From Our Kitchen: Cake Mix Cookies

Yesterday, after our weekly pizza making and football watching, I had a sweet tooth (surprise, surprise!). I didn't really feel like walking the 500 or so steps over to the Mrs. Fields at the mall (read: I didn't feel like putting on real pants), and I didn't think we had any chocolate chips or other suitable cookie mix-ins (read: hubby doesn't really care for sugar cookies), so I was bummed for about 2.5 seconds until I realized that we did have cake mix in the cupboard! Winner! These are about the simplest cookies on the planet, and there are surprisingly super good! They remind me of those super soft cookies you get at the grocery store that have frosting on them (you know what I am talking about, I know you do), only better! They take virtually no time and so few ingredients, so you should definitely make some as soon as you can!

What You'll Need:
Makes about 1.5 dozen cookies

• 1 box cake mix, any flavor (I used Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Yellow)
• 1 egg
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1/2 container of frosting, any flavor (I used Duncan Hines Chocolate)

What You'll Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray cookie pan with Pam.
2. Mix together cake mix, eggs, and butter (either by hand or with a mixer).
3. Drop rounded spoonfuls of batter-dough onto cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 10 min, or until bottoms are just golden and tops are still soft.
5. Cool cookies on wire cookie rack for about 5 or 10 minutes (read: until you simply cannot wait any longer, but the frosting will not slide off in a gooey mess)
6. Plop a dollop of frosting on each cookie, and then spread across the top.
7. Enjoy!

From Our Kitchen: Chocolate Chip Toffee Cookies

I thought it was about time I shared a sweet treats recipe with you guys. I learned to bake way before I learned to cook anything. As a child, I would sit in my Nana's kitchen, and "help" her bake cookies, cakes, pies, anything you can think of. Every holiday, starting when I was a pre-teen maybe, I was responsible for all the desserts at our house (my Mom abhors baking - I'm not trying to be pretentious I promise, hate just wasn't a strong enough word. I think she may have an honest to goodness fear of flour or something), so days before Christmas you could find me in the kitchen baking up the likes of chocolate chocolate chip cookies, pecan pies, and more. I have really started to love making things from scratch - when I made Morgan's graduation desserts, everything from the cake mix to the cookie dough to the frosting was from scratch - it was so much fun, and so delicious! However, if you know anything about making it from scratch, it usually takes a good bit more time than a boxed mix to get from "mmm I could really use a cookie" to "wow this cookie is delicious!". This cookie recipe can have you from zero to cookie in no time, plus, it is the perfect base for a variety of mix-ins. Yesterday was the first time I tried chocolate chips and toffee, but we have done butterfinger bits many times, and I would imagine peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, raisins, coconut, whatever your heart's desire would be just as great. These are perfectly chewy, soft and delicious cookies!

What You'll Need:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 bag chocolate chips + 1/2 bag toffee bits (or substitute your favorite mix-ins)

What You'll Do:

1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.
2. Combine sugar and butter until well mixed. Mix in egg.
3. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until well incorporated.
4. Stir in chocolate chips & toffee (or other mix-ins).
5. Drop by slightly rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet.
6. ***At this point, you can either proceed to the next stop, or (and this is my personal recommendation for the absolute perfect cookie), take your balls of cookie dough, place in a ziplock bag. Place the ziplock bag in the freezer for 1 hour. The cookies bake just fine without this step, but I think they turn out even better if you freeze them first. You can also keep them in the freezer for weeks, so if you just want a cookie or two at a time, this is the perfect solution!***
7. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Yields 2 dozen cookies

Weekending and Mondaying

It often seems like a cruel joke that the weeks are so long, and the weekends so terribly short. I swear, two days during the work week can seemingly drag on forever, while the weekend days just pass in a blur. Someone call Sheldon Cooper and find out what the scientific explanation is for this. I was so distraught about the passing of the weekend, I just could not bring myself to blog yesterday. Okay, so that is a total lie, but it sounds super dramatic, right? At any rate, my weekend was short, but good. I had lunch with a good friend, whom I haven't been able to catch up with in some time, I did all of my weekend things, like grocerying (I feel like grocerying is a way more fun verb than grocery shopping) and cleaning house, and taking wandering walks around the neighborhood with Lucy. I comforted Lucy through a ridiculous afternoon thunderstorm that seemingly came from nowhere (side bar: anyone use a thunder jacket on their dog, and does it work? This is a serious question). I drove the hubby to work so that he would not have to walk through the thunderstorm, lest he be soaked or struck by lightening. Other than that, I am not sure where my weekend went. I wish I could say I am reading some riveting new novel, but I have been in such a reading rut this year. For a girl who loves to read this is very discombobulating. Anyone have any must reads? Recommendations welcome.

This post has been very ho-hum, thus far, but get ready, the prolific use of exclamation marks is coming! Yesterday, while a Monday, was a glorious day, cause for celebration, in fact. The hubs rounded out another 10-day stretch of work (ugh), we were finally able to have a date night, AND we were finally able to toast to his success of finishing his first semester of grad school! Finally, finally, finally! I had a busy day of work and conference calls yesterday (I did manage to make some yummy cookies during a conference call though - recipe coming tomorrow!), so while I worked, he finally had a play day and headed over to the driving range for a bit. He was also kind enough, before he went a-golfing, to whip up some of his famous marinara sauce to simmer for dinner, and simultaneously torture me with amazing smells. Once the day of working was done, we settled in for some wine (mmm Cupcake Red Velvet - definitely a new favorite blend!), and got cracking on making some homemade pizzas! Harris, in all his kitchen prowess, made a Margherita (mmm fresh mozzarella), and a new (garlic, leeks, and pesto - ah-mazing!) for our eating enjoyment. We then proceeded to sit at our dining room table, sipping, chatting, and savoring our time together. A perfect evening. To round things out, Harris then suggested a family walk, where he led us to our favorite little froyo joint to grab a bowl, and then come home to watch the season premiere of Hell on Wheels. So glad for the time with him, and so, so glad he has this weekend off too!