all kinds of delicious

Praise the Lord for daylight savings time!  I keep forgetting today, and the husband keeps reminding me.  With every sweet reminder I let out a mini squeal of joy at having one extra hour left in the day…kinda like when I’m certain there’s not one more can of green enchilada sauce and the husband reminds me that I bought double on our last grocery trip.  Pure joy.

The weekend here at the McCoy house has been all about the small things.  You know, the little details in life that if you’re not careful can pass you right by and leave you wanting more out of the days and weeks, but having no idea where to look.  I’ve always been one to overlook these little details, but the older I become the more I’m (slowly) learning that life really is mostly about these things.  Finding thrills in the mundane and creating moments as sweet as pumpkin butter by no other effort than focusing a little bit deeper and seeing things – a pile of laundry, taking the long route home from church, discussing our dreams and goals for the millionth time – from a different perspective.

For us, this included tossing smiles at each other through the small space between the office and the living room and hollering (brutally honest) feedback on each other’s projects as we passed the hours, hard at work.

And then breaking for (admittedly) cheap pizza and fizzy drinks, beyond exhausted and with our stomachs begging us not to wait another moment before filling them.

It included waking up late (as usual) and procrastinating getting out of bed, taking one more snooze to cuddle each other…and the pup before rushing around like mad to get dolled up for church.

It included sudsing up the baby, doing our best to avoid making contact with her pleading eyes as we reassured ourselves over and over that it really was “for her own good” and wondered how in the world we’re going to handle having a human baby.

And it included cranking Ingrid Michaelson in the kitchen, letting the final rays of light of this short day seep through the sink window while making a classic gooey vegan chocolate chip cookie pie for the husband.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
adapted from here

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached white flour (gasp! it won’t kill you I promise:)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup vegan carob or chocolate chips (or as many as suits your fancy)
• 1 cup organic pure cane sugar (or any raw sugar – turbinado, sucinat, whatever)
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (water will work if you don’t have milk)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Use Earth Balance and flour to coat the sides of a round cake pan.
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, carob chips and sugar.  After mixing well, make a well in the center and set aside.

• In a small bowl, mix together Earth Balance and sugar.  Then add vanilla and soymilk and continue to mix.
• Add wet mixture to the middle of dry mixture and mix well, but don’t overmix.  Okay, guys, I had to seriously man-handle this dough.  I forgot to use my KitchenAid (how does a girl forget her KitchenAid???) and after about 10 minutes of trying to get the dough stirred, I went into a rage and threw the spatula aside and got down and dirty with my hands, basically kneading the dough like a big happy loaf of bread dough.  It was fun;)
• After dough is completely mixed and moist, press it into cake pan until it is even all around.

• Bake for 30 minutes, checking it every 10 minutes or so.  When it’s ready to come out, it should still look very pale.  This cookie pie will not be brown on top. I promise, it is done.
• Immediately transfer cookie pie to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool before cutting.

I’m anxious to see how this holds up when stored in a ziplock baggie (I promise to give an update).  By the time this handsome guy was done with his photo shoot (the cookie, not the husband:), we pounced on him, having been enticed by the melty carob chips and heavenly smell for far longer than any person should.  The outer rim of crust had already gotten a little crispy, but everything else remained ultra soft, just how we like it. It was all kinds of delicious. The husband is always too honest about my vegan expeditions in the kitchen, and tonight he proved that this recipe rocks – and he has the tummy ache to prove it.  Poor husband.

We’re planning to finish off the weekend by making dinner, watching Amazing Race and probably scheming our audition video to get on the show just like most other Sunday nights.  Hope you all had a lovely weekend, full of wonderful things, whether big or small.

What was the best part of your weekend??