Hiiii! I hope everyone is doing well. Can you believe that it's JUNE already? I can't!! I am writing this post on the morning of my graduation... Later this afternoon I'll be graduating with my Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from UMass Boston. I can't wait! It's been a challenging two years, balancing school full-time, work part-time, friends, family, life "stuff," etc. But as of today, the school part will officially be done! Hooray. :)
Anyway, back to this "ultimate" cookie. This recipe is for chocolate chip cookies. Yes, the Barbershop has shared previous chocolate chip cookie recipes of various kinds (see
this link and
this one too), but I decided to try yet another recipe! You may recall from my latest post about pound cake that I used a recipe from the blog, Brown Eyed Baker. Well, I used her recipe again for this chocolate chip cookie! It is another keeper in my book! You can find her recipe
here. What I really liked about these cookies is the fact that they were slightly crispy on the outside, but super chewy and soft on the inside. And, you could really taste the butter in them too. And who doesn't like that?? I often use margarine, but I chose to use real butter this time...it was a good decision!
Instead of using just semi-sweet chocolate chips, I used a combination of both chocolate and butterscotch chips. One of the main differences in this recipe from other chocolate chip cookie recipes is the use of melted butter (but only one stick; many recipes call for two sticks). It also uses more brown sugar than regular granulated sugar (most recipes seem to have equal parts of these two sugars). These cookies are also baked at a lower temperature (325 degrees), whereas many recipes are baked in a warmer oven (about 375 degrees). I decided to use parchment paper this time around, which I must say, was great! It made clean-up such a breeze. I think I may opt to use parchment more often instead of greasing my cookie sheets, as I typically do!
Now, you may have noticed that I called this recipe the "ultimate" recipe. Are you wondering why? Well, even if you're not, I'm going to tell you... ;-) There is a small story behind these cookies. I made them Wednesday evening this week in anticipation of bringing them to Mike's ultimate frisbee game on Thursday for his team after the game. Well, on Thursday right around the start of game time, it was POURING rain and thunderstorming like crazy. I was caught in the rain in my car as I was driving home from getting my hair cut... Shortly after I got home, the rain stopped and it cleared up dramatically. Mike had said don't worry about coming to watch the game, but the team happened to be playing just five minutes from my house, so it was a very convenient game for me to go see. I figured that since the skies had cleared up, the team was probably still having their game. At the same time, it was also quite appealing to stay home (no offense to Mike and his teammates!). You know how sometimes once you get home after a long day, it's really tough to get yourself together and go back out? Yeah... Well, that was my mindset last night. BUT, it was the cookies that motivated me to go to the game! I had made them specifically for the team, and if I didn't give the cookies to them, I didn't know what else to do with them... I certainly didn't need 20 cookies in my house! Normally I'd just bring them into work, but since today is my graduation, I'm off from work. What a dilemma! Well, it's not a major dilemma I suppose. ;-)
Anyway, the point of this story is that the cookies motivated me to get out of the house and go watch the game. Little did I know that I'd also be playing in the game! When I arrived, Mike's team, Fetch, barely had enough players to play; only seven players showed up for the game, and that's how many are on the field during the game. Unfortunately, one of their women got hurt shortly after I arrived and she didn't feel up to returning to the game at all. So, the team was one person short. Mike semi-jokingly, semi-seriously, was like "Colleen, wanna play?" Now, I've only played ultimate frisbee once before, and it was in a league that has a mix of players from amateurs like me to very experienced players like Mike...and that was almost two years ago! After a small debate with myself (I also have been dealing with a hamstring injury), at half time I decided to jump in and help out. I used the cleats of the girl, Kerry, who was injured (it was fate; her cleats fit me), and off I went! I did do a few good things, and I messed up a few times...but all in all, it was a lot of fun! This league that Fetch is in is comprised of more skilled and experienced players than the league I played in, but I think I managed okay. Mike's teammates were very supportive and encouraging, so that helped too. :)
Phew, that was a long story. Sorry! But, it's the story behind these "ultimate" cookies. Get it? ;-) After the game, the Fetch players who showed to the game enjoyed these cookies quite a bit, I must say. There were enough cookies for everyone to have a couple of them too since so few players showed to the game!
Here is a picture from my first season playing "hat" league, as it's called... I wonder what I'm about to do with the disc...hopefully something good! Perhaps there is more ultimate playing in my future. We shall see!
Now I'm off to become "Master Barber"!! See you next time. :)
