Chocolate Chip Cookies

You might think this is just another recipe for a basic chocolate chip cookie, but you would be wrong. These cookies are how Mike and I survived living four hundred miles apart for two long years. Every time I missed having him nearby, which was often, I would attempt to cure my loneliness by baking up a batch of these cookies, wrapping them up tightly with a love note and a kiss, and mailing them off to New York City. There were weeks he received three batches of these cookies.

Luckily, he never grew tired of receiving those little care packages and we are now lucky enough to see each other each morning and kiss each other every night - perhaps a simple thing, but something I never take for granted.

This is still my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies and they are especially sweet all packaged up for Valentine’s Day. Aren’t these treat bags the cutest?! They are courtesy of Serena from The Farm Chicks and they are just perfect to dress-up this special cookie recipe.

Homemade Cracker Jacks

Last night, Mike and I met for a date.  A date on which we would remain enemies until the very end of the night.  A date on which we exchanged glares instead of loving glances, snappy comments instead of loving words.

But that is to be expected between a couple comprised of a die-hard Yankees fan and die-hard Red Sox fan.

The problem of the evening, however, is that the game was in New York, not in my beloved, cozy Fenway Park.  As you might suspect, Yankees fans are not big on Red Sox fans crashing their stadium.

Not even tall, blonde females.

Mike's Birthday

Saturday was a pretty exciting day around here.  Not only was it the official end of Mike's endless studying for his exam, but it was also his birthday!

The not-so-exciting part of the day was that he actually had to take the exam.  All day.  On his birthday.

So we planned  an exciting evening - complete with friends, Red Bulls soccer and dinner and drinks at one of his favorite bars.

The only good part of Mike being hold-up in taking his exam all day was that I was able to assemble his birthday cake and party favors without him having any idea.

The theme of these treats was inspired by his (and my) favorite liquor: Maker's Mark.

We started off by enjoying my Chili Lime Tequila Popcorn at the Red Bulls game:

Later, after a late dinner, it was time for cake.  I wanted to create not only an extra special looking, but also tasting cake for the celebration.

The flavors I created were bourbon-orange chocolate cake with spiced vanilla buttercream.

After everyone was sugared-up from the cake, I handed out the party favors, to thank everyone for coming out to celebrate the special day.



A fun, relaxing evening with friends and surprise sweets.  I can't imagine a better way to kick-off a new year.