Starting off the New Year

Well, isn't it just grand to start a year fresh and new? To start with a clean slate with renewed hope and motivation for what can be done? Well, I know I was very excited to start a new year. This year Favorite and I plan to purchase our first home together. That is definitely exciting. And just before the new year we went out and bought me a new car. It is my FIRST new car. I learned to drive in a black, 1993, Chrysler Lebaron. It was a decent car and I managed to keep it for about 5 years even though the doors fell off a few times and the body condition was becoming unsightly until an electrical problem that cost more to fix than the car was worth made it undrivable. My next car was ANOTHER Chrysler Lebaron. This time a red one, a '94, and a convertible. This car also treated me very well. It also had some electrical problems, but with no anti-theft system they didn't keep me from driving it. However, after some leaking in the rain, a window that wouldn't roll down anymore, a broken windshield (from an exploding growler of homebrew beer), and a growing gas leak it was decided that I needed a new car. A REAL new car. So I pondered the decision for about a year (I know, I am CRAZY fast at making decisions) and I finally decided what it would be: the Honda Fit.

So here I am in a new year with a new car looking forward to a new house when I have an experience not so new to me: theft. That's right, I went out early this past Friday morning to go to work and found that the ability to drive my nice new gas efficient car had been eliminated by the distinct lack of wheels.


To add insult to injury the police officer I spoke to told me this was not the first time this had happened in this apartment complex and the management just hadn't thought it necessary to tell anyone. Nice. Also nice was the insurance company letting me know that they might get around to my claim by TUESDAY. Another nice touch? There has been a rash of Honda Fit wheel thefts due to the market provided by people with old souped up Honda Civics that want the new wheels so the wheels themselves are backordered. I could get different wheels, but then the insurance wouldn't cover it. :-P

So what is one to do when they find themselves, robbed, wheelless, and invariably upset? I think you must know the answer: bake yourself a really tasty batch of cookies.

Cookies have an amazing ability to wrap you in coziness and comfort from the moment you start baking them. I needed this ability of theirs to keep from going berserk. Also, if you pick just the right cookie that sensation of comfort returns everytime you put one in your mouth. I tried to pick just such a cookie and happened to succeed. My cookie decision was aided by the fact that these cookies were named "Lumberjack Cookies" by the new cookie book I received (for Christmas) from my Mom. The book is titled The Ultimate Cookie Book by Better Homes and Gardens and if these cookies are any indication, the "Ultimate" is definitely accurate.

The cookies themselves are simply flavored mainly with molasses and with a hint of cinnamon and ginger. The book suggests rolling the dough into walnut sized balls and thn coating with granulated sugar before baking. I tried this on a few of the cookies and they came out very sparkly and pretty, but I didn't feel as if it added to the flavor and, in fact, the sweetness distracted from the lovely essence of the cookie itself so I ended up using my handy cookie scoop just to plop them on the baking sheet. Here they are:The smell of these cookies coming out of the oven was just glorious. They came out soft and gooey. Once cooled they got chewy on the inside with a little crunchiness to the edges. They went very well with a big cup of black tea and even though I halved the recipe in the book it still made a good number of cookies (when looking at the next image take into account that about 6-8 cookies had already been eaten to make sure they were ok).


So that's it for now. Hopefully the New Year has been a little kinder to everyone else. Wish me luck getting my car mobile again before Favorite comes back from Mississippi. Otherwise, I won't be able to get to work to make money to get the wheels back on my car! (Nevermind my newly acquired monthly payment...)