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Chocolate chip cookies #10: Based on The Kitchen is My Playground’s Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies. Baked on 5/19/12.

I love Nutella. When I have a jar of the chocolatey hazelnut spread in the house I can’t stay away from it. It’s just so easy to grab a spoon and eat a mouthful straight out of the jar. Dangerous even! This is why after making these Nutella chocolate chip cookies last weekend I vowed to never buy any more Nutella ever again. Not ever. OK, I might be talked into it if I happen to run across a Nutella frosting recipe, but that’s beside the point. It’s just too delicious to keep in my cabinet on a regular basis. But anyway, I saw this recipe on Pinterest and bookmarked it right away. I have some co-workers who are Nutella crazy so I figured they would be great to share with everyone. Unfortunately the cookies didn’t turn out as super amazing as I was hoping. They were still fairly well received by my co-workers, but I have a sneaking suspicion they’ll eat anything. Even though I refrigerated the dough for a couple of hours, the cookies still spread out a lot when baking. The were more like pancakes because the Nutella thinned out the batter. And the Nutella flavor was way too subtle even though there was a heaping 2/3 c in the dough. I just don’t think there’s a future in Nutella chocolate chip cookies – at least not for me. I like the idea of spreading some Nutella frosting on top of a classic chocolate chip cookie, though, so let me know if you run across a promising recipe!

The last two days of work have been killer for me, so here was my agenda after I got home this evening:

1) Nap
2) Go get Togo’s subs for dinner
3) Watch the “House” series finale
4) Watch the “Sherlock” season 2 finale
5) Go to sleep

As of right now the first four items have been successfully accomplished. As for the fifth…good night!

With Dan out of town I had the house to myself for a couple of days. So what did I do with all of this free time? Well, first of all, I watched movies. If there were any movies in the theaters that I didn’t want to subject Dan to I would have gone, but that wasn’t the case this weekend. So I rented from Redbox instead. On Thursday night I watched “W.E.” (the movie about Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward directed by Madonna) and on Saturday I watched “Albert Nobbs” (Glenn Close’s amazing Oscar-nominated performance) and “A Dangerous Method” (a movie about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud). The grand total for all three of those rentals was less than the price of one ticket for the cheapest matinee at a theater. I definitely appreciate that! I considered going to see “The Avengers” again this weekend, but decided to save the money and stay home watching Redbox movies instead. Also, on Saturday while I was working around the house I watched “Toy Story 2″ on Disney Channel. Now that’s a great movie. As far as the Redbox rentals go, “W.E.” was okay, “Albert Nobbs” was wonderful, and “A Dangerous Method” was pretty good – well, what I could watch of it. The disc was scratched and unwatchable in several places. I still need to call and complain about it. But anyway, what else did I do with my weekend, you ask? I cooked. I’ve already written a little bit about the batches of cookies I baked, but I also made some tomato soup. It’s not the most ambitious culinary creation, but it was the best way to use up a bunch of leftover vegetables. I’m not sure what Dan is going to be in the mood for when he gets home from camping, but I’m planning a dinner of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It’s simple and won’t take long to throw together. The perfect meal! Also this weekend I’ve also been reading books. I finally finished A Game of Thrones which I started quite a long time ago. It’s just so long! But at least now I can start watching season 1 of the HBO series. After I finished A Game of Thrones late last night I should have just gone to sleep, but I had to start City of Lost Souls because I’ve been looking forward to it for almost a year. It wasn’t the next book on my “to read” list, but I allowed it to leapfrog to the front of the line for good reason. And after all of that fun stuff, I had to do some chores this weekend as well. I couldn’t let the house get too unruly while Dan was out of town! So I washed dishes, ran the dishwasher twice, washed four loads of laundry, changed the sheets, and took out the trash. Just the usual list of weekend work, but it’s nice to have it all done before the week starts. So it was a productive, if not overly exciting weekend. I’ll take it!

Chocolate chip cookies #9: Based on Lauren’s Latest’s Brown Butter Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Baked on 5/19/12.

It’s been a long time since I made a batch of chocolate chips cookies (lack of inspiration, emphasis on a healthy diet, etc.), but I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a long time. Last year I made my first batch of brown butter blondies which were so insanely delicious that I’ve been eager to try the same secret ingredient in a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Browning the butter before adding it to the rest of the components may add an extra step to the process, but it’s well worth the time and effort. Let me tell you, these cookies do not disappoint. There is a distinct nutty flavor that the brown butter provides, making these different than any other chocolate chip cookie you’ve ever tasted. While these might not be the best version I’ve made in my search for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe, I think browned butter is going to be a critical ingredient in the ultimate winner. So if you’re looking for something classic with a twist, try these brown butter chocolate chip cookies. You won’t be sorry!

More random thoughts, aka another Not Foodie Friday…on Saturday. I was working on this post yesterday, but I fell asleep before it was done. At 10:30 PM which is unheard of for a Friday night! Regarding the “Not Foodie Friday” part, I still don’t have any new recipes to share, but that’s going to change soon. Dan is on his annual desert camping trip this weekend (which explains why I could go to bed so early last night) so I can make cookies to my heart’s content! But more about that later. Now, on to the random thoughts.

***Speaking of Dan going camping, the morning he left, his first words to me when he woke up were, “Where are my earplugs?” No greeting for his wife, but instead he asked about the earplugs I promised to provide for his trip. I thought it was cute. My brain usually can’t concentrate on anything that specific before I get out of bed!

***When I read that Nick Stahl was missing I had to watch “Terminator 3.” I love that movie. I don’t know why it got such a bad rap. OK, maybe it wasn’t as good as the first two installments in the franchise, but I still loved it.

***I’ve fallen off the no caffeine wagon. Starting Thursday at the Angel game when I had a Diet Pepsi with my disappointing ballpark meal I’ve ingested quite a lot of caffeine. I guess I’ll give myself a pass for the weekend and get back to my routine on Monday.

***I couldn’t bear to watch the Laker game last night. I knew that with them down 2-0 to the Thunder I would just get stressed out and I didn’t like the idea of feeling that way while Dan is out of town. So how do you think I felt when I read that the Lakers won last night? Elated! I still think I’ll skip watching tonight’s game. At least the whole series (and hence the whole season) won’t be over before Dan gets home!

***Just because I’m wearing flip flops today doesn’t mean it’s summer. It just means that I was too lazy to put on socks and shoes this morning. I’m not ready for summer yet!

***Trader Joes is killing me! My co-workers keep bringing in goodies like chocolate covered sunflower seeds and chocolate covered pomegranate seeds. How have I never had either of these delicious snacks before? Probably because I don’t shop at Trader Joes too often. And I guess that’s a good thing because these things are so bad for me! The last thing I need is something else to crave.

***Newsies on Broadway. How did I not know about this? I can only hope that it comes to LA at some point in the future. Most musicals do, however I’m still waiting for Book of Mormon to open at the Pantages Theater.

***My IM pet peeve: If you have something to say to me, just say it. Don’t send me a “Good morning” IM and then wait for me to respond before you reveal the intended purpose of the conversation. I’m a very busy person and I have more important things to do at work than exchange pleasantries via IM.

***So far I’ve spent just about all of today doing whatever I want. It’s time to break down and do some chores before the day is over and I feel like I’ve completely wasted half of my weekend. Time to put aside my laziness in the name of productivity!

Here’s what I’m thankful for today…

1) A cloudy morning. I hate driving to work with sun in my eyes. Especially when I’m driving Dan’s car. See the next item for an explanation.
2) Dan reminding me to drive his car today. He left for his annual desert camping trip this morning and it would have been problematic if I had taken my own car to work. Luckily my wonderful husband was thinking clearly enough before he even got out of bed to remind me which car to drive this morning.
3) A full tank of gas. Courtesy of my aforementioned wonderful husband. I did a lot of driving today so it was nice to not have to worry about running out of gas. There’s plenty of more important things to worry about when I’m driving Dan’s car!
4) Leftover brownies. My co-workers have been requesting red velvet brownies for a while so I broke down and made a pan to take to work on Wednesday. I really should have had my protein shake for breakfast this morning, but a couple of bites of leftover red velvet brownie with cream cheese frosting was so delicious!
5) A short work day. I went to the Angels baseball game so I left at noon today. Things are going to be crazy at work for the next couple of weeks so I’m grateful for a little down time now.
6) Redbox. On my way home from the Angel game I stopped by 7 Eleven to rent a movie from the Redbox outside. I settled on “W.E.” – the movie Madonna directed about Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward. It was OK. I’m just glad I only spent $1.30 to rent it rather than the exorbitant price of a ticket to see it in the theater!
7) Going to bed early. Well, early-ish. I’ve been sitting in bed writing this post much longer than I planned. Now it’s time for bed because I have to go to work tomorrow. Good night!

Look out world, I have discovered Instagram. That, combined with Pinterest, may consume all of my free time from now on. This is a photo of my beloved Kindle (with a page of A Game of Thrones displayed) that I took on Saturday morning and tried every Instagram filter before settling on one. This picture is the result. Now excuse me while I go apply filters to all of my recent pictures!

Dan always says the first sign of summer is the appearance of my flip flops. While I wear them with my dresses every time we go to ballroom dance (I change into my dance shoes when we get there), he’s absolutely right that summer has arrived for certain when I wear them on the weekends. I much prefer to wear a pair of my favorite Converse All Stars in my free time, but when the weather gets warm it’s just makes more sense to slip on a pair of comfy flip flops instead. In high school I didn’t wear shoes that required socks for most of the year. When it was unbearably hot in Florida I couldn’t stand to have my feet encased in sneakers. Yuck. I loved buying cheap sandals at Payless and Walmart so I had plenty of options to go with my summer wardrobe of shorts and t-shirts. I think my most expensive pair were some Tevas. And now that I’m an adult and earning a decent salary I still haven’t given up my frugal ways because my favorite flip flops these days are less than $20 a pair. They don’t last a long time, but I think I get my money’s worth out of them. Every spring I order one or two new pairs to replace the ones that wore out the year before. Simple black flip flops are the most versatile and my favorites are the Fiesta style from Flojo’s. I have the same ones in brown, tan, and purple too. They’re great. This year I only bought a new black pair of Fiestas because the other colors are still in pretty good shape. After I placed that order I ventured over to the Cobian website and ordered a pair of Nias (their basic flip flop) with a tan footbed and white straps. They look just like a pair I had and loved from Target that completely fell apart after about a year. So even though I’m not quite ready for the hot weather to arrive in Los Angeles, I’m ready for summer to start as far as flip flops go. I’m just hoping the weather follows its usual pattern in Southern California and stays cool until at least July!

I’ve been compiling this list of random thoughts since Friday, but I’ve been too busy to get it ready for publishing until now. This means that I’ve missed a couple of days of posts. Oops! At this point I’ve decided that I don’t want to continue updating my webpage every day unless I have something meaningful to say. Posting just for the heck of it isn’t worth anyone’s time. This list started off as a substitute for a recipe on Foodie Friday because I haven’t cooked anything worth sharing in a while, but now it’s just a bunch of things I’ve been thinking about over the last three days. Enjoy!

***The Lakers stink right now. I was sure they were going to win the first round of the playoffs against the Nuggets after they went up 3 to 1. I was so wrong. They lost Game 5 despite an inspiring fourth quarter rally (mostly by Kobe), and then they lost Game 6 in spectacular fashion. It was embarrassing. I’ve got all of my fingers and toes crossed that they can triumph tonight in game 7. I don’t want their season to be over yet! (Update on 5/13: The Lakers made it into second round with a win in Game 7 on Saturday! Yay! Too bad playing the Thunder is a death sentence for them.)

***Our DVD is completely full of shows that we haven’t been watching since the NBA playoffs started. There’s always at least one game to watch when we get home from work so that’s how we’ve been spending our evenings. Dan and I watched one episode of “Top Gear” on Thursday night, but that’s it. Our DVR is running out of space! (Update on 5/13: We made a dent in the DVR today by watching another episode of “Top Gear,” two episodes of “Whale Wars: Viking Shores,” the season finale of “Once Upon a Time,” and tonight’s episode of “Sherlock.” Awesome!)

***My mental list of jeans is very outdated. This morning I was sure all of my jeans that fit me right now (and can be worn with flats) were dirty, but I found a suitable pair at the bottom of the pile that I had completely forgotten about. I seriously don’t know how long I’ve owned them or how long they’ve been sitting there unworn, but I’m not complaining!

***My lasagna is without a doubt the best in the whole world (no dissenting opinions, please!), but it is seriously labor intensive. Now I remember why I only make it a couple of times a year – besides the fact that it’s incredibly unhealthy. It took me two hours to assemble after I got home from work on Friday, and that’s minus the 45 minutes of baking and 15 minutes of cooling before it’s ready to eat! You can’t beat the results, though. Yum.

***When you’re washing all of your bedding, make sure that you get every load of laundry done with at least an hour of margin before bedtime. Either that or have a suitable backup set of sheets available. When Dan and I got home from dinner with friends on Saturday night at almost midnight I realized that I had put stain remover on our sheets, but hadn’t thrown them in the washer yet. Oops. So I pulled out our extra set only to discover that the elastic in the fitted sheet had died. Sheesh. They worked well enough for us to sleep on for one night, but I need to keep on top of the laundry next time I’m washing sheets or we’ll end up sleeping in the guest room!

***If I want to get my chores done in the evenings I need to make sure that I don’t sit down when I get home. My butt shouldn’t hit the couch cushions until everything is done – like today. When I walked in the door I made myself go straight to the kitchen to take care of the garbage, the dishwasher, and the dirty dishes. Then I started a load of laundry and folded a bunch of clean towels. Only then could I crash in front of the TV and start working on this list. Luckily I didn’t have to cook dinner tonight (thank goodness of leftover lasagna) or else I my feet would have been screaming by the time Dan got home!

***I’ve been watching a couple of Charlie Brown specials that I recorded back in November – “A Boy Names Charlie Brown” and “Snoopy Come Home.” The commercials, songs, and show previews during ABC Family’s “Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas” are making me wish I could fast forward the calendar about six months. All in good time, I know. There are way too many great moments between now and the holidays that I definitely don’t want to skip!