Best. Maple. Cookies. Ever.

I got a wild hair last night and decided randomly to whip up a batch of cookies.  I had a limited number of ingredients on hand, but I found a recipe for maple cookies that worked with what I had, and they are absolutely to die for!

Here is the recipe (with a few modifications, as always) in case you would like to try them yourself.  I highly recommend that you do.

Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Icing:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons  melted butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup

The Rules:
-Pre heat oven at 350 degrees
-Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside
-Mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, vanilla extract, 3/4 cup butter and egg
-Add in flour mixture and combine
-Drop on to greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until done
-Allow to cool before frosting


I decided to drizzle on the frosting just for fun.  I think the cookies would be really good with a touch of cinnamon, so I will probably add that next time.  They are a lot like a snickerdoodle, so I think they would be really tasty with a simple granulated sugar/cinnamon topping if you wanted to forego the icing.  

Why I Love Priceline.com

Nice comfy couch.

Big comfy bed. 

Flat Screen TV.

$44 a night. 

Can't beat that! 

Georgia

As many of you know, Brett and I went to Georgia last weekend.  We landed in Jacksonville, FL on Thursday and, contrary to my expectations, it was actually quite green, woodsy, and pretty.  My first thought was "where are all the palm trees?"  But I guess that's just Florida stereotypes talking.  Here is what it looked like as we drove from Jacksonville North to Georgia: 

We drove across the cool bridge in Brunswick, and got to check out the beach (yay Atlantic Ocean!) in Saint Simons Island.

I did enjoy the large, relatively uncrowded beaches.

And the very East Coast-looking plants.

This guy was doing a really good job windsurfing.  I said "Wow, he hasn't fallen down at all!"  Then he fell immediately.  I take full responsibility. 

I really loved the incredibly old oak trees draped in Spanish moss.  These ones were at a park on Saint Simons Island. 

On our last day, we headed North to Savannah.  It was raining, but we didn't let that ruin our adventure.  The parks in Savannah were absolutely gorgeous, and the architecture of the buildings was amazing. 

Can you believe that this is someone's actual house??  How cool is that?

We really enjoyed walking around, dodging the raindrops, and checking out all the scenery.

If you would like to check out more pictures from our adventure, they can be found here.  

I'll Be the One With the Eye Patch

So, after battling a cyst in my lower eyelid for some time, I scheduled myself a consultation with an Ophthalmologist for this morning.  Just a consultation.  I walked into the office at 8 am and did not walk out until 2.5 hours later after having eye surgery.  That was seriously not the way I was expecting my day to unfold!

Everything is okay now.  Brett and I are looking forward to our trip to Georgia that begins tomorrow.  Of course it figures that on a trip where we will be meeting new people, I get to look like a cyclops.  God has a sense of humor, and reminds me of it often.  Oh well, at least they will have an easy time identifying us.  Brett will be the tall, handsome one and I will be the one with the eye patch.

Please forgive my self portraiture skills.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up

An actual Gmail Chat conversation between me and Brett:

(Backstory:  we are in the process of purchasing something that will let us convert our boxes and boxes of VHS tapes to DVD)

Amy:  Did you win that Ebay auction for the VHS to DVD converter you were bidding on?
Brett:  No, but I have another plan.  Be right back. 
(He was chatting with me between patients at work)
Amy:  Ok!  I am excited to hear what your new plan is!
Brett:  Nope.  No plan.  I meant to say patient not plan. 
Amy:  :(
Brett:  Sorry. 
Amy:  Why can't we use one of these?  (I sent him a link for a cable that connects your VCR to your computer)
Brett:  Oh!  That was my plan!!  I did have a plan!!  And a patient. 

This was probably one of the most hilarious Gmail Chat conversations I have had in some time!!

Earth Day

The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is coming up on April 22, 2010.

In honor of that, the folks over at GOOD.is sponsored a contest with Klean Kanteen to design this year's Earth Day water bottle, and I decided to play along. 

This is my submission:

Who knows, maybe I'll win!

Last Weekend

Last Saturday while Brett was at work, I went to Glendale with his Aunt Judy and cousin Jenny to have lunch and check out some antiques.

We started out at this cool place called the Brass Armadillo that has just about everything you could ever imagine and then some. 

After the Brass Armadillo it was definitely time for lunch.  We had planned on eating at a mexican food restaurant, but as we walked toward it we noticed that as soon as you crossed the railroad tracks you were definitely in a different part of town, and perhaps not the safest part of town, so we turned around and decided pizza sounded just as good.

We had lunch at La Piazza Al Forno which was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

We had this pizza:

It was AMAZING.  No red sauce, just butter, huge chunks of garlic and feta and mozzarella cheese.  Absolutely to die for.  We also had some delicious ravioli that was probably the best I have ever had. 

After we has fully loaded on carbohydrates it was time to walk around and check out more antique shops.

 

Judy and Jenny decided they did not want to take a picture with me.  :-P  I think it might have had something to do with the fact that they knew it would ultimately end up on the internet.  That's ok though.  I love them anyway.  

Picture or not we had a great time and will definitely need to plan another "girl's day" sometime soon! 

Adam

Adam came to visit us in Arizona last weekend! 

The first night we all just hung out on our patio, enjoying the fabulous Arizona weather.

Saturday morning Brett had to work, so Adam and I headed to the Phoenix Art Museum.  This picture makes it difficult to tell, but it was absolutely pouring and we got completely soaked walking from our car to the building.

Here's proof:

Really wet feet:

On Sunday we went and enjoyed Old Town Scottsdale even though it was raining.

We posed with the giant boot just for fun:

And checked out the mission:

And all the cool art.

 

It was a great weekend and we always love having our California friends & family come for a visit!!

Happy Valentine's Day

Pretty Clouds

I am not feeling particularly creative right now, so instead of actually writing a blog post, I will just share this pretty picture with you:

Working Outside

File under:  Things you can't do in Iowa in February.

What's Your Ikea Name?

Ever wondered what your IKEA name might be?  Click here if you want to find out! 

Knott's Berry Farm

In honor of our anniversary Brett & I headed to Buena Park, CA to go to Knott's Berry Farm.  I had not been there in forever, and Brett had never been, so it seemed like a fun way to spend the weekend.

We were really lucky because nobody was there.  Seriously there were maybe 100 people standing around when the gates opened on Sunday.  Definitely a great time of year to go.

We aren't much for crazy extreme thrill rides, but we decided to be brave and rode everything that didn't involve excessive spinning or free-falling.  So we rode this crazy contraption:

And this one:

And this one:

It was really nice that we stayed at the hotel right next to the park so we could take a break mid-day and put our feet up like the old married couple that we are. 

Back at the park, I rode this spinny ride without Brett because he has motion sickness issues, and it was a lot of fun.

We did not ride this ride:

Because those who ride it get very...

very...

very wet.

All in all we had a great time.  Here we are at the end of the day with our happy faces on:

And here we are with Brett's "I'm sick and don't want to ride any more rides face" and my "Sympathy face."

On our drive home we got to see lots of snow in the San Bernadinos: 

And our Garmin Nuvi saved us from what was sure to be hours of traffic delay.

A word of advice:  ALWAYS trust the Nuvi.  She knows what she's talking about.

Oh, and at some point I took this cool picture of palm trees.

I just had to throw that in.  :) 

♥Amy