Another Snow Day!

pebbles first snow 2
Originally uploaded by mygothlaundry

I love this winter. Well, okay, I don't love the fact that it's been less than 20 degrees way too much but I do love all the fabulous snow days we're getting and how they remind me of what winter used to be like in these here mountains back before Al Gore invented the intertubes and global warming or something. I may have my facts a bit muddled on that. I might love winter a bit more too now that I live in a house with this modern thing called insulation, of which I had previously been completely ignorant. Insulation: it's not just for suckers after all! Who knew?

Last night was perfect, too, because I actually really knew that it was going to be a snow day - it was hard not to, what with all the, you know, snow - and S came over and we drank some beers and I made cookies, the recipe for which will be at the bottom of this post. They are amazingly good cookies. It is an amazingly good snow day: I have just made an executive decision to stay in my pajamas. In theory I would like to take the dogs out for a walk and take lots of pictures but in reality, fuck that. It's cold out there and I am not taking off my fleecy bathrobe and leopard print slippers, no, not even for art or dogs.

Speaking of dogs, on Sunday A & I went shoe shopping (I bought some amazing boots I can't afford and I love them) and on the way back on Brevard Road we fell madly in love. The car next to us at the light was an old white car with a bumper sticker that said "My mastiff is smarter than your honor student" and the mastiff in question was just completely beautiful and grinning happily out the window at us with this huge giant happy mastiff grin. Even better, the owner of the car in question had a shaved head and the wrinkles on the back of his neck exactly matched the wrinkles on the back of the dog's head and A & I were just completely tickled by this guy and his lovely beat old car and his wonderful dog. Then, unfortunately, the light turned green and he proceeded to drive like an asshole. Damn, dude. You had two women ready to marry you for the sake of your dog and you had to speed off and weave in and out of traffic on Brevard Road of all places? Bah.

However, here it is another fabulous snow day; everything is white; I might just do something weird like grab an icicle and take close up pictures of it on a piece of black velvet, or possibly not. And here are the cookies, because it is cold outside and you need an extra layer of fat to combat it. Yes, yes, you do and besides these have fruit in them which automatically means they are in fact good for you.

These are adapted from an old book by Maida Heatter. She is a genius but extremely anal. I am not so anal; therefore, these cookies are way easier to make than hers.

6 oz semi sweet chocolate
2 cups + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs

She also adds white chocolate chunks and walnuts and the note from my friend in the margin of this ancient recipe says to add some chocolate chips as well. I did none of these things. The cookies were great.

* Oven: 375.
* Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil. Maida says to use 2 cookie sheets on top of each other but, yeah, right. I am not bothering with that.
* Combine the dry ingredients. You should probably sift them. I did not bother with that either, given that I made these on a beer drinking it's gonna be a snow day tomorrow night.
* Melt the chocolate. Note: wash the spoon & bowl afterwards if you nuke it. I woke up this morning to a perfectly impregnable chocolate covered spoon.
* Mix the softened butter, sugar, vanilla & bananas.
* Add the melted chocolate. Mix.
* Add the eggs. Mix.
* Add the dry ingredients. Mix just until it's all together.
* Add the chips & nuts & chunks if you're going there.
* Use an ice cream scoop to put the cookies on the cookie sheets. Yes, they are very huge. Make sure they're at least 2" apart.
* REFRIGERATE THEM FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES. Even I did not skip this step. You must not either or they will just sort of gooily melt and then what will you do?
* Bake for like 20 minutes. They're done when their tops sort of spring back when you touch them. Careful, here, because they have a short window between underdone and burnt bottom.

They are huge and amazingly delicious. Yum snow & cookies!