We tried something different. Out of a half dozen pizza joints in this city, I would rate the above place an 8 or maybe even 8.5 out of 10. It was quite good, but not as great as ...
... which is definately my all time favourite. And unfortunately, NOT up here in the north! (If you're reading this, Me-n-Ed's people, I heartily encourage you to come open up a pizza parlor here! I'll be your very best customer, I promise!) Of course, Sicilian-style pizza is not everyone's preference, so I baked these for my favourite cookie monster:
Apparently, nuthin' says luvin' like Ranger cookies oozing with chocolate chips, maraschino cherries and coconut! Oh, and see my cow cookie jar? It used to MOO whenever someone raided it. It is now eerily moo-less. I'm pretty certain the motive behind this de-mooing was prevention of loud announcements of cookie jar raids. However, I would like to take this opportunity to point out that if I can't HEAR cookies getting eaten, I can't tell when to bake more. I'm just saying ...
After all that food, the movie selection for the evening was a good old-fashioned Valentines Day luv story. If you haven't read this book, or seen this movie, I highly recommend it. Keep the tissue box handy! Post-Valentines, I tried to focus on cleaning up a craft project or two. I didn't actually FINISH anything, but made significant progress in a couple of areas. First, I clothed Raggedy Ann and Andy. I bought a couple of meters of this fabric ...
... super cheap at Stuffmart a while back. I thought it would make a nice cheery apron (I'm an old-fashioned gal in the kitchen, and I like to wear old-fashioned aprons). However, when I prewashed it, some of the green in the design bled. I guess you get what you pay for, eh? Raggedy Ann and Andy have no complaints about the design flaw though.
Next weekend, I'll have to construct their wigs. Bald Raggedy Ann and Andy is a bit ... disturbing! While the sewing machine and iron were out ... okay, I confess they never really get put away here ... I decided THIS fabric would be the focal point of a quilt ...
... and with that decision made, I quickly cut out the rest of the quilt blocks:
I have enough of the turquoise print for the backing, and enough plain dark purple for binding. I've put everything in a big ziplock bag for now, and will try to refrain from starting this project until I finish my tipsy coffee cups project. I said TRY. No promises! This IS February Fever season! And I still haven't decided how to back or bind my tipsy coffee cups. With all that plus my laundry accomplished by mid-afternoon today, I decided to walk over to the mall for some groceries. That was a big mistake! It's still very icy. I had my Yak Trax on my boots, but stepped on a bit of glare ice while crossing the street and fell again ... fifth time this winter, dammit! ... and did a face plant against the edge of the sidewalk.
I've got a fat lip and a loose tooth. You can't see the cuts inside my upper lip in this picture, but believe me, they are there and they HURT! I can't imagine what my mouth is going to look like in the morning when I go to work ... I facilitate Falls Prevention workshops for seniors, it's a little embarrassing to admit how often I've fallen this winter! Anyway, I was closer to home than the mall, so decided to limp back home instead of grocery shopping.
I worked on another unfinished project ... a gansey cardigan ... for the rest of the afternoon, and will probably finish the right side this evening. That will just leave the sleeves and ribbed bits at the back vent and front openings for next weekend. Yay for me! Hope y'all had a happy and fall-free weekend!
First, cream together 1 cup of softened butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar. Yes, I use REAL butter ... margarine is whipped plastic with added colouring and which tastes like crap and cannot possibly be good for you, but hey, who am I to judge if you want to use margarine instead of the REAL thing! Oh, and I use pure cane sugar instead of refined white sugar. It's all about being more wholesome. But once again, who am I to judge if you prefer that refined white stuff.
Second, add 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 eggs, and 2 teaspoons vanilla to your creamed butter and sugar. Nice brown eggs, eh? I finally found a shop that sells great eggs!
Third, add 2 1/2 cups of flour, and once that's well incorporated into the creamed mixture ...
... mix in 2 cups of rolled oats and 2 cups coconut. Sometimes I use the stringy kind of coconut. Yesterday I happened to have half a package of flaked coconut. Whatever tickles your fancy. Or floats your boat. Or whatever. Now here's the magical bit about this recipe ...
... mix in 1 cup each of 4 or 5 different goodies. That is correct ... up to 5 cups of raisins, choc chips, pb chips, dried fruit, nuts ... in whatever combination of yummy additions that YOU enjoy or imagine you might enjoy, or that YOU happen to have in YOUR pantry at the moment. Upon surveying MY pantry, I added sunflower seeds, chopped pecans, whole pine nuts, and sliced almonds. Choc chips aren't allowed to visit my house very often 'cuz I eat 'em ... usually before they make it into cookies. And I didn't want fruity stuff 'cuz I had just finished baking fruit bread. Anyway, YOU decide what YOU want to add, and add 4 or 5 cups of it. Okay? Okay.
Your cookie dough is going to be really stiff. If you have to, you can add 2 or 3 tablespoons of liquid to help mix it together. I added a couple of tablespoons of cold coffee. Sometimes I add cream, or something boozy, or lemon juice ... as I keep saying, whatever YOU want to add. The important bit is to be patient and keep mixing until all those nuts, seeds, etc are well distributed.
