Needs More Cow [Bird]

When I heard a week or so ago that a friend was pregnant, I immediately started knitting.  I made these teeny tiny baby socks - aren't they cute?

I also baked her a batch of cookies.  I didn't have the time - or the skill - to do any elaborate decorating, so I decided to do a batch of half chocolate/half chocolate chip cookies (recipe here).  I didn't have any illusions about the success of the cookies.  No matter what I've tried...melted butter, softened butter, chilling, no chilling, 2 - 3 minutes of mixing, barely mixing, long bake time at low heat, quick bake at high heat...my cookies taste great, but they spread.  I never seemed to achieve that chunky, bakery-style look, and I'd given up.  I lumped the two doughs together with no care to proper size or shape...

To my surprise, they baked up beautifully...thick, chewy, and pretty much perfect.

Did I mention they were huge?  Here's one with a quarter for scale.

Next time I'll add chocolate chips to the chocolate dough, but otherwise...perfection!

Alas, for every kitchen victory, there's a crushing defeat.  I wanted to make little cookie "hamburgers" for April Fool's Day.  Despite the fact that I was absolutely swamped with work, I cleared a few hours for the task.  I discarded the idea of using a vanilla cupcake sliced in half for the "buns" and decided to make vanilla whoopie pies.  I used a new recipe, and they spread like crazy.  Argh!!  I used a cookie cutter to get the smaller, tidier shape, but of course the edges were rough.

I baked a batch of brownies for the "hamburger" portion, but was distracted by work and ended up baking them a bit too long.  They were a little too cake-y for my taste.  They were so fluffy, in fact, that I had to slice them in half through their middles to get the right height.  It was a mess.

Finally, I was nearly out of the red food coloring needed to turn the vanilla frosting into "ketchup."  I ended up using an old bottle that was well past its prime.  The frosting was flesh-colored, not red, and had a terrible taste.  Sandwiched together, it did not really resemble a hamburger.

The leftovers were tasty, though!

In my free time, I finished not one but TWO 2,000 piece puzzles.  I can lose myself for hours in a puzzle, but I keep one set up at all times so I can pick at it when I have a few minutes.

I also finished a pair of socks.  I've made these before, for a friend, but these are for me.  I love the scales.  If you look close, you can see the glitter!  There's a strand of glitter thread running through the yarn, so it's subtly sparkly.

Meanwhile, I'm still enjoying the azaleas...

...and photographing the birds.

I'm reading a book about the history of birding, and I thought I'd tally up the birds I could identify, off the top of my head, seen here at our house.  I counted 39 birds on my list, which was pretty exciting!  Just yesterday I counted a new bird.  "Large, glossy, blue body, brown head, seed eater, medium-sized..."  Out came the field guides.  It was a Brown-Headed Cowbird, lunching with two Southern Grey-Headed Sparrows. 

As I watched (half-hidden in an azalea bush), the Cowbird shook and fluffed his feathers aggressively...

...and chased off the Sparrows.

Cowbirds are clever and resourceful.  They don't make their own nests, but sneak into the nests of other birds to lay their eggs (sometimes several dozen a season!).  The unsuspecting nest owners feed and raise the young cowbirds as their own!   Pretty smart!

Have a great week!