Last week, we spent two days driving through "Ethan Frome" landscapes to visit family for Christmas. It was simultaneously stark, lovely and conducive for introspection.
Driving through farmland was comforting since it's the environment in which I grew up. I also felt sad as we drove because I'd pictured myself living my adult life in this setting, but reality has been moving me further from this picture. Right now, we're in the process from moving from one large metropolitan area to an even larger one.
However, the childish image I had of my adult life, not surprisingly, doesn't fit the actual adult that I have become. It turns out that the adult that I am can thrive and adapt fairly well. Nevertheless, adult and child merge into one where chocolate chip cookies are concerned.
This photo is appetizing....
...if you consider it in light of this photo.
The first photo means that even in a flurry of moving-related activity, we can still enjoy the contents of the second photo.
I've been compulsively making and freezing food so that even when we put the house on the market, we'll still be able to derive comfort from home-cooked meals. I'm also hoping to minimize our need for eating out and convenience foods.
These cookies were inspired by Mark Bittman and a bag of dark chocolate chips. First, most people would look at a copy of How to Cook Everything: Holiday Cooking by Bittman and pick out festive recipes to try. I, on the other hand, picked out the simple but perfect recipes that I could enjoy any day of the week. Second, when I found a bag of dark chocolate chips at my local grocery, I grabbed it since there's no guarantee that I will be able to find this precious commodity when I want it.
In addition to swapping semi-sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips, I also: reduced the salt from 1/2 teaspoon to a pinch; used 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour instead of a full 2 cups of all-purpose flour; measured stingy amounts of both sugars; and increased the baking time from 10 minutes to 12 minutes. None of the swaps were noticeable in the taste of the final product.
Classic (Dark) Chocolate Chip Cookies
(inspired by How to Cook Everything: Holiday Cooking by Mark Bittman)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups (9 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups dark chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars; add the eggs one at a time and beat until well blended.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and add them to the batter by hand, stirring to blend. Stir in the vanilla and then the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoons onto the ungreased baking sheets and bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool for about 2 minutes on the sheets before using a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling.
