A winner and a loser.

So, I won NaNoWriMo this year, with the most words I've ever written in a month: 55,162. I wrote right up until midnight, managing to write 100 or so words before validating for the final time. I actually hit 50k on Sunday, the 29th of November, but I couldn't stop for two reasons:

1. My story just wasn't finished. It still isn't, because I, like a lot of Wrimos, took a week off. I plan on getting back to it when I get free time this week. (My free time got cut down a lot because I got a seasonal job at Dollar Tree.) I might do NaNoEdMo, if some of the others in my region would like to participate. If not, I'll edit at my own pace.

2. Writing was war. At the end of October, I entered a word war with the ML of Sudbury, Ontario. We had to write more words than his wrimos during the month of November, which didn't happen. (We were close, only about a half a million words short.) My punishment was to sing a song of Rintaran's choice, for the pleasure of his region. I was allowed to sing with any Wrimos that I could gather.

Well, today was our TGIO (Thank goodness it's over!) party, and it was time to pay our debt. Here it is, for your enjoyment, and our public embarrassment, the Southern Tier Wrimos (all three of us) singing "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles.

(Sorry, the video jacked up during the end, so it's a bit off.)

The singers are Skervin, Irregex (aka the boyfriend), and me.

60 in 60: Day 21-Craisy Oatmeal Cookies

These are the cookies I made with the help of my boyfriend, Friday night. I had planned on posting them Saturday, but it was a long day and by the time we got home and had dinner, it was nearly midnight and I just passed out watching Psych.

Today we have a recipe from someone I met while working at the SAC, Guy Fieri. He came off as "potential to be a dick" to me, but I got his autograph anyway. (I lost it since then, it was on the back of my badge holder and it rubbed of from constant use.) You can find his recipe at the Food Network site, or you can just click here.

Craisy Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 c butter

1 1/4 c dark brown sugar

1 T honey

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 c coconut

3/4 c craisins (dried cranberries)

2 c oats

1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Sift together flour, soda, powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar together.

Add the honey and vanilla to the mix.

Then, one at a time, add the eggs.

Add the coconut, craisins, oats, and rosemary.

Fold in dry ingredients.

(Like always, it'll look like there is way too much dry, but with some work, the wet will overpower all.)

Drop cookies on to a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven, which you must have turned on, at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.

Let the cookies sit for five minutes before transferring them to wire rack.

These cookies were delicious, and not that hard to make. I couldn't really taste the rosemary in them, so if you wanted, you could probably leave that out.

Guy's Yield: 25 cookies

My Yield: 36 cookies

60 in 60: Day 19-Strawberry Thumbprints

Th' recipe ye be searchin' for be found 'ere.

Strawberry Thumbprints

Ingredients:

2/3 c butter

1/3 c sugar

2 eggs, seperated

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c flour

1/3 c strawberry preserves

Cream th' butter an' th' sugar.

Add yolks in the mixture.

Add the vanilla, salt, and flour into the mixture.

The egg whites ortin' ta be beaten, nay whipped t' th' point 'ere ye want t' call them Kunta Kinte, like me first mate decided t' do.

Make 1 inch balls ou' o' th' dough an' dip them in t' th' egg whites.

Now, ye need t` be pressin` a thumb in t` yer cookies. If ye nay be havin` a thumb, like me ship`s physician, any finger be doin` ye well.

Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes.

Now, normally, after th' cookies cooled, ye`d put th' strawberry preserves on top. Well, either through me first mate whippin' so much air in t' th' egg whites, or me nay turnin' on th' o'en fer 10 minutes after they be in thar, these cookies wouldna release the'r hold from th' cookie sail. They do make a nice strawberry shortcake type deal, tho!

Yield: 16 cookies, kind of.

60 in 60: Day 19-White Chocolate Macadamia Nut

Ahoy, maties! Today I be postin' three cookies, all made at the same time. My first mate, Mickey the boyfriend, be helpin' me with all me cookie booty.

Ye can be findin' today's recipe port side.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut

Here be the things ye need:

1 c butter

1 c sugar

3/4 c light brown sugar

2 T vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 bag (minus a handful) white chocolate

1 c choped macadamia nuts

First, in yer largest bowl, beat the butter, sugars, vanilla, and salt together

Then, ye be addin' the eggs and mixin' that together, too.

In a slightly smaller bowl, stir flour and baking soda together.

Then ye be addin' that to th' buttery mixture.

Stir in yer white chocolate (that be remindin' me o' one time, in Tortuga...)

Stir in yer macadamia nuts.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes

(But don't make yer cookies this large. Me first mate be thinkin' large cookies be better. After this picture I be cuttin' 'im in half....the cookies, not me first mate.)

Avast! Ye made delicious cookies. They be my favorite kind too. Ye bein' so kind as to make 'em for me, I be bein' so kind as to be eatin' 'em.

Yield: 41 cookies (Ya lily livered scurvy cur!)

60 in 60: Day 14-Almond Biscotti

Today's Cookie Biscuit: Almond Biscotti
Today's Recipe: AllRecipes.com (slightly modified)
Today's Guest Baker & Blogger: Jesse ""Mickey" The BF" Persons

Today started with a sniffle and a moan.
"I hate you," she said.
"I'm really sorry babe. You know I didn't mean to make you sick," I offered.
"I hate you," she replied.
"I'll bake biscotti and write your blog today." -- me
"I hate you." -- she

So here we are.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Dash kosher salt
• 0.5 cup chopped almonds

Ingredients ASSEMBLE!
Gentlemen start your ovens!
Preheat to 375℉ for great justice!

Cream softened butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
(You can soften and cream at the same time if you know what you're doing)


Add in the eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly.


It should look something like this (beautiful).


Combine dry ingredients.


Slowly mix dry ingredients into creamed butter/sugar mixture.
Stir in the vanilla extract and then the almonds.


Cover a cookie sheet with foil, and grease the foil.


Divide dough in half; spread into two 12-in. x 3-in. rectangles on foil.
(Please don't use this picture as a guide. Also that's a light reflection in the picture, not me.)


This soft and gently yielding cake-like mass is your reward for waiting 15 minutes.


Golden brown and delicious.


A pastry scraper is a nice, easy way to cut this
stuff up, but don't take my word for it...


Place the cut pieces in the oven at 300℉ for 10 minutes.
Then, turn them over and let them bake for another 10 minutes.


Just when you think you're done, turn off the oven and let them
rest in there with the door open until it cools.

These crunchy, "almondy", twice baked beauties are the result.

Recipe Yield: 42
My Yield: 20 thin, 10 thick (so 30)

60 in 60: Day 9- Cream Cheese Cutouts

Today's cookie: Cream Cheese Cutouts
Today's recipe: From here.
Today's guest blogger: The Boyfriend (my comments in parentheses)

Cream Cheese Cutouts

Ingredients:



2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 T cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

A new, more powerful mixer to muscle through even the thickest of cookie dough.

(This was because a)I needed the dough to form a ball and this mixer has all the fancy doo-dads and b)I was sick of the burning electric smell I got every time I used the white one.)

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Mix in the butter with the mixer on medium.

Mix in the cream cheese and vanilla. Dough hooks are very helpful here.

Continue mixing until the dough forms a ball.

(It's going to look way too dry for this to happen, but give it some time and it'll work itself in to a ball.)

Divide the ball in half, and roll each out on a floured surface.

Bag or cover the dough with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for half an hour.

(We thought about getting plastic wrap, but ultimately decided that we really didn't need it.)

Roll out the dough once more on a floured surface. It should be approximately 1/8" thick.

Cut the delicious cookie dough into amazing shapes. It's not "My Little Pony", they're "My Little Puppy Hippos!"

(Yay for dollar store cookie cutters that don't really look like anything without a dose of imagination!)

Bake cookies in the oven at 375 for 7-9 minutes.

No amount of Jack Johnson's music can help this broken heart.
(Yes, I made a dozen or so broken heart cookies because I found it amusing.)

These cookies are a hair on the dry side, but they provide a perfect vehicle for whatever leftover cream cheese you may have. The girlfriend also suggested that these cookies could be made with flavored cream cheese. A fitting modification for an already delicious recipe.

Recipe Yield: N/A
My Yield: 51 (plus some leftover dough that I really couldn't cut into a shape.)