The Times They Are a Changin'

I was late getting on the Crocs bandwagon. My old roomie, Jess, bought an imitation pair from Payless and I remember wondering why she would wear garden shoes out in public like they were regular shoes. Fast forward to Jess' wedding five months later. After getting blisters on my feet from the shoes I did bring, in desperation I bought my own pair of imitation Crocs at Payless intending only to wear them for the plane ride home and then give them to Mike to wear while mowing the lawn. Once I got used to wearing them I didn't want to take them off. Still, despite them being very comfortable, they were not the most attractive shoe to wear. Last summer when I was on the hunt for a muted metallic gold ballet flat, I bought the Crocs Prima style and was quite pleased with them until my feet started getting sweaty and the shoes would make a farting sound when I walked. Now the fashion problem was solved but now I had an even more embarrassing social problem -- faux flatulence. For the last month of my pregnancy they were pretty much the only shoes I could still wedge on my fat feet, so I swallowed my vanity because the comfort benefit was worth it. Now that we live at the camp, we still three pairs by the door for running out to the maintenance building or grabbing the mail. I usually just assess which pair is the least dirty and choose that one. Okay, now we're really sounding country.
Anyway, yesterday when I went shopping with my mom she announced that she was going to buy me a new pair of Crocs and she had read an article about a new high-heel version that we should check out. Usually my mom and I have very different opinions on what we look for in shoes. She buys shoes based on style, I buy based on fashion. When we first got to Macy's I saw the Croc heels and thought they were cute, but I really wanted them in black and they only had gold and bronze. Plus, you had to ask for your size instead of just shopping on the Croc wall and I wasn't sure I was completely in love with them. We then went to Journeys and I tried on the Sassari style there, but I still didn't love the gold and I thought there was too much material on them and I thought they would just make my feet sweaty. We tried a few more stores, but all in vain. Finally on the way out, I said, well let me just try on the Cyprus style because it only has two thin straps. Much like my first experience with Crocs I wondered how I had lived so long without them. These are the perfect blend of form and function and I highly recommend them to any woman who thought heels were always uncomfortable. These give you an extra 3-4" of height and feel like you are walking on flats!! I love them!! The funniest part of the whole experience was when I looked at the receipt they rang up as "Comfort Shoes"...I guess I am turning into a full-fledged SAHM now :)

The Best Butter Cookies. Ever.

So as my friends and family know, I am a huge fan of cookies. I love making them. I love watching people eat my cookies and of course, I love eating them myself. Usually in the summer I am on hiatus from making cookies because of the heat. This past Sunday, the weather was rainy and cool and I was bored at my parents' house waiting for them to get home. I starting browsing through the pantry and my mother's cookbooks trying to find something to make. I came across this recipe in The Taste of Home Award Winning Recipes. It only had six ingredients which made it a very appealing choice and the assembly seemed easy. My mom and I made them for the fam on Sunday night and they were delicious!!! I am making them again tonight at my house and I am already putting them on the make-in-a-hurry list. Hope you like...

Swedish Butter Cookies (courtesy of Taste of Home)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
confectioners' sugar

Directions:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add syrup; mix well. Sift together flour and baking soda in a separate bowl; gradually add to creamed mixture. Divide dough into eight portions. Roll each portion into a 9-in. log with your hands (they will look like Play-Doh snakes) Place 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 300° for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cut into 1-inch slices with a pizza cutter. Remove to wire racks to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Where have you been all this time?

So I haven't posted pictures in a while of Carter since we can't seem to find the battery charger for our camera. Our good friends, the Camerons, were kind enough to take some photos of Carter and our friends the Sargents and post them on their blog. So that will have to do for now. I need to become better at blogging. I am an avid blog stalker. Thanks to my SIL, Hannah, I now have Google Reader checking all my blogs for me and I am very excited when someone updates. Since admitting this to Ariane who gave me a hard time for not updating in so long I realize, I need to be blogging more. Hopefully Mike and I can find our charger to post some pics too (I always think posts are more interesting with photos).

At your request Ariane, here is the recipe for the brownies I made Sunday (courtesy of Martha):

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
8 ounces unsweetened chocolate
5 large eggs
3 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, optional (I used coffee flavored Postum)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 400, with rack in the center position.
2. Generously butter a 9 x 13 pan with butter.
3. In a double boiler or Pyrex bowl over a saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together. Mix with a rubber spatula until smooth. Set aside.
4. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar and espresso powder (optional) together at a high speed.
5. Lower the speed and add in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla, then slowly add in the sifted flour. Mix just until incorporated--do not overmix.
6. Fold in the chocolate chips and toasted walnuts.
7. Pour into the buttered 9 x 13 pan and bake until edges are dry, but the center still soft (about 30 minutes).