Isn’t It Ironic?

Although I have never actually bought an Alanis Morissette album, it’s astounding to me that the lyrics of one of her songs are etched so deeply in my mind, similar to several other songs I have referenced in my short blogging career.  In fact, when thinking about my next recipe review, I could immediately hear her grating, jaded refrain along with full accompaniment.

“And isn't it ironic...don't you think
A little too ironic...and, yeah, I really do think...

It's like rain on your wedding day…”

But we’ll get to that recipe in a bit.

Meanwhile, here are a few other ironies that have struck me lately:

-Everyone in my house, including me, hates turning the Christmas tree lights on past December 26th.

-I had grand plans of sharing all my favorite Christmas recipes but forgot how busy the holiday season is.  So, forget about blogging before the big day!

-Santa forgets to leave anything really special in Mom’s stocking, perhaps thinking he won’t get any credit from that particular placement.

-While outwardly jeering at all those long, informative Christmas letters we get, I always pour through them intently as if they contain hidden messages from Nostradamus himself.

-My Christmas treat distribution list dwindles proportionately to the amount of hours I spend baking and candy making.

-Hearing other women’s husbands ask my husband if we’re “all ready for Christmas” on December 10th or so seems to mysteriously raise my blood pressure as I wait for his stress-free reply. 

-All those Christmas movies on Lifetime and Hallmark suddenly become inane on December 26th (for another 11 months.)

-All my years of being single left me a romanticized expectation of New Year’s Eve.  After 12 years of marriage, however, my sole hope is that we both stay awake until midnight.

If you have any holiday ironies to add, I’d love to hear them.   Now, back to that recipe.

 

My family has always enjoyed this particular cookie that I found in a Hershey’s chocolate advertisement.   On my recipe card, I recorded the official name as “Hershey’s ‘Perfectly Chocolate’ Chocolate Chip Cookies.”  The last time I made them, though, I did two things differently.  First, I chilled the dough for an hour or so because time ran short and I needed to run an errand.  Second, when shopping for a new canister of cocoa, I was annoyed that the Hershey’s brand was so darn expensive in my supermarket, so I talked myself into buying this brand instead. 

 Premium Cocoa from SA CO

It’s a blend of regular and Dutch processed cocoa. When my husband tried a cookie after work, he said, to my utter amazement, “Now, that’s what I call a cookie!”  This new cocoa turned the cookie into a superstar!  It is the BEST cocoa to bake with at a fraction of the cost of Hershey’s.  So, while I credit Hershey’s for providing the recipe, remember me and my new cocoa find with a knowing wink, okay?

Hershey’s ‘Perfectly Chocolate’ Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup white chips*

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.  In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy, blend in eggs and vanilla well.  Gradually add dry ingredients, beating well.  Stir in chips.  Drop by rounded teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  Makes 4-5 dozen.

(The cookies pictured were rounded tablespoons baked for 10 minutes, which made 3 dozen.)

*You can experiment with peanut butter chips instead of white, or just go 100% chocolate chips.  My family likes the chocolate/white combo.

Happy New Year!!!

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old…

…One Is Silver And The Other’s Gold.

Do you remember that wonderful song, done in a round?  We sang it at all our girl scout gatherings and I still love it.

Since I’ve accumulated many years and lived in many places, I have lots of “gold” friends.  Too many to mention, but here’s a quick idea:  Karen, the original girl scout friend along with all the Kettle Killers,  members of the class of ‘80 trip to Lake George, Donna Summer aka Pat, college roomies Julie and Tracie who ended up to be related in the end, Sue who has never given up on me, Steve who likes to ‘walk up’ chicken, Stamford Ward friends including cooking guru Carlin, Stanford Ward friends, Judy my mentor:  “That’s just men,”  laurels from Fair Oaks, and a few LDSFS  friends ‘Who Cannot Be Named’ (who know who they are!)  Not to brag, but that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of people who I love and miss.  It seems I am reminded of how many people that ‘I can’t let go’ every December when I start my Christmas card list. (As an aside, facebook now brings my obsessive-compulsive-friend-keeping behavior to a new all-time high…)

I have one ‘gold’ friend who probably is steaming right now for the lack of mention…and it is Amanda!  She is not only a frequent commenter on this blog, she is someone I can tell almost any problem/worry/complaint/humorous story to without censorship.  She understands and will discuss with me ad nauseam the complete injustice of infertility, of which bad thoughts creep upon me from time to time after all these years-still.  She is the one person, besides family, I can ask to watch Jack and know it wouldn’t bug her.  That’s saying a lot.

Unfortunately, I’m not her ‘two houses away’ neighbor anymore.  Hence, the gold status.  She visited me two summers ago since I now live on her lane:

 

Every year for Christmas when we were neighbors she would bring our family her very yummy caramel popcorn, and, true confession,  I would keep it all to myself!  I emailed her a couple of weeks ago to ask her for her recipe.  She replied: “Sorry you'll have to make your own popcorn this year.  I'd much rather take it around the corner to your house!”  I made it to enclose in gift boxes for a few friends and family since it’s the perfect packing material treat.  Hope it arrives as tasty as it left.  Thanks Amanda, and I miss you!

Merry Christmas to all my gold and silver friends!

Amanda’s Caramel Popcorn

1 lb brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 stick butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

dash salt

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 gallons of popped corn (after a less than perfect tester batch, I settled on making 2 batches of popped corn using 3/4 cups of popping kernels total.)

Boil sugar and corn syrup, add stick of butter, stirring to blend as it melts and bring to gentle boil.  Gradually add sweetened condensed milk, stirring constantly.  Cook to soft ball stage (234 to 240 degrees), stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add salt and vanilla.  Pour over popped corn, coating well.  Spread out on cookie sheet until cooled.