a photo taken from my train ride to Montreal this weekend
-- using my new iPhone 4 --
this photo reminds me that life moves forward,
and it may not be perfect, but there's beauty in it
-- using my new iPhone 4 --
this photo reminds me that life moves forward,
and it may not be perfect, but there's beauty in it
I have to repeat my surgery since they didn't get all the thyroid tissue the first time.
For some as yet unknown reason, all the thyroid tissue wasn't removed.
There is still a large enough portion that they need to remove
before proceeding with the radiation treatment.
The good news is I can drive again and eat whatever I want.
After telling my girls about this next step, we all went out to balance on the train tracks.
My oldest said on the way that she's not usually unsure about things, but she was about this
...trespassing on active tracks and all...
but we had lots of laughs.
We did races,
choo choo trains,
tried to see how long we could balance.
It's a good memory.
So are all the warm wishes and inspiring quotes from friends
on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you.
"The rose is fairest when it is budding new, and hope is brightest when it dawns from fears."
- Walter Scott @hornedfroggy
"Yesterday is History. Tomorrow is Mystery. Today is a Gift. That's why we call it the Present." @AMWATERS
"Life is tenacious; it is endowed with the power to heal. The decision to undertake this battle arises from within."
- Ikeda @michaelsdolce
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"
- Vincent van Gogh @cailinash
"Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it."
- Tori Amos @DragonsKitchen
"Not everything happens for a reason, but there is a reason for everything."
@foodwishes
"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star."
- Nietzsche (Lynda on iPhone)
"Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow."
- Teresa on Facebook
"Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down."
- Charles F. Kettering (Kelly from Facebook)
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
- Winston Churchill (Sandy and Melanie on Facebook)
"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward."
- Soren Kierkegaard (an email from someone last week)
The sterotypical comfort food has always been cookies and milk; cookies fresh from the oven milk straight from the fridge. So goes the myth: you arrive home from school, heavy with the burden of strict teachers and challenging school situations and there is Mom, waiting for you with cookies and milk, and as you eat the cookies, you spill out the problems of the day, and the world begins to look brighter.
That BCCC time was prior to 1933, which was the year Ruth Graves Wakefield, who owned the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusettes, was making chocolate cookies when she realized she had run out of regular baker’s chocolate. Not wanting to leave her customers wanting, she substituted broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate from Nestlé, thinking that this chocolate would simply melt and mix into the batter as the baker’s chocolate had. However, to her surprise, the chocolate did not melt and what came out of the oven were the world’s first ever chocolate chip cookies. Her customers were delighted and asked for more. The love affair with CCC had begun. Wakefield sold the recipe to Nestlé in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.
The cookies gained popularity during World War II when GIs from Massachusettes, who were stationed overseas, received care packages from home which included CC cookies. They shared these cookies with other GIs from various places around the country and before long Wakefield was inundated with letters from around the world asking for her recipe.
Today, 25% of all cookies baked in the United States are chocolate chip cookies. And out of all the CCC recipes I’ve tried, this one is definitely our favorite.
Recipe: Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies (aka Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies)
Makes: 112 cookies (This recipe can be halved.)Ingredients:
2 cups butter2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups flour
5 cups blended oatmeal (measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
24 ounces chocolate chips
1 8 ounce Hershey bar, grated
3 cups chopped nuts (optional)
Instructions:
- Cream the Butter and Sugars: In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then stir in the vanilla extract.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a separate bowl, combine the flour, blended oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually add this dry mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Add the Chocolate and Nuts: Stir in the chocolate chips, grated Hershey bar, and chopped nuts (if using).
- Shape the Cookies: Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto a greased baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 8 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Optional Freezing: If you want to freeze the dough for later, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer. When you're ready to bake, thaw the dough and form the dough into rounds. Bake as directed above.
Tasting Notes
The proof of the pudding (or in this case, the cookies) is in the tasting. This is what two-thirds of my daughters have to say (Anna, my 11 year old, declined to comment since she doesn't like chocolate chip cookies!):
“I like chocolate chip cookies because
when mom takes them out of the oven
the chocolate chips are melted
and the cookie is soft and moist.
Also because they're sweet with chocolate
and well, they're cookies!” ~ Sarah (12 years old)
i like the choclity part
and its fun to eat them to
there really really REALLY good! ~ Jennifer (8 years old)
More to Explore:
.jpg)
.jpg)
