Lis and I have a day out!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Lis and I went on an Owl Homes tour.

Since we were broke and trying to kill a lot of time, we toured each home extensively.

We even took pictures to see which homes we looked best in.

These are those pictures.

All of the Owl Homes master bathrooms can accommodate two people at a time.

Three, if two people get in the shower together.

As an added bonus, there are seats in the showers.

Lis really, really had to go to the bathroom in this house.

I decided to take a bath while she was doing her business.

Lis was really tired, touring all those homes, so she decided to take a nap.

After a while, all the houses began to look the same to me.

It also could have been because I was a little tipsy.

Makin' sure those damned kids stay the fuck off my lawn.

Another house, another bathroom.

This bathroom, however, had a fireplace AND wine in it.

We decided this was the house for us.

So, I kicked off my shoes and sat down to read a book.

Lis, on the other hand, took a nap in the chair.

Then, after we decided we couldn't afford our new dream home, we went clothes shopping.

Lis found her perfect dream dress in a second hand store.

We ended the night at Sprague's, where Lis celebrated her birthday.

Too bad Lis's birthday isn't until June.

It's that time of the year again.

Yes, kids, it's that time of the year again, National Novel Writing Month. This year, I've added onto my list of things to do in November (write 50,000 words) and I've become a Municipal Liaison (ML, as the kids say). Nothing special happens in my region when you're ML, because we're all pretty mature and capable. So, a few times a week, I send out an e-mail telling my group (which, as of this post consists of 129 different people) to write, write, write, and to attend write-ins. Basically, I'm a noveling cheerleader.

Last year was the first year in five years of participating in NaNoWriMo that I won. I did it with a fantasy novel that I called Bruises. So, to continue my tradition of win, I've decided I'm going to stick with fantasy again this year. Only, this time, I'm doing what I like to call "young adult modern fantasy." My title? The Road Home.

As of right now, I've written 12,709 words towards my novel, almost double the amount needed to be "on track" with the month. I've also, in addition to noveling, created several images to go along with my novel. Most of the images are book covers, but a few are things like banners for my forum signature, or user icons. Would you like to look at them? You would? Well, you're in luck, my friend.

The first book cover:

My banner for my forum signature.

I know they're tacky, but everybody has one.

An icon of sorts, using a road, and not the model.

Just in case you were wondering, the girl who I used in my novel cover and signature banner is Katerina Martinovska, she's a Czech model whose work is mostly found in the knitting magazine, Rowan. Though, some of her work has been featured in the Russian Elle.

60 in 60: Extras

The blog has been taken over by cookies, and I promise no more cookie posts for awhile. Here's all the little extra things that went on behind the scenes of my cookie/blogging experiment.

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On Day 6 (Cappachino Crinkles) I really, really, really hated the cookie dough.

Here's a picture to prove it:

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Around Day 16, my freezer was overflowing with cookies. Here's a little sample of my "How many cookies can I fit in my freezer?" experiment. (The answer is somewhere over 300.)

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In late September, I figured I enjoyed baking so much, that I ordered a commission of yours truly the hot-bodied baker of love. Rosie made me this very awesome and truly spectacular piece of artwork. (I have a print of it hanging in my living room.)

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On October 1st, I donated over 200 cookies to BonaResponds for their LiveStrong Days bakesale. I'm not sure exactly how much they raised for their cause, but I know it was over 200 dollars to a great cause.

24 cream cheese cut outs

16 pink lemonades

16 best ever chocolate chip

26 craisy oatmeal cookies

24 Granola cookies

16 white chocolate macadamia nut

38 oatmeal toffee

6 Buffalo Chip Cookies

12 Almond Biscotti

18 Oatmeal Raisin

6 S'mores Bars

Giving up.

So, this little 60 in 60 thing isn't going to be finished. I haven't baked since the 19th of October, and that's fine by me. Life has been a little more than baking recently. So: I'm giving up on 60 in 60. Which is fine. I don't feel I've left myself down and I don't feel that I'm any less of a person because I didn't complete this. I had some fun, and I made a ton of great cookies. I also helped Bona Responds raise almost $250.

What have I been doing recently then, if not baking?

My brother turned 30 on the 20th. There was a party. I made cupcakes and a cake. Both were delicious. Then I got sick. Deathly ill, waking the boyfriend sick. The next day I did some theatre work at St. Bonaventure University. I ended up turning the houselights up and down for Michael Cooper. I also spent 20 minutes of each show being creeped out by a giant baby head. I did that for two days, then on Friday I spent the day with my friend, Lis. Since we're both ultra-broke, unemployed, former SAC employees, we spent the day walking around various shops, turning in out pop cans (nickels, FTW!), and looking at Owl Homes.

Owl Homes, for those not in the know, are pre-manufactured homes. Apparently, you choose one by going on a lot and looking through all the model homes and then deciding which one you like best. Some are even decorated so you can see their potential. Most of them have awesome kitchen islands installed. All of them have enough shower space for two people. One of them has a fireplace in the bathroom.

In the bathroom!

Since then I've watched a lot of television, and sat around on the couch a lot.

Sunday, on the other hand, is going to start a whole new challenge. (Well, I've done part of it before.) Sunday, I officially begin my 6th year of NaNoWriMo. It'll also be my first NaNoWriMo as Municipal Liaison (ML). If you don't know, being a ML is a big, huge, awesome responsibility. I'm, officially, in charge of herding cats, basically. All the other NaNoWriMo writers that go to write-ins and post questions on the forums and need pep talks. I'm in charge of them. Making sure they play nice, making sure they have all the answers they need to write, and making sure that they have all the pep they can handle - plus some!

Oh, and I also have to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

Well, it's 6am, that last paragraph didn't make sense, and my cats (the fur kind) need petting. Also, this post should have pictures, lots and lots of pictures. At least two of them should have bathrooms involved and at least one of them should have a bathroom fire place. There was even going to be a picture of me wearing a very large headset. But, alas, the laptop won't reconize the memory card from the camera.

Here, have a picture of puppies instead:

60 in 60: Day 44- Chip Cookies

These cookies were originally a recipe out of a Better Homes and Garden's Cookie Book. They were modified by Heather for her friend, Chip. I modified them just a little bit more (the original recipe calls for cayenne and cardamom, not nutmeg). When Heather sent me the recipe she included how these cookies should be stored. Unfortunately, for the fridge, these cookies didn't make it to the "storing" stage. They did, however, make it all the way to the "Save the recipe because these are freaking delicious" stage.

Heather's description of the recipe follows: "Okay, this is adapted from a Better Homes & Gardens recipe. I changed a bunch of stuff around, added things to taste, and made corrections as I saw fit and there's actually very little of the original recipe left in there, but gotta give credit where it's due. We just call them Chip Cookies because my friend Chip asks for them, is responsible for most of the flavors being requested, & cites this finished recipe as his favorite. If I had to classify them, I guess they'd be chocolate-gingerbread-wafer-cutout... things. He has to be rationed, or he'll eat all of them in one sitting and make himself ill. They're a bit time-consuming, but totally worth it!"

Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (not margarine)

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg (which I used because I was missing the 1/8 tsp cayenne 1/2 tsp cardamom)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

(Heather says "If you don't have all that stuff, the cayenne & a couple teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice should do the trick.")

2 tsp cocoa powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp vanilla

1 & 1/2 cups flour, (Heather says "Spooned lightly into the cups, not packed & leveled off, or the cookies will be really dry.")

beat the butter for 30 seconds

Add in the brown sugar, spices, cocoa, & salt. Beat all that until it's incorporated, then add the egg & vanilla.

Mix in the flour just until it's all mixed in. Don't over mix it or the cookies will be tough.

Divide it in half & chill it if it's too mushy to roll out. (Mine went in the fridge for about 20 minutes or so, just so I could roll it.)

Roll out cookie dough to about 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out cookies using fun shapes. (Heather says: "If you want authentic Chip Cookies, use leaf-shapes and dog-bone shapes, 'cause those are his favorite.")

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. (Some of my cookies ended up looking like wonky bats.)

While the cookies are cooling, melt the chocolate chips.

Drizzle chocolate over the cookies.

Heather says: "Chip favors as much chocolate as humanly possible coated on the cookies, but I think about 50% coverage is good for letting the spices & flavors all come out.") I just let whatever came off of the rubber spatula coat the cookies. I liked the ones with less chocolate, while my boyfriend enjoyed the ones with more.

Let the chocolate cool off before devouring the deliciousness that are "Chip Cookies."

Just in case you don't devour all the cookies in one sitting, here are Heather's rules for storing, "When all the chocolate is set (this can take a while, and cats hamper the process), store in an airtight container (if you used parchment paper earlier, tear it up & put it between layers of cookies in the container, otherwise, throw 'em in a ziploc bag). They freeze really well, and if it's really hot & muggy, you want to at least put them in the fridge to keep the chocolate from melting."

Yield: There.. was more than one cookie? I don't believe you.

60 in 60: Day 43- White Chocolate Walnut

Just so you know, there is a big difference between "White Chocolate Macadamia Nut" and "White Chocolate Walnut."

White Chocolate Walnut

Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 c butter

1/2 c Raw Sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

4 oz white chocolate chunks

1/2 c finely chopped walnuts

(You should know this one:) Cream together the butter and the sugar.

Add the vanilla and egg, beating until just blended.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients all willy-nilly.

Form the dough into balls the size of walnuts (Which I found amusing, because there are chopped walnuts in the cookies.)

Bake for 10-12 minutes on a greased cookie sheet at 350.

Cool on the sheet until cookies firm slightly, then transfer to racks for the cookies continued cooling pleasure.

I'll let my pal, Rosie, do the talking for me on these cookies: "[JessAnn] sent me cookies. i am orgasming right now because they are seriously some of the most amazing delicious cookies ever." So, fellas, take a tip from your girl, JessAnn, if you want buxom, blonde women to quiver with ultimate joy, bake them cookies.

Book Yield: 20

My Yield: 20!

60 in 60: Day 42-Cherry Cookies

Another previous-made recipe (but aren't all of these? How abouts I say "way previously-made"?) from the Golden Cookie Book of doom and deliciousness. (I wish it were really called that.) These delightful, colorful, odd-shaped cookies, that reside on page 118, were originally made on October 7th.

Cherry Cookies

Ingredients:

1 and 2/3 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 c butter, cut up

1 egg, beaten

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c finely chopped candied cherries

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles (say it with me) fine crumbs.

Add the egg, beating until just blended.

Stir in sugar, cherries, and vanilla to form a soft dough.

Knead the dough until smooth.

Form the dough into a long log (Random fact: "Lanky llamas like to lay on long logs" was a voice exercise I did back when I was in the theatre.)

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Catch up "Chuck" since they have part of the second season on Hulu.

Slice that dough! (1/2 in thick)

Bake on greased cookie sheets at 375 for 8-10 minutes, or until "just golden."

Transfer to racks to cool.

These are delicious, and since candied cherries are easy to find around the holiday times, are a PERFECT non-denominational-holiday cookie!

Book Yield: 35

My Yield: 27 and a half (Don't ask.)

60 in 60: Day 42- Apricot Brandy Macaroons

These delicious things of wonder were originally made on October 3rd, using liquor from my aunt's extensive collection. I was supposed to wait for to make these until my aunt got back from her vacation in Tennessee (that was the deal for using her liquor), but I couldn't wait. She's in Tennessee, with a senior group, and I'm in New York, eating cookies.

Apricot Brandy Macaroons

Ingredients:

Cookies:

1/3 c flour

2 c finely ground walnuts

3 egg whites

1/4 t salt

3/4 c sugar

Filling:

8 oz white chocolate

1/4 c heavy cream

2 T apricot brandy

2 T finely chopped pistachios

Beat the egg whites and salt in a bowl until frothy.

Add the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.

Fold in the dry ingredients.

Bake at 275 on buttered cookie sheets for 20-25 minutes.

For some reason, whenever I make egg-white ANYTHING, they never turn out, so BLAH.

They're not as crunchy or puffy as they're supposed to be. (Meaning they're flat and sticky-squishy.)

For the filling, melt the chocolate with the cream in a double boiler.

Stir in the apricot brandy, taking care not to drink the 2 T that you are supposed to be adding to the filling mixture. Taking a sip from the bottle, just to see how it's supposed to taste is totally okay though.

Plunge the pan into a bowl of ice water and stir until the mixture has cooled.

With the mixer at high speed, beat until creamy.

Stick the cookies together in pairs with the filling.

Roll in the pistachios.

I got really bored rolling the cookies in the pistachios after two or three, so I started putting the pistachios in with the filling. I think this made the cookies taste better. They didn't rise, like they were supposed to, but that didn't matter in the taste. And yes, so you know, I saved some for my travelling aunt. She has six cookie sandwiches in the freezer, waiting for her to return from Nashville.

Book Yield: 20 cookies

My Yield: 12 cookies

(I can't remember if that's 12 sammiches or 12 cookies, though. I suppose if my aunt is getting 6 sammiches, it's 12 cookie sammiches.)