Chocolate Snowflake Cookies

Throughout our relationship, my husband has been begging me to make these cookies. They were his favorite as a child, and based on the speed he devoured this batch, I'm assuming they still are to this day.
This is the recipe as his mother sent to us. I did make one change, and subbed butter for the oil. Vegetable oil freaks me out a little bit, and we all know that butter makes it better.

Chocolate Snowflakes

Ingredients:

2 cups Sugar 

4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted 

1/2 cup salad oil (or sub 1/2 cup butter) 

4 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

2 cups flour 

Powdered Sugar 

Process:

(Do not preheat oven, the dough must be refrigerated for quite some time = 2ish hours at least)

Melt chocolate (About 2 minutes on high, stir, then another minute) 

*note* So I am sometimes a cheater when it comes to melting things... I have a metal mixing bowl so I put the chocolate in the bowl than in the oven to soften. Whatever works for you though... 

Mix granulated sugar, chocolate and oil (butter).

Beat in eggs, combining well after each, and vanilla. 

Add baking powder, salt, and flour and mix well to combine. 

Refrigerate dough until firm enough to form balls. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Roll teaspoon of dough into ball, then roll in powdered sugar, coating thoroughly. 

Place about 2 inches apart on lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet. 

Cook about 10 minutes, use toothpick test. 

These cookies are ridiculous. I cooked them right on my cookie pans, sprayed with olive oil cooking spray, and it resulted in delicious caramelization on the bottom. They are sort of like brownie cookies, which I assume is the reason the recipe calls for oil instead of butter. But they turned out delicious nonetheless, so get in your kitchen and whip up a batch! 

Enjoy!

Lazy Sunday's

Well, hi there friends!
It seems winter is finally starting to show its face around here! I know all you East Coasters have been wallowing in the white stuff, I hope cleanup is going smoothly for you!
After a long(ish) Fall, today we have recieved our first visible snowfall in Central Oregon!

Here we are looking at Pilot Butte, the dormant cinder cone in the middle of our fine city.

Had the capture the date, just in case I somehow forgot, or ever needed to know again... yeah...

So James, the furry kids, and I are enjoying a mellow day at home. Daylight savings has made us so much more productive. I'm baking a pumpkin cake with a recipe from Pinterest. Only two ingredients, I like the sound of that!

Cash is growing like a little monster weed. He climbed on my legs and fell asleep a few days ago...

 

Despite his razor sharp teeth and tendency to greet everything with his teeth, he is an awesome little pup, and learning really quickly. 

In house news, the living room is all painted, and I think I might attack the guest bathroom next. Hmmm... all the supplies are out, why not right? Here is a little sneak peek of the living room, its made such a change! I'm going to clean up later and take pics, so stay tuned!! 

 Gah!! Wasn't that peanut butter color horrible?!!!

Hope everyone is warm and cozy like us and enjoying the weekend!! I'm starting to feel the holiday spirit!! 

Hot and Steamy Pile of ...

Inspiration and excitement people!!!!!
Can I get a WOOT WOOT up in here?!!!!

Many things have been going on around here since we returned home from Whistler, where my handsome and wonderful hunk of man sauce proposed to me. So happy. So many things to do!!!
Here is where the issues begin.
I am leaving again (sad/happy face) on thursday for The Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado. Don't be fooled, I am SO excited for this trip, and the opportunities it presents me with. I even blogged about it once.
I am just so excited to start planning our special party, and this is a tiny block in my process!
But enough complaining about things that aren't real problems, onto the goods!

If you didn't catch my last post, I gabbed about some of the things that are inspiring me while moving forward in the planning process of our wedding. One oh-so-important thing I forgot to mention was my initial inspiration for the whole theme, which is woodsy and rustic, but chic and playful!

You may remember this picture from a few weeks ago when Sammy and I visited Tumalo Falls on our day off.

 

It is a carving James and I did back in 2008, when on a hike with Sammy. I love that we can still visit it, and plan on incorporating elements that relate back to this in many aspects of our wedding. 

In other news, I made a recipe off of Pinterest. 

I spotted in on Michelle from Decor and the Dogs page, and immediately repinned that shiz...  

It is called Tortellini Spinach Bake, and reminds me of grown up mac and cheese. The bomb digs I tell you. The recipe is available here, and I highly suggest you try it, tonight. 

Forgive me, but I have no pictures of our process. We had some friends over, and I was too wrapped up in wine and wedding talk to document for you. I do have a few tips though!!! 

James, being a chef, pretty much took over the sauce aspect of this. We may have added too much flour, because after baking the dish, the sauce had pretty much disappeared. I suggest going light on flour if you like a saucy dish. I also may have added too much lemon zest. The flavor was great and bright, but I am a cheese lover and it overpowered the creaminess I was looking for. Next time I might sub white cheddar for the Parmesan, since I like a sharper cheese flavor. Anyhow, between the four of use we managed to put down most of it, and I'm sure James will handle the rest while I work tonight. 

So whats new in your world bloggie peeps? Sorry for the random info dump, but I had to share the nonsense banging around inside my brain. Planning a wedding is like a sickness, and wedding magazines are the classiest smut I've ever laid eyes on. Seriously. 

Stay tuned for more GABF news! Wish me and my liver luck!

Summer Refreshment

One of my fave things about summertime is impromtu gatherings of friends, and easy to throw together sides to bring along!! This is my favorite summer side, and its simple! You probably already have all the ingredients!

Watermelon Mint Salad
Ingredients:
Seedless watermelon (I used half of a large one)
Fresh Mint
(optional) margarita

Roasted Potato Salad

I am the lucky lady who shares a home with a chef. He is the best. And his Roasted Potato Salad is without a doubt the best I've ever tasted. The first time I ever tried it was for our 1st Annual 4th of July party in 2010. It was gone in about 10 minutes.

Our friends have been bugging us about it, so it made another appearance at this years bash, again, devoured in a hot minute.
A few nights ago, when we got snowballed into our deck project, I decided I wanted to make the salad as a side for our twist on Chicken Saltimbooca.
Here's the lowdown:
Gather your ingredients. Since we made the salad for two, we didn't need too much. I hate wasting food.

• 1lbish of small red potatoes (you can also use fingerlings)
• 2 or 2 stalks of celery depending on how much you like celery
• 1 or 2 red bell peppers, again, to taste
• 1 medium yellow onion