Let the Chips Fall Where They May

So, today was another busy one in the life of the PBA…I won’t bore you with the details of it, but I will mention this one little thing. If the local library is hosting a whole series of events / workshops centered around a specific theme…the Civil War, perhaps…just throwing that out there as a for instance…any similarity to events real or imaginary is purely coincidental…be sure to check the library website for more information.

Let this be a PSA for everyone who might attempt to go to an event, say, on Civil War Basket Weaving at your local library…PLEASE do not take the local newspaper’s word for what it says. Not everyone is as “attention to detail” as yours truly and some pertinent information MAY be omitted from the newspaper article. The class we showed up for today was for adults only and required pre-registration.

I mean…they would, hypothetically, have required pre-registration had they hosted such an event.

In other news, one member of the PBA is now registered to attend a class on Civil War cooking (samples included…we like that) at the local library this coming Monday evening, and one on Civil War medicine on Wednesday night; soccer practice conflicts for the other PBA member. I must tell you, though, that the child who is going is UBER excited.

And no, in case you cannot read the sarcasm (though you should…I am laying it on pretty thick), I’m totally kidding…he’s not over the moon about the classes at all, though I suspect it will be more engaging once he realizes food is involved in one of them, and blood and guts (hopefully just theoretical blood and guts) are involved in the other one. How could a 9yo boy not L.O.V.E. that?

Only time will tell. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

AND though the website said “adults only” which always makes me giggle a little bit…not always the most mature one, am I?...I CALLED the library and asked if some homeschoolers could attend. And what do you know…they said yes. But only if a parent stayed with him.

Well, I was actually going to drop him off and head over to the mall, taking full advantage of the free childcare the library was providing, but I suppose I can sit there and get some learning in too.

All this rambling to say…my day did take a little bit of a twist and the afternoon did not go as scheduled.

No underwater basket weaving for us today.

That being said, I had some extra time on my hands…ha! That’s so funny.  Extra time…what is this of which I speak?

Anyway, I am well aware that it’s just a smidge early for Valentine’s Day but seeing as how I had the time and all, I made some Valentine’s Day chocolate chip cookies for the PBA (and Mr. Always Random)…and myself too, if I’m being totally honest here.

To all you haters out there (ok, I don’t really think there are any haters…I’m just a thug) who thought I wouldn’t follow through with my plans from Sorting Chips, I just want you to know that I have, in fact, actually made my afore mentioned Valentine’s Day cookies.

I will confess, though, that I POSSIBLY made a few more than I need. I won’t even pretend to say “want” because I want to eat them all. Don’t judge.

OK, so here it is: I made approximately 12 dozen chocolate chip cookies. In theory I made 12 dozen. I lost track after the first 4 dozen…there’s a reason I work with preschoolers. My attention span and higher math are not always my strong suits.

And I may have eaten some of the dough. I know you’re not supposed to, and I don’t usually let the PBA do it. But it’s so tasty that I’m willing to risk a near-death experience for it. There aren't many things I Would do that for.

So, I’m sure you may be asking yourself: Why on God’s green earth would she make that make cookies? How many people are in her family and does anyone really NEED that many cookies?

The answer to the need question is this: “Need is a subjective term…what do I really NEED?”

To answer the "why?" will necessitate several bullet points. I made this many for several reasons. Here they are in no particular order. (You weren’t really expecting an order, were you?)

• I had 2 cups of reddish-pink chocolate chips and for the record, I couldn’t quite discern if they were really white chocolate chips or vanilla chips. Regardless, they did not taste chocolatey to me. Hence the next reason.
• I HAD to add regular chocolate chips into the equation. And not just any old chocolate chips…these were Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate chips. Nothing but the best for the PBA and Mr. Always Random (and myself).
• Once I mixed together all 4 cups of chocolate chips, I decided to check my recipe. The Toll House recipe (which is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, hands down...we're not even going to discuss it) calls for 2 cups of chips. No problem…I could double it, right? Well, a single recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, softened.
• I don’t have a good history with softened butter. Most of the time I forget to take it out of the fridge early enough, so I end up having to put it in the microwave, where I inevitably put it in for just a touch too long and end up melting it. But some recipes are so touchy and DO NOT want melted butter. This, unfortunately, is one of them.
• And since I was ready and willing to make the cookies RIGHT THEN, I knew there would be no Toll House cookies in my near future. This was a little disappointing, because I even had real butter to put in them…but it was in the freezer.
• Did you know you can put butter in the freezer? My friend PA taught me that this summer, so now when it’s on sale, I buy the stuff by the gross.
• And no, I’m not saying butter IS gross…I BUY it by the gross. Large Amounts. Vast Quantities. Get the point? It’s so much better than margarine and if I can buy it and freeze it for a tiny fraction more than the horrible margarine, why wouldn’t I?
• Well, I am cheap, so that might be a reason, but other than that, there’s no reason. I buy the butter on sale and freeze it. End of that riveting discussion.
• OK, so no Nestle Toll House, right? The next best recipe, in my opinion, is the Kairos Prison Cookie recipe…which calls for shortening…and the only reason I have shortening in the house is for the Kairos Cookie recipe. No need to bring that stuff to room temperature, because it rents space on the pantry shelf all the time. Just crack open the can and away we go. 
• I pulled out that recipe. It only calls for 1 cup of chocolate chips, but it makes 3 dozen cookies.
• So at that point I realized in order to utilize all my chips, I would need to quadruple the recipe; I was going to be making 12 dozen cookies. 

And I also realized that I was choosing to make cookies typically made for prison inmates for my husband and children. For Valentine’s Day.

Does that send the wrong message?

And I guess that list kind of was in order. Sorry to throw off my rhythm by doing that. Please forgive. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

Now…did I HAVE to make that many? Did someone force me? No, but I’m dedicated if nothing else. I know myself well enough to know that if I didn’t use up those chips today, I never would. And we don’t let food go to waste in this house. Ever.

Case in point: last night my 11yo informed me at dinner that he wasn’t “in the mood for split pea soup”…well, neither was I, but it was what we were having. I informed him that it was fine, he could be excused but there would be nothing else served from our kitchen…either by me or him…for the rest of the evening. He finished his soup, thank you very much. And said not another word about it.

Such a good boy.

I will say that I did make one other slight change to the recipe, which would have gotten me a swift little slap on the hands had I done this for an actual Kairos event. In addition to using the non-standard red chocolate chips, I also added a cup of flaxseed meal.

I figured I needed to have a way to keep myself…and others…from gorging on the cookies…because frankly I (and they) have zippo self-control.

And one day of eating too much flaxseed meal ought to do the trick.

Yummm...chocolate chip cookie dough. 

In my extra-large Tupperware "Thats A Bowl"...notice how it matches my red chocolate chips.

I love a theme!