Project 365: Week 37

September 9 | Went out to Fate Brewing with some friends that were visiting from DC and I got this Watermelon Kölsch - tasted like juice :)

The Applesauce

Boulder is underwater right now.  Literally.  Starting last night, the emergency sirens have been going off for flash flooding and it hasn't really slowed down much since then.

It is really serious and people are getting hurt.  There's a lot of property damage.  A few people have already died.  Luckily, the city has pretty much shut down.  Austin and I went home from work early, the schools are closed and people are being told to find higher ground and just hang out.

Austin and I are pretty good at just sitting home and hanging out.  Especially when we have enough food and drink.

We've been working on stocking our bar for a while now so we're prepped.  We also just bought a case of applesauce from Costco, so we can have a lot of these.  They taste so good that it would be pretty easy to drink pitcher after pitcher too.

Better not do that, in case we do have to leave for some reason.  If you're in the area, do what we're doing.  Hole up inside, have a cocktail, read a book.  Stay safe!

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Austin is still on the search for the best chocolate chips cookies.  It involves a lot of trial and error.  It's really rough.  An especially hard job to taste test them all :)  We're starting to understand the chemistry behind them.  We're also realizing that a delicious dough does not always mean a delicious cookie.

After trying these salted chocolate chip cookies, we found out that the sprinkle of sea salt over the top before baking is essential!  It balances out the sweetness perfectly.  Now, even when we make the traditional Tollhouse version, we do this.

There have been lots of tested recipes, and most have not made it on the blog.  These are making the cut.

We'll continue on the hunt I'm sure, but we are feeling pretty good about where we're at now with the experiments.

I don't know if any of you have ever invested that much time in developing the perfect recipe, but it's kind of fun.  It can be frustrating at times (like when you make a batch that is not as good as you know other recipes could have been), but for the most part, it's a lot of fun to compare and combine recipes and I know it's going to be awesome when we find The. Perfect. Cookie.  (These are close to that!)

Project 365: Week 36

September 2 | Austin made a beer can chicken last Monday!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Once a month, I have to go into work early.  It's not too bad really, but I do have to be there at 7:00 a.m. so that I can sit through a 2 hour meeting and take lots of notes.  What makes it not so bad is the fact that we order coffee and pastries.

It's probably one of the only days during the workweek that I eat breakfast.  I have a really bad habit of walking out the door with a thermos of coffee and that's it.  Then, sometime around 11:00 or noon, I'll eat a granola bar and suffer a stomachache until I get home in the afternoon and can eat a late lunch.  It's a carryover from my high school days.

Sure, I've read plenty of reports saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  I also know how you shouldn't let coffee sit in your empty stomach.  Does it mean that I'm ever going to change?  Maybe someday.

In the meantime, my breakfast intake will be limited to the first Thursday of the month and weekends.  On the weekends, it's a whole different game.  There's still coffee, but it's in a mug not a thermos, and there may even be a granola bar later in the day, but I do tend to start off my Saturdays and Sundays with pancakes or eggs or french toast or bagel sandwiches.  And when those breakfasts include chocolate chips, you know it's going to be a good day!

Beet Arugula Salad

I hope you had a great 3-day weekend.  I did almost nothing...and it was great.  I've already mentioned that I am a lister.  I love a good to-do list.  Really, just ask Austin.  I always have at least 3 different lists going.

I was definitely tempted to fill up my 3 days with lots of tasks and I kind-of did, but then I stopped looking at the list and you know what happened?  I relaxed.  Literally, laid by the pool, read a book, and took a nap.  It was amazing.

Labor Day marks the end of summer and while I am so ready to get out of the heat and into the hot drinks, I am really hoping I can keep some of the relaxation that summer brings into fall and winter.  I also should probably stick with the summer salads for a little longer.  That's probably just a good common sense.

Project 365: Week 35

August 26 | Spent our last night with Austin's parents in town eating Italian food and cheesecake!