Mint Chocolate Cookies

I recently made Mint Chocolate Cookies for an Activity Days activity. They turned out really well, so I'm sharing the recipe...

2/3 cup butter
1 Cup sugar
1 Egg
1 Tsp vanilla
1 Cup flour
1/2 Cup cocoa
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1/4 Tsp salt
1-2/3 Cups/10-oz bag of mint chocolate chips (I used a bag of mini York Peppermint Patties...mmm)

Heat oven to 350•F

Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture. Beat well. Stir in mint chocolate chips.

Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen.

Paris

My overall impression of Paris is that there is SOOOO much to see and do there. No wonder it's the #1 tourist destination in the world. We spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday in France. On Saturday, we went on two walking tours. There's a company called New Europe that organizes free tours throughout Europe. The tours are led by students from America, New Zealand, England etc and they ask for tips at the end of the tour. So it's a good way for them to make a little money and it's a great way to see the sights, get interesting tid bits about various attractions and to save money. Our first tour took us past the Louvre, the Seine, the Obelisk, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, and the Eiffel tower.

The Louvre -->

Notre Dame -->

Our afternoon tour took us to the Montmartre area which is where Moulin Rouge and the basilica of Sacre Coeur Montmartre are. The Montmartre area is really cool and is a great place to walk around and people watch. In fact, when we had a little extra time on Monday, we went back to that area for lunch.

On Saturday night, we had made reservations to eat at a cafe overlooking the Eiffel Tower. It was a spectacular view especially at the top of the hour (between 9pm and midnight) when the tower sparkles for about 5 minutes.

On Sunday, we went to church near the place we were staying and then we went to the Palace of Versailles. The gardens there are amazing and they seem to go on forever. There are various fountains and sculptures with towering hedges and flowers everywhere. This one was my favorite.

That evening, we went on a dinner cruise along the Seine river. The food was sooo good. We had this duck/potato cake thing that was so good. The French sure do know their sauces.

I was not aware of this...

On Monday, we went in search of a museum that happened to be closed and then we had Onion Soup (dad's favorite) and lunch in the Montmartre area. We then went to the airport so we could go to Munich, Germany.

Amsterdam

Andy and I recently returned from a 10-day trip to Europe. We had a wonderful time and had some amazing experiences. Due to bad weather in Atlanta, we were unable to leave Wilmington on time and we therefore missed our connecting flight to Amsterdam. Not to fear, however, because Andy served his mission in Atlanta, and he knew how to entertain us (me and his co-worker). We went to a laser light show at Stone Mountain. The next day, we went to The Varsity, CNN's headquarters and the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial.  

Our first European destination was Amsterdam / Tilburg, Netherlands. Andy had to work one day and I was able to work from the hotel as well (the drawback of being able to work from home is that you can work from just about anywhere). My general impressions of Amsterdam were that it was very quaint and there were a lot of bikes!! I thought there were a lot of bikes in China, but I have never seen an entire parking structure (with an attendant, even)  just for bikes. There were also double-decker bike racks. It was quite impressive. 

The highlight of the trip for me was going to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. It was extremely interesting and very humbling. Here's a picture of the house:

This is the book case that blocked the passage to the annex where Anne and her family etc hid during the war. 

This is Anne's diary. (No flash photography allowed.)

Since we really only had about a day to see Amsterdam (thanks, weather) we really didn't get to see very much. We then took a train to France for the weekend. 

Recipes

While my family was here for Memorial Day weekend, I made Hawaiian Meatballs and Cream Puffs--both were a hit. Amy and Maren wanted the recipes, so here they are courtsey of Cooks.com...

HAWAIIAN MEATBALLS

1 1/2 lb. ground beef 2/3 c. cracker crumbs 1/3 c. minced onion 1 egg 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. ginger 1/4 c. milk 1 tbsp. shortening 2 tbsp. cornstarch 1/2 c. brown sugar 1 can pineapple tidbits (13 1/2 oz.) 1/3 c. vinegar 1 tbsp. soy sauce 1/3 c. green pepper, chopped Drain pineapple, reserving liquid. Mix meat, crumbs, onion, egg, salt, ginger and milk. Shape mixture by rounded tablespoons into balls. Melt shortening in large skillet; brown and cook meatballs. Remove meatballs and keep warm. Pour fat from skillet. Mix cornstarch and sugar, stir in pineapple syrup, vinegar, and soy sauce until smooth. Pour into skillet; use medium heat, stirring constantly until thick and boiling. Cook 1 minute. Add meatballs, tidbits and green pepper. Heat thoroughly. Serve over hot cooked rice and hawaiian fruit on the side.

Of course, I use pre-made meatballs from Sam's Club because I rarely have time to make things totally from scratch. 

CREAM PUFFS

BASIC CREAM PUFFS: 1/2 c. butter (1 stick) 1 c. water 1/8 tsp. salt 1 c. all-purpose flour 4 eggs GLAZE & VANILLA CREAM: 2 boxes instant vanilla pudding mix 3 c. milk 1 c. whipping cream, divided 4 (1 oz.) sqs. semi-sweet chocolate Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring butter, water and salt to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour all at once. Stir until mixture comes together and looks like mashed potatoes. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a wire whisk after each addition. (Mixture will curdle but will smooth as it is blended.) Beat until smooth and pasty. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto 2 greased baking sheets, making 12 mounds. Bake 45 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Remove from oven. Working quickly, with a small sharp knife, make a 1/2 inch slit in the side of each puff. Bake 10 to 15 minutes longer to let the steam escape. Let cool. While puffs are baking, prepare filling and glaze. FILLING: Combine pudding mix, milk and 3/4 cup of whipping cream until smooth and well blended. Chill until ready to fill puffs. CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Combine chocolate and the remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream in a small heavy saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside. When puffs are cool, split them and fill with vanilla pudding mixture. Drizzle slightly warm chocolate sauce over each puff to glaze. Chill until ready to serve.

The Finer Things

Andy and I just returned from a trip to Europe. While we were in Germany we came across a meeting of the Dunder Mifflin, Munich branch office's "Finer Things Club". 

Keep in mind that these guys are sitting in the middle of a "Beer Garden" in Germany.  So classy.

Collaboration

Several months ago, I made a deal with a guy in my ceramics class that I would make two donut pieces and if he would do the top and bottom portions of both pieces, he could keep one and I could keep one. He agreed and both pieces came out great. I've already blogged about the one piece I kept, but my ceramics teacher recently took some professional-looking pictures of some of our work, so I thought I'd include some of those. 

This one is the piece we collaborated on:

These two pictures are of pieces that I have completed and posted about previously. It's amazing what a difference a nice camera and backdrop can make!

I'm officially putting mosquitoes on notice

To all the mosquitoes out there, I'm officially putting you on notice. I came across an article several months ago that caught my attention. I was glad to see that Rocket Scientists are finally making a positive contribution to society. The article, "Rocket Scientists Shoot Down Mosquitoes With Lasers," states that, "In a lab in this Seattle suburb, researchers in long white coats recently stood watching a small glass box of bugs. Every few seconds, a contraption 100 feet away shot a beam that hit the buzzing mosquitoes, one by one, with a spot of red light." That pleases me to no end and I applaud their efforts.

You may be wondering why I glory in the destruction of mosquitoes or you may be thinking that mosquitoes serve a purpose of some sort, like feeding birds. But I, for one, have had it!!! Either the birds are not doing their job or we have a serious surplus of mosquitoes out here. On multiple occasions I have ventured outside for 5 or 10 minutes only to find that I have anywhere from 5 to 10 mosquito bites. These bites will often swell up to be the size of nickles and will itch for about a week. To date, I have not found an ointment, cream or remedy that seems to rid me of the incessant itching!! I hasten to add that Andy is practically immune to mosquitoes. They just don't like him...I'm so jealous!! I'm seriously considering creating a living will for the sole purpose of leaving my net worth (as paltry as it may be) to those Rocket Scientists in Bellevue.

The final straw was last Friday. After work, I decided to go outside and get a jump start on weeding the last portion of our garden so we could get our watermelons planted. I knew I would be out there for a while so I  wore long pants and sprayed Cutter all over my exposed face, neck and arms. After about 45 minutes of weeding, I noticed that my butt started to itch.  I thought maybe the cedar mulch we had put down was causing an allergic reaction of some sort (I am mildly allergic to red cedar). Then I noticed a few mosquitoes buzzing around, but not landing on, my arms. "Oh heck no!" I thought. I went inside only to discover that, sure enough, I had 6 huge mosquito bites ON MY TUSH!!!! Those nasty creatures bit me through TWO layers of clothes!!! Is there a worse place to have a mosquito bite?!?!?! Maybe up your nose, but that's highly unlikely....I hope. The bites swelled up to the size of quarters--or larger! It was like I suddenly had cellulite. The only thing I'm grateful for is that the bites have not lasted as long as they normally do. After a couple days of itching, I am now itch free.

So this is why I am putting mosquitoes on notice and why I laud the efforts of any scientist who dedicates their life to the highest of causes--killing mosquitoes with lasers. They deserve nothing less. 

My Piece of Resistance

I think that phrase sounds better in French. Oh well. I got a piece back from the kiln last night and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I think it's my best 'donut' yet. In fact, I'm thinking about entering it in a local art competition. I figure that it is different enough that it might have a chance. I guess we'll find out. 

Feeling Afflicted and Tormented

I've been feeling afflicted and tormented by weeds lately. Over the course of a couple months, we have been trying to get our garden and various other areas in our yard cleaned up and ready to plant seeds. It's a lot of hard work, and I wish I could say that we're almost done, but something tells me that planting a garden is only the beginning of pulling even more weeds.

Here's an example of how pervasive the weeds out here are. We have an electrical outlet near our garden (which doesn't seem to work) and with the way the weeds have taken over, it looked like it could be its own little biosphere up in there. When we were in NY, Andy's friend's friends mentioned that they had been invited to so-and-so's house for a "Garden Party". Meaning that they were going to plant a few window boxes etc. on someone's roof or balcony. I had to laugh. If gardening is that much of a novelty, I should just invite all my city-slicker friends to come out for a fun and exciting weekend of pulling weeds and then laugh when they discover the turmoil of weeds that just grow right back or having sore hamstrings from bending over for hours at a time. 

Anyway...here's a patch of weeds just outside our back porch before I attacked it:

Here's how our garden looked about a month or so ago. Some of the weeds were taller than me. It took 

several weeks of work to get it in better shape. I fully realize that thorns...briars...noxious weeds etc. were all placed on earth to afflict and torment man, but why must weeds be so perfect in fulfilling their divine purpose?? It would be nice for weeds to occasionally decide to NOT grow in garden beds. I'm just saying. 

Here's what things are looking like now. Here's the patch (pictured above) now. I planted come Calla Lillies and I'm a little unsure if they will survive through the winter, but at least they look good now. 

A lady I visit teach (and who happens to be a Master Gardner) gave me a bunch of cuttings of iris and other plants, so I fixed up the area outside our bedroom window. I'm hoping that by next year they will have grown in a bit more and I will be able to have a variety of fresh-cut flowers in some of the pots I make in ceramics class.

Our garden, which has been a nightmare of sorts is finally starting to look like it has potential. We have been more than a little discouraged with how well the weeds seem to grow out there, but hopefully that just means that our vegetables will have no choice but to thrive. After spending several weekends weeding and turning the soil, this is what it looked like a couple weeks ago:

This is what it looks like now that we've planted a few seedlings, lain down a weed-growth inhibitor and have put mulch around the walkway. We already have rosemary growing and have planted our beans, tomatoes, carrots and green onions. I hope those things grow well next to eachother. If not, we're toast!!

I'm also hoping that our dwarf fruit trees start making some serious headway. They have leaves, but I wonder when we'll actually start seeing some apples, peaches and pears. The fig tree we planted last year seems to be doing well. No figs yet, but I'm looking forward to them already. 

I now understand why some people have full-time gardners. It's a lot of work!!

The Big Apple

Over the long Easter weekend, Andy and I went to New York for a little vacation and to see some family and friends who live there. I'm only now getting around to posting about it because it seems like April has absolutely FLOWN by! We had a great time, but wished that the weather had been better. It was wet, cold, windy and rainy for most of the weekend.

We arrived early Friday morning and went to the Manhattan temple to do a session. We then stopped by a vendor and got me a New York hot dog. Mmmmm sauerkraut. We then went to the Natural History Museum and walked through Central Park to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Natural History Museum has not changed much over the last 20-30 years--not that I would know from having been there 20-30 years ago, but because most of the displays just looked OLD. I was pretty bothered by how much dust was on everything. I guess only the special exhibits get any attention. 

The Met, however, is very well maintained and has a wonderful collection of paintings and sculptures. We met up with Andy's friend Vanya and went to dinner with her, Ryan and a bunch of his friends. 

On Saturday, Andy's friend, Ryan took us around to go sightseeing. We had a great time, but it was really cold and wet. I, for one, was ill prepared for how cold it was. Regardless, we were able to see everything we wanted to see. I got to see the New York Stock Exchange and the bull statue (I aksed him nicely if he would please come back). So I think I am responsible for the rally we've had in April. 

We went to the "Seinfeld Diner", Tom's Restaurant (below) for lunch. 

We also went to the "Top of the Rock" (Rockefeller) so we could look out and see all of New York. It sure is a concrete jungle. 

We had dinner with Debbie (Andy's cousin), Jared, Kiasa (my roommate from BYU), Brian and their daughter Isabella. One of the nice things about New York is that just about every restaurant has fantastic food. Even the vendors are not too shabby. We had Indian food then rushed off to see a Broadway play; West Side Story. My siblings are probably all thinking, "Don't. You. Touch. Him!!!" right about now. 

After the musical, we took a quick look around Times Square and headed to my friend Kiasa's house. On Easter morning, she made some amazing waffles with blueberries etc. and we went to church with them in Harlem. The building is really cool (about 4 stories) and is relatively new.  

On Sunday afternoon, we went to the Cloisters (a museum of sorts)--which was very beautiful. The architecture was very interesting and I was quite taken by all the doors. They had some carved and wrought-iron doors as well as other artifacts. 

We then went over to Jared and Debbie's house and they prepared a WONDERFUL Easter dinner. Mmmm. Not only did it taste good, but it looked fabulous too! We had to wake up the next morning at like 4am to get to the airport. We had  a wonderful time and are so thankful to all of our friends and family who made the trip so great.