.

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Austin

I told you yesterday we woke up to wonderful, sunny weather.

Today was the opposite of that. I parted those lovely, hotel blackout curtains to the rainiest, dreariest, nastiest looking day... it was pretty disappointing.

Still, we had places to go and things to see, so we made the best of it. We started the day at a local breakfast joint called Kerbey Lane Cafe.

You want "The Best Breakfast in Austin"? Have it here.

Michael and I both picked pancakes. I had the apple wheat variety (which actually had chunks of apple in them, yum!), and Michael had gingerbread pancakes, which were simply delicious. Neither really needed syrup, but syrup made them all that much more amazing. The pancakes were tremendously filling, though. Neither of us could finish even the short stack (only two pancakes). So if you go, order accordingly! :)

After breakfast, we decided to hit up the Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum. We have never been to a presidential museum before, and had heard good things about it.

In the end, we were impressed with the size of the museum, and the amount of artifacts they had on display. It was interesting to learn so much about President Johnson--from birth, through his presidency, and even to his death.

We browsed around for a few hours. I didn't take many photos, since it's a museum and all, but we really enjoyed it.

Upstairs, they had a replica of the Oval Office from when Johnson was president. All of the furniture is his actual furniture.

On this same floor, they also had an exhibit area dedicated to Lady Bird. Information about her had been spread throughout the chronological display of Johnson's life on the lower floor, but this space was dedicated to her. They had a replica of her office, too:

On the way back downstairs, we stopped on a floor that had a special exhibit, "From School to the White House," that showcased class photos, report cards, book reports, and other items from some of our presidents' school days. It was a neat addition to the things we had already seen.

Also on this floor were two gallery walls featuring portraits of all of the first ladies throughout our history, and also portraits of all of our presidents.

From this floor, you can also look up and see some of the floors that are not accessible to the public. Instead, they are filled with Lyndon Johnson archives. It was pretty amazing to look and see HOW MUCH STUFF they have, all about Johnson. Impressive, I tell you.

We took a few more photos...

...and then we were on our way.

Since the presidential library is located on the UT campus, we took a quick ride over to the football stadium.

Sadly, it was pretty boring, given that there wasn't a football game or anything.

Our next stop was to tour the Texas State Capitol Building. It's a good thing I got those beautiful photos yesterday, because today? Well, see for yourself...

...Pretty blah, huh? :(

Thankfully, the weather didn't mess with the scenery inside.

Looking up into the dome is pretty cool.

We walked up to every floor and explored. There actually wasn't too much to see.

But the space for the House of Representatives was festive.

The State Senate was not so festive.

And it was fun to check out the view from each of the floors.

This is a photo looking down over the top railing, at the flights of stairs below.

Top floor.

Another view of the dome (from top floor).

Since the Capitol didn't take us as long as we anticipated, we had a little extra time on our hands. Michael said he wouldn't mind having a beer somewhere and watching a little football, so we ended up at 3rd Base (the place we tried to go last night for the Longhorns game, but it was too crowded) for a few drinks.

Once we finished up there, we stopped back at the hotel for a bit before heading out to dinner.

We figured that since we're in Texas, we had to have Texas barbecue. Michael had done a little research and found a little "dive" called Green Mesquite that had been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It had a reputation for good food, so as Texas BBQ rookies, we decided to put it to the test.

I ordered a pulled pork sandwich and their fresh-cut french fries, while Michael had a sandwich that combined pulled pork with beef brisket. For sides, he tried the fried okra and cole slaw. Everything was excellent. Seriously tasty. It was definitely not fancy, but who needs fancy when you have good food?

We heard on the news this morning that they were lighting the tree at Zilker Park tonight. We didn't go for the actual lighting ceremony, but Green Mesquite was close to the park, so after we ate, we took a drive over there. It was nice because much of the crowds had dissipated.

It is my understanding that this is a "must-do" among Austinites. They love their Zilker Park tree! I guess that there is usually a "trail of lights" or something of that sort, with a much bigger light display. But this year, the City of Austin had to cut corners in the budget and did away with the trail of lights. It's just the tree this time.

Still, it was fun to be among the natives of Austin, enjoying something they enjoy. And you know Michael and I are suckers for all things Christmas. Especially lights.

Here's the view from inside the middle of the "tree," looking up.

With that, we called it a night. Just a few more hours in Texas tomorrow before we head back home.

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