Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Nutella Goodness

My fave admin assistant is leaving me for greener pastures :( I'm super happy for him, but I will surely miss him, his quick responses to my email and the fact that he never once complained about the amount of packages I receive in the office. LOL, I have a slight eBay addiction, but that's a story for another time.

I originally found out he loved Nutella when I brought a loaf of my Nutella Banana Bread to the office. I often bring my baked goods to the office because I love to bake, I always bake too much in quantity and I really shouldn't be consuming every last item I bake!

Since he loves Nutella, I decided to make my Nutella cookies. The recipe is ridiculously easy!

Nutella Cookies
Makes about 16 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Nutella
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 heaping cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used Himalayan Pink...because it's so pretty, haha!)


Instructions


  1. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl (preferably one that will fit in your freezer) and stir with a heavy spoon until well combined
  2. Place dough in freezer for 10 minutes
  3. After 10 minutes, remove bowl from freezer. Using a spoon, scoop and shape dough into 1 inch balls.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  5. Place each ball 2 inches apart. Flatten with palm of hand or bottom of bowl and use your fingers to pinch the cracks that appear on the edges together. 
  6. Bake for 10 minutes, all the while drooling over the delicious Nutella smell emanating from your oven!
  7. Remove from oven, let cool and ENJOY! 
I'm really very terrible at following step #7, I'm the girl who burns her fingertips because she can't wait for the cookies to cool! I end up grabbing a spoon, scooping up and eating the scalding, still soft cookie. LOL


The cookies were a hit, yay!


Sweet Nutella Dreams,
VV






Friday, July 5, 2013

This Past Week

It's been a warm few days here in San Francisco. When the weather goes above 70, we consider that a beach day! We took the the Puggles (of which we have 2 full time and 1 part time, more on that later) to Baker Beach on Sunday after church. They enjoyed the sand, the people, other doggies, but not the incoming waves. Mostly, Miley enjoyed being a pillow to her Auntie C and Cooper enjoyed howling at dogs and people watching.

 When we got home that night, they were so exhausted they didn't even want to play. I love it!



Cooper turned 7 years old on July 3rd. In the years past, we've bought him organic dog cakes. This year, instead of birthday cake, he got a birthday steak. I think he was a bit disappointed...



Yesterday, on the 4th of July, we threw together a last minute BBQ which turned out pretty delicious and fun! Last minute = 2 days prior. BF's mom, dad, sister and brother marinated 2 different types of chicken and ribs. BF marinated some bulgogi and whipped up his famous raspberry kiwi Pellegrino drink while I made lemonade from scratch. The two are great in their own rights; mixed together, it's a great refreshing drink, but mixed together with some vodka thrown in? It's practically a summer party in a glass. 


I wrapped up some hot dogs and Polish sausages for "Dirty Dogs" and grilled mushrooms and onions in a skillet on the grill for added flavor and texture. 


Not pictured are the delicious papaya salad, New York strip steaks, grilled corn on the cob, grilled fish, banh xeo and s'mores we also enjoyed!

I hope you all had a fabulous week and enjoyable 4th :)
~VV