Where: Washington/ Snoqualmie Pass - North Bend area
Permit: Discover Pass to park.
Stats: Round trip 4.4 mile
Elevation Gain: 1200 Ft.
Highest Point: 1576 Ft.
The Hike: Steep at start and at end, a small break in the middle to enjoy the rock climbers and the lush green surroundings. A couple area of rocky trails and it is shaded for most of the way.
Difficulty: Moderate
Hiking Time: Approx: 3 hours with time to admire the view at the top.
How can you not crave for one? You can dress them up with dark chocolate, white chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, bacon? (Note to self: try adding bacon bits to batter). Make ice cream sandwiches, make cookie cakes and the list just goes on and on. Oh so versatile, anyway you have them, it's all delicious. Yes I am talking about chocolate chip cookies. So, I made a few 100 in my lifetime and all were alright till this heavenly batch topped them all! (Where have you been all my life?) Who doesn't like chocolate chip cookie… mmm cookie. If you are one of the few that don’t, I think you just haven't had a good one. Try these!
Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
adapted from ELIZBETHBH at allrecipie.com
Yields ~18
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I think one is more than plenty but feel free to add more)
1 cup of chopped walnut (Optional but I love adding nuts it help balance the sweetness)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
I never sifted anything before. Mixing the dry ingredients well enough should do the job. However I do fluff up my flour before I measure to avoid clumps and then scoop the flour with a measuring cup and level it by scraping the excess with a straight edge.
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.
Besides a wisk, I don’t own any mixer of any kind. So those that creamed butter and sugar before by hand, knows that it is a workout. The melted butter makes it so much easier. So still working those biceps but not to the point where your arms feels like jello.
Ok next….Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.
Mix in the dry ingredients.
I usually put in a third at a time until just blended. I think it’s much easier than all the flour at once. Do not over mix your dough, over mixing creates gluten which in turn makes your cookies tough which in turn leads to a sad cookie, and nobody likes a sad cookie. A good rule of thumb is to mix till there are a few streaks of flour in the bowl, mixing in the chocolate chips will take care of the rest.
Stir in the chocolate chips (and walnuts).
The recipe calls for 2 cup of chocolate chips but I think 1 cup is more than enough.
Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
(Soldiers lined up ready for the oven)
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, bake until the edges are lightly toasted.
Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Now the center may look like it’s not yet done but once they cool on a rack they are perfect. Patience is the fine line between a perfect and another sad overdone cookie.
Serve.
They keep well in a Ziploc bag for a week if they last that long. If they seem a bit hard I just microwave them for a few second and they are as good as ever. Now I just have to sneak in a few before my boyfriend eats them all! Happy Baking!
You came into my life one random night in Seattle and now my life is forever changed. Why haven’t I known about you or even seen you before. You were there right in front of me and it was love at first bite. Yes, love at first bite. Oh Garlic Spears, yes garlic spears. Knowing that I needed more, I went out to Pike Place Market the next day and I bought my first bunch. I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into them.
What are garlic spears you say? Well they are specifically the flower tops from elephant garlic. They even come with some useful information plus several ways you can prepare and enjoy them. I decided to simply roast them with just a little salt, pepper and a light drizzle of olive oil and oh was it better than the first time. It was slightly garlicky, crispy and tender with it tasting a bit like an asparagus. If you have the chance go out and buy them now, as they pop up only around late spring/early summer. If you are a garlic lover like me you won’t regret purchasing these.
Roasted Garlic Spears
1 Bunch of Garlic spears
Salt and fresh cracked pepper
Drizzle of Olive Oil (Melted butter if you like)
Preheat oven at 425F
Line the garlic spears up and trim a bit off the ends.
Give them a rinse, shake off the excess water and place them evenly on a baking sheet.
Oil them up, sprinkle on the salt and pepper and give them a good toss.
Pop them in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes they are ready when the spears are a nice golden brown (your nose will also tell you they are ready).
♫Country Road, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads ♫
Set with a plan to leave early and to do a three hour hike, we left just before noon and didn't start our hike till about 2. Though it only takes about twenty minutes from Frederick, we couldn’t resist stopping by this place called Canal House Creamery & Café, which raked in great reviews. Overall the food was 100% fresh, homemade and yummy. The only downside to this place was the wait time, from the moment we sat till we walked out the door we spent about hour and a half. With the park closing at about 5, it left us with about 3 hours. I don’t know why we still set times for plans we make because we never follow them. Of course jokingly he blames me and vice-versa.
Once we made it into the park, we parked the car, paid our $6 dollar fee, grabbed a few maps and took the shuttle bus to the lower town. Trying to find our way to the Maryland Heights Trail, we made an effort to get our bearings according to the map. I say we go one way and he says another and the general park maps we got didn’t help us at all. There were just not enough reference points to help locate where we were. I recommend to anyone that is planning to go to Harpers Ferry to get a map of the specific trail you’re interested in hiking. Since time was ticking away I let Sid win this time (Cindy 0 – Sid 1). We eventually find out that we were going down the Virginius Island Trail and it was not as bad as a thought it would be. It followed along the Susquehanna River and the afternoon was just beautiful.
After posing for a few pictures and admiring the surrounding beauty we came across railroad tracks. Just as we were wondering if the rails were still in use, along came a CSX train. When it passed us by the conductor waved hi and pulled the horn.
After all the fun and excitement we continued our journey. Still safe from any serial killer, we reached a dead end to our trail. This trail was supposed to be looped and looking at the map we had no idea where we were. So the only logical thing to do was to head back to square one and go in the direction where I said we should have gone in the first place. Cindy 1 – Sid .5 (I let him keep half a point for the train adventure). So far this trip has been disappointing, I was ready for a hike and all we have really done was a stroll along the river.
We eventually made it on to the Maryland height trail, since we didn’t have enough time for the whole trail we decided on the shorter route. The trail was a little strenuous, a bit steep and rocky at times. Of course I tried to hide any signs of weakness, but by the amount of water I was drinking, it was a dead giveaway (reminder: time to cut back on the amount chocolate cakes).
Eager to get to the scenic overview, we attempted running up the hill. Just to let you know that didn’t last very long (I didn’t last very long). After all the huffing and puffing we finally made it! And boy was it a spectacular view over of Harpers Ferry's Lower Town!
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