Illegal in 7 States

My husband, Brian, is a random man. He has hidden gifts and talents. One gift we discovered this year (much to my waistline's detriment) is his gift for baking. At this very moment he is making from-scratch waffles - who does that? I don't bother to take the time - that's why they made Bisquick, right? Whatever, he makes things from scratch and as long as I don't have to, I am a happy woman.

Last year sometime we were introduced to a cookbook called The New Best Recipe from the editors of Cook's Illustrated. We came by this miraculous cookbook through a good friend famous for her baking and jamming skills and known as a collector of cookbooks. Brian, ever looking for the next best cookbook was immediately taken with this epic book. This book is right up his alley coming from America's Test Kitchen the editors have taken the best recipes and experimented to make one best way to make something. Oh. My. Goodness. It's like consumer reports for recipes. Brian is in recipe heaven.

So, short story longer, Brian's amazing cookies come from this book. I mean to tell you, these suckers are seriously addicting. As soon as he starts getting out the familiar ingredients I start salivating. When they come out of the oven I start to hallucinate and can actually hear them calling my name. The addiction is only fed by each cookie I eat. You know how sometimes you can eat something unbelievable and then by the third or fourth one you are way over it. Not these things, boy howdy. The only thing that stops me from eating the whole batch right then and there is the thought that I could possibly run out and running out would be bad - withdrawals can be nasty.

I have deemed these cookies (due to their addictive nature) Illegal in 7 States Cookies. Bake them if you dare.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (from The New Best Recipe)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until just warm.
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (don't skimp on these, buy the name brand)

1)Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.

2) Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3)Either by hand or with and electric mixer (Brian uses our stand up electric) mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Ad the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste (and taste a lot if you are me when Brian turs around to get the other bowl).

4)the next step has some weird direction about making a ball then pulling it apart and putting it back together or something. Brian at this point has lost interest in directions and just scoops up some balls of cookie dough, throws them on a sheet (we actually use baking stones that are well seasoned) and tosses them in the oven.

5)Bake until the cookies are light golden brown, the outer edges start to harden, and the centers are still soft and puffy. 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time (you would think that this is a direction past the last one and Brian wouldn't do this but trial and error has proved this direction to be key). Cool the cookies on the sheets. Removed the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a wide metal spatula. (Brian discovered that if he removed the cookies and placed them on the rack too soon that they are SO fabulously chewy that they would droop down through the grate of the cooling rack. So, seriously, let them cool - this is also important before putting them in your mouth and subsequently burning your tongue on crazy hot chocolate.)

That's it gang! Remember, I warned you. Any illegal possession of cookies is on you.

Another man's treasure...

Last week we had an impromptu yard sale. Basically, Friday night the neighborhood put up a sign saying that the neighborhood yard sale would be the following day. I read the sign at about 9 o'clock Friday night. At about midnight, after surveying the attic and the closets, I decided that we could, in fact, have a yard sale the next day. I pulled some seriously ridiculous things out. I mean to tell you, I have no idea why we have had an "extra" TV in our attic for 2 years and in storage for a year before that. What I am capable of accumulating is amazing.

In my excitement to get rid of things I pulled out an old Christmas present from my husband. It was a gift from our first Christmas married. He was being so thoughtful when he gifted me with a bubble machine for the bathtub. I think it was supposed to feel like jacuzzi jets, but really it only managed to cool my bathwater off too quickly and ultimately I didn't have the time or the patience for baths and gave up on it all together. I was eager to finally purge this useless item.

My husband, finding sentimental value in the ridiculous machine, pulled it out of the heap. "The kids would love this," he said and claimed that their enjoyment was worth more than the maybe 5 bucks I could get from it. I begrudgingly gave in.

Since then, we have never had two kids more eager for bath time. This just goes to prove the old adage, one mamma's junk is her kiddo's treasure - or something like that. Oh, and I made about $160 in about 3-4 hours; not too shabby for not really having too much stuff out.