Father’s Day was a few days ago and I’m so thankful I was
able to spend not only the day but also the entire weekend with the best guy in
the world – my dad! Or Howie, as some of my friends call him.
My dad was relocated to Nashville, Tennessee earlier this
year and although I’m away at school in Georgia a majority of the time and don’t see him
very often, it’s still a little strange to think he’s living anywhere but
Greensboro. Greensboro has been our home for the past 15 years and I know it
will continue to be my dad’s home even though he’s over 400 miles away. It’s
safe to say I’m not the only one here in the boro who misses him.
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| My favorite guy |
I’m constantly reminded of how great of a guy my dad is
whenever I run into our friends, family, and even acquaintances around town.
Now, for those that have not visited Greensboro, it isn’t very big so I almost
always run into people we know whether at the gym, tennis courts, near-by
Harris Teeter, Fresh Market, or Friendly Shopping Center. And every time I do
run into someone, one of the first questions I’m asked is, “How’s Howard
doing?” I fill them in on what he’s been up to and when he is next visiting
home. They usually reply by saying, “We just love your dad,” or “You’re dad’s
the man,” or “Howard is just the nicest guy.” The list goes on and on, and if I
sat down one day and wrote down all the nice things I’ve ever heard about my
dad I would end up with novels upon novels.
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| Us at Disney World |
For Dad’s day, I wanted to give him something that I knew he
would absolutely love! Well it took me about a mere 30 seconds to come up with
something. Whoever first said that the way to a man’s heart is through his
stomach sure must’ve met my dad a time or two. If there’s one thing that Howie
can never turn down, it’s anything sweet and/or chocolate. We always make fun
of him because every morning for breakfast he sits down with his two chocolate
fudge pop tarts and diet coke. If he were ever stranded on an island and could
only bring 5 things with him, those two would definitely make the cut. The third
thing would be water because, as he says, it always seems to “hit the spot” for
him even if we are sitting at a bar while I enjoy my glass (…or bottle) of
pinot grigio. The fourth item would be string green beans. I only add these in
because once upon a time the two of us were out to dinner and enjoying said
green beans and my dad basically shouted to the rest of the restaurant, “These green
beans are so good, they taste like candy!” I assure you they did not taste like
candy and I quickly reminded him they were a vegetable. I still haven’t let him
live that one down. And if any one knows my dad at all, you would obviously
know that the fifth thing accompanying him on the island would be his beloved
treadmill. That man could run for days…or until he got hurt which would
probably be sooner than later. Bless his heart!
Anyways, back to his gift! At the beginning of the summer I
told myself I would embark on a journey to make the perfect chocolate chip
cookie and Father’s Day seemed like the perfect time to showcase what I had
come up with. I had been doing my research by visiting various baking blogs and
cookbooks to find the ingredients and recipes that would lead me to THE
chocolate chip cookie.
So I took what I learned and played around with some
recipes. Long story short, batch number one tasted delicious but looked
somewhat disastrous, in my opinion. For those who don’t know me too well, you
should know that if whatever I bake doesn’t come out perfect, then I pretty
much hate it. When it came time for batch number two I changed some
measurements, the type of chocolate chip, and the baking time. I also used some
tips and ideas from sallysbakingaddiction.com. Sally’s blog, recipes, and
pictures are all amazing and I hope I can one day build my blog and name to be
just as great as hers. In the meantime, I will continue to visit her blog and
her other social media pages and take away as much as I possibly can from her
work.
The heavenly aroma taking over the kitchen let me know that batch
number two was ready to come out of the oven.
And…
I didn’t hate them!!!!
In fact, I loved them. If I could, I would have held them
and cradled them like babies forever.
Howie loved them, too! He even ate two in one sitting. Don't get too crazy now, Dad.
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| Ready for the oven! |
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| THE Chocolate Chip Cookie #perfection |
Although he did manage to eat two at one time, I knew he
would not be able to finish a whole batch so I sent the remaining cookies to my
friend, Willie, who is working in New Jersey this summer and completed a
triathlon on Saturday! I figured he would enjoy a cookie or nine after his
race. Why anyone would do a triathlon is still beyond me. The race consisted of
swimming 600 meters, then biking 22 miles, THEN running 5 miles. Although I was
quite the swimmer back in my day (and have all my first place ribbons to prove
it) I’m sure I would still end up drowning after a few meters. I’m tired just
talking about it…sheesh!
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| Willie and I! |
To conclude, my cookies were quite a success and so was my
entire weekend thanks to my wonderful, sweet and amazing dad! Not only is he my
dad, but he’s also my friend, and I’m so blessed to have him in my life!
Love you, dad!
I’ve shared the recipe I used below…enjoy!
And happy baking!!
Cookies:
2 and 1/4 cup all-purpose
flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons
cornstarch
1.5 sticks salted butter,
melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.5 cups mini chocolate chips (or however many you like!)
1. Combine the flour, baking
soda, cornstarch and salt in a
medium-sized bowl.
2. In a different bowl, whisk the butter, brown sugar, and white
sugar together until no lumps remain.
3. Then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk until well
combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix
together preferably with a rubber spatula.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Chill the dough for at least an hour.
7. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let sit for a few
minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 325F degrees and line your baking sheets
with parchment paper.
9. Roll the dough into balls. Tip from
sallysbakingaddiction.com: “Roll the
cookie dough balls to be taller rather than wide, to ensure the cookies will
bake up to be thick.”
10. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes
but keep an eye on the oven so they don’t overcook! The cookies will keep
cooking on the baking sheet once they are removed from the oven so do NOT let
cookies bake any longer than 10-12 minutes.
11. Let the cookies sit on the cookie
sheet for about 7 or 8 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack or cool
surface.
Lindsay, I just found your blog on Pinterest! Your recipes look amazing and I can't wait to bake the cookies :) good luck!!
ReplyDeleteAw thank you!!
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