Best Chocolate Chip Cookie (According to Readers' Digest)

They claim that, "after hundreds of cookies, this is the one." I haven't made it yet. It sounds good. I like oatmeal in a cookie. Does dissolving baking soda in boiling water really make a difference? Other recipes usually just throw it in with the flour.

Mom's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup soft butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup boiling water

1 tsp. vanilla

1 & 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups quick oats

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar together. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water, then stir into butter/sugar mixture. Add vanilla, then dry ingredients and chips. Drop small balls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Onion Dill Bread

This is a recipe we've been making for years in our bread machine. It's one of my husband's favorites. I am not a big fan of dill, but I even like this bread and am making some for him to take to work on Monday (if it lasts that long).

Onion Dill Bread

1 package yeast

3 & 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 & 1/2 tsp. salt

1 unbeaten egg

Mix the above together, warm and add:

1/4 cup warm water

3/4 cup cottage cheese

3/4 cup sour cream

3 Tblsp. sugar

3 Tblsp. minced dried onion

2 Tblsp. whole dill seed

1 & 1/2 Tblsp. butter, softened

This works fine in regular mode in a large loaf bread machine. It also tastes good without the onion and dill. If not using a bread machine, this will make two regular loaves using the regular bread-making methods. After the usual kneading, rising, reshaping and rising again, let bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Good movie -- as good as the previous two movies. I loved the whomping tree in this one. It had a cute personality. I've read all the books - I've always liked fantasy/adventure and science fiction books. Imagination is a wonderful thing -- most of the time.

My only gripe is with films shot in 16 x 7 (instead of the usual 16 x 9). Movies like this one, shot in 16 x 7 (Cinemascope) are long and narrow -- too narrow for my tastes. 16 x 9 is much better and easier to watch, especially if you sit near the front in the theater.

Colonoscopy Humor

Making the rounds in e-mail (thanks, J.C.) --

More humorous things like this at AskDocWeb.

PhotoFriday: Landscape

Here's my entry --> Landscape. It was early morning at the creek. Pockets of fog remained around the water.

Bright & Colorful Blog

Want to see a blog layout that works like caffeine? This one woke me up. It's not for those who get eyestrain easily. (You know, I kind of like this design. I always had a strange taste in colors.)

glassdog

And if You don't have Enough to Worry About

Found this to-do list mentioned on Quickies. From CopenhagenConsensus.com are the world's 32 worst problems, er, challenges (in PDF).

The World's 32 Challenges

Conspiracy?

While walking this morning, we met an interesting person. One of his hobbies is that he has studied the Kennedy assassination. He was a believer in the "conspiracy theory." Whew boy! I tend to lump those folks in with the "I-was-kidnapped-by-an-alien" or "Elvis-is-still-alive" groups although they can point out remarkable coincidences regarding this time in history.

Turns out that some people just can't believe in coincidence. They see conspiracy in everything. I think a series of coincidences can indeed happen or God will produce a miracle. On the other hand, there are sneaky conniving folks all over the world in all places.

I enjoyed my visit a few years ago, to the 6th Floor Museum in Dallas in front of the street where Kennedy was shot. It presented the case both ways -- could have been conspiracy or not. Personally, I don't really know.

At any rate, this guy said he was expecting to hear a deathbed confession one of these days.

Has TV Changed Forever?

Just read this news:

I have never gotten into reality shows. I did faithfully watch most of those sitcoms mentioned above. I respect that others like reality shows and they are cheap to produce. The concept has just not appealed to me after watching the show where they opened Al Capone's vault live on TV and found nothing. It seems like today's reality shows take a long-term commitment. You miss one and you won't understand the following shows as well, right?

Maybe someday, a reality show will come along that will tempt me away from movies, books and computers. I miss the "good ole sitcom days." I still watch MASH once in a while.

Speaking of which, I gave birth to my daughter watching MASH with my husband, the doctor and nurse. Unfortunately, the doctor had never seen this episode before and my daughter was born before he could finish watching it. I had seen the episode previously so I explained how it ended. It was the one about sending to the U.S. for steaks. Poor Hawkeye!

Civil War Ancestors

Found this link on a newslist - National Park Service - Civil War Solders & Sailors System. Do you have an ancestor who might have served during this time? If so, type in his name and read about his regiment and some of the adventures he may have had. This is fascinating. I looked up my great great grandfather, Webster A. Castle, and found all kinds of interesting stuff.

My Daughter is Engaged

It was bound to happen. She's 22 years old and working in her career. She met an engineer and sparks flew (the good kind, that is). I told her to find a guy who was nice to her cat. That would be a sign of his real personality -- and this is the first guy she dated who has treated her cat kindly all the time. We like him very much. (He reads this blog so I had to say that -- but we really do like him -- and I do believe that kindness to animals is important.)

Engineers run in the family. My father is a mechanical/aerospace engineer. My husband is chemical engineer/rocket scientist. His niece is a civil engineer. His nephew is a geological engineer. Our future son-in-law, Jonathan, is an electrical engineer. Put them all together and they could create and build anything anywhere.

During my pregnancy with Jenny, before the wide use of sonograms, we thought she was a boy. The doctor said her heartbeat was a boy's. We decided to name her Jonathan and called her Jonathan throughout the entire pregnancy. (I told Jonathan that we were conditioning her to accept him when he came along -- so he owes us.)

Here's a picture of Jonathan. The next few months are about to become extremely busy.

Political Phone Soliciting

I am on the "do not call" list. This list has too many exceptions. The days before an election, we are hit with many computer & other calls. One day I got six calls. My biggest gripe (besides getting the stupid call in the first place) is that the computer or person on the other end does not pick up quick enough and there's just silence when you say "hello." I don't even get a name so I know who NOT to vote for.

Our Alabama primaries are today. I voted when I took my daily walk. There was a small, but steady turnout this morning. I was apologizing to everyone in line around me because I voted AFTER walking 5 miles and I was, er, kind of sweaty. Fortunately, nobody was driven off.

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