Chocolate Chip and Butterscotch Cookies...

I just finished making some rockin' cookies and had to share the recipe! I was trolling some fave blogs early this morning and came across yet another great blog to add to my bookmarks...Twice Remembered...don't visit it unless you have a few minutes or hours because it WILL suck you in! Her style is positively engaging and inspiring.

She had a recipe on her site for Best Ever Chocolate Chip cookies and since I am not one to pass up trying a 'best ever' anything let alone cookie, I just had to make these! The Little Prince and I mixed up the batter and decided we would stray a bit from the Chocolate Chip only part and instead we added 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of butterscotch morsels for variety ;-)

The recipe claims to make a cookie that will stay gooey moist and chewy even after they have cooled and since that is my fave kind of cookie I was glad to try out the recipe...so here they are and guess what? They are WONDERFUL!!!! Definitely a recipe that will go in my recipe binder. Just see how good they look and they smell even better:


Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup butter, softened (I used butter flavor Crisco sticks)
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons hot water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 c semisweet chocolate chips and 1 c butterscotch morsels)
* 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) (I left these out)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt.
Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts.
Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

I did what she suggested and used two level tablespoons worth of batter and rolled them up in a ball and baked 9 per large cookie sheet. I use Silpat or parchment paper to line my baking sheets for perfect nonstick cookies. I baked my cookies for 12 minutes and they were perfect. She suggested trying a test cookie for 10 minutes first and let cool, and see if you might like it even better. After removing them from the oven, I too let my cookies stand for just a few minutes until they were firm enough to transfer to a wire cooling rack.

They are delish and if you don't take my word for it, just look at the little Prince enjoying his cookie!

Camille is at it again!

Camille over at Simplify has a great post up that you just have to read! She just got back from the quilt market and has some great links to the designers. That way you can get to know the designers that come up with all the wonderful patterns and designs we all love and use in our crafts!

Oh yeah, AND she is doing a GIVEAWAY!!! Go check it out...you can thank me later! ;-)

What's Making Me Happy Today...

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven

-All's right with the world!

~Robert Browning

These things are making my Monday a happy one:

Rain falling softly outside...

A pretty pot of plants on the patio table:

"The world's favorite season is the spring.

All things seem possible in May."

~Edwin Way Teale

The soft colors of the petunias in the hanging baskets...we always pot a few of these around my daughter's birthday in March:

"Spring - an experience in immortality."

~Henry D. Thoreau

The hostas with the rain drops shining like jewels upon their leaves in our flower bed:

"When April steps aside for May,

Like diamonds all the rain-drops glisten;

Fresh violets open every day:

To some new bird each hour we listen."

~Lucy Larcom

The roses abloom standing tall and proud as the rain ever gently kisses them:

"Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun."

~ Kahlil Gibran

My newly potted 'fairy plant' (fuschia) by my wicker settee under the patio...sitting there watching the rain today with a cup of coffee is so pleasant:

"Sweet May hath come to love us,

Flowers, trees, their blossoms don;

And through the blue heavens above us

The very clouds move on."

~ Heinrich Heine, Book of Songs

Pink and white petunias in an original terra cotta pot from Italy...a pot my grandmother used in her garden and now I use in mine:

"Sweet April showers

Do spring May flowers."

~ Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry, 1557

Oh, and inside, my new ironing board cover is making me happy:

And of course the smile from this guy...he is making me happiest today:

Neapolitan Bouquet Quilt

*Photo courtesy of Corbis Stock Photos

The ice cream above is what came to mind while piecing the top of the quilt for my daughter! The quilt top is in strawberry pinks, creamy vanillas, and chocolates with floral, stripes, and dots...so as my previous post stated, the name I thought of was 'Neapolitan Bouquet' for the quilt. With that in mind, I rethought how I wanted to piece the back of the quilt. What do you think?

Here is the quilt top all completed:

And here is the back of the quilt, all completed:
Viola! My daughter's 'Neapolitan Bouquet' quilt is ready to go to the long-arm quilters this week! I think we will quilt it with a flower quilting technique. Then I will bind it using the same floral focus fabric from the vertical strips on the quilt top. I can't wait to give this to my daughter for snuggling up under while watching a movie together. I made it wider than my last quilt so that two can snuggle easily under this one!

Oh, and my ever so lovely handmade bag/tote came today!!! I am so excited. It was made with beautiful Amy Butler fabrics from the ever talented Janie from Clutterbags on Etsy. I ordered the bag a few weeks ago and she did an excellent job! She even made me a custom diaper/wipes case to go with it that has a zipper closure and a removable wrist strap, making this little gem very versatile and perfect for growing with us and for carrying other things once we are out of diapers around here (which will hopefully be within the next few months!) Go visit her site and see her wonderful work!!! The pictures below do not do it justice and the bag is so much more beautiful in person!!!! I could not be happier with it!

Here is the bag/tote alone:Here is the bag along with the diaper/wipe case:

Also to note, our whole school district is closed this week due to the H1, N1 virus or Swine Flu. I am fortunate enough that this thrills me to have an unexpected week with both my kiddos home to just play and enjoy each others company, but I realize for many parents this is a hardship if they both have jobs outside of the home. I pray that the sick are healed and that the parents facing hardship due to school closures are comforted and that relief for all of this comes soon. Please keep our community and especially the sick in your prayers.