Everyday Wonders: January 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

Presents

Friday.

I waited like a kid on Christmas Eve for the mailman to arrive.

I looked out my window every 5 minutes. Seriously.

I knew I had a package on the way and I knew it included a phone.

I wasn't excited to get that particular phone.

In fact, I think I may be the only person in America who doesn't want one.

I just wanted the package so I didn't have to go through facebook for communication anymore since my old phone had been turned off an entire 24 hours earlier.

24 hours.

Real World Problems

It made me think, what did my parents do before cell phones and facebook.

If you made plans with your friend, I suppose you better have shown up.

No changing your mind or changing the time.

Then I remembered there were home phones.

Phones connected to a wall at home.

You couldn't take them with you to class.

Or in the car.

How weird.

Anyway, the mailman arrived.

He was greeted by 4 girls at the door.

And he had packages for all of us.

My package from my mom,

Books for two of my roommates,

and letters for another.

He said he wished he had on a red suit and hat because we were all so excited to see him.

I like to think we made his day.

He handed out the presents.

We thanked him profusely.

I would like to leave him cookies one day soon.

He was so sweet.

So I opened my package and saw this:

Welcome to the world of the iPhone.

And e-fuel, something every good runner needs.

And I was more excited about the e-fuel.

I felt kind of selfish.

How many people would love to have this phone.

I am excited to have it now.

My favorite features?

Being able to see entire text conversations and instragram.

LOVE instagram.

And I like my phone.

I was opposed to it because I thought it was ridiculous for me to have a mini computer in my pocket at all times.

Which it is.

But the world, or America, is changing.

And I need to keep up with the times.

Or move back to Italy where I used my crappy bar phone as an alarm clock only.

Yes, maybe moving to Italy is the answer.

But then again it is the answer to everything I think.

So I have an iPhone.

Something I never envisioned myself having until after grad school.

And some e-fuel.

Which helped me run 10.2 miles.

Life is good.

Life is great.

Thanks Mom for my presents.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Oh yes, these cookies are good. Really really good. They were called hot cocoa cookies but I think that S'more cookies are a more appropriate name, especially because you'll always want s'more. Hahaha, lame joke.

I originally found this recipe on pinterest via this blog. I had my eye on these sinfully delicious looking cookies for a while but I was afraid to make them and keep them all in my house. But, I had a potluck reunion with my friends I went to Italia with (marking a YEAR since I met them all! I had no idea a year could go by so fast) so I decided to make them. They're pretty spectacular, especially when they are warm. That's a key- eat them once they get out of the oven. They're still good at room temp, but not nearly as yummy as they are hot.

So here's the recipe (taken from the blog above). I would suggest buying the chocolate when it's on sale or you will spend a lot of money on chocolate.

In a medium saucepan, melt together:

1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter

12 oz. chopped semisweet chocolate (bars)

Stir frequently over medium heat until smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Using an electric mixer, beat together:

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Beat on low speed until smooth, 2 minutes. Mix in the cooled chocolate mixture just until blended. Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing on low speed until just comined. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour. (I always, always, always forget to do this! I stuck it in the freezer for 10 minutes since I was on a time crunch. I don't know if that's good or not but oh well- the cookies were still good!)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough and roll between your palms to form 1-inch balls. Arrange about 16 balls 2 inches apart on each cookie sheet, flattening slightly. Bake until the tops of the cookies crack, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut 7.5 ounces of semisweet chocolate (bars) into 1-inch squares. Snip 8 marshmallows in half crosswise and stick 1 square of chocolate onto each of the cut sides.

Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and gently press a marshmallow half, chocolate side down, into each cookie. Bake until the marshmallows are just softened, about 4 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 5 minutes.

Grate 5 ounces of semisweet chocolate over the hot cookies. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to the racks and let cool. Repeat the process with the remaining dough, marshmallows and chocolate. Bake each batch on a clean sheet of parchment paper.

The parchment paper is key! When you put the marshmallows on the top of the cookies, they will melt off the cookie and stick on the parchment paper so it just makes cleaning up so much easier.

Let me know if you make them! They were very, very yummy.

I also have a healthy recipe coming this week :)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Waterfalls and fishtails

I am loving this braid trend thing that is happening right now. And thanks to my slight pinterest addiction, I have found so many new braids that I absolutely love! Luckily I have a wonderful sister with a lot of long, thick hair that lets me experiment on her head with my new found styles. So this is a combination of two new types of braids that I have learned- the waterfall braid and the fishtail. They are both so so easy but have such a great result.

This was the first time I tried it on Alli. Unfortunately, the picture isn't the best and her hair is bit frizzy but I think you can get the overall gist.

Eeek! I just love fun braids! I would love to hear of any other fun braids you all know of too :)