Today was Annelies's first official snow day. We woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground. At 3:45 p.m., it's still coming down. I'd say we have 5 inches now, and we're under a "heavy snow warning." We're expecting a total of 8 inches by the time all is said and done. It's a little unusual for us to have a snowfall of this magnitude in early December 'round these parts. It's really beautiful, and the kids had a blast playing in the snow today. They've just enjoyed having a day to spend together, I think. It's nice when they have a chance to just play all day. And that's exactly what they've done.I, on the other hand, have been making cookies! I made another batch of the ginger cookies, and a big batch of chocolate chip. I used to use the Nestle Toll House recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but time after time the cookies came out flat. I modified it to make it just right, and also added some nutrition by using some whole-wheat pastry flour. Here's my recipe:
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter or Earth Balance, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
chocolate chips
Combine flours, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir until mixed in. (Sometimes I use a 12 oz. package of choc. chips, and sometimes I'll use less. Really, you can use as many as you like.) Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes and transfer to cooling rack.
I didn't write a post about dinner last night, but I made an enchilada casserole from the December issue of Cooking Light. Instead of using the red chile sauce that they included, I just used my enchilada sauce that I had in my freezer. At first, I thought the casserole was just okay. I had a second piece later on after it had cooled off, and I thought it was much better. I also made another batch of refried beans, and some chipotle Brussel sprouts. The Brussels turned out really nice. Just some brown sugar, chopped chipotle in adobo sauce and water.
Today while I was making the cookies, I was in the mood for some Christmas music. I checked out the "Classical Christmas" station on Pandora. It is absolutely fantastic. That's the kind of Christmas music I love.
5 comments:
Oooohhhh, you are so lucky. I love snow. I love it as much as the kids do, and I don't think it's ever going to snow here again (at least not enough to have fun it). Last year we had a measley inch or so of snow, hardly enough to make a snow angel in.
I always make the Toll House cookies too, maybe I'll try yours this year.
carrie: Do your Toll House cookies come out flat? My mom made them my whole life, and hers never did. I have no idea why mine always did. I can't believe you don't get more snow than that!
This weekend we went from a blizzard with several inches of snow, to 60 degrees. Bizarre.
You're a baking machine. How much do you have left?
I never have a problem with my Toll House's coming out flat.
IF: Well, I'm nearly halfway there, and I'm saving some of the easier things for last. It's a little challenging. Especially on these snow days when both kids are running circles around me!
carrie: Dang. You must be good.
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