Adventures in Cookie Making Day 2

I really like Oatmeal Scotchies. Or should I really say I think I remember really liking Oatmeal Scotchies.  I know that they must have orange zest to be great and so you can be sure I zested an orange instead of using vanilla extract for this recipe. Below is the original Toll House recipe for Oatmeal Scotchies.  Now I followed this recipe with precision, however my cookies cooked in much less time than instructed and spread flatter than a pancake.  Should I have used more flour and less oats?  Was it the baking soda?  I went online to see what other bakers had to say.

According to the reviews, for this very recipe on the cookie morsel website, I am not alone, super flat scotchies abound. It's not me; it's this recipe.  I also found a blog done by a wise woman who on her first time out the gate with this recipe reduced the oats by 1/2 a cup. Her resulting cookies look thicker than mine. 

When my first dozen came out so flat and brown, I put the remainder of the dough in the fridge and then made the rest with chilled dough.  Alas, that didn't matter. Sigh. Can't win them all I guess.  I have seen there are recipes for Oatmeal Scotchie Bars, maybe next time I'll try that --or better yet if I want a butterscotch treat- I should try a no bake option and make butterscotch haystacks. 

Tomorrow with assistance from Anna I'll be tackling a recipe called "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" 

Happy Tuesday xoxo! 

Need Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in Your Ear Holes? Listen to the Dresden Files!

Death Masks by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listen to this series on audio, I don't read any of the books--James Marsters is perfection as Harry Dresden. This is book #5 of this enjoyable series that I tend to pick up, listen to a book and then a few months pass and then I pick it back up. There is enough reiteration of who the main players in the series are to help you remember if you don't binge read the series. I am going to make more of an effort to get through this series in a more timely manner. I have to say I don't really care about the romance aspect of the book, but if Harry is happy I'm happy. Whenever Harry talks about his cat Mister, I think anew that Mister is the perfect name for a cat. And speaking of perfect character names, I hope the next book has more Murphy- the perfectly named police detective- in it.

Love that this book takes place in Chicago. Nice that Harry and modern tech don't get along as this is handy for plot building. The pacing of this book was good, I personally wouldn't mind if there had been a bit more downtime - like maybe 2 fewer battles, but that's just me. I'm going to go see if my library has book #6 before I get distracted by another book on my TBR pile.


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 #ThursdayThought :  Today marks  the 4 week countdown until Thanksgiving.  😱😱😱😱  I'm hungry right because it's lunchtime and my mouth is watering as I am adding to my Thanksgiving Feast Pinterest Board.  Click to see what I'm planning on serving this November. I've also begun creating a Christmas menu as well.

Happy Thursday!

xoxo

November Recap!

Happy  Thanksgiving! I hope you had a lovely one.  I have been neglectful of my blog, because I have been participating in my first NaNoWriMo!  One month, 50,000 words,  1667 new words  per day.  I was keeping up for the first couple of weeks, getting up at 5:30AM to try and put as many words down as possible.  Well I managed to stress myself out so much I was having trouble sleeping by day 14.   Writing a book is something I want to do and not hate doing, so I decided to focus on writing everyday and not counting the words.  I had to take a break from obsessing over winning the month, and rebalance.  In the end, I finished November with over 30,000 words.

If you ask me, I think this was a great first year effort and I'm feeling good about my Cozy Mystery book in process:  Temporary Name: Creating Cakes, Book 1, (I'm looking for a punny title but have come up short so far)  Creaking Cakes, Book 1 is about 25 percent finished and I'm excited with where I am going,  as I recently introduced my main character "Jane" to her future love interest "Mr. Northmen"  He  looks like this...

(picture from pindaddy.com )


He is an 8th Grade teacher. Yes, picture Keanu Reeves as a middle school teacher.  Jane just ran into him while volunteering at the school this past Friday.  I could go on, but I should focus on actually writing the book not writing about writing the book.

For Thanksgiving I tried a new turkey cooking recipe and that bird turned out delicious!   The high heat locked in the juices. After it was done, I lowered the temperature and cooked the sides.  Anna made the mashed potatoes with a recipe from Williams-Sonoma.

If you are going to make a turkey for Christmas,  you have got to try this recipe!  So easy and it works! The Simplest Roast Turkey, is a recipe by famed chef Thomas Keller which I found on the Epicurious website. Give it a try and you can feel that you are in the rarified air of professional chefs when you serve this roast turkey to your family!

Happy December!  Happy Advent !  Has this been a long year or what? 

Thanks for reading today and I'll blog again much sooner. 

xoxo

Wednesday Weekly Pumpkin Ale Review! What's on tap?

Happy Wednesday!  Just 13 days until Halloween.  Alas this year Halloween is on a Tuesday, so not the best day for Tricks and Treats in my opinion. Nevertheless to help you get into the spirit I invite you to enjoy my latest Pumpkin Ale review!

Wait! Before we begin, set a reminder to watch It's the Great Pumpkin  Charlie Brown!  tomorrow night on ABC at 7PM CDT.  Heck enjoy a Pumpkin Ale during the show.

Now on to the review.  This week's pumpkin ale hails from Trader Joe's. It's called KBC Pumpkin Ale, the KBC stands for Kennebunkport Brewing Company. KBC Pumpkin Ale has been featured in the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer so if you are a fan of their unique take on grocery ads, check it out here.


I quite enjoyed this Pumpkin Ale.  You could definitely taste the flavors of fall in this one, i.e,  cardamon, cinnamon and cloves (The big 3).  It's not a heavy beer so you can enjoy a couple of them and the ABV is under 5 coming in at 4.5. The price point is nice as well, a six pack was under $9.00. KBC Pumpkin Ale is a perfect beer to enjoy with roasted vegetables or a butternut squash soup or even a turkey sandwich.  There isn't a bitter aftertaste, and the pumpkin flavors aren't too flowery so this is a good drink to bring along to share at your upcoming Halloween Gatherings.

If you are in the mood to double down, I have a tip I just learned from a friend and artisan crafter, Kim D. (you can learn more about her and her daughter's pottery and crochet art by clicking -Intertwined Art).  Kim was recently at a restaurant in the Pittsburgh  area where they offer  a shot of Whipped Cream Vodka in your Pumpkin Ale! It's the  booziest of pumpkin pie experiences. You should probably bookmark this post, this may just be the ticket to get you through a trying Thanksgiving dinner.

Want a recipe that is easy, full of flavor *and* pairs well with this week's Pumpkin Ale?  Here you go! Harvest Veggie Sheet Pan Dinner by Mashup Mom  Not only is it delicious,  it's also inexpensive! ( should be about $2 per serving!)