For the Love of Peanut Butter and Basketball

June 12, 2012:  National Peanut Butter Cookie Day

Yay for us!!!!  

And... Thunder Up!, too, while you're at it! Whoot whoot!

I don't know about you, but I think June 12, 2012 should be declared a National Holiday so that everyone can sit at home and make and eat peanut butter cookies all the day long and watch the OKC Thunder play some ball against the Miami Heat.  Oh, what a glorious day that would be.  Especially since Peanut Butter Cookie Day and the kick off of the OKC Thunder playing in the NBC Finals are on the same day.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Good omen?  Oh, yeah. 

Well, since an office closure to celebrate cookies and basketball aren't going to happen in my reality, I am making varieties of peanut butter cookies today for different reasons. Oh, before we get too far into things, here is what a busy baking kitchen looks like.  (Yes, those are increasingly ripening bananas!  I'm waiting for them to get just a little bit darker and then, Bam!, Banana Nut Bread!)  And, yes, my kitchen is as small as it looks, but I love, love, love it. 

I get sidetracked...

First, reason number one is that I was (happily!) assigned the peanut butter cookie baker for work to celebrate the special day.  Easy, peasy and makes me happy!

For the second reason, there's a story you'll have to sit through.  I'll make it brief.  Basically, it goes like this...  My father-in-law came up to visit overnight on his way through town a couple of days ago.  To help me out, Tommy decided to mow the front yard (yay!).  We all opted to go out for dinner that night.  While we were gone, Gert, my F-I-L's little chihuahua, made a grand escape and managed to run about in the neighborhood.  We got home and there was no Gert to be found.  Talk about horrible.  So, amidst searching and walking the neighborhood, we received a call from my sister-in-law who lives 2 hours south saying Gert's vet had called and a guy in my neighborhood had Gert safe at his home.  Needless to say, there was much celebration and a few strong libations to be had.  The nice guy that found her and called the numbers on her tags has several children, and we think that's why Gert was willing to go to them (some other folks had tried to catch her when they saw her, but she ran from them, we think because they were adults).  So, guess what the Gert-rescuers will have delivered to their house today?  If you guessed flowers, you're wrong.  But, yes, a basketful of peanut butter cookies is in order for these kind folks!!!

Here's a picture of Tommy and Gert from a recent family gathering.  It was taken pre-field trip, but you can see how tiny and cute she is.  And princess-like. 

And there are lessons to be learned here!!  Don't underestimate the value of having some sort of identification on your pet, whatever it may be.  And always make sure that gates, doors and small escape routes are securely closed for the safety of your small furry friends.  ~WHEW!!~

So, the third reason I'm baking delicious morsels of peanut buttery goodness are to do a test shipment to my soldier that is stationed in Afghanistan.  I have a food vacuum thingy, so I'm going to vacuum seal some cookies and then wrap them as best as I can to protect them and ship 'em off.  I hope they get there safely and I hope she likes them.  Oh... you wonder why I called her "my" soldier?  Let me explain! 

I recently visited this website:  366 Random Acts of Kindness

This site has some great ideas and suggestions on how to just be nice(r) to our fellow peeps.  For instance, I stop off at a little drive through coffee shop occasionally on my way to work in the mornings.  They have a card that they stamp, and when it's full, I get a free drink.  Now, if there is someone behind me and I have a full card for a freebie, I ask the barista to use it to pay for their drink.  It doesn't cost me anything extra to do it, and it's an unexpected pleasantry for the person behind me.  Many of you may have thought of this nice trick on your own, but my brain just never went there without a little nudge.  I love the site, and I'm going to visit it again and again over time. 

Ok, so back on track here...  On the kindness site, one of the suggestions that really caught my attention was to adopt a U.S. soldier.  It's something that anyone can afford to do.  It just takes a small amount of your time.  Really, all they ask is that you send a letter or a card to your assigned soldier weekly or so.  You can, if you want, send more than that, but the letters from home are what they really want.  If you are so inclined to send a care package, the U.S. Postal Service makes it super easy to do with their flat rate boxes.  Since you're shipping to the military, it's considered to be within the U.S. and the flat rates still apply. 

And, contrary to popular lore about not sending chocolate over because it will melt, according to the site, soldiers say, "Send chocolate of any kind - we don't care if it melts or not!"  I have to say, I understand and agree with that train of thought!

Anyway, you can visit that site by clicking here:  http://adoptaussoldier.org/

Now, back to the cookie situation...  (and may I start with saying I am SO glad that I have milk in the fridge!!!)

Today, I'm baking a couple of different kinds of peanut butter cookies.  First, I'm making Giant Peanut Butter Cup Cookies which kids love because they're big and they've got cut up peanut butter cups on top.  This time, I made them slightly smaller to get more cookies out of the batch since I'm dividing the batches up to go different directions.  Here they are, all in one glorious pile! 

The second type of cookie I'll be making is a new recipe, Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies from the website of http://www.mybakingaddiction.com (recipe can be seen by clicking the link to the site).  The batter turned out very light.  The cookies have a very nice taste and texture (thank you, oats!).  I'd caution to avoid overcooking.  The original recipes says to bake for 12-14 minutes, but I found 9 minutes to be near perfect.  Otherwise, they were a little bit too crisp for my preference.  They turn out to be pretty little cookies, though! 

Lastly, I'm going to make some Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies.  These aren't really peanut butter cookies, so sue me.  I'm gonna roll with it.  :)  They're one of my favorites, and it's what I want to make, and I'm willing to risk it that no one boycotts them.  I don't think I know any "Peanut Butter Cookie Day" purists... yet.  And, I'm thinking that the chocolate cookie might be a good non-melting (even though it doesn't matter) way to get chocolate to my soldier.  We're gonna give it a try!  These cookies don't look so pretty, but they taste so good that it'll knock yer lips right offa yer face! 

Here's a plate that shows the fruits of my labor today.

And what my kitchen looks like right this minute, closely resembling a small cookie factory.

It's a beautiful, sunny day here in the Pacific Northwest.  The animals are sunbathing in much the same fashion as turtles on a log.  Bender comes into the house periodically to see if I am making anything that he would be interested in before trotting back outside.  It's back to work tomorrow, but I got some much needed rest this weekend, so I think I am ready to face another Monday. 

Have a good week, y'all, and don't forget:  Gooooo Thunder!!! 

"With the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible."- Julia Child