Uppers

I'm feeling more upbeat today than I have in awhile. It could be because I had an extra cup of coffee this morning. It could be because yesterday, in an unspoken agreement that things had maybe gotten kind of... *whisper* boring the past few days, we decided to shake things up Matt-and-Katie style: we walked to the store to buy peanuts and then came home and made peanut butter and cookies. I think lately we've both been so worn down and tired after 12 hours out of the house every day (plus, you know, being crime victims and all) that we've just come home to flop, making us feel a certain lack of refreshment even after having time off, due to a dearth of what I think of as "constructive leisure," better known maybe as simply fun. Which, if I think about it, we usually get in the form of cooking or traveling. It's been a little while since we've done much of either. (I also think that I have a tendency to freak out in the first few weeks of new things, fast-forwarding through the wasted years of my life that I can see myself having spent on a path which was in hindsight so clearly not right, based on the first uncomfortable weeks of adjustment--instead of just taking it in stride that every road has its bumps that I'll adjust to eventually. I'm working on trying the latter tack earlier rather than later in the game, but all you have to do is read the blog, or ask poor Matt, to see how well that's going.)

On the cooking front, though...no brag here, just fact, but I pretty much have perfected our cookie recipe. Here it is, in all its glory:

Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate-Chip and Walnut Cookies
2 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar (we are loving Sucanat right now, but you don't have to)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour (we like finely milled, like pastry flour, but any kind works)
1 cup oatmeal (we use the quick-cooking kind, but this is not mandatory because you aren't cooking it)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12-oz package chocolate chips
Chopped walnuts (I just kind of add these willy-nilly depending on how many I have)

This is how I do it:
Preheat the oven to 375.
1. Cream the first 6 ingredients in the KitchenAid, though hand mixers would work too.
2. Try it and make sure everything is all right.
3. Add the next 3 ingredients and mix well.
4. Try it again.
5. Add the last two ingredients, mix well.
6. Get out a spoon instead of just putting your finger in it this time. We're professionals here.
7. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 11 minutes.

NOW, I have found a marked difference in the appearance and texture of cookies I bake on an Air-Bake pan versus just regular Teflon cookie sheets. It's a lot easier to get them off of the Teflon, but the results just aren't as nice. They get too brown around the edges and they don't have a uniform rise to them. I've also found that it's key to take them out just before you think they're done. You have to let them sit for a minute as they will be moist and soft, but that's the key to achieving the irresistible, chewy-crisp texture which has us consuming these at a rate of 4 dozen per week these days, and that is not an exaggeration. I've found that this recipe makes between 3 and 4 dozen, depending on how liberal you are with the "tasting" while making them. I console myself with the thought that these are all more or less "wholesome" ingredients that, while perhaps a tad more caloric than, say, a Nutri-Grain bar or cup of Yoplait or other purportedly healthy snack, also don't have any preservatives or chemicals in them. I'm not sure that actually counts for anything, but it feels almost as good as these taste.

And, on the traveling front, we're hoping to make it camping in Shenandoah in a couple of weeks to catch the fall colors, which should be very exciting. The week after that, we're looking forward to playing Host and Hostess to little sister. We're not quite sure yet where we're going to put her, but I'm sure we'll find someplace.

On a totally unrelated note, this is a site I find terribly funny. If you don't, I'm afraid it's nothing I'm able to explain, but along with this one (and any other little funnies that big brother sees fit to send my way) I've finally found a way keep a smile on my face throughout the school day.