Mama's Chocolate Chip Cookies (Abridged)

Hiya; it's been a little crazy in my life the last few days and posting hasn't been at the forefront of my mind. Amidst goodbyes, cousins, getting college-ready, and finalizing paperwork, I did find time to do a little cooking. My cousin Stella and I made chocolate chip cookies Mama's way, although I did use less flour and completely disliked the result. Sigh, I guess Mama does know best after all.

These were for girl bonding time and (of course they have a second purpose) a tag-along to my boyfriend's going away party on Monday night. I was taught to never show up empty-handed if you can bring food. So, I brought food.

But before we get to the cookies, yesterday was my birthday! I turned a whopping 19 years old. Yeah, okay, I'm young, but at least I can cook, right? We had the cousins over for supper and my friend Claire joined the group. It was a little bit of a sad birthday though, as Dakota had left very early that morning. But c'est la vie, loves, and the show must go on!

I hadn't wanted a cake, or a party, or presents or anything. However, Mama insisted and sometimes, you just have to concede to your mama. It's nice and pretty, and stuff.

I saw this at a shop in Galena and thought it was so cute; my mama interpreted that as I wanted it, but didn't want to spend money on it. Geez, this woman really is on a roll this post, isn't she?

Sock-monkey elephant! I collect elephants, and this is the icing flower on the already-iced cupcake. I have (now) 15 elephant stuffed animals, a toy elephant, and an elephant lamp. So, you know, a decent amount, but nothing extraordinary yet. Isn't this little dude cute?

You can never have to many college t-shirts! Actually, I think that's a lie. I'm up to five now, and that seems like a lot. I must admit, though, I have this long sleeved one that I want more of because it's so comfy and I love curling up in it on rainy days. Okay, so I rescind that statement: you can never have to many comfy college t-shirts.

This, however, is starting to get too school-spirity for me. Anything beyond this blanket (in addition to the poster, car window sticker, and two key chains) will have crossed a line. But there was my loot; nothing happy-dance-worthy exciting, but not disappointing, especially when you consider that I wanted nothing for my birthday.

Here's those cousins of mine. The dress I'm wearing is new and fits me to a t; I'm totally in love with it. And I'm also wearing one of the necklaces from Dakota. It's technically a locket, but I have this condition where I'm really lazy, so there's nothing in it yet. The one in the front with the black t-shirt is Cooper, behind him is his sister Stella, and on the other side of Tony is Charles. (You can see their grandma, my Aunt Debbie, peeking out of the corner.)

Here's Claire. We've been friends since middle school and I currently think of her as my Nerdfighter friend, because she's the one who really introduced me to the whole sub-community that allows me to happy dance about weird shit. And I like it. A lot.

So that was my birthday! Yay birthdays. So cookies.

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1-12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter a little in the microwave (about 30 seconds) and pour into a large bowl. Add the eggs and the vanilla and then mix thoroughly.

Add the sugars and mix thoroughly again.

Add the baking soda and flour and then blend until completely combined.

Add the chocolate chips. We didn't have one bag of chocolate chips, but a few mostly empty ones, so there's different flavors and sizes in this mix. I kind of like it.

My handy helper Stella. Baking is always more fun when there's someone to help you. Or even if they don't help you and just stare at you creepishly; it's still better to have someone there with you than to work alone. (Shh, don't tell anyone I said that.)

Using your average teaspoon that you, you know, eat cereal and mashed potatoes with, drop spoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

If, like me, your first batch doesn't turn out so well, add more flour and they'll come out better. My mom has a rule, which I decided not to follow and then regretted, that you should use your rubber scraper or wooden spoon or whatever to lift up some dough, hold it over the bowl, and if it falls off, add more flour. If it doesn't, you're good and they won't get hard and crusty after cooling.

Well, that's how it goes. I called it an abridged recipe because the cookies didn't have enough flour, not because I left stuff out.

Keep stirring, loves!