So I think it’s safe to reveal at this point in time that my sister is expecting (!!!) which means she “gets to eat like a dude” a/k/a consuming things that she might otherwise feel guilty about without worry or eyelash batting. Like a dude. As girls, we know that even on our most secure thinnest days there is nary a French fried potato or frosted brownie that goes down the hatch without at least a little tinge of “yikes. I really shouldn’t.” So Heather was telling me a story last night about what she has eaten over the past couple days. Including but not limited to a half pound of pastrami Reuben, a black and blue burger and Hot Dog on a Stick followed in short order by a slice of Sbarro. Needless to say I was impressed. But not bested. I quickly rattled off the fact that my New Year’s Day began with an individual sporkie pizza at Bertuccis and rounded out the food groups that night with a vegetable bean chimichonga. “That’s not THAT bad” she chided me. “It’s a DEEP FRIED BURRITO, essentially.” I reminded her. “…and I’m not pregnant I’m just being a greatbigfatperson.” We laughed and basked in the glory of our calories. But seriously. It’s quittin’ time for me. The Madness. Needs. To stop. I have eaten with reckless abandon (and enjoyed the everloving life out of it) for the entirety of the holiday season. Handful of peanut m&ms before breakfast. Don’t mind if I do. Nothing in the fridge? Better order a pizza, we wouldn’t want to starve! Wine and beer were no longer relegated to special occasions, for during The Holidays, every night is a special occasion. The food and the drink were everywhere and needless to say, I’ve been wearing a lot of stretch pants lately. I’m not proud of this, but I feel like I can be honest here.
So begins my intentions. Intention, I will remind you does not necessarily mean I will take the right action. But I’m going to do my best to whittle my portions back down to normal people size and I’m going to eat more vegetables and less deep fried things (at least on Mondays).
So I am writing this post not as a recipe suggestion (although you can do what you want. I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life) but as a farewell. A Dear John breakup letter to the cookies that started the Great Holiday Binge of 2009. See I made these cookies the first week of December, to bring down to my girlfriend’s house for our college gals holiday get-together. Then I made them again on Christmas Eve. And I inhaled them like they were oxygen. You probably don’t want these in your house. I know that I can’t handle the responsibility of these being in my presence, so I’m not going to make them for quite some time. But if you are (and maybe you should) bring them someplace where there are other people to help you eat them. Whatever you do don’t leave them in your very own kitchen, where you have unfettered access to gobble them up every time you walk by the Tupperware. I know this shame, and I own it but now I’m finished (for now). Farewell sweet cookies. I’m setting you free. If you come back to me, I’ll know we’re meant to be; but for right now, mama needs some mixed greens in her life.
I originally was hankering to make traditional Hershey’s Kiss thumbprint cookies, but every recipe I found on the web involved shortening. Shortening scares me. My memory is flooded with images of the crusty tin of Crisco which could always be found on the lowest shelf of our pantry; also, I’m not baking saavy enough to figure out the substitutions so I sought out something else. I knew Deb would help. I found these on smitten kitchen (where else?!). They are originally from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook. SO the original recipe is right here (I know I’m being kind of lazy just sending a link, but I didn’t really change much so I would feel a bit fraudulent typing up the recipe as though I had anything to do with its total awesomeness). I skipped the part about peanut butter chips. It must be something about me but I have beef with peanut butter chips. I’m just not interested in them. Just chocolate chips served me well. Oh and chunky peanut butter is a must. That way you end up with some teensy chunks of actual real nuts and I like that. Additionally, I would strongly suggest that you heed the advice to NOT overcook these. I overdid my second batch by ONE minute and they were not as good as the first go-round. I believe undercooked cookies are, with very few exceptions, much much better than fully cooked ones. I use this rule for almost every batch of cookies I make, just personal preference.
I also made these cookies and they were wonderful as well. I strongly recommend them! But these oversized chocolate peanut butter hockey pucks you see right here? They’re the stuff that dreams are made of.
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