Cookies

I made cookies yesterday. It's been sad here since we lost our beloved Gizmo. He was the sweetest cat and so young. We miss him very much.

First of all is Peanut Butter Cookies. My favorite.





Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
from http://www.elise.com/

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Method
1 Cream the butter for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, cream for 2 more minutes. Mix in the peanut butter and egg. Mix together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the sugar butter mixture.
2 Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate at least 3 hours.






QUAKER'S BEST OATMEAL COOKIES
From the Quaker Oats Website.

3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar1/2 c. granulated sugar1 egg1 stick butter1 tsp. vanilla1 1/2 c. all purpose flour1 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. salt (opt.)3 c. Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie, 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire cooling rack. Store in tightly covered container. 4 1/2 dozen.
OATMEAL COOKIE SQUARES: Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13"x9" pan. Bake about 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely; cut into 1 1/2" squares. Store in tightly covered container. 4 dozen.
VARIATIONS: Add any one or combination of two of the following ingredients, if desired: 1 cup raisins, chopped nuts, or semi sweet chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter flavored pieces.



From the back of the bag of Nestles chocolate chips. I use walnuts for the nuts.

Toll House Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 cup chopped nuts
Directions:PREHEAT oven to 375° F.COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. PAN COOKIE VARIATION: Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars. SLICE AND BAKE COOKIE VARIATION: PREPARE dough as above. Divide in half; wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Shape each half into 15-inch log; wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.* Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 5 dozen cookies. * May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks. FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING (5,200 feet): Increase flour to 2 1/2 cups. Add 2 teaspoons water with flour and reduce both granulated sugar and brown sugar to 2/3 cup each. Bake drop cookies for 8 to 10 minutes and pan cookie for 17 to 19 minutes.

Gizmo

Please pray for sweet Gizmo. He had emergency surgery today and is at the Animal ER. We found out he has a blockage and his vital signs are not good. He is the sweetest cat. I can't find a good picture of him right now, but I'll keep looking. He made it through surgery, but it's touch and go. We are thinking good thoughts for you Gizzy.

UPDATE: We took Gizmo to Texas A&M. He was doing better but is now in a coma. We are hoping he comes out of it tomorrow.

Time for Snowsuits

It's getting warm in Houston, so it means it is time for snowsuits. I know some people are confused, but it's very simple. During the summer in Houston, it is impossible to wear cute summer clothes. I have to have a jacket for the bus I take to work. It is so cold on the bus I am miserable. Then I get to work, and it's cold in the building. I'm not sure why people can't understand that we don't need the air conditioner to run colder than the winter is in Houston, TX.

You can't even go into restaurants without taking in a sweater. Don't people know how much electricity they are using? And it is not comfortable!

Strange Quirks I have

I have some strange quirks:

1. I only like to clean house when it's sunny outside. That means no cleaning when it's dark or raining.
2. I like raw carrots but can't stand cooked carrots.
3. I love to exercise but only in the morning.
4. I like sweet and low in hot tea, but like my ice tea with not sweetner in it.
5. I hate to drive, but end up doing all the driving. Except for going to work, I take the bus, it may be longer, but I'm not stressed.
6. I don't care for beef, pork or chicken much.
7. I don't care for chocolate very often.
8. I don't like very many sit coms.
9. I don't like many stupid movie comedies.
10. I love British shows and movies.
11. I love French movies.
12. I don't like potatoes, but love rice.
13. I don't mind cleaning or doing laundry.
14. I love to cook, but baking is OK.
15. I love sports.
16. I don't care much for science fiction, but loved Lord of the Rings, Steven Spielberg's Take, The 4400.

The Best Coworkers in the World

I will not miss my job because management has been horrible for the past year. However, I will miss the best coworkers ever. These flowers (now hiding in my bathroom so the cats can not eat them) were sent by KM. He was the best project manager ever!! I know we will remain friends forever!! I will also miss KM, the user support analyst. Despite having bad taste in college football teams (Nebraska Cornhuskers), I love her to death. And she is married to a Longhorn, so she does have good taste. KM has been there for me since DAY 1! Without her I would have been totally lost.

Then I can't say enough about the Houston team, most of whom have gone on to new jobs. But AS and RM were so welcoming and became such close friends. AS and I share a love of books and had a blast finding new authors together! RM and her darling daughter AB will always have a fond place in my heart.

There were a lot of good friends, but these deserve a big shout out.

Less Stress

I've been a bit stressed lately. In November I lost my beloved aunt. Then 2 weeks later I told I needed to move to Nashville or lose my job. I chose lose the job. I didn't like it that much any more (bad management) and I don't do country music. In all of December I did not get one call on jobs. Starting the second week of January I started getting a lot of calls. I had one interview a couple of weeks ago, but have not heard one word from the recruiter. I find that very tacky. She was all gung ho, and then nothing. Last week I got called for an interview on Thursday. Friday morning they asked me to come back this week and meet the whole team. They were great. Two hours after I left I was called with a job offer! My present job ends Friday, and I got a severence package. And I start the new job on Monday! I'm so excited!

I just filled out all the forms, and scanned them in to email them to my new employer. I feel very fortunate to find a job in this economy!

Books and TV

I decided this year I would keep track of what I read and the movies I see. Usually I get to the end of the year and can't remember what I read that year. I love to read and listen to books!

A favorite series of mine is The Presidental Agent Series by W.E.B. Griffin. The latest in the series is Black Ops. The main character is Charlie Castillo. His code name is Don Juan. I was a little disappointed in the beginning of the book, not enough action. But by the end of the book, I was hooked again. Everyone loves this series. Guys love it for all the action, girls like it because Charlie is hot, hot, hot.

Now for fluff mysteries, there is nothing like Janet Evanovich. The latest in the Stephanie Plum series is Plum Spooky. I was stuck in traffic listening to this and laughing out loud.

I'm always a day late and a dollar short with TV shows. I saw on someone's blog that Damages was a great show. So I ordered it from blockbuster and I'm totally hooked. I haven't finished watching season 1 yet, so I have season 2 on the DVR waiting for me to finish season 1. It reminds me of one of my favorites from the 90's, Murder One.

Murder One was my favorite show in 1995. Daniel Benzali was the first bald guy I ever thought was sexy. Patricia Clarkson was such a perfect wife for this show. This show kept me on the edge of my seat.