I’m writing this around 6;30 pm Sunday night, and so far, all is well with us. We’ve had a good amount of rain from Tropical Storm Hilary (formally a Cat 4 Hurricane). So far we haven’t had much winds, but the tropical storm has just officially passed into CA in the last hour or two. The good news is all our drains are working well so far and we are very happy about that.
The only concern is the hills behind us, but it would take a pretty significant event to bring any of that down, or send down floods of water. The secondary concern is winds which are just really starting in the last hour. Hopefully they won’t be too bad.
It could be a boring night or an interesting one 
Due to the storm, Wizard and youngest cancelled the trip to see Wizard’s brother. So I only made one of the cookies I was planned. It’s a chocolate chip cookie and it’s a big, heavy beast of a cookie. Very thick with hills of chocolate chunks and valleys lined with roasted walnuts. Delicious but heavy. In my always-trying-to-be efficient brain, I doubled the recipe. That was crazy as it was then too much for my stand mixer, LOL! I had to whip up the wet ingredients in my mixer, then get out my giant bowl to transfer the wet ingredients into, then fold in the dry ingredients, and finally add in the chopped chocolate and walnuts. It was quite a workout on my arm, neck and shoulder. The recipe called for loosely shaped 6 ounce dough balls. That is just too big for what I wanted, so I made the cookies 3 ounce and was happy with that size.
Overall I’d reduce some of the egg yoke in there (that’s in addition to whole eggs ), and maybe a touch more salt because with so much chocolate, salt really balances it. But the cookie is very good if you want one you can sink your teeth into.
Also, the Trader Joe’s thick, dark Belgium chocolate I chopped into uneven chunks for that cookie is a game changer. That’s going to be a staple in my cookies if I can get my hands on the chocolate (the TJ is an inconvenient distances from my house — which is what we call first world problems, LOL)
So now have cookies on my counter, more in my freezer along with another dozen and a half unbaked dough balls ready to be thawed and popped in the oven. I’m set if I run into a cookie emergency
I’m going to try the white chocolate macadamia nut ones this week sometime.
Weirdly it’s been a really nice weekend, despite a little uncertainty about the storm. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get serious overnight here, and that everyone else in the storm’s path is safe.
So that’s my weekend, how was yours?
August 21st, 2023 at 7:40 am · Link
Sounds like, from the morning weather report, is that y’all got buckets of rain. The Mojavi evidently got a year’s worth overnight. That’s east of y’all but I figure you’re in the rain bands. I also heard yesterday that LA had a 5.1 earthquake.
We did nothing all weekend. We set heat records–108 Saturday, 106 yesterday. Supposed to be 104 today. Jake and I are headed out in about 10 minutes to hit Wallyworld before it gets any hotter. It’s already 80.
I did manage a massive rewrite of a chapter, which led to a minor rewrite to the following chapter. Again, slow and slightly sporadic progress but I’m inching toward “The End.” I’d really hoped to release by Labor Day. That’s probably not gonna happen.
I did laundry yesterday, despite the heat. We’re on an energy program for electricity and on the weekends, it’s 8 cents a KW hour. During the peak heat periods it can go as high as 43 cent, usually around 26 cents during 90 degree heat, and usual price of .13. Everyone not on the program pays the .13 and then get bumped to a higher rate (not quite as high as us) during heavy usage/heat periods which is 2-7 p.m. M-F. We pay the 8 cents except during the 2-7 times. So far, we’ve saved money. And yes, that was probably TMI in the boring sense. LOL
Ok! I’m managed to stall long enough that it’s time to harness Jake and head out. Have a great week, all! And Jen, keep us posted on your weather. Also, those cookies sound all kinds of awesome!!! Yummers. 😋
August 21st, 2023 at 3:37 pm · Link
Silver, we did get a lot of rain, but the storm unexpectedly veered west into L.A. and so we did only get outer bands. We were lucky but other areas like Palm Strings got hammered and are dealing with massive problems.
That earthquake was about 150 miles from us, and last I heard, no significant damager. But yeah, weird stuff lately! If an El Nino condition happens, we’re in for more dramatic weather too. We’ll see what happens.
A massive chapter rewrite is a pretty significant accomplishment in a weekend! I hope you can make your Labor Day goal!
We have the same type of levels, but I don’t not know the price per KW at the varying times so I’m impressed! I mean I could look it up on my bill, but I’m too lazy. However, I’m all for saving money!
I hope your weather cools down soon! Happy Monday!
August 22nd, 2023 at 2:04 pm · Link
I’m happy you made it through the storm okay.
Those cookies around yummy. I’ll pick up some TJ’s chocolate the next time I’m there.
I hope your day is going well!
August 22nd, 2023 at 2:04 pm · Link
YES! It posted
August 22nd, 2023 at 4:29 pm · Link
Viki, YAY!!! I’m really sorry for the continued hassle. I just checked and you aren’t landing in spam, so I just don’t know. I’m going to try to do some research this week and see if I can find a solution on my end.
The cookies are good. They are actually better the next day after they set. But they are heavy and may not be for everyone. To my surprise, I’ve eaten one a day and haven’t had my stomach object yet
Hope you’re having a good evening!