In Search of the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

I've long been a fan of Cook's Illustrated and the companion PBS television show, America's Test Kitchen. I've even been able to test recipes for them and many are among our favorites. Recently I read about the America's Test Kitchen challenge to Boston Bloggers to try their Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Now, I've got to say that my mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe is pretty darned perfect. So could the experts at America's Test Kitchen produce a cookie that was BETTER than hers? I was skeptical but willing to try it. The ingredients are the same as my favorite recipe. It's the proportions that are different: 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk and more dark brown sugar than white sugar. 

I followed the recipe suggestion to weigh the dry goods. This isn't something I normally do. I have vivid memories of my Nannie's hand on mine as we lightly spooned flour into a measuring cup and then leveled the surface with the back of butter knife. I always think of that when I bake. She said it was the key to light instead of leaden cakes. She was an amazing baker as is my mom. Me? I'm good at following a recipe.

This time I pulled out the digital scale that Joel bought long before we were married and weighed the flour, white sugar and dark brown sugars.

The magic is in the 10 tablespoons of browned butter, which makes the kitchen smell amazing. 

The sugars, vanilla, salt and eggs are whisked into the melted butter. Three rounds of whisking and resting helps the sugar dissolve completely. (I used those 3 minutes to fold laundry while watching the Celtics game.)

Speaking of brown sugar, have you tried a brown sugar bear? This little guy keeps brown sugar moist and pliable for months and months. No more rock hard brown sugar.

Then the flour and baking soda are stirred in followed by the chocolate chips. I didn't have any nuts in the pantry and I wish I did. I love walnuts in my chocolate chip cookies. 


The finished dough has a consistency like Play Doh. It's not shaggy and loose like a typical chocolate chip cookie dough. The recipe called for a #24 scoop. I wanted more "traditional" sized cookies so I used a cookie scoop which made 48 cookies. 

The verdict: completely delicious! They definitely were crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. The browned butter adds a wonderful and unexpected toffee flavor to the cookies. Joel and I each ate one last night while they were still warm. Perfect with a glass of cold milk. This morning we packed some to enjoy with our lunch at the Brimfield Fair where my mom gave them a thumbs up too. 

I'll definitely keep this recipe in my files. It was easy to follow, easy to execute and easy to clean up. Thanks Cook's Illustrated for another winning recipe.

Paper Thrills Challenge #8

This week over on the Paper Thrills blog, the challenge is to use a print ad.
Like the ad, my page has a subtle print on the top third and a bolder print at the bottom.
I was inspired to use three photos and lots of blue on my layout as well. 

Journaling: Mom and I took Brendan to freshman orientation at UMass. We bought him lunch at Judie's (of course!) How did he grow up so fast?

Pop on over to Paper Thrills to see the ad. We'd love for you to join in!

Supplies Used:
cardstock: Club Scrap

patterned paper: Making Memories

embellishments: Making Memories

journal tag: Luxe Designs

ribbon: May Arts

letter stickers: American Crafts

For the Thrill of Paper

Have you checked out the Paper Thrills challenge blog yet?
It's a brand-new site with weekly challenges.
It's a great place to try new techniques, use up your stash and get scrapping!
I'm very excited to be part of this design team and hope you'll check it out.


I want to share my projects that were created for the Paper Thrills Design Team submission.

Color Palette Challenge: The warm rich colors in the inspiration photo were perfect for this photo from a trip to San Diego back in 2003.

Ad Challenge:

I really love ad challenges. I get so many great ideas this way. From this ad, I was inspired to put the photo on the right side of the page, turn die cut patterned paper into an oversized mat, and the grey background

.

Sketch Challenge: 

I mixed it up by using the sketch to create a birthday card. I interpreted the circles in the sketch with polka dot prints.

California Sunset

cardstock: Bazzill, patterned paper: Scenic Route (orange print), Pink Paislee (black brocade, blue houndstooth, purple brocade), Basic Grey (orange and black), punch: Fiskars (border), EK Success (circle), journaling tags: Pink Paislee, label: twogirlzstuff (Etsy.com), gems: My Minds Eye, pen: Micron, foam adhesive: Creative Memories
Vertigo
cardstock: Club Scrap (grey, cream), Bazzill (black); patterned paper: Pink Paislee (lime die cut), Luxe Designs (turquoise); letter stickers: Making Memories; pen: Micron
Happy Birthday

cardstock: Paper Source (grey), Bazzill (black), patterned paper: Pink Paislee (blue dot on cream), Luxe Designs (cream dot on turquoise), journaling tag: Pink Paislee, stamp: Papertrey Ink Communique Sentiments, ink: Versafine (onyx), ribbon: Wrights, stick pin: Pink Paislee

Project64 - Week 10

Week 10 color is white. The challenge was to photograph white on white but I didn't have the chance to set up a shot. Today I kept my eye open for white in our travels.

These hydrangeas caught my eye at the grocery store.

I loved the texture and shape of the white glass in the light fixtures at Bobby's Burger Palace and in the Dale Chihuly glass scuplture; both at Mohegan Sun.

But my favorite from today is the vanilla caramel bourbon milkshake Joel had today at lunch.

Please head over to the Project 64 blog to see all the other white entries from this week.

Project64

Monday, February 28 ended my 365 Project journey. It's been a lot of fun. While I haven't been very diligent of posting to the website in a timely manner I have been pretty good about getting a photo a day. The best part is that it's reconnected me to some of my favorite college friends, Wendy, Joanne, Cristen and Sue. Seeing bits and pieces of their everyday lives is such a wonderful blessing.

The 365 Project has also been fun for documenting OUR everyday life as newlyweds. Being able to flip through the photos and journaling cards in the Project Life album and see a whole year in an instant is very satisfying. I've also found it's a good way to get people to be in a photo. I can say "but I need a photo for today!" and they grudgingly comply. Still, I'd say 75% of my photos are of inanimate objects since they don't complain when you take a few extra shots or stop to adjust the aperture or shutter speed.

I have to admit that I feel like I'm a little burnt out creatively.  Maybe from forcing myself to take a photo every day when nothing exciting happens? Or because it's dark and grey and frigid outside? Or from being a little lazy and snapping a photo that's "good enough" just to put a check mark next to the day?

Last week, I stumbled upon the Project64 challenge blog and decided to jump in and participate. Each week they pull a crayon from the classic Crayola box of 64 and use it as inspiration. Genius, right? I can't tell you how much more tuned into my surroundings I am by focusing on trying to find specific colors in my everyday environment. A little part of my brain is constantly scanning and then I get this little AHA! moment like "hey, that butternut squash sure looks like apricot on the outside" or "these pages are robin's egg blue!!"

My intent is to find regular household items to fit these Project64 challenges. I may push myself to try to set up some still life shots and to get better working with props and placement. I want to make these photos more intentional, more deliberate, more artsy.

The good folks at Project64 are having a catch up day so stragglers and new joiners like me can participate and get up to speed. I'll post each color separately to make it easier to track.