Flour · ish

Having dinner with my previous manager and co-worker this week made me realize how much I miss all my old clients! I was so thankful they could update me on how they're doing. I especially miss my little ones, and of course the nonstop bubbles, Play-Doh and Candyland.

It's been a definite adjustment working at a high school. Everyone thinks I am one of the students (the staff stop me in the parking lot all the time). The school system is a complete 180 from the private practice world. There have been so many times that I have felt ineffective, inefficient, and wasteful of taxpayer dollars! Sometimes I end up doing things barely speech/language-related and pridefully think, "This is not what I'm here for." I want to see immediate progress, but God has had to remind me that it's not about me.

During these times, it's been helpful to remember how I am even here. It's so easy to forget, to take things for granted and become self-entitled. When I quit my job in August, I planned on taking a break and going on missions. But a lot changed for my family a week later. I really, really, really wanted to work in the school setting so that I could maintain an income for my family, while having longer breaks to see my parents in Asia as well as missions. It would be perfect! but also impossible. I quickly realized that I didn't have the school credential and it would take months to process. The school year would start in a couple weeks, so it was pretty late to get hired anyway. I let go of the idea of working in a school completely and did not even apply.

The following week, on my birthday! my (now) supervisor contacted me about an opportunity at a school in Fremont. I had interviewed with her over a year ago while still in Boston, and she had kept my application on file. She said that I didn't need a school credential, since I would be contracted through their company. Within a couple weeks, I was a speech therapist for the school district I grew up in.



I am amazed by God's sovereignty and provision, and how he makes the impossible possible so simply. All in all, I am thankful for work through the ups and downs, because God uses it to humble me every single day.

AH, I haven't updated for a month! I actually haven't felt like baking for a while, strangely...but I REALLY wanted to for a good friend's birthday! Her favorite cookies are from Levain Bakery in New York City, so she emailed me to recommend them (and a huge list of other places to eat!) when I visited NYC back in October. That was maybe a couple weeks after we had met for the first time...and we weren't really friends yet, so I thought that was so kind of her. Fast forward to half a year later and she is one of my closest friends--I don't know what being in Boston would be like without her! Anyway, since I couldn't make a trip to NYC, I decided to try to recreate the amazing Levain cookies right at home. :) After looking through all the "copycat Levain cookie" recipes a google search could provide--I settled on this one!

It was fun to make them HUGE like Levain's. This makes the outside crisp but the inside soft. The final product was pretty goood and close enough for me! :)

(Levain) Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Parsley, Sage, Desserts
makes ~12-14

Ingredients

• 2 sticks ‘cold and cubed’ unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 3/4 to 3 cups AP flour
• 1 t table or fine sea salt
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda
• 1 T corn starch 
• 2 cups good quality semisweet chocolate chips or chunks
• 1 cup walnuts (you can toast these if you have time)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle, cream together butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated.
3. Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, corn starch and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips/chunks and nuts.
4. Transfer dough to clean work surface and gently mix dough by hand to ensure even distribution of ingredients. Divide into 12 equal portions.
5. Place each on sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven 15-20 minutes depending on how gooey you like the interior, until very lightly browned, taking care not to overbake. Let cool.

Makes about 12-14 cookies

Someday I'll print out recipes and laminate them nicely, but until then...


This is how I write out all my recipes before going to bake.

Chocolate chip cookies are probably my favorite thing to bake, and this is probably my favorite recipe for them. It might not be the best out there, but I've tried several other recipes, and this one is the most simple and satisfying. They're even better if you let the dough sit in the fridge for 1 or 2 days because the wet ingredients get soaked up.

So good with a glass of milk. oh my goodness.

While I like to try new recipes as much as possible, sometimes I crave certain things--and these cookies are among those cravings! I even miss the process of making them, because they are failproof and always so goooood! These taste like chocolate chip cookies with an extra bit of creaminess and a hint of coffee. They are perfect for gifts because they are unique! and more practically, they are pretty sturdy and stay soft for several days.


adapted from framed, from Baking with Julia


Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 T instant coffee powder (my favorite to bake with is nescafe's hazelnut!)
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• 2 sticks butter, cut into chunks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 pound chocolate chips (I used dark and white chocolate chips, but chopped chocolate is awesome in these! just takes a little extra time)

Steps:

1. Whisk the flour, coffee, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter in a mixer until lightened. Add granulated sugar and beat for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and beat for another 30 seconds. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until blended.
3. Turn mixer speed down and add flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Add chocolate and mix until evenly blended in.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for several hours to overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 350, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Drop a heaping tablespoon full of dough onto sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes.