Boats In But A Chilly Morning

Mom, Pop, And Babies On Tip Of Long Point

Wood Duck In Joyce and Bill's Yard

6:06

6:29

It's 8:45 and I have been out for an hour, on a placid lake, little wind, mostly cloudy after a clear sunrise.  I kayaked over to the Bathhouse, back to Long Point, across to Wells Bay and home, seeing only wood ducks, no herons, no eagles or osprey. 

Kayak Morning

Northern Sky

Yesterday was another busy than lazy for me day.  After a long paddle, we had to make a decision, what to have for dinner.  We finally decided on Lex's Chicken from a Zingerman's Cookbook, a deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  We are continuing to work in the garden, getting it ready for summer.  I drove off to get more topsoil while Evie almost finished weeding.  Once she had most of it done, I spread five buckets of topsoil in the low spots, getting it ready for the compost which we will spread later.  While I was doing this, Evie planted two kinds of lettuce in window boxes.

Wood Duck

Two Males And A Female

Cruising

All was done by noon, so I came in to have lunch, warmed up the scalloped potatoes and ham and had a great lunch, and watched another episode of Fauda.  I was tired from getting up early and the long paddle, so I settled down on the couch with my book, fell asleep for an hour, woke wondering if it was morning or afternoon.  Now that's a good nap.  Early in the day, I was reading the Washington Post online and they had an article about a chocolate chip cookie served at the DoubleTree Hotel.  It sounded so good I emailed the recipe to Evie.  She checked, had everything but chocolate chips so I drove off to Tops Grocery, picked up a couple of bags, along with some goodies, a couple of rib eyes for Mothers Day, goat cheese for amazing looking Middle Eastern dessert, and beer, quite a combination of necessities in these tough times.

5:05

When I arrived home, Evie had the dough, with walnuts ready for the chocolate chips and by 5:30,  I was tasting my first chocolate chip cookie.  It was as good as I hoped.  While the cookies were baking, I was doing up the dishes and Evie was putting together our dinner, slices of sourdough bread in a roasting pan, covering them with sauteed onions, thyme, celery, and lemon zest.  She then topped them with bone-in skin-on chicken thighs which were dipped in lemon butter, and put it in the oven for an hour and fifteen minutes.  Meanwhile, I was out on the dock, helping Chris dock our boat in a heavy wind, a light rain. Typical.

Yum

Dinner ended up being like an easy Thanksgiving dinner, with stuffing and really yummy. We had it with a salad and watched Colbert and a boring interview with an inarticulate Robert De Niro.  I was happy to get to the Michael Jordan documentary on ESPN called The Last Season.  We watched two episodes and it's quite good.   Eight more episodes to go.

If chocolate chips cookies sound good to you, here is the recipe.  A hint, the dough is extremely thick and hard to stir in the chips and nuts.  Tip: Evie suggests using a wooden spoon and lots of muscle and use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to dole out the dough.

DoubleTree Signature Cookie

Recipe notes: The portioned cookie dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 1 week. Alternately, the portions can be individually frozen on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then placed in a freezer-safe zip-top bag and frozen for several months. Bake straight from the freezer.

The baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or frozen for several months.

16 tablespoons (2 sticks/226 grams) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (177 grams) granulated sugar

3/4 cup (170 grams) packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or cider vinegar

2 1/4 cups (320 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (54 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Pinch cinnamon

2 2/3 cups semisweet or bittersweet (455 grams) chocolate chips

1 3/4 cups (200 grams) chopped walnuts

Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees with racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. (Silicone baking mats can cause the cookies to spread too much.)

Step 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer and a large bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until well-combined and starting to look light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, mixing on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl again.

Step 3

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, mixing for about 45 seconds. Don’t overmix. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts by hand with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.

Step 4

Using two large dinner spoons or a generously filled No. 30 (2-tablespoon) disher, scoop the dough into 3-tablespoon (60 grams) portions onto the lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if using. Depending on the size of your scoops, spacing and/or sheets, you may need to do a third batch. If you must reuse one of your first two baking sheets, let it cool completely before scooping and baking the remaining dough.

Step 5

Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the center is still soft. Rotate the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 1 hour.

Adapted from a recipe by DoubleTree hotels.