Goings On

My Eastern Winds concert featuring Stanley Drucker this past Sunday was really fun. It was great to have an opportunity to meet this legend and an honor to play with him. He was a quiet and gracious person. My parents came down to see it and we enjoyed a very yummy dinner at Mediterra in Princeton afterward. It was nice to have them here for the weekend and watch them play with Baxter. :)

We booked an inn for our summer vacation! We will be staying at a lovely bed & breakfast in New Hampshire and plan to partake in a moose tour, a zip line, horseback riding, hiking and kayaking. Can't wait. Hope our second anniversary trip will be as fun as our first!

Awesome Peanut Butter Cookies

I had a snow day today and felt like baking. I came across this recipe online and it said it was adapted from a Magnolia Bakery recipe. The cool thing is that it uses less butter and sugar than some others that I saw, but the cookies came out AMAZING! I will definitely never use another peanut butter cookie recipe. Slightly crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside. The cookies are done when the top is slightly firm- they will firm up more as they sit on the baking sheet.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup smooth peanut butter at room temperature
Scant 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
If you are baking immediately, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you are resting dough overnight, preheat oven when you remove dough from the fridge.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl (or in an electric mixer) beat the butter and peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and continue beating until fully combined. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla extract, and beat well. Add the flour mixture in 2 stages and beat just until no white pockets remain. At this point, you can chill the dough overnight. Press plastic wrap on the surface of the dough and refrigerate. Or continue without aging the dough.
Drop small balls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving a few inches of space between drops for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a criss-cross pattern, but do not smash the cookie completely flat. Bake for 10 minutes. Do not overbake—cookies may appear underdone when perfectly cooked.
Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets one minute, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Things of Note

I have an audition scheduled for January 24 for Eastern Winds, and the next concert will be featuring Stanley Drucker! Needless to say I am hoping to get in. I will update after the audition. Warren and I are excited for a Jim Gaffigan show in a couple of weeks, and we made a Valentine's Day weekend reservation at Rat's restaurant in Grounds for Sculpture. Lots to look forward to!

A New Year's Resolution

I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions...it just seems like a doomed idea to me, and I prefer to make my resolutions as the inspiration strikes, but this year it coincides with Warren, Mitch and I having watched "Food, Inc" and all feeling as though we'd like to start eating more local foods and supporting small farmers. We are embarking on a project of visiting at least one local farm per month until we find good places to buy an assortment of meat, eggs, milk and produce.

Our first stop was Abma's Farm in Wyckoff, which raises their own chickens and pigs. They have a really nice market with a good selection of chicken, pork and produce. They have some beef that is not their own, but is local. One of the most fun features is their "pick your own" basket of eggs which are fresh every day. You can buy eggs already placed in the carton a bit cheaper, but the pick your own eggs are the freshest and at $2.09 a dozen they are cheaper than the free-range eggs I used to buy at Shop Rite, anyway. You can bring back the cardboard cartons to recycle next time you visit.

I should have taken some pictures but I was too cold and too interested in the market to remember! ...Anyway, our first stop was a definite success!

A Very Merry Christmas

Warren and I got back yesterday after almost a week spent with my family in Connecticut. It was so nice to celebrate Christmas there. Warren sang in his church service on Christmas Eve, so we had a lovely, quiet Christmas Eve at home and departed on Christmas morning. It was a very quick and easy drive since no one was on the road! We spent Friday and Saturday enjoying the company of Rachel and Frank and we visited the Mark Twain house together, ate at Kashmir, our favorite Indian restaurant in Hartford, and visited an ethnic market where Rachel and my mom like to buy spices. We also played some fun board games at home. It was sad to see them go on Sunday! During the rest of our time at home we had dinner with my grandmother before she set off for Hawaii, went showshoeing in the woods, and enjoyed the pool, hot tub and basketball court at the Y. My parents also took us to the Farmington Valley Arts Center to choose an etching from a local artist who has a shop there. They own two pieces of her art and I have been admiring them for quite a while. We chose an etching that reminded us of Cape Cod. All her things are simple and beautiful. On our last evening we went to dinner with several of my high school friends, which was a lovely time. The only thing we didn't get to do that I was hoping for was to spend a day cross-country skiing in Maple Corner, Massachusetts. It is so beautiful there and while we did have some gorgeous snowfalls it wasn't quite enough for cross-country skiing. Perhaps we will have to make a trip back in January or February after a snowstorm! I am thankful for spending such a delightful holiday at home and am looking forward to many new fun experiences in 2010!

Christmastime is Here

When Warren told me he had never seen the Nutcracker live, I couldn't believe it...it's such a fun thing to do around the holidays. I have wonderful memories of my mom taking my sister and I each year. (Usually at the Hartford ballet). There is something so magical about it. We bought tickets to see it at NYC ballet and had a lovely time there. It was nice to see a lot of adults there just for fun as well as, of course, people bringing their small children. I think I could probably go see this ballet every December for the rest of my life without getting tired of it. :)

More Thanksgiving Treats

We had a nice holiday with Warren's family last week. We had a great time playing games together...Trivial Pursuit, Settlers, Pictionary...and enjoyed hanging out and decorating the house and the church for Christmas. One of the yummiest things that Priscilla made for Thanksgiving dinner was these rolls. I am not ashamed to say that I ate 5 of them. Well, maybe a little bit.

Dinner Rolls

In large bowl, mix the following:
1 cup hot water
¼ cup dry milk
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ cup butter (half stick)

When mixture is cool, add:
1 package dry yeast
1 egg, slightly beaten

Mix well. Beat or stir in 3 ½ to 4 cups flour to form a stiff dough.

Knead 5-10 min. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise til double. Punch down. Divide into 24 pieces.

Shape each piece into small ball and place in greased 9x13 pan. Cover and let rise (may be slow, give plenty of time). Dough will rise ¾ of the way up the pan and rolls will join together.

Bake 20-25 min at 375.