New Kitchen
My Book Deal kitchen renovation is done! Again, this involved three stages:
– undercabinet lights (which you’ll see in the first “before” pic down there
– backsplash tiles the whole length of our long counter
– boards to cap our cabinets on top, which are visible from the stairs
BEFORE
See? Very plain white. I had a few potholders and decorative things up before, but it never really gave the room atmosphere. The kitchen really needed a sense of grounded space because the ceiling in there is about 30 feet high and the space is shared with the living room and dining room.
AFTER
Ta-da! I’m so pleased with how everything turned out. The tile is tumbled green marble 2×2 and we used mocha-colored grout. We’ve lived here since 2008 and the kitchen has always been my space, but now it really feels MINE.
Maybe if I sell another book, I’ll upgrade my stove…
Read MoreBroken front page
WordPress very happily notified me that it upgraded its version this afternoon.
I not-so-happily discovered that the body of my index page is now coming up as a 404 error. (Thanks again to my dear friend Rhonda for letting me know; it’s never fun to be the bearer of sucky news like that.)
The good news: the data is still there. I can see it when logged in. The rest of my site’s content is still present for visitors as well. There’s just some incompatibility issue with my theme that Elegant Themes will need to fix to get my main page working. Tech support knows and I am grateful for their aid.
In the meantime… enjoy the site, just try to ignore the ugly entry way.
Read MoreBready or Not: Soft Batch-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
As I grew up, I ate a lot of grocery store cookies and junk. Stuff that makes me shudder to think of now–those cinnamon rolls with spackle for frosting, and those cheap frozen pizzas with cardboard crusts and pseudo-pepperoni bits.
But there was some good stuff to be found, too… like Keebler Soft Batch Cookies. As I grew older, Soft Batches became the clear chocolate chip cookie preference for both me and my brother. Chips Ahoy were too crunchy (though they did come out with a soft version in recent years). Soft Batch is well… soft. Chewy. The texture is amazing.
Want to duplicate them at home? Want to know the secret? Corn starch. That’s right. It’s the miracle ingredient.
I’ve made this recipe a bunch of times, doubled it from the original, and added a few tweaks. Don’t limit yourself to chocolate chips. Add in whatever you want (chopped candy, chopped Oreos or other cookies, M&Ms, whatever–just don’t go over that 3 cup limit or you’ll have problems with structural integrity.
Structural integrity is very important. Chocolate chip cookies are serious business.
*One more note. This dough is great to make and freeze. You can freeze it in a large lump, wrapped in wax paper or parchment and kept in a freezer bag, or shaped into tablespoon-sized balls (freeze them on a cookie sheet and then bag them). If they’re shaped, you can take them straight from the freezer to the oven. Just add a few minutes to the cooking time.
Recipe modified from Picky Palate.
Bready or Not: Soft Batch-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups chocolate chips or other chips
- extra sea salt or turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, which takes several minutes in a mixer. Add eggs and vanilla. Next slowly mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and the chocolate chips.
- You can make them straight away, but texture is thicker if the dough is chilled for several hours or overnight. Cover with plastic wrap if it will be in for a while.
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Scoop the dough onto parchment or silpat-lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with a little extra salt or turbinado sugar, if desired. Bake for 10-13 minutes, watching for desired coloration. Let them cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to rack.
- OM NOM NOM.
HarperCollins and Harlequin
Interesting news emerged on Friday–HarperCollins is acquiring Harlequin from Torstar. My two-book deal is with the Harper Voyager imprint. I have no idea if this will impact me, but it seems inevitable that some restructuring will occur. Both publishers have romance lines and they also have imprints that focus on urban fantasy/speculative fiction (Luna from Harlequin, and Voyager for HarperCollins). It will be a matter of waiting and seeing what happens.
One thing that is clear–the name combinations aren’t as funny as the ones that resulted from the Random House and Penguin merger last year. Random Penguin/Penguin House, etc. Though HarleCollins doesn’t have a bad ring to it…
Read MoreSunday Quote relates to this quote
Read More“I wonder why, on such a day as this, when the story is particularly clear in my head, I have a kind of virginal reluctance to get to it… Today’s work is so important that I am afraid of it.” ~John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel
