Home for the Holidays Two-a-day

12/19/12

“There’s no place like home for the holidays.”

So I decided while I was home to limit my time behind the lens and just soak everything up.  Family.  Friends.  The Christmas spirit.  All that stuff.

Of course I still love blogging and I treat this space like a journal of sorts, so I don’t want to completely disappear because I love looking back on old posts to remember what was going on during that time of my life.

So I decided to challenge myself to post just two photos a day.

Feel free to join me if you’re visiting your loved ones.  We can consider it a blogging community challenge!

Yesterday Kyle and I woke up super early to drive up the I-5.  We made excellent timing and arrived in the Bay Area just after 1 pm.

I was immediately put to work on cooking and baking things for my mom’s parents’ holiday party.  Not really a chore since I like being in the kitchen.  These cookies were one of several things I made.

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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies [yields ~3 dozen cookies]

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp butter (Earth Balance), melted
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup powdered confectioners sugar (for coating)

Directions:

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, mix and then set aside.

In a separate smaller bowl combine melted butter and cocoa.  Stir until there are no lumps and then add in the eggs and vanilla.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir.  [It’s a pretty decent arm workout due to how thick the dough is, but don’t worry that you did something wrong]

After dough is ready fold in chocolate chips.  Then refrigerate for 10-15 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets (I needed 3) with parchment paper or non-stick spray.

Pour confectioners powdered sugar into a small bowl.  Scoop dough (I used about a tablespoon sized melon ball scooper) and roll into a ball in your palm, then roll in the powdered sugar until coated and place on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F for ~12 minutes.  Let them cool on the cookie sheet completely before using a spatula to remove.

*Notes: To make dairy free use Earth Balance and vegan chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chips with >70% cacao).  Sunspire and Enjoy Life both make allergy friendly options.

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For dinner we went to OCC – we were a fivesome with me, Kyle, my sister, and my parents.  Missed you Laura!

My dad is on the board and has made huge progress in promoting allergy and dietary awareness in the kitchen and among the staff, so there was a vegan option available despite what the menu shows.  It was a tofu dish that was surprisingly awesome.  I never expect much at places that cater to masses, but I have to give it to the chef, this was something I’d go back for and order again.  Hopefully plant based diets will continue to infiltrate the menu at OCC because as you can see from the photo above, every entree features some kind of meat/fish (granted this night was one with a set menu, so there’s usually a larger selection, but still).

We shut the place down and got home so late that I didn’t end up going to bed until 11ish, which is a record for this pregnant lady!  I set another record over night by not waking up ONCE.  Not a single time.  It’s a Christmas miracle!

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Comments (8)

  1. janetha

    I love this idea and even more I love the look of those cookies!

  2. Pingback: Home for the Holidays Two-a-day

  3. Katharine in Brussels

    Hi, I’ve just come across your blog. I made chocolate cookies last year and used PPK’s egg replacer of 1T flax seeds + 3T water; finely grind the flax seeds in a coffee grinder, mortar or blender; or use 2.5T ground flax seeds plus the same water. PPK recommends putting it in a seperate bowl and letting the mixture sit a few minutes until it gets to an egg white consistency, but I never do that. Anyway, the flax makes a recipe cheaper, easier to store (lots of eggs in a packet of flax), a good source of omega-3, and gets out eggs if that is an interest.

  4. Katharine in Brussels

    And congratulations on expecting your little one 🙂

  5. Laura

    mmm….I would have ordered the grilled salmon. (in case you were wondering 🙂 )

  6. Pingback: Holiday Party Recipes

  7. julie

    oh! i love these – they sound super easy and I bet would be fantastic to bring to a holiday party – whicccch I need to go to next week haha. happy holidays to you and the fam!

  8. Elise (Post author)

    merry christmas julie and fam!
    ok, so i got the aerolatte for christmas (that you told me to get a month or so ago) im in looooooove 🙂 good call girl!
    ps whats w the tebow dramz???
    pps ive been meaning to tell you – i cant comment on your blog bc i dont have any of the appropriate things (blogger, wordpress, aim, etc). still reading though!

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