My sister is allergic to grapes, so oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies were out. But, I dig dried fruit, so I substituted apricots for raisins, added chocolate chips to the mix, and there you go, Joy of Cooking cookies, 2.0.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix:

1 3/4 c flour;
3/4 tsp baking soda;
3/4 tsp baking powder;
1/2 tsp salt;
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Beat in a large bowl:

1 c softened butter;
1/4 c granulated sugar;
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar;
2 eggs;
2 1/2 tsp vanilla

Stir in flour mixture, then add:

1 c dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cranberries);
3 1/2 c rolled oats;
3/4 c chocolate chips

Shape dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Flatten balls to 1/2 inch thick. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let stand for two minutes, then cook on rack.

To be shared with friends and neighbours.

{happy valentine's}

Knitting is slow-going these days, but I finished the Brooklyn Tweed Irving toque this past weekend. It's a belated Christmas gift for my dad.

{I asked Greg to wear it for the photo. He gave two thumbs up for the Kathmandu tweed I found at Romni Wools to use as a substitute for BT Shelter.}

I've been busy lately with work and with running and visiting with my family and with not much else.

{...the scene on Sunday morning at the Sunnyside swimming pool, two days after a major winter storm...}

My first trip to New York City in twenty years was a three day walking tour (from W 101st to Broome Street and back on the first day alone) and search for the perfect New York Style pizza.

My top three were the Highline, an off-Broadway show, and running in Central Park:

I am a big fan of public spaces, parks in particular, so the Highline was a major major highlight for me.

{To be sure, so was Central Park. But I didn't bring my camera on my run and I was too busy eating a Magnolia cupcake when we went back for our last hour in the city.}

Theresa and I also visited MoMA, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on our way to Williamsburg (buck a shuck oysters from Long Island!), and checked out the shops in the East Village.

NYC, I heart you!

Greg and I spent Sunday afternoon canning. We found a few recipes on the Bernardin website; bought Bernardin mason jars, vegetables, pickling spices, and vinegar; carved out a few hours (halfway through, we realised we had to cancel other plans; pickling takes a long time), and, went to town.

We pickled green beans, fennel, carrots, beets, cucumbers, and (I have no idea why we did this, except that we had so much left after pickling the other veg) garlic.

And now, we wait.

I have to mention, I have never seen Greg as excited about a food prep project as I did this one. He wanted to talk about pickling and watch home canning youtube videos for days beforehand...

I have made chocolate chip cookies from the for me for you recipe easily a dozen times this summer, most recently for a Labour Day weekend cottage trip.

This is hands down the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever found, but you need to let the dough sit for a day, which means you can't whip them up at the last minute. Well, actually, by speeding through the dough-waiting time (I let it sit maybe 5 hours?), I sort of just did.