And on Sunday, She Shall Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies..

When I heard about Sar Sar's annual pool party, I thought of two things: Can my miracle bikini still work its camouflage magic on my body? And, YESS!! I get to bake desserts!! I am happy to report that miracle bikini still fits reasonably well (still wish I had a bikini spare though) and I happily baked up a storm on Saturday and Sunday morning.

After a day at Mother NARA, an interlude with the elliptical, and a short hop to the Teet, I set to work on Paula Deen's five-layer bars. First, I patted melted butter and graham cracker crumbs (I could have bought ready-made crumbs..but grinding crackers proved far more therapeutic) into a parchment-lined cake pan. Next, I poured roughly a cup each of chocolate chips and butterscotch chip, a half cup of pecans, and a cup or so of shredded coconut over the crust. Finally, I poured a 14 oz. can of condensed milk over the whole thing and popped it into the oven. A half hour later, dessert bar perfection ( :


The next morning, while it rained outside, I stirred up some chocolate chip cookies from my old school Pillsbury cookbook. I managed to avoid a cookie Pangaea this time. I did not get four dozen cookies out of the recipe as it promised, but no one complained about my slightly bigger chocolate chippers. Most importantly, the newly-hired Sara enjoyed her "Yay! You're employed" cookies. Success!!

Sara threw a great pool party too (as per usual). The Nematis provided plenty of food (again as usual). I happily took advantage of the pool and played a fun if not terribly competitive or successful game of pool volleyball with an increasing cast of players, talked with friends, and watched Lilo and Stitch (the best modern Disney). Good times. Strangely, the Dominos' Pacific Veggie Pizza even made its way into a dream I had last night (I asked for extra feta in the dream though). I wish my dream would come true, but that's a discussion for a completely different blog.