Let me tell you.  One thing I have learned throughout my few months of cooking escapades: READ THE DIRECTIONS.  Reading the directions really pays off when it comes to baking.  And it really paid off baking these ridiculously good Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies.  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. of salt

1/4 tsp. of baking soda

1/2 cup of butter at room temperature

1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

1 egg (beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup broken up pretzel pieces

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. 

3. Add the flour mixture and beat until thoroughly blended. 

4.  Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and pretzels. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or so. 

5. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Thoroughly butter a cookie sheet.  **These cookies don’t spread much while baking.  Scoop balls of dough onto pan and press into cookie shape.  Leave about 2 inches between each cookies. Bake for 12 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool before serving. 

who do you love like this?

I promise, I’m not the president of the Kim K fan club - but let’s be honest, sister knows how to wear some eye make up. 

Thanks to her make up artist’s tutorial, I’ve nearly mastered the perfect smokey eye.  The only thing that’s stopped me is finding the right eye liner, that doesn’t run underneath my eyes.  

Until now.  Thankfully I’ve found the most perfect eyeliner.  It’s from Victoria’s Secret (I know, crazy, right?) and it’s only $12.  

Run, don’t walk to VS and getchaself some of that eyeliner.  Grab some of their lipgloss while you’re there - it’s the best (I’m not saying it’s the most long lasting - but the colors are gorg and, most importantly, it tastes great).

Oven roasted beets have quickly become by favorite food.   They are insanely easy to make.  The one small downside is that they take a good 45 minutes to roast.  But it’s worth the wait.  

Ingredients:

Fresh beets

Olive oil 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Cut off the long leafy stems as far down as possible.

Rinse beets. 

Place beet in tin foil square and brush beet with olive oil. 

Completely wrap beet in foil. 

Place foil wrapped beets directly in oven. 

Cook for appox. 45 min.

Remove from the oven and let cool.  

Peel off the skins … they’re ready to eat.

Common sense tips:

Beets bleed.  And stain.  This may seem obvious, but if you’re a newbie to cooking, like myself, you may ruin a beautiful white blouse or fav pair of white jeans.  Wear an apron and dark colors.  ;) 

I’ve been a vegetarian for nearly 16 years, so it’s safe to say I’ve had a LOT of veggie burgers in my life.  The best veggie burger I’ve ever had - hands down, no contest - is from Houston’s.  Finally, after years of wondering - and thanks to Google - I found a recipe that makes a veggie burger that is as close as it comes to Houston’s.    Prepare to have your world rocked. 

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons hickory barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons molasses

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

2 cups cooked brown rice*

1 tablespoon oat bran

2 tablespoons onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon beets*

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, chopped (don’t forget your gloves)

1 egg white, add more if needed (to bind)

4 slices monterey jack cheese 

Directions:


1. Stir together barbecue sauce and molasses. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl mash beans. Stir in 4 tablespoons of the barbecue mixture*, rice, oat bran, onions, beets, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper, jalapeno, and egg white.*

3. Form mixture into four patties.  Brush with left over barbecue mixture.  Grill to perfection.  Top with Monterey Jack cheese.

(Alternative cooking method: Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium. Grill burgers for 5 minutes on one side. Turn and brush with remaining barbecue/molasses mixture.  Top with Monterey Jack and grill for another 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.)

Helpful hints: 

1. I used instant rice - quick and easy. 

2. The recipe I initially used called for canned beets.  But I couldn’t do it.  I love beets - so I roasted some beats and used the fresh, roasted beets in my burgers. 

3. You’ll have more than enough barbecue mix, it makes a great topping after the burger is cooked. 

4. Once I had all my ingredients in a large bowl, I threw on some gloves and mixed them all together with my hands.  Helped with the consistency and making patties was easy. 

Modified from a Danielle Omar recipe. 

There isn’t one. 

Holy shiz I wish there was.  While making the best guacamole ever, I de-seeded and sliced a jalapeno with my bare hands … about thirty minutes later my hands were on fire.  

I wish I could give an explanation that would do the burning sensation justice - but I don’t think that’s possible.  On the “pain scale” I’d say it’s a 7 - somewhere between “miserable and distressing” and “intense, dreadful, and horrible.”  

My sweet husband googled every remedy possible and we tried them all.  And although there was nothing, other than time, that made the pain stop, here is a list of things that provided temporary relief.  I pray you never need any of these, but if you do - here’s where to start: 

Soak hand/fingers in a boil of half and half or milk

Soak hand/fingers in sour cream

Rub hand/fingers with Purell hand sanitizer 

Google and the internet also recommended salt + lime juice, white vinegar, bleach, baking soda, and warm water.  None of these worked for me.

The sour cream was really the most practical remedy for me.  Because of its thick consistency it stayed on my hand while I was able to finish preparing dinner for our guests.

I wish one of the websites would have come out and told me the straight truth: 

Nothing will stop the pain, only ease it and the pain will last for over 5 hours.  Sorry, the truth hurts.