With temperatures in the teens forcing me into hibernation mode, and the writer’s strike having pretty much eliminated anything worth watching on TV (aside from Gossip Girl which I love and which may be reruns for all I know since I just started watching a couple of weeks ago), I have returned to the stack of books that’s been collecting dust and to baking more holiday cookies than I could ever consume.
On the literary front I just started Only Yesterday, An Informal History of the 1920’s and due to my zeal for anything related to the Jazz Age, the pages are flying by; once that’s done, I’m moving on to David Mamet’s Bambi vs. Godzilla, then to Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast.
As for the baking, I needed something that would take the edge off of what has been a crazy week. Not only has there been tons of work to do, but all kinds of stressful things keep happening, the last of which was that I came out of a store in 17-degree weather to find my car battery dead. And that it would take AAA three hours to send someone over for a jump start. I guess I thought living in an urban area might make car service more accessible, but apparently I was wrong. Anyway, my faith in customer service was redeemed when I called the Valvoline service center which had just changed my oil, thinking maybe they had loosened something when working on things, and the manager offered to drive over and help me. In person. In 17-degree weather. Amazing.
As you can now see, it seemed only natural for me to assume that a foray into the cookie department might be just what was needed to set things on a better course. Thus, I made some Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies.
These amazingly good treats are packed with loads of chopped nuts, rich chocolate chips, and some toffee, and they might just be my new favorite cookie. I know I say that all the time, but this time, I really mean it. How can you not love a cookie that’s jammed full of your favorite things and which comes out of the oven having a marvelous chewy crunch to it? Anyway, I whipped those up while listening to some tunes by The Pierces with a little Eskimo Joe thrown in to keep things lively. It's not exactly a holiday-related soundtrack, but there’s still plenty of time for me to get my fill of Christmas music before the 25th.
There’s also plenty of time for me to hit a couple of restaurants before then, so if it’s dining-out dish your looking for, check back in a couple of days and I’ll fill you in on that front.
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