#38 - Bake 100 Different Cookies Update

I made some of my very favorite cookies today! In fact, after One Girl Cookies Orange Butter Drops, these are my second favorites :p I have so many memories attached to these cookies. They're basically mexican wedding cookies but instead of using crushed almonds, I use crushed pecans. There was a chain of bakeries in New Orleans when I was growing up called McKenzies and my aunt Shirley would take us there every Friday and we'd get to pick something to eat. I'd get these :p McKenzies is long gone but any New Orleans native can tell you tons of memories associated with this bakery and what their favorite pastry was from there.

They're SUCH an easy cookie to make too! Here's how you make them. You need:

1 Cup (2 sticks) of butter at room temperature
1/2 Cup of white sugar
2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 Teaspoons of water
2 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Cup of chopped pecans (you can use different nuts if you want)
1/2 Cup of confectioner's sugar

Start by creaming the butter with the sugar.....I use an electric mixer and beat the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes on medium until it's light and fluffy. Then add the vanilla and water. Slowly add in your flour while the mixer's on and then add in your chopped pecans or other nuts. Refrigerate the dough for 3 hours. It looks like this afterwards!

 

I used a cookie scoop but you don't have to, just scoop out round balls onto an unprepared (non-greased) cookie pan and bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I baked mine right in the middle there for 17 minutes and 30 seconds and they came out perfect! They look like this:

 

Now comes the best part! Put your powdered sugar into a paper bag or ziploc bag and very gently shake the cookies in the sugar coating them. Don't be too rough or they'll crack. Also, don't try to do too many at once. I shook up three cookies at a time and it worked just fine. They look like this:

 

Last step...enjoy!

#59 - Send 1,000 Postcards Through Postcrossing Update

It's been FAR too long since I sent any postcards through postcrossing, so I finally decided to send some yesterday. I'm up to being able to send 11 at a time, so I sent 11 out! I love postcrossing because you can read people's profiles and send them exactly the types of cards that they like :) This time I sent some of my own postcards when they fit in with their interests! That's a fun new aspect of postcrossing :) And maybe it'll drum up some business too :p

#71 - Get Donuts From 25 Different Donut Shops Update

Oh Krispy Kreme...you are not my favorite donuts by far, but you are still donuts and therefore you are still good :p Krispy Kreme is basically where I go when I'm really craving donuts. Sadly, there really aren't many donut shops around me at all. I have to make it a special trip to get donuts. Unless I want Krispy Kreme. We have one of those close to my mom's house. To me, Krispy Kreme tastes totally different from any other donut shop. But same premise...fried dough with sugar :p What I will give them is they have EXCELLENT frozen coffee!

Me and my mom were out shopping today so we picked up some donuts on the way home...two of those are hers and the other four are mine XD I LOVE their chocolate covered glazed crullers. Now those I will say they do a damn good job with. My mom took one of those and the other two are mine :p The other donut that was hers is the powdered jelly. That's my moms favorite donut wherever she goes. I also got a regular glazed because they were hot! And a raspberry filled glazed. Like I really need these calories :/

Some New Updates to the List!!

121. See a Broadway play/musical on Broadway
122. Go to Oxford, England
123. Have a chocolate croissant in France
124. Successfully grow carrots
125. successfully grow lettuce
126. Go to the Museum of Modern Art
127. Read everything by Dorothy Sayers
128. Read 30 books with the word "Halloween", "October", "Witch", "Pumpkin", "Ghost", "Haunted", "Haunting", or "Horror" in the title.
129. Go the the International Surgical Sciences museum in Chicago
130. See 50 pieces of live performance art (plays, musicals, opera, readings, etc.) not including concerts.
131.Binge watch all of Danny Boyle's movies
132. Meet Patrick Ness (give him a hug while you're at it)
133. Somehow get an original James Jean painting, drawing or sketch
134. Somehow get an original Dave McKean painting, drawing or sketch
135. Go to the American Museum of Natural History
136. Watch the entire series of Six Feet Under
137. Successfully grow celery
138. Journal by hand/in a notebook every day for a month
139. Write 15 short stories
140. Write/finish Ghost with Megan
141. Go have tea at a tea house/shop
142. Go to Persephone Books in England

#47 - Drink 50 New To Me Beers Update

I really should've called this goal beers AND ales as I like ales quite a bit, but we're just going to assume that I did :p I'm not going to count stuff like ciders though...so from here on out...beers, ales, stouts...you get the picture :p This goal will likely take awhile to finish as I'm not a big fan of drinking by myself. Which is a good thing! LOL. I'm much more of a social drinker. But I did buy a six pack of this because it sounded so good and had one on Halloween night after work and it was indeed very good!

It's called Pumpkick! It's a seasonal ale brewed by New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO. It's brewed with pumpkin juice, cranberry juice and "spices" and all of that deliciousness really does come through in it.

As you can see this is a lighter beer (well light for me :p) but it has a very robust taste like the darker beers that I tend to prefer. It has hints of sweetness while not actually being sweet and it really is a PERFECT fall beer and I'm very happy that there are still five more sitting in the fridge for me ;) Just wish I had someone to drink them WITH! They'll probably still be in there next halloween :p I just threw away Abita's Christmas ale that had been in the fridge since last Christmas, lol.