Thursday, November 10, 2011

Home Sweet Home


Its been too much!  We have been on the go, running from one appointment to the next - fulfilling one obligation after another.  We have been, quite literally, running around like chickens with our heads cut off (they really do that!).

Finally, we have gotten a little sense back into our lives and are in the process of regrouping.  I have to admit, I am a homebody.  Being gone day after day leaves me worn to a frazzle, and then even a tiny mole hill becomes a mountain.  Our family thrives with a quiet, peaceful, simple life.  We can muster what is needed to tackle whatever mountain presents itself, but after the battle, we require peaceful restoration.

Today was a day for peaceful restoration.  I puttered around the house, cleaning, straightening and putting to rights.  I planned menus, planned school and planned holidays.  I fussed with furniture and table settings and drank in the cozy atmosphere that is home.  I sang praises to God, danced through the kitchen and delighted myself in serving my family.  This is home sweet home.



One of my great joys is making my home a pleasant refuge for my family.  I love to cook wonderful meals, prepare our daily tea and draw my family homeward by making home too alluring to abandon for any length of time.

As I marinated in the comfort of home I indulged my homebody tendencies by whipping up a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies (baked in the wood cookstove, of course - they really are better that way!).  When Sir Knight arrived home the tea table was set, awaiting flowing conversations and cups of tea.

Cookies baking in the cookstove



Ah, the wonderful refuge that is home.  I pray that you all enjoy the simple pleasures of a humble home filled with the love of family.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 C butter (softened)
3/4 C brown sugar (packed)
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 C chocolate chips

Cream softened (not melted) butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar.  Add vanilla extract and eggs.  Mix well.  Add flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix well.  Add chocolate chips (I always go light on the chocolate chips) - we like the cookie).  The dough should be soft but not sticky.  If it sticks to your fingers, add a little flour.  Continue adding flour until the dough no longer sticks, but be careful not to add too much flour or your cookies will be as hard as rocks.  This dough also works well wrapped up, stored in the fridge or freezer and made into fresh cookies later.  It is wonderful to make one sheet of cookies at a time and always have warm, fresh out of the oven cookies in the blink of an eye.

Bake at 375° (or a very warm wood oven) for 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned.  We love soft cookies, so we are sure not to over bake.

6 comments:

  1. I like to add a one or two tablespoons of honey to that recipe. No nuts though. I don't like nuts and chocolate together.

    Ken

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  2. Yeah' I dig on Chocolate Chip cookies. Tea's okay, but I drink coffee.
    I have to buy cookies. I ain't figured out how to turn my oven on or mix anything beyond instant oatmeal. Such as the life of a bachelor.

    Im working on an "off the grid" mil spec, multi-fuel/hybrid electric microwave thats also EMP resistant and built like a duece and half truck.
    Im thinking of adding picatinny rail dish holders to the sides with magpul cupholders.

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  3. Enola,

    I so agree.

    There is no place on earth like HOME.

    (or maybe yours!)


    notutopia

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  4. Although my house if lacking a woodstove, a family, and the delightful smell of chocolate chip cookies wafting on the air, I still enjoy my home more than anywhere else. It is my refuge and my haven.

    Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

    Love that first photo. With a couple of small red ornaments, it would make a great Christmas card, IMHO.

    NoCal Gal

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  5. I love to look at the pictures of your lovely family. The boys want to be like their father - engaged in manly pursuits/work. The little one in the saw chaps! The girls want to be like their mother - engaged in womanly pursuits. Your daughter chatting with another while calming an infant across her lap with a gentle pat on the bottom. It's beautiful. While it may be common for you to witness, it is a great blessing and encouragement for those of us who rarely get to witness it. Thank you for sharing.

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  6. Wife (Donna) had some pumpkin left over after roasting the seeds, making a pie and making pumpkin bread so she asked me what to do with it. Having just read this post on Thursday, I suggested pumpkin chocloate chip cookies as a joke. Well, she found just such a receipe online and made them yesterday. They were really good.

    There are a lot of receipes if you search, but Donna used this one http://simplegirlathome.blogspot.com/2011/11/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

    The pictures are wonderful.

    Terry T
    Florida

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