1. This weekend.

Ok, I know I haven't posted anything in a while. I get it. A blog has to be updated pretty often--otherwise the blog's readers (hello, Kathy) become frustrated. So, it's time to get cracking (or crackin') again.

Matilda is ready for this to be done...also for me to throw her sparkle ball.

I've spent most of this evening compiling a Halloween playlist (Marilyn Manson: Sweet Dreams, Julee Cruise: Falling, Nick Cave: Red Right Hand, The Misfits: Monster Mash, Screamin' Jay Hawkins: I Put a Spell on You, The Cramps: I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Nouvelle Vague: Bela Lugosi's Dead. It's all coming together now.) and rearranging the furniture in my living room. Yes, the construction mess is nearing completion.  Well, I hope it is. See? The wall is painted. The outlet doesn't work, and I discovered that the light fixture (removed from the ceiling like a month and a half ago) is also broken, but I will console myself with this completed structure. I will put things in front of it. What's the other half of the room look like? Oh, I'll show you. Right this second.

So many piles.

Yikes, right?  Perhaps tomorrow I'll move some of this somewhere. Perhaps.


But before I started in on this project, I pulled out the old Dumont cookbook. Why? The plan was to make cookies, and then to call Catherine and tell her I was making cookies. So she'd know I have cookies and be jealous. Duh. Well, guess who was waiting for me when I opened that cookbook. My pal Drusilla Friedly. She knows her cookies, and I trust her implicitly (and honestly, most of that trust is generated by her name). So, here's her recipe for:

The "special" is cream of tartar. Or do you have a better guess?

Special Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Drusilla Friedly

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup butter (softened)

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup chopped pecan nuts (as opposed to just pecans)

1 (6 oz.) pkg of real chocolate chips (I used an extra dark chocolate candy bar, broken into pieces)

Mix the first 5 ingredients well. Sift the flour (like I'd ever sift anything), cream of tartar, salt, and baking soda together. Mix well. Add the real chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by sugared spoon (Wait. What? I didn't do that. I don't even remember reading that.) and shape ball on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until browned.

Note: If dough is too thin, add a wee (her emphasis) bit more flour so cookies don't spread so while baking. 

Perfect!

Would you believe I'm eating one right now? If you said, "No, I do not believe that."-- you are, in fact, correct. I laid a trap for you and you almost fell into it.  I have the hiccups, for the second time today, and have been alternating between drinking massive amounts of water and holding my breath. So, I am not currently eating a cookie...though I would like to eat one. Soon...very soon.