Love Languages for Techies

This article by Mike Sessler was funny and painfully true. Especially Point #1. My church does a great job of affirmative speech, and I really appreciate it! My only disagreement: Bacon =! physical touch. Food is REALLY high up on the "need" scale, though, especially on days when tech assignments stretch beyond 2 hours! And, honestly, when DON'T they go beyond 2 hours? :-P I'm so glad I get to do tech and kitchen at Youth Camp! Other than being a team leader, I can't think of a better set-up :-)

Recipes

Well! What with all this "extra" time I have in my schedule after work, I've been making lots of sweet stuff with one of my housemates (not sure what to call him...working on that). Today we made Bailey's Truffle Fudge, and I highly recommend it. Before that we made ginger cookies and have made plenty of chocolate chip cookies too. I'm currently searching for a recipe for gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for my other housemate (the Faerie). Any suggestions?

Cran-ocolate, I Mean, Choc-anberry...Something...Oatmeal Cookies

Smaku's Super Cookie
Originally uploaded by Smaku.

Tonight, I invented a recipe. Well, not really, but the results were worth sharing. The cranberries add a nice aftertaste, methinks. Sorry if you find my measurements confusing... 0.5 is so much easier to understand than 1/2. Also, for some reason the original recipe said to use 4 tblsp of milk, but 0.25 cup is so much easier to measure. And thanks to these friends for inspiring me to blog recipes.

Mix together in this order:
0.5 cup butter
0.5 cup oil
1.5 cups raw sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp (or more :D) vanilla
0.25 cup milk
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups chocolate chips
1.5 cups dried cranberries

Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 minutes. My cookies didn't look all that dark, but they are supposed to be "light brown" when they get out of the oven.

7 Layer Bean Dip

In a super large platter (make sure it has a lip), layer:

1st Layer - 2 cans bean dip (mild or hot)
2nd Layer - 2 cans guacamole
3rd Layer - 1 c. sour cream mixed with 1 pkg. taco mix
4th Layer - 1 bundle of green onions, chopped
5th Layer - 2 tomatoes, chopped (drained)
6th Layer - 8 oz. pkg. Cheddar cheese
7th Layer - 1 sm. can black olives

This recipe has worked for me twice so far. It's great! My apologies to those who are looking for original content...thoughts on Mako Fujimara are forthcoming :-)