Triple Chocolate Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Here's a healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe I developed. Not completely original, but I tweaked it some.

Hardware:

• Medium mixing bowl
• Large mixing bowl
• hand or stand mixer
• assorted measuring cups, measuring spoons, spatulas
• Cookie sheets
• parchment paper

Software:

• 1/4 c. butter, room temperature
• 1/4 c. canola oil
• 1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. chocolate extract (if not available, use 1 add'l tsp vanilla and call them Double Chocolate ....)
• 1 c. white whole-wheat flour (Or use 1/2 c. whole wheat and 1/2 c. all purpose flour)
• 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. Rumford baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. kosher salt
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
• 4 oz. chopped walnuts

Algorithm:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, and line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In large mixing bowl beat butter until creamy.
3. Beat in oil, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined.
4. Beat in egg, vanilla, and chocolate extract until combined.
5. In the medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together; stir into sugar mixture until well mixed.
6. Stir in chocolate chunks and nuts.
7. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheets.
8. Bake 12 minutes, and let cook for one minute on cookie sheet before tranferring to wire cooling rack.

Output:

3 dozen cookies

Paul Revere's Ride

With all the recent "interest" in Paul Revere, I remembered saving this in my files some time ago. (The original website www.city-net.com/~davekle/revere.html seems to have gone the way of all bits.) What can I say? I've always been a history buff, but decided that my interest in engineering and computer science was probably a better way to make a living.

----------

The primary goal of the British regulars was to apprehend the leaders of the opposition, Sam Adams and John Hancock. There secondary goal was, to disarm the populace along the way.

Here's the whole story of Paul Revere's ride:

Revere confronted 2 British regulars manning a road block as he headed north across Charlestown Neck. As he turned around, the regulars gave chase and he eluded them. He then continued on to Lexington, to the home of Jonas Clarke where Sam Adams and John Hancock were staying. There, his primary mission was fulfilled when he notified Adams and Hancock that "The Regulars are coming out!" (he never exclaimed, "The British are coming". This would have made no sense at the time since they considered themselves British).

Revere and Dawes then headed for Concord and came across Doctor Prescott who then joined them. They decided to alarm every house along the way.

Just outside of the town of Lincoln, they were confronted by 4 Regulars at another road block. They tried unsuccessfully to run their horses through them. Prescott, who was familiar with the terrain, jumped a stone wall and escaped. Revere and Dawes tried to escape and shortly into the chase they were confronted by 6 more regulars on horseback. Revere was surrounded and taken prisoner. Dawes got away as they were taking Revere into custody.

The British officers began to interrogate Revere, whereupon Revere astonished his captors by telling them more than they even knew about their own mission. (HA!) He also told them that he had been warning the countryside of the British plan and that their lives were at risk if they remained in the vicinity of Lexington because there would soon be 500 men there ready to fight. Revere, of course, was bluffing.

The Regulars had Revere remount his horse and they headed toward Lexington Green, when suddenly, they heard a gunshot! Revere told the British officer that the shot was a signal "to alarm the country!". Now the British troops were getting very nervous (hehe).

A few minutes later, they were all startled to hear the heavy crash of an entire volley of musketry from the direction of Lexington's meeting house and then the Lexington town bell began clanging rapidly! Jonathan Loring, a Lexington resident captured earlier, turned to his captors and shouted "The bell's a' ringing! The town's alarmed, and you're all dead men!"

The British officers then talked urgently among themselves and decided to release their captives so as they would not slow their retreat.

********************

A few notes:

The purpose of the British road blocks was to prevent the colonists from communicating with each other outside of their towns. Their primary mission to capture Hancock and Adams, they thought, was top secret.

The town bell was actually ringing to alert the Lexington Company of Militia to assemble on the town common because the British regulars were on the march. It was a general alarm, not an alarm of an imminent threat.

The heavy crash of an entire volley of musketry was the result of a group of men discharging their guns prior to entering the tavern - many of the taverns at that time prohibited their patrons from entering with loaded weapons and the only way to unload a musket is to discharge it.

-Dave Kleber

http://www.city-net.com/~davekle/

BTW, as a side-note, I've come across several accounts of public school teachers, who for some reason, are determined to dismiss the importance of Revere's ride. They all have the same comment which is simply, "Revere was captured by the British".

Imagine if you were a child in the public school and you bought that line. What a shame!

I'd rather our children are not even be taught pre-civil war history (as is the case in my school district) if they are going to re-write it or brush over such important and interesting facts.

One book I would highly recommend for all those out there interested in the beginning of the Revolution, would be "Paul Revere's Ride" by David Hackett-Fisher.

When God Created Texas

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael the Archangel found him, resting on the seventh day.

He inquired of God. "Where have you been?"

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."

"Balance?" Inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth but cold and harsh while southern Europe is going to be poor but sunny and pleasant.

"I have made some lands abundant in water and other lands parched deserts. This one will be extremely hot and while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land mass and said "What's that one?"

"Ah," said God. "That's TEXAS -- the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful beaches, streams, hills, and forests.

The people from TEXAS are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous and they are going to be found traveling the world.

They will be extremely sociable, hardworking and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be balance!"

God replied wisely, "Wait until you see the characters I put in AUSTIN."

Four Years Ago Today

A man lived in a house in the woods with only his dog for a companion. He was lonely because his children had grown up and moved away, and he still grieved deeply over the passing of their mother.

Some friends were taking ballroom dance lessons, and that was something that he and his wife had talked about doing, but somehow never got around to. So, he had been going to lessons once a week for the past 6 weeks.

This particular day, however, he thought to himself: "I don't want to be alone for the rest of my life, and it's been 27 years since my last 'first date.' I hardly know what to do. I better develop at least some social skills, so I'd better practice."

And so, after that evening's lesson, the lonely man spoke to the single lady there: "We've been dancing these past weeks, but it's a little awkward since the only thing I know about you is that your name is D----, you're a nurse, and you have blue eyes that sparkle when you smile." And with that, he asked if she would like to go out for coffee with him.

And the lonely man wasn't nearly so lonely after that.

From Today's Sermon

Dave Anderson told an anecdote about the 17th century English Baptist pastor, John Gill, which I had not heard before. 

It concerned a talkative parishioner who told him that the band of his gown was inappropriately long, and denoted vanity.  He told her to take her scissors and cut it off to the length she thought appropriate; she did so. He then said he had had his attention called to something about her that he thought was too long. When she told him to take the scissors and cut it off to the right length, he took the scissors and said, "NOW, put out your tongue."

A Quote from Heinlein

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”