Ummm ummm Goooood

This week I made the best cookie dough I have ever made. It was buttery, sweet, rich, and oh so delicious! It is from a Nutella Chip Cookie recipe off the Ivory Hut website that she actually tweaked from a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I intended to make the cookies because of the Nutella chip aspect; the art of turning a spread into a chip or chunk intrigued me and I was curious to see how they turned out. I never expected to be so in love with the dough itself and will definitely be making the original chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think what makes it so wonderful is the browned butter that sets the base for the dough; plus the fact that it’s filled with sugar and holds the label “cookie”!



Now that my mouth is officially drooling from memories of consuming the cookies here is the recipe! By the way the Nutella substitution was quiet tasty however I was disappointed. I was expecting it to be a strong nutty flavor but having to mix the Nutella with a hardening agent (butter) before making the chunks dulled down the flavor. She suggests adding milk chocolate chips during the Nutella process and that may indeed be just what it needs.


If you’re comfortable with exposing your body to all the negative effects of eating raw eggs (which any true sweet lover should be) then I suggest eating a big ol’ spoon full of the dough before making the cookies!


Enjoy!

Homemade Nutella Chips



Makes about 2 cups


Using the added milk chocolate chips gives the chips more structure and creaminess but it also mutes the hazelnut flavor. If you don’t mind a subtler Nutella flavor or if you will boost the flavor of the cookies with added toasted hazelnuts or ground hazelnuts, feel free to replace the butter with even more milk chocolate chips.
6.5 oz. Nutella


2 oz. butter


3 oz. milk chocolate chips (optional)


In a double boiler or a glass bowl set over a pot of simmering hot water, melt all the ingredients until you have a smooth, glossy chocolate mixture, about 3 to 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Take the mixture off heat.
To make chunks, spread in a 1/8-inch thick layer on Silpat or foil and freeze for at least 2 hours. When frozen solid, break into chunks with a knife (try not to handle the chocolate too much or the heat of your hands will start to melt it). Store in the freezer until ready to use.
To make chocolate chips or discs, put the melted chocolate inside a pastry bag or resealable bag with a corner snipped off. Pipe out the discs or chips onto a baking sheet lined with Silpat or a sheet of foil. When done, put the sheet in the freezer and freeze for at least 2 hours. When frozen solid, loosen the chocolate chips and store in a bag or airtight container in the freezer until ready to use.
Nutella Chip Cookies

(Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies)


1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1 3/4 sticks butter


1/2 cup granulated sugar


3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar


1 teaspoon table salt


2 teaspoons vanilla extract


1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk


1 1/4 cups homemade Nutella chips


3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted (optional)


Combine flour and baking soda in a bowl. Whisk and set aside.


Melt 1 1/4 sticks butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Keep swirling until butter has a dark golden brown color and a nutty aroma, about 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer it to a bowl and mix in the remaining butter until melted.
Add the sugars, salt, and vanilla to the butter and mix well. Add the egg and the extra yolk; whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds. Let it rest for 3 minutes, then whisk again for about 30 seconds, before letting it rest again. You’ll want to whisk this about 4 times, until you have a thick, glossy, and smooth mixture.
Gently stir in the flour and baking soda just until combined. Make sure dough is cool before stirring in the Nutella chips and nuts, if using.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for 24 to 36 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Form dough balls about 3 tablespoons in size (I use an ice cream scoop) and place them on a lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 14–16 minutes (mine took 15 minutes), then put the baking sheet on a cooling rack and let the cookies cool on the sheets.

#Momoftheyear

Looking back how far I’ve come over the last two years I really surprise myself.
For instance, if Moses’ passey were to fall into his neked nether regions as a:
Newborn—I would freak out and probably toss it into the pile of things that need to be sterilized
Baby – Take it away from him immediately knowing I’ll have to rise it off with water at a nearby water fountain or sink
Toddling toddler—Pick it up and brush it off on my pants a few times thinking that was “good enough”
Toddler – Look down, shake my head, laugh, and walk away.

And when I say fall into his region I’m talking about walking into the living room and seeing him diaperless; lounging on the couch watching Lion King with a milk cup in one hand, a toy by his leg, and his passey literally tucked up under his junk (with his B’s resting on it and all).

Don’t ask me where my protective, overly cautious, sterilizing mother instincts have gone…just know my kid eats dirt, crayons, PlayDough, flash cards, and the occasional vegetable and HE’S FINE!

Welp,

Can I have a moment of honesty? Things aren't exactly going as I planned. I thought I would waltz into my new job, my new wake up and clock out times, and it be no big deal. Well that's not happening. I'm trying to balance new rules and regulations of my job while starting my night almost an hour later. Who would have thought it REALLY makes a difference to eat closer to 7pm, take a bath when it's almost bedtime, feeling like the night is over and not even starting my TO DO list. I have to say sleeping in until 7:30am on most days is wonderful but I feel like its only making me lazier. I hope to sign up for the gym and take morning classes at some point this year (we first wanted to work on managing our finances and making room for it in the budget) but until then I've turned into a 8-hours-a-night snob.
Anyways I got on here to say blogging has taken a back seat. I have great pictures and posts in one corner on my brain but until I get back in control of my life that's where they'll stay. Don't worry... I'll be around... I've even had my first successful night by playing with Mosey, folding towels, writing thank you cards AND decompressing before 10pm.
 
Thanks for being supportive, ya'll!

You color my world.

I want to preface this post in my defense that I already planned to bring Valentines to Moses’ school TODAY before I realized I’m a failure mother. Davy and I take turns taking Moses to school and with my new work hours Davy always picks him up. Normally this works out great except when there are special events going on that need signing up for. I learned my lesson by getting stuck with the only thing left on the sign up, goody bags, for his Halloween party. I scolded Davy like any psycho first time mom would that I never want to be stuck with a crappy sign up again. For the Christmas party I made sure to be the first mom to sign up and then Davy caught on and made sure to sign up for cookies this time around.

Friday rolls around and I make sure to bring in those yummy super sugary iced cookies from the bakery and think nothing of it. Well after school Davy informs me that we were also supposed to bring in their Valentines because I guess any experienced on top of it school  mom would know you pass those out during the PARTY not the actual day. FAIL. I turned into to psycho mom couldn’t believe that all the kids knew this information but US and now Moses seemed like the only kid who didn’t bring his friends anything. If you’re not a mom and you’re reading this you probably think I’m crazy. Actually sometimes I even think I’m crazy but there is something about proving myself to all the other moms that I’m not a failure and I can be on top of the classroom etiquette that made my blood boil when I heard this.

At first I thought I failed but then I realized better late than never, right? I might as well carry on with my original plan and give the kids one more extra treat on the actual….real….supposed to be the day to celebrate Valentine’s day February 14th not the 11th….duh!!!!!!

So with all my psycho babble behind us here is what Mo brought to school this morning:

This is the only picture I managed to take which shows the "girly" hearts cooling on a nasty baking sheet! #momoftheyear

They are homemade heart shaped crayons! I found silicone heart shaped ice cube trays in the dollar bin at Target and picked up a 64 count pack of crayons. I used a knife to cut off all the wrappers then broke them up into color categories. I used a muffin tin to separate the blues, pinks, oranges, ect. which made filling the ice cube trays extremely easy. I used girly colors for the girls and boy colors for the boys. I had to do something with all the boo boo browns so I mixed them with bright blues to make them gift worthy. After filling the trays I put them in the oven for 10 minutes until all the wax had melted and let them cool before removing them. I was so happy how they turned out! I loaded cute striped bags with a pack of gummies and three heart crayons tied with a Valentine that said “You color my world”!

 

Because today is all about telling the ones we love just how much we love them….and acting like a crazy mom of a 2 year old who really has no idea what today is, right?

Dear Diary,

Dear Bronchitis,

Really? On my first week of work, not cool! Yes I know you were able to score me cough syrup with awesome drugs swirled in it to knock me out whenever I choose but still, you made me look bad!


Dear Ear Infection,
So what you thought why not kick me while I’m down? Did you think I wouldn’t notice this tugging on the right side of my head once the Congestion-of-Doom went away? I guess if I’m paying a co pay and shelling out a ton at the drug store I might as well get everything at once.


Dear Weird Rash that covered Moses head to toe,
Is it honey from the cough medicine? Is it peanut butter from his beloved daily sandwich? Is it some weird vitamin found in his Flintstone gummy? Is it something they are feeding him at school? Whatever it was you covered that boy’s body like you were white on rice (or brown in this household). Thanks for letting Moses experience his first ever oatmeal bath and letting me experience scratching someone else’s butt crack for the first time. It was real, it was fun but it wasn’t real fun.


Dear New Job,
I promise my life normally isn’t this crazy. Thanks for being understanding and asking me to come back for a second and now third week.


Dear House,
Yes I see the layer of crap that’s building under the couch. Yes I see the waist high mound of towels that need to be washed. Yes I know you rather I treat you better but gemme a break. The last thing I want to do after being sick for a week and working all day long is put on the cleaning apron. I promise I’ll remove that junk pile from the dining room table today. Or tomorrow. Ok maybe Sunday….

Wordy Wednesday

Somewhat Wordless Wednesday! The first is a picture of the boys disassembling Moses' crib. Last weekend I (yes I did it using all 16 pages of picture-only instructions by myself thankyouverymuch) assembled Mo's toddler bed and have slowly started transforming his nursery to a little boy's room. We were uncertain how the big move from crib to bed was going to go seeing how last time we tried it failed; we decided to leave the crib up as a backup for one week. I'm happy to report the transition has gone wonderfully; I truly think he wasn't old enough before that's why it was a constant struggle. This time around he has done well staying in his bed all night and will even stay tucked under the covers (babbling) until he falls asleep. After a successful first week we knew it was time to take down the crib. In true boy style Mosey copied everything Davy did and together they took it apart.

(So this is turning into Lots-Of-Words-Wednesday but I'll go with it)


These little moments happen all the time around the house and thankfully I was able to grab the camera and capture it. The boys are smitten by each other and spend most days making the other laugh. Moses was just about ready for bed before Davy started a game of Spitting Passies Into the Air and Catching them. If you're not a parent yet please don't think we're crazy; kids change you in the best ways possible.

Sleepy happy from CDMW on Vimeo.

Working Mom, take #2

I survived the first two days! I never doubted I would, I just didn't know how I was going to feel when theey were over. First let me preface Monday morning with I woke up feeling sick; yeah, how does that even happen on my first day? I planned on writing last night but after drinking a bottle of Nyquil I didn't make it past 8:30pm. Yesterday and today I've been running on about 70%. But other than that I have no complaints!

The people are just as nice as I remember from my interview and all my little worries have been answered. Yes I have my own office and parking space, yes I CAN do what they ask of me, yes this will be a great place to work, yes there is an office refrigerator and yes to daily coffee! I few bonus perks are having a window in my office (it even opens unlike the ones on the 5th floor at my old job they don't fear someone hates their job so much they decide to jump ) and they are giving me a Smart Phone AND paying for it!

These past days have been spent training and skimming the surface of all the terminology I need to become an expert on. Note to all: If you want to start making the big bucks quit your lazy major and start learning how to do sometheing really really specific in the IT field you're welcome .

I have lots of fun posts coming up; birthday parties and birthday dinner and videos and growing up and all that good stuff. The pace may get a little slower around here while we all adjust but not to fear I'll always be here!