Chocolate Chip Cookies

During one of my spates of cleaning and organizing this year, I came across a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that sounded great. I made it on Sunday. Here's the result:

They were great. I love them, and I received strong compliments from others who tried them.

Fun facts about these cookies
1. There are more chocolate chips than floor in them. Yum.
2. They are some BIG cookies. The recipe called for using a quarter cup of dough per cookie. Again, yum.
3. This batch is egg free. The recipe called for 2 eggs, but I was out of eggs and didn't feel like going to the store. I found a substitution using flax , which I did have. They turned out great. A side bonus: this was the first time I'd eaten cookie dough in probably 2 decades. I'm paranoid about salmonella, but without eggs, I could enjoy the dough worry free.

You have not because you ask not

I've written before about our team's motto at work. Today was yet another example of how true it is.

Our local paper has recently had an extreme rate hike. My price went up 292%. Yes, you read that correctly. I decided that it's just not worth it. I called them today to cancel. There is a competing smaller paper that is cheaper for 6 day a week delivery than what I was paying just the Sunday edition of the larger paper.

When the person asked why I was canceling, I told her it was the price. She talked to me briefly, then put me on hold. She asked me if they reduced the rate by 1/3 for the next six months if I would keep my subscription. I said I would. I hung up happy.

Everyone won in this scenario. I got a reduced rate for 6 months. I'll call them again in 6 months to renegotiate. They kept an existing customer which is much cheaper than finding a new one.

The key: I was nice and went in with an open mind. I know that places will often give you a deal to keep you. If they hadn't, I'd have cancelled. Either way, I was saving money.

I'm handing over my tiara

If you've read my blog for a little bit, you've probably gathered that part of my job is safety management for my company. For the last year and a half, I've desperately been trying to get away from doing this, either by pawning it off on someone else (I was told there's no one else) or by finding a new job entirely (I've been very actively looking). The reasons why aren't important for this post, but they were very strong, trust me. Well, low and behold, my reign as the Safety Queen is OVER! We recently hired a new person on our team for another reason. My boss knew I was trying to quit since I'd told him SEVERAL times how unhappy I was. Guess what the new guy got as part of the team realignment? SAFETY. YES, it's time for a HAPPY DANCE. I'm not sure what else I'm getting, but I am THRILLED to be free from safety. I'm training the new guy now, and I am hoping for a complete hand off soon. I'm still supposed to be his backup when he's traveling, on vacation, etc. but that is an easily bared burden. Am I still looking for a new job? Yes, but more passively now. I'm ready to do something different, but my current gig suddenly became much more tolerable in the interim.

Thankful for the small things

I try to be a thankful person. I don't always succeed, but I make it a point to incorporate gratitude into my life. I had a moment yesterday that reminded me to be thankful even for the small things. Last evening I sat outside at Dairy Queen enjoying a candy shop blizzard. First of all, this was the first evening in what seemed like forever that was beautiful AND cool enough to be outside without the imminent danger of heat stroke. Secondly, this blizzard is amazing. You need to try it. Finally, I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to do this. Blizzards aren't that expensive, but they are certainly not a necessity, even though I dearly love them. For some people, they simply can't afford one. I was so thankful as I sat there and considered how very blessed I am.

How can you be this dumb?

The following story happened at the company where someone my boss knows works.

Employee D (for dumb), a guy in his early 20s, had a picture of his wife on his company issued cell phone. She was either totally or completely naked from the waist up. Yep, you probably already know this isn't going to end well. He sends the picture to one of his buddies at work. who of course also forwards it on to more people. Employee D also left his phone at work one day, and someone else used it to forward the picture onto others. Another employee (who didn't know who the person in the picture was) showed Employee D the picture. He got mad and went to complain. Um,  probably not the brightest move. The company is in the process of investigating the incident, but Employee D has already been canned.

It turns out there is even more potential trouble for the company. Someone tried to show the picture to another guy, a married guy in his 40s. In a clear illustration of old and wiser, he told the person to put it up, that he was not interested in seeing it. What did this display of good sense get him? His desk got moved from an air conditioned room with all his coworkers into an unairconditioned area in their distribution center. In HR-speak this is known as retaliation, which is a BIG problem.

Are you feeling smart by comparison right now?

Mango Sweet Chili Shrimp

I hadn't cooked any real food since well before I went on vacation last month. Today it was time to end that streak. I had some shrimp in the freezer I'd purchased several months ago. I thawed, peeled, and deveined it. I put some oil olive in a pan, added the shrimp, and threw in some steak seasoning (great on shrimp if you've never tried it). Once the shrimp had partially cooked, I added some defrosted mango pieces and some sweet chili sauce. I simmered everything until the shrimp was thoroughly cooked, and then I poured the mixture over couscous. Here is the final outcome:

It was delicious.

4th of July Food

For my family's 4th of July gathering, I made chocolate covered stawberries and chocolate pizza.

Around Valentine's Day one year, I was shocked to see chocolate covered strawberries sold in the grocery store for almost $10 for a 6 pack. CRAZY. If you can operate a microwave, you can make them for a fraction of the cost in just a few minutes. What you see is about a pound and a half of strawberries, $0.99/pound at Aldi. I bought the dipping chocolate some time ago, but I paid no more than $3, probably more like $2. So, at most I had $4.50 in the whole tray. A tip for making them: the strawberries need to be completely dry so the chocolate won't clump when you're dipping them. The easiest way to do this is put them on a towel or pan and leave them overnight. Make sure you flip them once so all sides will be dry. You could of course wash them and dry each one right before you dip them, but who wants to do that?

Give it a try some time. The presentation is beautiful, and it tastes amazing.