Girl Scout Cookies!

I was sabotaged by my incredibly adorable and wonderful choristers a couple weeks back. They came at me with a Girl Scout cookie ordering form!!! AHHHHH!!! I am so excited for them to arrive (and in anticipation, I can run just a liiiitle bit farther each time I exercise), but in the meantime, I think I'll try this recipe for Thin Mints I found via Cupcakes and Cashmere:

Homemade Thin Mints

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/3 cup milk (any kind)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. Mixture will look curdled. Gradually, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches (or about 4 cm) in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Slice dough into rounds not more than 1/4 inch thick – if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp – and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Coating
10-oz dark or semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high power in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.
Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.
Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.

Makes 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Home.

A beautiful, amazing, happy cover of "Home" by the Magnetic Zeros.

Be The Change

Another beautiful graphic... this one's from idea-obscura and, wait for it... it's FREE! Download and print, people!

Holiday Waste

We had a wonderful, wonderful holiday relaxing with family and friends. We always try and minimize waste year-round, but it's especially important around the holidays as emphasized in this graphic found over at greenUPGRADER.

Life...

How do you break out?!

{from Harold's Planet}

Wonder Kid!

I saw this posted on Facebook today by my dear friend, Keeley:

This is a wonderful 5 minute case for eating good, local, organic food whenever possible made by a very talented and poised 11-year-old. You have to check it out!

And the beat goes on...

And we're back! Fall has finally arrived in Northern California and we're feeling the fog and cool breezes. It's quite a welcome change after the unseasonably (for us) hot September weather. I'm looking out the office windows to cloudy skies and waving, whooshing leaves, but they have yet to turn color. That's one thing about Oregon I'm missing. The deer are frequent visitors outside our office window. I hear them crunching through the leaves and bushes. We have a buck and a doe that like to hang behind the house. We do live in a gorgeous place!

Chris and I have been plugging along, starting to get into a routine of work and studying. It hasn't gotten easier, but it's become more regular. We're both anticipating a lot of work while trying to maintain a positive attitude. I had a chance awhile back to photograph my classroom at one of my schools. At the other locations, I'm in a multipurpose room or a shared portable, so this room is a chance for the kids (and me, too) to really have a designated "music room." It's a luxury nowadays!

We adventured into the city today to visit the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. It was recommended to us by our neighbor and we were not disappointed! Today we saw Martin Sexton, the Indigo Girls, Randy Newman, and Elvis Costello, all for FREE! We could have stuck around to see Emmylou Harris, but we both are exhausted and needed to get back home to take care of some work before the week starts. For future reference, this is a great time to visit us! Come next year! The Festival is a blast and there are some absolutely incredible artists. It's a real gift.

The Indigo Girls... waaaaay back there.

Martin Sexton

The tired but victorious concert-goers!

Randy Newman, up-close and amazing.

We're gearing up for soup and sandwich weather and are hoping you all are enjoying the beginning of the most beautiful season (in our opinions)! With the weather comes cold season, unfortunately, and Chris and I are both fending off a couple of bugs. Please send good, healthy thoughts our way!