Chocolate Chip Cookie Mission

I bake almost everything from scratch. I love finding new recipes and trying them out, changing them to suit my taste. Something about it is cathartic for me. It's kitchen meditation. The way you have to pay attention to what you're doing and get your measurements just right. It allows me to clear my head in a way that's only second to gardening.

Lately, I've been baking chocolate chip cookies. LOTS of chocolate chip cookies. I tried recipes that were labeled "the best" and blended them together, tweaked them in my own little kitchen science experiments and below is the recipe for, by far, THE BEST chocolate chip cookie I've ever made. And like I said, I made A LOT.

Magic ingredient! Hint: It's not Crisco

Day in Photos

A while ago, my mom mentioned that she wanted to see all the changes that have been made to Hills & Dales Park. It's part of the Dayton Metroparks and relatively nearby. Since we've had really beautiful weather the past few days, a photo excursion was in order.

Before we even made it to the park, we had to stop and take pictures of two mid century modern houses that I was drooling over.

Photo Groovin'

My first passion in life is photography. I got my first camera at 5 years old and never looked back! I majored in photography in college and worked in a lab for 5 years after graduation. I shot a little freelance over the years but, somewhere in my busy life, I lost my photo groove. I just wasn't feeling it anymore and it became a real chore for me.

First, I needed to find out why my creative juices stopped flowing. That required a lot of soul searching, mostly in the form of meditation. After awhile, I decided it was time to give photography another shot. I went on my first shoot in a VERY long time. I didn't shoot anything spectacular, but I ended up with some photos that I like. Most importantly, I had an AWESOME time!!! I think I found my photo groove and I can't wait to go out shooting again. Let me know what you think!

I wanted to stay at the market and photograph more veggies, but I was getting the stink-eye and had to move on.