On Baking: Cookie Exchange Edition

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Tomorrow, a group of girlfriends will convene at my friend Amanda’s darling Lincoln Park apartment for a cookie baking party and exchange.  From my understanding, her grandmother does this with the family every year and now Amanda is bringing the tradition Chicago-side.  We’ve been instructed to bring the ingredients for our favorite cookie to so we can spend the evening baking together and then trade up at the end so we each go home with a taste of everything.  We were also told to bring wine.  I don’t think that has anything to do with cookies.

After much (internal) debate, I have decided to make Chocolate-Covered Oreo Balls.  A co-worker’s Mom made them for a work event once and for as decadent as they tasted, I was so surprised to learn how simple they were to make.  With any luck, my contribution to the cookie exchange will look like this:

Oreo Ball Recipe Ingredients

  • 8 ounces softened cream cheese or whipped cream cheese
  • 18 ounces package of Oreo cookies, crushed (crush the entire cookie- don’t remove the filling!)
  • 2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon shortening

Oreo Balls Recipe Instructions

Mix cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy. Add the crushed Oreos and beat on high until well mixed. Chill for at least 2 hours in the freezer. Then roll Oreo cookie mix into one inch Oreo Balls.

Next, melt the chocolate chips and shortening with a double boiler or in the microwave.

Dip the Oreo balls completely into the melted chocolate using tongs or a toothpick.

Put on wax paper. After the Oreo balls harden, keep them in the refrigerator.

Makes about 3 or 4 dozen Oreo Balls, depending on the size.

 

What about you?  I’d love to hear what your favorite holiday recipes are!

 

Just Like a Good Bra…

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I’m talking about support, people.

To say I am blessed to have supportive people in my life is an understatement.  I am even luckier to know that I do as these people are also very expressive.  But this week, the support I have been getting from people I love, people I like and people I don’t even know has been overwhelming.  Overwhelmingly AWESOME, that is!

My best friend is in Paris this week so she sent a card because she’ll be mid-air during my run.  My Dad, writer of the best emails of all time, sent me a Papa G classic that made me (and several co-workers) cry at work yesterday.  Mama G is coming into town to be at the finish line.  There have been emails and calls from friends, friend’s parents, acquaintances, readers, friends of friends, all with advice, their own running stories or well wishes.

I’m getting more excited than nervous now and I attribute that to the amazing support I’ve been shown recently.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

4 days!

Cubs Win!

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I started Sunday out with plans to do laundry, apartment hunt and go to yoga.  I ended up at the Cubs vs. Pittsburgh game with 9 of my closest friends.  A soft pretzel, a few cold beers and a 8th inning comeback by the Cubbies and I had my first Cubs game of the 2010 season under my belt.

That is reason #2987 that I live in Chicago–at a moments notice, I can be gifted a Cub’s ticket and walk up to Wrigley Field to go to the game.  And enjoy the game alongside some of my best friends, who also happen to be there randomly.  Sure, I’m starting the week lacking clean sheets and no where to live come July 1st but when I look back on this season in my life, I willing to bet that I’ll remember the fun times with my city and my friends more than chores left undone.

…if you could not fail?

adminFriends, Italy, pleasure, reading, Uncategorized%s Comments

I was at a meeting the other day where the ice-breaker posed the question: “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?“.  I was kind of taken aback because someone asked me this a few months ago and I never came up with an answer.  I mean, if I couldn’t fail?  Without regard to my personal skill or past or abilities?  I have my goals and things I am working toward but is that what I would do if I knew I couldn’t fail?  No, those are things I’m going to try for anyways.  If I could not fail…

The answers from the group really got me thinking big.  I mean, talk about standing in a place of nothing’ness and creating whatever you want.  Because if you could not fail, you could do anything. Some of my favorites: “travel and not come back”, “be a Madonna’esque rockstar”, and “be in the Winter Olympics…as a bobsledder”.  Someone even said that they would be the President of the United States.  Right away, my reaction was “Ugh, what a terrible idea!” but it’s what you would do if you could not fail. If I couldn’t fail, being the President would be amazing!  I would be able to fix our international relationships, end the war, get Iran and North Korea to voluntarily give up their nuclear weapons, rebuild American companies so there are actual jobs based in actual America, find a cure for AIDS and cancer, bring the fine arts back to public schools AND end bi-partisanship by requiring that the Senate get weekly mani-pedis together.  So, I finally got it, this if you could not fail thing.

I would move to Italy and devote my time to all things pleasurable.

I would spend my days practicing yoga in fields of sunflowers and olive trees and in vineyards. I would go to the market to buy copious amounts of fresh basil, vegetables and cheese, and have those perfect kind of meals that last for hours and are conversation and wine-filled.  Every night.  I’d make friends from around the globe to do all these things with in between the times when my friends and family were flying out (on my private jet-I don’t want to inconvenience anyone, after all) to join me in my pleasure-filled life.  And I’d read book after book after book–The Divine Comedies, Atlas Shrugged, finally finish Pride and Prejudice, every single chick-lit on the planet, the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible…everything.  For fun, I would consult world leaders on the above listed presidential stuff and when Madonna needed some support, I’d put my years of hairbrush singing to use and join her on tour.

What would you do if you could not fail?