Limited Edition Brownie Batter Oreos

The flavor people at Oreo have been very busy lately. They came out with Smoreos at the beginning of the summer, then there were the cotton candy ones for Fourth of July (I wasn't going near those, sorry), and now there are these:

Yep, Brownie Batter Oreos.

I was skeptical of these right away, because, really, how are these different from the chocolate-on-chocolate Oreos? Very different, as it turns out.

Life Updates

Guys, life happened. Like, holy crap, life happened A LOT. So let's catch up.

First of all, I quit my job. You know, that one that was 30 miles away and made me hate myself and all of humanity? Yeah, that one. I quit. I really really thought about doing something completely destructive to the building before I left, but I decided that I would rather not go to jail, so I returned all 438 rolls of toilet paper and gave up my elaborate tripwire plan. Walking out all civilized wasn't nearly as much fun, but at least I didn't leave in a straitjacket, so I guess it all worked out.

Second of all, I got some new jobs. My first new job kinda sucks, and I kinda suck at it, but that's okay because at least I'm not trying to burn down the building. My second new job is fabulous. Everybody is absurdly nice and I get to work at two different locations,one of which is three minutes (three minutes!) away from my house and has a pond view and a family of geese, and the other of which is a gorgeous 100-year-old building with spiral staircases and stained glass. I love it.

Also, there's the whole school thing.

Since the last time we spoke, I managed to survive the Math Professor From Hell, and as pissed as I am at my reduced GPA, I will never have to MOD7 again, which is a very good thing. Over the summer I took my mandatory literature class and completely fell in love with the class and the professor (who shall henceforth be known as Professor Koi Pond). I also developed a raging love/hate relationship with John Steinbeck, who is an excellent writer and a despicable human being. I am currently contemplating becoming an English major and to further this contemplation, I am taking two more classes with Professor Koi Pond in the fall. Last week I was officially inducted into the the honor society (thanks to my newly discovered nerditude) and you are now speaking to the Phi Theta Kappa Vice President of Communications. I hope you are adequately impressed. ;-)

In similar news, I recently rediscovered reading for pleasure, and it has been awesome. For anyone else out there who spends 80% of their life drowning in homework, "reading for pleasure" is this kooky idea that lets you read things that aren't on a syllabus AND you don't have to write a paper after you read them! I know! It's crazy! In the last two weeks I've read The Women of Brewster Place (which was amazing but broke my heart), half of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (which sucks), and almost half of Julie & Julia (which involves some gruesome animal bits but is otherwise pretty cool).

As you can see, I've been pretty busy these past few months, but lucky for you, there are new Pop Tarts flavors and Sheetz has released a quesorrito and I learned how to make Lazy Girl Risotto, so we should be seeing lots more of each other soon.

In the meantime, tell me what you've been up to! Anything awesome happen to you this summer? Anything less than awesome? What have you been eating? I want to hear everything! (especially the eating)

Limited Edition S'More Oreos

Yes, folks, that's right: I've been lured out of hiding by the latest limited edition Oreo. And these are not just any limited edition Oreos. These are Smoreos.

Indeed, I discovered these campfire-ready Smoreos hiding on a shelf full of peanut butter Oreos (which were never really my thing) and I knew in an instant that these Oreos were coming home with me, diet or no diet, and that I would delightedly devour the entire package in likely only one or two sittings.

Wild White Nacho Doritos....the sad albino of snack foods

Guys, I have sad news.

It turns out I'm a little bit racist.

Yeah, I know. I'm ashamed of me too.

It's just that....well....

I tried the albino Doritos.

Limited Edition Red Velvet Oreos

Dearest Inhabitants of the Internet,

It is my great pleasure to inform you that, at long last, the planets have aligned, world peace has been achieved, and all is right in the Universe.

We have these to thank:

These are not just any ordinary Oreo--oh, no! These are the Oreo of all Oreos, the mothership of Nabisco delicacies. These are Red Velvet Oreos.

Katie Does Coffee

I hate coffee. It's icky and gross and it tastes terrible.

That's what I proclaimed to the world for...oh, gee...twenty two years.

Okay. Probably not twenty two years, because I wasn't so great at verbalizing my opinions on beverages as a wee tot, but still. I hated coffee for a really long time.

Until last week.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, but I want coffee. Like, I really, really want coffee. Like, all the time. I have no idea what to do with myself now.

Maybe it's because I'm in college now and, like all college students, my brain requires caffeinated fuel to produce coherent sentences.

No, that's not it. I'm still not producing coherent sentences egg.

Maybe I'm maturing and developing good taste in my newly discovered adulthood.

Nope, that's not it either. Butts. Boogers. Burps. Giggle.

Whatever the reason, I'm in the beginning stages of a coffee addiction and I would love to hear your recommendations. Are there coffee brands I should be trying? Flavors? Mochas? Lattes? And by the way, how do you pronounce cafe au lait?

Snickerdoodles and Snowstorms

On Tuesday I celebrated the first snow of the year by baking a batch of snickerdoodles.

Before Tuesday, I'd never made snickerdoodles. In fact, I'd probably only eaten snickerdoodles once or twice, so I didn't have very high expectations for these cookies. All I knew was that snickerdoodles remind me of Snickelfritz, and that makes me happy.

(If anybody out there knows who this is, we can be best friends and I'll give you cookies.)

I completely stole this recipe from the internet, so it's nothing 4,000 people haven't already declared awesome, but holy crap, these things are incredible.

First of all, snickerdoodles are insanely easy to make. You mix the stuff, then you mix the other stuff, then you mix the stuffs together, then you roll it around a little bit and then you bake it. Easy peasy.

Coming out of the oven, the snickerdoodles are all crack-topped and oozy, but after a few minutes, they develop perfectly crisped edges with chewy centers and a gentle spiciness that makes you want to curl up in a blanket and watch the snow. And yes, that is exactly what I did.

Call me crazy, but I think these might be my new favorite cookies. The dough is smooth and squishy and fun to roll. The cinnamon and sugar coating makes them slide right off the cookie sheet and into your mouth.* They are practically perfect, just like Mary Poppins.

Without further ado, here is Beth Sigworth's Snickerdoodle recipe:

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

2 tbs sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Sift together flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt. I added a little bit of caradmom, but that is completely unnecessary unless you happen to have an otherwise useless bottle of cardamom in your cupboard.

2. Cream together butter and shortening and sugar.

3. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

4. Mix the flour and stuff into the butter and stuff.

5. In a tiny bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into balls and roll it around in the cinnamon sugar until evenly coated. Keep in mind that bigger balls mean bigger cracks. (Insert bad plumber joke here.)

6. Put the balls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes (ONLY 8 MINUTES!). Cool on the cookie sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

7. Eat with a steamy mug of white hot chocolate.

*Not recommended for safety reasons. Cool until touchable before consuming.