What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My current WIP (work in progress): I'm done working the extra hours at the day job, but I'm taking a hiatus from working on my manuscript until after the holidays are over. I have so much to do with the holidays coming quicker than I want them to that I need the time to get things done.

Quote of the Week:  "Find out what your dream is and work at it." ~ Beverly Johnson

What I'm reading: I still reading My Fair Princess by Vanessa Kelly. I'm not very far into it. Whenever I try to read it before going to bed for the night, I end up falling asleep within two pages or so. The story isn't boring, it's just that I'm so exhausted by the time I get in bed, I fall asleep almost as soon as I get comfortable.

Random Things:  I'm so looking forward to Christmas for two reasons. One I'll get to see family that I don't see that often and two, I'll have two extra days off from work. I feel like I'll need it after the chaos of Christmas day and everyone coming and going throughout the day.

Random Photo of the Week:

                          I'm wishing I could just hide under a blanket some days lately.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

My family is a big fan of coconut related treats. Our favorite Halloween candy is Almond Joy. I buy fresh coconut still in the shell whenever it's on sale at the grocery store so we usually have a bowl of coconut chunks in the refrigerator. Since I've already been asked by three separate relatives if I was making coconut chocolate chip cookies for the holidays this year, I thought I'd share the recipe here.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed. (I use light brown sugar, but you can use either.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons coconut extract (This can sometimes be hard to find. If you can't find it, use vanilla extract. The coconut extract just gives it more of a coconut flavor.)
2 eggs, beaten before you add them to the other ingredients.
2 cups coconut flakes
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the melted butter into a large mixing bowl. Add the granulated and brown sugars and mix well. Add the baking soda, coconut (or vanilla) extract, and salt. Stir in the beaten eggs until everything is well combined.

 Next pack the coconut flakes down into the measuring cup until you get two full cups. (My sister puts her coconut flakes into a food processor to chop them up a bit so the flakes aren't so big. If you do this, only use 1 cup of packed coconut flakes because they've been chopped. You can also chop them with a knife if you don't have a food processor.) Add them to the other ingredients in the bowl. Stir well. Add the flour and chocolate chips and mix until everything is well combined.

Let the dough sit for ten minutes, uncovered. Drop by teaspoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. If the dough gets too sticky, chill it slightly in the refrigerator and try again. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are golden brown around the edges. Let cool for approximately 3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 6 dozen cookies depending on how big you make them.

This I know for sure...

There's one thing I don't look forward to every year during the holiday season -- being inundated with catalogues I've never heard of much less ordered from. Almost as bad is the overwhelming number of emails I receive from the same sites if not multiple times a day, then at least once a day for weeks on end.

I check my email every day in the evening. Most days not during the holiday season, I might get 10 to 20 new emails per day. Now I'm getting between 80 and 100 emails per day. I've even tried unsubscribing from emails for companies that I've never purchased anything from or from companies that I won't be purchasing anything from in the foreseeable future and it doesn't make a dent in the amount of emails I get.

So until mid-January when the after Christmas sales are over, I'll be doing mass deletes without even opening the majority of the emails. And all those catalogues I receive in the mail, they're going straight into the recycle bin.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My current WIP (work in progress):  Still working extra hours at the day job. This should be the last week.

Quote of the Week: "Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do." ~ Oprah Winfrey

What I'm reading: I just started My Fair Princess by Vanessa Kelly on Sunday. I'm not very far into it yet. This is the first book I'll be reading by Ms. Kelly. 

Random Things:  It's amazing how one person can ruin your mood for the whole day. I try not to let that happen, you're giving too much power to that person, but sometimes it just happens.

Random Photo of the Week:

 
                My first attempt at card making. It was for my niece's baby shower.

Holiday Lemon Squares

This recipe is courtesy of a friend. It's an often requested favorite in her family.

Coconut Lemon Squares

1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (about 3/4 cup), softened and cut into pieces
2/3 cup Confectioners sugar plus 1 additional tablespoon to be used later
2 cups all purpose flour plus 1/4 additional cup of flour to be used later
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
6 large eggs
1 & 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 inch metal baking pan with aluminum foil with the foil hanging over the ends. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the foil and set aside.

Place butter, 2 cups of flour, and 2/3 cup of confectioners sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is moist but crumbly. The dough should hold together when you press it between your thumb and finger. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the foil lined pan. Using your fingers, press the dough onto the bottom of the pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the pan is baking in the oven, mix the lemon zest, lemon juice, and eggs. Whisk until well combined. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Whisk again until well mixed.

When the crust is finished baking, whisk the filling mixture once more just to ensure everything is well mixed especially if you had to wait for the crust to finish baking. Pour the egg mixture over the hot crust. Sprinkle with coconut. Bake 18 to 24 minutes or until filling is just set and golden in color. The filling will still be slightly jiggly in the center. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. Sift the remaining 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar over the top of the lemon filing. Cool completely in the pan on the wire rack.

When completely cool, lift the foil out of the pan and set it on a flat surface for cutting. Cut the bars into 4 strips, then cut each of the strips into 4 pieces.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Please note that they only keep for a few days even in the refrigerator.

Makes 16 squares.

This I know for sure...

I plan on doing the majority of my holiday gift shopping online. It just seems easier to do it on my laptop rather than driving to multiple stores and hoping what I'm looking for is in the store. I do plan on buying certain items in person, but that list is small.

How about you? Do you do the majority of your shopping in stores or online?