Ten Spontaneous Minutes

I'd ask you if every dog has an alarm clock installed in his brain, but I already know the answer to that. Cody is the only one we've ever had who threw a fit if I wasn't in my assigned seat in the dining room when it is time for Alexis' bus to pull up. I don't know how he knows, but HE KNOWS.

One day last week I had the nerve to try doing some work in the back yard when it was nearly Alexis o'clock. His head exploded all over the place. I think he cussed me out between frantic dashes from the back yard to the front to the back to the front and repeat, repeat, repeat. I'm not entirely certain because my butt-chewing wasn't in English or Spanish. What language do Havanese speak, I wonder?

Anyway, Cody spends the vast majority of his life waiting for The Next Thing That Happens On The Schedule. He wastes an awful lot of energy building himself up for the moment and then promptly turns into a deer in headlights when it's time for That Thing. Alexis o'clock, for example, entails thirty minutes of him frantically watching the door and then about four seconds of him running down the sidewalk to greet Alexis. She pets him once and he turns into a bumbling idiot who has no clue what to do next. He just stands there, lost and bewildered. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

I prefer Penny's perspective. If it's Nap o'Clock, she's sleeping. There is no negotiation. The remainder of the day, however, is up for discussion. She goes with the flow, never finding herself needing to be a slave to the front or back door like her spastic older "brother" is. She's a free spirit and prefers to live in the moment.

And when Alexis walks through the front door? Penny absolutely lives in the moment.

Ten spontaneous minutes of that. Every day.

Can She Come Live With Me? Please?

Chocolate Chip Cookies AKA Chocolate Delivery Systems

I don't think there are very many original recipes for Chocolate Chip Cookies out there. It happens to be the sort of recipe that is handed down over the generations, passed on to neighbors and friends, and shared with the people you love. My favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is very close to the one here and I suppose at some point it may have been exactly the same.

But then I realized that I prefer that the "Cookie" part of "Chocolate Chip Cookie" be less prominent. BRING ON THE CHOCOLATE CHIPS. ALL OF THEM.

Then last week Alexis came along and made a very specific request. She needed cookies for a school function and thought it would be dandy if they were Chocolate Chip Cookies, but with M&Ms. A sane person might have reduced the chocolate chips in the recipe to make up for the M&Ms, but I'm not sane. Cookie shmookie! Bring on the chocolate delivery systems!

This recipe makes a Chocolate Chip Cookie that is stuffed with chocolate and yet soft and chewy with a little bit of a crunchy edge. They're perfect, if I'm being honest. If you doubt me, you should know that the husband took some over to the neighbor's house to share. A dozen disappeared in a cloud of smoke and joy. Another two dozen disappeared at the school function as Alexis stood proudly by the tray telling anyone who would listen that "my momma made those!" I can't tell you what happened to the rest of them. It's a State secret. Ahem.

There's one "magic trick" involved in this recipe. I know that most recipes say to just scoop the dough out and drop it on a cookie sheet, but if you roll your Chocolate Chip Cookie dough into little balls before baking, you'll get more perfectly rounded and puffy cookies.

They don't taste any better, but they do look better, which matter when you're that dork mom who has to send pretty cookies to a school function.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons warm water
1 teaspoon salt
2-12 oz bags milk chocolate chips (Yes, 2 bags. Go big or go home!)
1-11 oz bag plain M&Ms

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer at low speed until creamy.

3. Add in the eggs and turn on that mixer until combined.

4. Add in the vanilla. Mix some more.

5. Dissolve the baking soda in the warm water and then add to the cookie mixture. Turn that mixer on again.

6. Add the flour and salt. Mix.

7. Put the mixer away. Now it's time to pour in the chocolate chips and M&M's. Stir the cookie dough with a spoon until the chocolate delivery system is well mixed.

8. Use a teaspoon to scoop out some cookie dough. Roll it into a ball that is about 1 inch across.

9. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Do the dough-scoopy-ball-rolly-thing again and again until you run out of room on your cookie sheet. Leave at least 1 1/2 inches between each cookie dough ball because these cookies will spread.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes, or until you notice the edges are just barely starting to brown.

11. Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for about five minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

12. Eat at least four cookies while they're still warm. It's in the directions, so you have no choice but to do it.

This recipe makes about four dozen cookies. You get bonus points if you manage to share them.