meet me in st. louis, louis...

We are making an unscheduled trip to St. Louis on Thursday and will likely be there for most of the weekend. Ken's grandmother passed away yesterday evening and we are heading up for the funeral. I didn't know her well, but she seemed like a cool broad the one time I met her. When he was in college, she would send Ken a check on St. Patty's day specifically ear marked for beer. How's that for a hip grandma? I think the family is still in a bit of shock as this was rather unexpected, but all of her children managed to make it to town to say their goodbyes, so that's good. If you are the praying type, please give a little shout out for the family.

In adoption related news, this means that I will likely be away from the computer and unable to post until Monday. Here's hoping that I have good news about provincial approval to share with you by then. It will be 80 days since LID on Saturday. Bleh.

full disclosure of the cookie kind

The photo from the last post was not of my cookies. It was of some choco chips from my last holiday cookie exchange. The photo below is an actual representation of the cookies in question.

In answer to the comments of the previous post, none of you are culturally illiterate. There's no reason for any of you to know who Dora Dunlap is or why her cookies are special. Dora is my friend Emily's mom, and one of the sweetest, kindest women I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She's a breast cancer survivor, a mother, a grandmother, and one of those women who makes you hope that 50 looks half as good for you. On top of all that, she's an amazing cookie baker. I like to think she looks so great because of the cookies. So, without further ado, I present you with the recipe.

Dora Dunlap's Chocolate Chip Cookies

2/3 c. oil
1lb margarine
2 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
2 t. soda
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
7 c. flour
12 oz. chocolate chips

Cream oil, margarine and sugars. Mix in eggs. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Yields at least 100 cookies. Recipe is easily split in half for a more manageable yield.

So there you have it. Bake and be merry.