Monday, April 14, 2008

Housekeeping...

Just a quick post this morning to say Happy Monday! I had a wonderful weekend in the studio with a rehearsal dinner on Friday (in gorgeous shades of dark pink and deep red; peonies, roses, orchids...I loved the vibrant colors!) and a wedding for the same couple on Saturday (Canlis restaurant, a very loose, untailored look in powder blue, pale green and soft petal pink).

But as a result of all the fun I've been having with flowers, I've fallen behind on a few things I wanted to share! I'll have some great interviews this week as well as pictures from both events this weekend, so keep watching for those. In the meantime...
1. Peonies. They've been growing like crazy this past week!


2. My favorite arrangement of the week.


3. No "week in review" last week, so I wanted to share this fabulous idea from Elizabeth from Elizabeth Anne Designs. She had a great suggestion for a common problem--what job to give little guys that want to be involved in the wedding but are too big to be ring bearers. She said "I think every church I’ve seen has entry way doors that can be closed after the bridesmaids have processed but before the bride appears. Why not have them do the honor of opening the doors for the big reveal. It’s a big job, but an easy one, and the 8-year olds would probably much rather do that than be ring bearers". I love this idea!


4. Scenes from a walk on Capitol Hill Saturday night for a friend's birthday. These were in the window of Retrofit Home. Of course I love the deer, but also notice the cute white cuckoo clock made of stamped metal. Funky!



5. And...the cookies that got me through the weekend! These might actually be my all time favorite cookies. When Steve made them for the first time a few years ago from the back of the mint chocolate chip wrapper, I totally scoffed. I'm a cookbook addict, so was convinced he'd find a better use for the great chocolate chips there. My first bite told me otherwise though. Then, last year, I misplaced the recipe. I spent a full year looking in every single grocery store I ever went in (anytime I traveled I made sure to hit the store and take a look) for the Hershey's chocolate chips so that I could get the recipe back. No luck; they weren't selling the chips anymore. I tried to buy them on-line; no luck. I tried to special order them; no luck. I tried the Hershey's website, I tried other recipe sites, I tried calling Hershey's...NO LUCK! It was as if the recipe had never existed. Then, a few weeks ago, I found it tucked into the spine of one of my favorite chocolate cookbooks...as if the recipe knew all along that it was cookbook worthy!

Anyway, I feel obligated to pass it on (there might be someone else out there searching away for this recipe), plus if I ever lose it again, I'll be able to find it on my own site now! But really, these cookies are chocolatey goodness heaven!!!


Double Chocolate Mint Cookies
(from Hershey's Kitchens)

Note on chocolate chips: I doubt you'll be able to find Hershey's chocolate chips, but DO NOT substitute the pale green variety. They are made out of white chocolate, which will not give at all the same result. Follow my modification in the recipe, using normal chocolate chips, and you'll get the exact result. Oh, and if I haven't mentioned it before, Trader Joe's makes the BEST semi-sweet chocolate chips--so much better than even the "gourmet chips" available now.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (only if you are not using mint chocolate chips)
1 c. flour
1/2 c. baking cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
10-12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips (or mint if you can find them!)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add egg, vanilla, and mint extract and mix. Sift or mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, gradually add to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on baking sheet. Bake 9 minutes (DO NOT overbake--they should still look pretty underdone when you take them out!). Let set on the sheet for 3-4 minutes, then let cool completely on wire rack.

Enjoy! The cookies, your week...

1 comment:

Sarah Spada said...

1. Noah is so darn cute.

2. I had some of those cookies from Robin and they were delish! Mint is my favorite flavor.