Recipe Exchange - Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

The "Recipe Exchange" series is a collection of blogs of my favorite recipes. If you have a recipe you think I should blog about, or suggestions or comments on one of my recipes, email me at awondrouslife@gmail.com. Happy eats!

Chocolate Crinkles - Courtesy of Betty Crocker
Makes 6 dozen cookies

These are my ALL time favorite cookies. I just can't get enough of them and they are super easy to make. A few tips:

• Use pre-melted unsweetened chocolate instead of chocolate baking squares. They come 8 pouches to a pack and each pack equals 1 oz of chocolate, or one baking square. It tastes just as good and will save you some time and the headache of melting chocolate on the stove.
• Roll the dough into a ball BEFORE rolling in powdered sugar. It will coat easier, the powdered sugar won't melt in your hands and it's less messy.
  

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions
In a large bowl mix oil, chocolate, granulated sugar and vanilla. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheet with shortening or cooking spray.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll around to coat and shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly in center. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Obsession - Twilight

The "Obsession" series is a collection of blogs about the things, people, places and randomness that I am head-over-heels in love with. Some people call it unhealthy obsession. I say I'm exceptionally passionate and you're just jealous.

Twilight, you are my drug of choice...

If you've been at least breathing for the last year I'm sure you're familiar with the Twilight series. It's the classic story of girl moves to a small town, girl falls in love, girl finds out her soul mate is a "vegetarian" vampire... and so forth. At first I wasn't all about the hype but I slipped and read the book and WHAM, I was friggin trapped. Now I am so completely hooked I can't keep my mind off these damn books. Even now, at 9:53 in the morning while I should be working, I am blogging about it. Thankfully my co-worker is just as obsessed as I am, so at least I have someone to fiend with, since my husband thinks I'm crazy (although he does humor me by listening to my detailed explanation of each and every chapter, God bless him). I just finished the second book a few days ago and I plan to start the third one soon compliments of my sister-in-law who is just as obsessed as I am.

And, of course, no book series would be complete without a based-on-the-book movie. After waiting oh so patiently, I finally saw the movie about a week ago. Can I just say how INCREDIBLY disappointed I was? Don't get me wrong, it held my attention (and kept my mind off the fact that my soda ran through me like nobody's business) and I did LIKE it...but I didn't LOVE it.

The book is so intriguing that your mind aches to see it played out in real life, or at least in a movie. The love between Bella and Edward is so beautiful and powerful it's enough to burst your heart in two. Maybe it's the I-love-you-but-I-shouldn't-love-you-because-you're-a-516 year-old-vampire or the it's-all-I-can-do-to-risk-my-family-and-my-vampire-secret-to-be-with-you that makes it so addicting but whatever it is, it's responsible for every girl in the world wishing her boyfriend was a vampire with a sparkling [insert naughty body part here]. And if you don't get that joke, read Twilight and figure it out.

The emotions you get from this unconventional love story is why I couldn't wait to see Edward in real life form - the book creates a beautiful image of a suave, dazzling, powerhouse god. Edward in the movie...er, not so much. Now it is true that Robert Pattinson IS mouth-watering gorgeous but I don't think the director did his character justice. At times Edward seems to be...lost...or...confused, or...a bumbling idiot. While the "bad vampires" existed with effortless simplicity and seemed to float on air, Edward, the supposed prevailing god-like creature, seemed more flawed than Bella, whose character is described as being clumsy and accident-prone. In fact, at many times, the movie was down-right cheesy. Now I know that a vampire movie being dubbed as cheesy isn't exactly far-fetched. But, even I was cringing at the apparent lack of acting skills - ME, the emotional girly-girl who cries at Hallmark commercials. If an avid fan of Full House calls something cheesy, it's CHEESY. And BTW, yes you CAN expect Full House to be a future "Obsession" blog.

I thought I would walk out of the theater and begin to contemplate a way to fly to Cali, find James, force him to pretend to be a vampire and live happily ever after. Instead, I left the theater thoroughly disappointed, pissed that it was snowing like a mother, but feeling relieved that at least I still had the books. Oh, and relieved that I finally got to go to the bathroom. Why the heck do they sell such damn big sodas anyways?

The moral of the story, kids? If you haven't already: READ THE TWILIGHT SERIES - Stephanie Meyer may not be Aristotle but what's the harm in indulging yourself in a little unrealistic romance now and then? And although I encourage you to see the movie, be prepared to yell at the movie screen "That's not how it happened in the book!".

This is Me

I've always wanted to have a blog...to have the opportunity to write about my life and have my own little space on the web. BUT, I put it off because, who am I? I'm nobody special, my life isn't gossip-column worthy by any stretch of the imagination. I don't have a bag of crazy stories to share and the most excitement I could get in a weekend is finding out that the Noggin On-Demand station was reloaded with new Blues Clues episodes.

On a side note, in case you don't know Blues Clues as well as I do, it's a kid's show where a cartoon dog (Blue) and her owner Steve (or her friend Joe, depending on what episodes you're watching) play a game called Blue's Clues to figure out what Blue is thinking or feeling. Each clue is marked by Blue's paw print and, while finding clues, Steve/Joe fall into a collection adventures with their household friends...and I'll spare you the names of all the characters...and yes, of course I know all of them. My son is a bit obsessed with the show ("Mommy Boo Coo") and I'm PRETTY sure I've seen every episode about 511 times. I could guess Steve's shoe size if I wanted and I've been known to sing the show songs absentmindedly to myself, usually to the horror of my co-worker.

Then, one morning as I showered I got a "smack me in the face realization" (I get those frequently...they seem to come in the morning when I'm still drunk from sleep, or lack-thereof) and I said, out loud to myself I'm sure: Why can't I blog? Why not me? My life may not be comparable to P. Hilton but it's a cute little life just the same. And my son can be pretty damn entertaining, (toddlers seem to have that way about them) so why not introduce the world to me and my life?

So, here I am. I'm a 27 year old woman, married, mother to a 19 month old, living in the great state of Wisco and I'm pretty satisfied with my life. Although I have long left behind my days of clubbing and bar-hopping...not that I did that frequently in the past...I have a beautiful son, a wonderful husband and I'm proud to be who I am.

So, as my blog list grows, you'll learn more about me, my family, friends and so forth and I guess you can be the judge on if my life is exciting enough for a blog. Hopefully I will prove that a mother and wife can lead a flashy life and live to blog about it. But, regardless of what anyone thinks, this is me and this is the way I like it.

Let the party begin - peace.

There's No Place Like Home

I'm sure this isn't foreign to anyone: you get home from a long day at work and all you want to do is rest. But then you remember you have to make dinner, clean up after dinner, do the wash, feed the cats, give your kid a bath, clean up all the water your kid splashed out of the bath, empty the dishwasher, fill the dishwasher, prepare lunches for the next day, all while giving your child the undivided attention he needs. There are times that I want to drive straight to a hotel and spend the night being massaged and pampered. My "Me Time" has been MIA since I got married and had my son and sometimes I feel myself taking my home and even the time I have with my husband and son for granted. Well, a couple weeks ago God took the opportunity to give me a reality check.

I was chosen to go to San Francisco and attend a conference for my work. My position, Marketing Coordinator, is one I am blessed to be in and I am constantly looking for ways to enhance my skills. The best part is that I got to go with my co-worker and friend, which made the trip the best it could be. The conference ran during the day so we had plenty of time at night to tear up the town.

The first night we walked Fisherman's Wharf and took in some of the infamous tourist spots, including the "bush man" (check him out on You Tube by searching for "Bush man"...he's hilarious!).

The second night we went to the night tour of Alcatraz - what an amazing place. You could feel the years and years of history the minute you set foot on the island. Being there at night was probably the best decision we made that trip because it truly added to the ambiance...and spookiness...of the tour. The funniest part? My co-worker wasn't so much sold on the idea of going at night, even as we were on the ferry ride to the island, and she just happened to be the one the guard locked in the solitary confinement cell. He thought he was being funny but I'm pretty sure her heart stopped for a couple minutes.

The third and final night we had a good time walking through Chinatown and had a fabulous Italian dinner in North Beach, BUT...we were so ready to go home. I can't pride myself in being a city girl and I missed the familiar arms of my small town. Not only that, but my heart was aching for my son and husband. I didn't only crave being with them physically, I also craved the little things that I take for granted: eating dinner together, giving my son a bath, hearing him say "Mommy", watching our 100th episode of Blue's Clues, his head laying on my shoulder as we cuddle before bedtime, the kiss my husband gives me before we go to bed for the night.

This trip brought forth some "smack me in the face realizations" for me: I am blessed beyond my wildest dreams and I can't find the words to describe how thankful I am, I will never take anything I have for granted again, even the little things, my family and friends are my life and home is definitely the best place to be.