It's been quiet around blogland the past few weeks. I haven't had too much to share. I don't have any big project that I'm working on. I've been enjoying working in the kitchen and baking like crazy. I had a Valentines day post for you but then disaster struck! More about that in a minute. First I wanted to share with you a few more gifts for baby. We had another baby shower at church last Sunday. I made 5 more receiving blankets and another hat. I can't show you all of it because I forgot to take pictures before the gift was wrapped. Mind you I finished with the blanket embroidery at 9:00am Sunday morning. I had a whopping 30 minutes to spare before we dashed off to church. Nothing like waiting to the very last minute. Why do I do that? Is it just me? I find myself in this predicament far too often. The hat I knitted is so easy peasy yet still kept my interest. The pattern is here.
The blankets were well received by the new mother. I have enough flannel serged to make 12 more blankets. I will try and finish as many as possible for the future. Anyway it was great getting to know my sewing machine again. I even had to dig out my instruction book. giggle
Back to baking.....I have been baking valentine cookies for all of my sweeties. I found this recipe from Ina Garten. It is a wonderfully yummy cookie.
Chocolate White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Copyright 2001 Barefoot Contessa Parties!
Ingredients
1/2 pound unsalted butte,r at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup good unsweetened cocoa
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds good white chocolate, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix well. Add the cocoa and mix again. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and add to the chocolate with the mixer on low speed until just combined. Fold in the chopped white chocolate.
Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands and flatten the dough slightly. Bake for exactly 15 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool
completely.
You can use white chocolate or any kind of chocolate chip. For my first batch all I had an hand were the Christmas red and green chips. I followed a friends advice and separated the green and red and only used the red ones. They turned out beautifully.
The dough is delicious and very chocolaty.
Anyone want a spoon?!!!
The smell from the oven is pure heaven!
They taste so good. It's a cross between a brownie and a cookie. Yum! I got so many compliments. While I was writing up my blog post last week for Valentines day I had a computer disaster. Early last week I had an alert pop up on the screen that warned about a Trojan horse. My antivirus program noted the file name and alerted me that it couldn't remove the vicious file. I tried to do it myself but it seems as though the file was hidden. I am not an expert or computer whiz. Three days later the virus took over. It started doing strange things like re-directing me to different sites. Locking out other sites I was trying to get to. All that being said we were dead in the water until Monday. My son was able to remove suspicious files and we needed to download another program to remove the nasty virus. Here is my question. I have purchased the original protection for 49.99 each year, Now I have to purchase a totally different blocker for another 39.99. My computer should be as safe as Fort Knox right? I'm still having issues. Even as I write today's post I am unable to load pictures like I was able to do before the attack. I also can't post comments on blogs like Tracy's. I'm reading, I can't seem to leave a comment. The system is so slow. I think I may need an expert. Has anyone else ever had these issues? Just curious. Anyway, I will not give up!
Thank you for stopping by. So, what's new in your life?
13 comments:
So far I haven't had anything like that happen to my computer. I hope you can get it working right again.
The hat and blankets are really cute. I used to be like you, working right up until the last minute on shower gifts, but now if they aren't finished a few days ahead, I buy something instead.
The blankets and hat are cute as can be! I had to laugh over the sewing machine giggle 'cause I've caught the sewing bug myself lately..it must be going around. ;)
Those cookies look delicious!
We sure did have a computer disaster-last year. I innocently let it happen-I let something or someone have access to our computer-a screen came up, and I clicked 'yes.' Very wrong thing to do. We had free AVG at the time-it wasn't good enough, nor was free Microsoft. So we spent $79.00 and bought the expensive version of AVG. It works! The only 'problem' we ever have is when it's going through the daily search and destry, if you need to use the computer at the same time, it's a little slow. We have it set for 8 am, and it's done around 9:15. I would reccomend it highly though. You do have a wait for the disk, but they send you a link to download the program before you get the hard copy. also, that's $79.00 per year, not lifetime. For us, it was worth it-we lost EVERYTHING. Even the fonts we were used to. And to get it all back cost us $150.00. We were not happy about that little game someone played on us. We also have a seperate hard drive that we back up every so often-just in case-t's great peace of mind, and very easy to do. It really stinks that we even have to be concerned about this stuff.
On a happier note-I love those cookies-I've been eating chocolate today, but they look so good!
Love, Debra
You kind of lost me after showing the cookies...something about computer problems..chocolate..virus..chocolate..chocolate. ;-Þ
Seriously, I'm of zero help in that department. I'm the total opposite of a computer geek. I do know, a few months ago, I went through a period where I couldn't leave a comment on Tracy's blog, either. It lasted a couple of weeks, then went away. Even now, I occasionally am not able to do so. Weird.
The blankets and hat are darling. I'm the same as you about putting things off to the last moment. Practically every handmade gift I give is completed in the bare nick of time.
Ooh, yummy cookies! Wish I had one right now! Also, the baby gifts are fantastic. I'm sure the young mom will enjoy using all of them.
I personally haven't had any issues, but my husband is a computer wiz. He does, however, fix other people's computers and I know lots of people have been having issues lately.
Great baby gifts! I've had nothing to say much either other than went to job #1 then to job #2 then home to bed. Rinse, repeat. :)
We've been very fortunate not to have any virus attacks. I bet you're having issues because your locked up like ft knocks. I hope things loosen up for you. Good to hear from you!
my BIG news....i am taking a "knitting 101" class in March. I was waiting while mark filed for umemployment (yep...he is now among the ranks of those without work) and i saw this add in the paper for a needle felting classes and knitting. i called and the place is called rainbow farms and it is an alpaca farm (they have 2 boys and 11 girls). the place is amazing and i signed up for a wool pets type class and a totally beginners knitting class. you dont bring anything, they have the needles and you use old acrylic yarn to learn on...i see alpaca socks in my future...could be a year or two away, but i really want to learn this. i bought a new sukaluki out of alpaca...mark asked if i didnt like my tech one any more, i said, now i have two. the alpaca one is way warmer thanthe wool one. i am stoked! a new adventure to squeeze in with all the quilting i have...yipee.. i must be nuts but im lovin it!
Wow! I'd begun to wonder where you were, Barb. Sounds as though you've had a very busy couple of weeks. Love the baby items! My main sewing machine has been in the shop since the day before Thanksgiving...yes, THANKSGIVING! They just called and it's finally fixed...am on my way to town to get it!
Those cookies look yummy! Don't you just love her stuff? And speaking of Ina...NOW I know who you remind me of..your features remind me of her...
Welcome back to the land of the coumputer-living!
Ah, computer bummer. I hope you get straightened out soon. Thanks for the cookie recipe--it looks fabulous!
Your baby gifts are wonderful. It's so great that you can bless others with your talent. Sorry about the computer issues. Technology...can't live with it, can't live without it! Next time you get an error message, have a cookie...they look like they could cure anything. :)
I know what you mean about being quiet and low key. Hey, blog when you want. That's what it is all about.
Those cookies look delicious...yummy. Sorry to hear about the computer. Don't have an answer for you, but good luck my friend!
Was wondering if the shawl arrived! Hope all is well
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