In Loving Memory

Our family mascot, "Puppy" aka Tayles, gave up the ghost a week ago today, the day after Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for having had him in our lives. He was a faithful companion and tolerant of being dressed up, cuddled and held like a baby, and was the subject of many a fictional tale about his wild night life with friends of a certain persuasion, Jeff and Ken. We made him larger than life and life without him now seems so dark.

Puppy was a nervous spaniel mix dog of 3 or 4 when we rescued him from a cage at the local animal shelter about 5 years ago. Upon driving him home the very first time, I remember Puppy's refusal to meet my gaze. I realized then that he'd probably been abused in his prior home. After several weeks at home with my children Justin and Heather and me, Puppy began to exhibit his sweet nature, he learned to meet our gaze without stressing and to wag his tail vigorously at our approach.

I feel like Puppy's passing has marked a turning point in our lives and it brings a deep sadness to me in its realization. I recently married and am working towards moving lock, stock and barrel to West Virginia where my husband lives and that is a prospect that brings me much joy but it is bittersweet as I will be leaving behind my sweet daughter Heather who has recently begun attending art college nearby. In July, my son Justin relocated to Seattle. I adore my children and have loved our life together; loved raising them as a single mom. So this is a lot of change all at once. Puppy was some of the glue that held us all together. I guess I felt that as long as Puppy was with me, that my kids would gravitate to wherever I was. I know they'll come and visit me and I'll visit them, but Puppy was so central to our lives; even the routine of walking and feeding him, cleaning up after him in recent years as he grew more frail and sickly. Laughing at our imaginings of Puppy's nighttime activities and speaking for him in that distinctive Puppy vocal cadence.

God has been so good to us in bringing us Puppy's sweet soul to abide with our family for a short time. I sense though that a creature that could bring so much love and merriment could never be too far away; that he is with us, though we can't see him. Rest in peace, my sweet Puppy.

Bake Cookies - wikiHow

How to Bake Cookies

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Whether you call them cookies or biscuits, everyone loves them just the same. Cookies come in thousands of shapes, sizes, and flavors, and they're relatively easy to make. While some cookies don't need baking, the ones that do offer more flexibility in terms of crispiness or chewiness. You just need to know how to tweak the ingredients and baking techniques for the desired effect! This article will offer good general instructions for baking cookies; see the related wikiHows section for links to cookie recipes.

Steps

1. Measure carefully. This is the golden rule of cookie baking. Follow the recipe to the tee (you can always experiment with later batches, testing how alterations affect the final product) and take the time to learn how to use measuring spoons and cups properly.
   
2. Check the baking soda or baking powder carefully. Using inactive baking soda or powder can ruin a batch of cookies. Test baking soda by adding a little bit of vinegar, or baking powder by adding it to hot water--if the mixture doesn't bubble, throw it out and purchase fresh.[1]
   
3. Add a little extra baking soda for thinner, crisper cookies. Adding .25 to .5 ounce (5 to 15 grams) per 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of cookie dough will increase the pH of the dough, which weakens the structure and lets the dough spread more easily while it's baking. But be careful because adding too much baking soda can increase browning, leave a salty-chemical off flavor, and make the eggs in the mixture turn grayish-green![2]
   
4. Use coarser sugar for thicker, chewier cookies. When sugar dissolves, it acts as a tenderizer that interferes with dough structure. This increases spreading in much the same way as baking soda does as described in the previous step because finer sugar dissolves more easily than coarser sugar. So if you want your cookies to remain thick and chewy, use coarse sugar (or use fine sugar for the opposite effect). If you decide to use powdered sugar for extra crispiness, make sure it doesn't have corn starch in it, or you'll get unexpected results.[3]
   
5. Mix the dry ingredients first. This is especially important with the baking soda or baking powder to ensure that it's evenly distributed and make sure that you don't end up with big holes in your cookies.[4] Also, since baking powder is activated by water, you want to wait until the last minute before mixing the wet ingredients so that the baking powder doesn't "run out of juice" too early on in the process.[5]
   
6. Mix the wet ingredients briefly. You only want to mix just enough so that the ingredients are moistened. Over-mixing will allow too many of the gas bubbles from the baking soda or powder reactions to escape, while also developing the gluten in the flour, resulting in dense, tough cookies.[6]
   
   • Use butter that's at room temperature. Cold butter is stiffer and will require more mixing, which can negatively impact the texture of your cookies. The butter is softened enough when it gives slightly when pressed but still holds its shape, and it blends with little resistance (no cracking or breaking).[7]
     
7. Put the cookies on a room temperature or cool cookie sheet. Using a hot baking sheet will cause the dough to start to melt prematurely. Grease the cookie sheet with vegetable shortening or unsalted butter--don't use vegetable oil because it'll burn between the cookies, and that's not a pleasure to clean. Some cookie dough recipes, however, have a lot of shortening or butter in it already and may not need to have the cookie sheet greased at all.[8]
   
8. Check the cookies. A time range is often given in a recipe, so once you reach the short end of the range, stick a toothpick right in the center of a cookie, and pull it out quickly. If little or no cookie sticks to the toothpick, they are done. Depending on amount of cookie left on toothpick, adjust cooking time accordingly.
   
9. Allow cookies to cool after removing from the oven. It is best to either let the cookies cool on the sheet, or to move them to a cooling rack. If you do not have a cooling rack, just turn a large plate upside down, and place the rack on top until it cools. Once the cookies have cooled slightly, remove them from cookie sheet to prevent them from sticking and breaking later.
   
   

Video

Tips

• Flouring the cookie sheet after it's been greased can minimize spreading (i.e. a potential solution to cookies that are too thin) and prevent chocolate chips in the dough from sticking to the cookie sheet.[9]
  
• Preheat your oven BEFORE mixing ingredients.
  
• After the baking is finished and the oven has been shut off, keep the oven door slightly ajar to cool off the oven faster. However, if your oven has plastic knobs, check that the heat escaping will not melt the knobs.
  
• Use vanilla sugar for baking for added richness of flavour. Put a vanilla bean in a canister of sugar for two weeks before using. This imbues the sugar with vanilla and enhances cakes, cookies, and even sweetbreads.
  
• Use parchment paper or a reusable Silpat baking mat (more eco-friendly) on your cookie sheet instead of greasing/flouring for easier cleanup and more even baking.
  

Warnings

• Don't under-bake cookies, because that can taste too doughy, there is increased risk from under cooked ingredients (e.g. eggs), and may possibly lead to a stomach ache.
  
• Do not keep opening the oven door to check on the cookies. Each time you open it, the oven cools off.
  
• Make sure you do not put anything that might burn on top of the stove. You can start a fire.
  
  Things You'll Need

• Baking sheets
  
• Mixing bowls
  
• Measuring cups and spoons
  
• Cooling racks
  
• Spatula
  
• Cookie cutters
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Make No Bake Cookies
  
• How to Bake a Chocolate Chip Cake
  
• How to Make Crispy Cookies
  
• How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
  
• How to Make Peanut Butter Cookies
  
• How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies with Store Bought Dough
  
• How to Make Cinnamon Cookie Ornaments
  
• How to Make a Fortune Cookie
  
• How to Make Christmas Tree Cookies
  
• How to Make Apple Santa Clauses
  
  Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Bake Cookies. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
  

Serotonally Challenged

I wonder if others experience depression the way I do. I've been clinically depressed for decades now and have been legally medicated to the point where sometimes I've been awfully silly and disconnected which, compared to the low lows that I've occasionally been prone to, doesn't seem all that bad sometimes, but that kind of medicating leaves me numb on an ongoing basis. Lately though, I have missed experiencing a range of emotions and am taking the big risk to get off the pharmaceutical industry's version of an antidepressant to try a natural supplement that is rumored to keep depression at bay but not keep one from feeling. I'm desperate to see if this is possible. So far, I am experiencing occasional lowness but I'm bouncing back relatively quickly by - eating a meal, talking to someone, not isolating. I hate that my moodiness has nothing to do with anything in particular, but just my serotonin levels and hormones. It makes me feel very vulnerable now; in fact, when I'm feeling low, it's a bit like the sensation of bleeding. Wonderful things are going on in my life; in fact life is the best it's ever been, and yet these feelings of bleeding. I guess this is the path to true joy? At least I'm not low level medically buzzed on an ongoing basis like I was on the original 9/11. That could be a good or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Despite it all, this natural health experiment continues and, as the good book says, I "wait for the Lord".

Little Jane, Happy at Last

I would love to spill this to all my friends, but I think they would all hurl: I'm sooo in love with my new husband that I could jump up and down the hallway and squeal!!! We've been married for 1 month and 2 days and these have been the happiest days of my life. I must say the 3rd time is a charm, at least it has been for Andy and me. Every day that I'm married to Andy, I'm more in love with him. As I often tell him, he's better than chocolate. He's everything that I've ever wanted in a husband and wasn't ready for before. I am so blessed!