Friday Faves

I'm shamefully late on this post-and many others this week-and I must apologize and beg forgiveness. Please don't kick me out of the club.

My latest favorite is a delicious cookie from Paradise Bakery. I love Paradise Bakery. It makes delicious sandwiches, salads, and cookies. My favorite cookie is a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips called chippers. They're called chippers because they are small like chips (pretty clever,huh?). I love when baked goods are small. I feel a lot less guilty consuming these pint size cookies. Even though I make up for their size by eating about tree times as much!
Unfortunately, I cannot be running to paradise bakery as often as I would like these cookies so I decided to make these for myself. Actually I decided to call my exceptionally talented sister Erin and have her tell me how to make them. I'm telling you this girl has a gift. She has never tasted these cookies but just by me describing how they tasted she was able to come up with a great knock-off recipe. They were tiny, innocent, and delicious. I loved them!

Chocolate Chipppers

1 1/4 cup - brown sugar
3/4 cups- granulated sugar
1 cup -butter
2 -eggs
1 tsp. - vanilla
1 cup- cocoa powder
1 tsp. - baking powder
1 tsp. -baking soda
1 tsp. -salt
2 cups- flour
1 bag white chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and mix. Then add in cocoa powder and mix. Add 1 cup of flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and mix. Add last cup of flour and mix. Add white chocolate chips. (Reserve about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips for topping cookies after baking them.) Roll into small 1 inch balls and bake at 350 degrees for 6 1/2 minutes. After they are finished add several white chocolate chips on tops of cookies. ( It looks prettier this way.) Then I put the cookies in the freezer, on their cookie sheet still, to cool the white chocolate chips quickly for about 5 minutes. This makes a large batch due to their small size.

Thanks Erin for being so generous and clever with all of your recipes. I could have not done this without you! I hope everyone enjoys these cookies. And if you want to see a whole weeks worth of other great cookies just click a way right here! http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/

The Finer Things Club.

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart

"This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous."

I thought I would begin my introductory post into the Finer Things Club with a chilling book because, well, it is almost Halloween.I only came to be familiar with this book due to Catherine and Mom. While Catherine was visiting Mom and Dad in Nauvoo one summer, she and mom had long periods of waiting. I can't remember what they were waiting for but they were waiting just the same. To pass the time Mom would read out loud to Catherine from a book. This book, The Circular Staircase. Apparently this book was written by a favorite author of our Grandmother's(Mom's mom). Catherine said the book was very interesting and frightening and she loved to listen to Mom read it. I was sold. Not long after that I headed over to my beloved Library and checked it out.

I really enjoyed this book. The author does a good job of keeping you unsure and wanting to read more. Well, at least to me. It was also interesting to read a book written by a very popular writer in the early 1900's. I hope anyone looking for a good mystery will get a chance to read this.

*Bonus*

Can anyone name the movie where the opening song is from? Do you know who the composer is? (I didn't till yesterday but I love his music!)

Friday Favorites!

This Season makes me want to do many things. Bake, take scenic walks, go pumpkin picking, and anything else fallish. One thing I long to do in the Autumn is go to Disneyland. I love Disneyland. It's such a fun and amazing place. I loved going as a child and now with my own children. Since everyone, besides the Utah families, will be going to the Magical Kingdom soon I thought I would write about a few of my favorite things at this Wonderful Place. I love New Orleans Square. I love the smells, the music, and all of the rides. One of those rides is ideal during Halloween Time. The Haunted Mansion. I really do love this ride. The music and the mansion itself are very eerie. I have always loved to be scared, just a little-not too much, and this ride is perfect for that.

My favorite part in this ride is when you get put in the first room and that chilling voice begins telling you your Haunted Mansion fate. At the very end of it the lights go out and some people scream but no one as good as my sister Erin.

Erin is quite an accomplished actress. She could give such a convincing blood curdling scream. You know the kind in Scary Movies where it makes you throw your popcorn in the air and spill your soda all over. My sister Leslie screams like that too but believe me she's not acting. That really is how she screams for many, many things.

So Erin would scream and her little sisters (Catherine and I) would laugh and think she was so fun and funny. Then Catherine and I would sit by each other and those same big sisters would knock on the back of our ride carrier to scare us. Oh I miss being the little sister with so many fun, silly sisters around!

My other favorite thing to do at Disneyland besides rides is eating all of the delicious snacks so conveniently located in my path. (Maybe I should have listed this first.) I love so many but I think my favorite has to be the Churro. It's fried bread rolled in cinnamon and sugar. What's not to love?

I love them but can't stand when I get a cold one. I learned that you must go to the Churro cart with a line if you really want a hot one. If you go to one without the line then most likely those Churros have been sitting around for awhile but the busy carts have to keep making fresh ones. When it comes to food I believe the long line is worth it!

So here is my nod to one of my absolute most favorite rides and one of the most delicious snacks at one of my most Favorite places- Disneyland!

Friday Favorites!

Lovely, lovely Fridays. It's here a gain! Hooray! My loves for this week are inspired by my dear sister Heidi. She discovered them and so all credit goes to her this week.

Several years ago Heidi and her group came to visit my family back in our old Provo home. I was on my way down stairs to do some laundry and was trying to be extra quite since it was past bedtime for everyone, including Heidi's little bundle of joy at the time- Reevey. I saw a light coming from her door. I lightly knocked and went in. I was greeted by a small bright light that seemed to be shining from the top of Heidi's head. I was caught slightly off guard by my sister's strange aappearance. I looked at her. Heidi looked at me. Then we both started laughing. She looked like a Cole Miner's Daughter in her bed with a one of those flashlights they wear strapped to her head! She loves to read but due to a sleeping husband and baby did not want to leave a lamp burning into the midnight hours. Flashlights were okay but they never stayed in the same spot. Cellphones were only used as an absolute last resort. This was the first time I had ever heard of a book light and I loved it! Heidi's book light was rather an unconventional one but it worked! Adam just purchased me one that clips to my books. I LOVE it! It's absolutely one of the best most useful gift Adam has given me. So for all those many midnight readers out there, this little book light is perfect!


My last favorite is a song I just discovered on the Renouf family blog. It's Mahna Mahna by Cake. I love it ! So do my kids. They all dance around anytime they hear it. It's silly, funny, and got a great beat. It reminds me of the muppets who I love because they're so nonsensey Listen. Love it! Thanks Heidi for introducing me to two of my great favorites!