did i say you are my favorite one

Today there are fragments of stories floating around in my mind. I remember characters, or simply and beautifully worded sentences, and I struggle to recall what novel, which short story, whose poem I'm being haunted by. There's one story in particular that is on my mind, but I can't for the life of me remember where I read it, or even if it was a short story or a novel. I think it was a short story, but I constantly read volumes of collected works, and anthologies, so I don't even know where to begin looking. It was probably from a library book that's already returned. Oh, well, if the characters are still with me I suppose it doesn't really matter where they came from, but that the author did such a good job of portraying these characters that they now reside within me.

It's been a rough week. Scott has been more busy than usual (hard to imagine, I know) and the baby has been fussy all week. I don't know if it's from his shots earlier this week, if he's maybe having a growth spurt, if he's beginning to teethe, or something else altogether. Today Mimi and Gen came over, and I practically threw him at them. I just needed a break. He needed my arms all day - I couldn't put him down for long, but he was fussy when I would try to feed him, and this went on all day. Bless his little angel heart, he has no other way to tell me what he's feeling besides crying and fussing, and that's exactly what he did.

Here's my men. Scott, Finn, Rufus.


So once I finally, finally got Finn to sleep, I poured a glass of wine and began baking. I made cookies for Mimi and Gen, because they have tons of schoolwork and are feeling bogged down. I took stock of what I had in the pantry, and turned to Dorie Greenspan for some inspiration. As per usual, she had just the thing. Here's my adaptation.



Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
makes 30 cookies, give or take
1 1/2 c old-fashioned oats
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c (packed) light brown sugar
1 egg
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks

Preheat oven to 350 F. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
In a large bowl beat the butter, peanut butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and beat for another minute. Slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing at a low speed, beating only until blended. Mix in the chocolate chunks.
Drop by the TBS onto the sheets, 2 inches apart.
Bake 13-15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 6 or 7 minutes.


Somehow these turned out both crispy and chewy, how delightful.
Oh, and while I baked I had to eat two pieces of pumpkin pie. Yes, you read that right - I had to. I mean, it was still in the fridge after nearly a week of me telling Scott those two pieces were his! He snoozes, he loses. Actually, he doesn't lose, because even if he came home wanting that pie (though I'm sure he's completely forgotten about it) instead he could have popcorn balls, or whoopie pies, or these cookies. This house is abundant with sweets.
Scott also fixed the vacuum cleaner today, which made me swoon. I had no idea how to fix it - it wasn't sucking (haha, also, it sucked that it wasn't sucking). So Scott just took the panel off the bottom, pulled out the brush, cleaned out the hose, etc. until it worked again. We're dreaming of a Dyson. Good thing it's only $600. Hah.