1000 almonds...

I just finished making 200 cookies for a sweet friend's wedding this weekend. That would have been super quick, but they each required 5 almonds placed in a circle. 1000 almonds later... One thousand almonds... I am exhausted, but so happy to have been able to contribute to the wedding. :) 

Sorry, the pictures aren't great. It is a gray day. They are supposed to look like sand dollars. 

Here they are, all 100 packages. Martin helped me put two cookies in each bag and handed me twist ties. Yes, it took longer that way, but at least he wasn't sitting on the baby or breaking bowls. Breaking bowls? 

While I was rolling out cookie dough he started saying, "mommy, bowl saaaaad. Bowl saaaaad." 

I said, "why is the bowl sad?" And then looked and he had somehow managed to crack my giant green plastic bowl which I use to make granola and caramel corn. I guess I'll be looking for something new to mix large portions. I could use my 10 quart pot. It has been a good run plastic bowls. There are 2 of 5 left. I gave away two of the smaller ones because I never used them. I kept the largest two and the smallest one. They are good baby toys most of the time...

Last week I:
* went to the gym 3 times (lifted weights twice)
* made two new recipes (one of them might have been the recipe listed below - from my FAVORITE food blog)
* read 300 more pages of my Brooklyn Bridge book (by David McCullough -- I think that I am really enjoying this book because I am an engineer, but I really think other people would like to too!!  David McCullough is amazing!).
* cooked dinner three times

Goals for this week (on top of the other ones):
* finish all my thank you notes from Christmas (I have two left)
* write some other letters that I have been meaning to write

cookie recipe

Don't they look amazing?  Jared said they tasted like brownies, but better because he could dunk them in milk or hot chocolate.  Unlike what the blogger says, these are definitely good warm from the oven.  Jared has requested these instead of brownies at our house.

P.S. Try smearing peanut butter between two cookies and eating them. Amazing!!

P.P.S. I need to find some engineering journals to read.  This book on the bridge is making me want to study more.

I made peppermint patties today!  They are even better than the original. Yum!

edit:
Recipe for Hannah Nanner:  (p.s. it is SUPER easy... well, except the chocolate coating part... it is a bit messy). 

I found the recipe here.  I love "The Kitchn".  It is one of my favorite food blogs.

Ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar
1.5 tbsp softened butter
2 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cream
8 ounces (about 1-1/3 cup) dark chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable shortening
 
Preparation:


Line a cookie sheet with wax paper or a silpat. In a blender, cream together the sugar, butter, extracts, and cream on low speed. After the ingredients are combined, raise the speed to medium-high and beat for an additional 1-2 minutes until mixture holds together very well and is creamy, not powdery.

Using a teaspoon, roll the candy into small balls and flatten them on the wax paper or silpat with the palm of your hand into patty shapes. When done, put them in the refrigerator to chill for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the chopped chocolate and the shortening in the microwave or over a double boiler.

Using dipping tools or two dinner forks, dip the patties into the chocolate one by one. Drag them across the lip of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate. Return them to the wax paper or silpat, and place back in the refrigerator to set the candies. They should be ready to eat in a few hours.

And that's it! Due to the dairy ingredient, these need to be kept in the refrigerator. Layer the patties between sheets of parchment in an airtight container. They'll last for a month.