January 7, 2013

Chocolate-Mint (Nightmare Before Christmas) Pinwheel Cookies

Lingie sent me a FANTASTIC link about writing earlier today. Please read it, especially if you write. I was totally inspired to flail my fingers away helplessly across a keyboard after driving 90 minutes in rush hour traffic to a restaurant my mom picked for her birthday dinner only to find out it was closed on Mondays. I have also had a glass of wine as a result of said experience. Yup. This is gonna be real pretty. Here we go.

I had the brilliant idea of walking 4 miles to do errands and have brunch with BBKF Joyce while my car was getting an oil change this past Saturday right before playing a basketball game. Bad idea. One of my giant calves cramped up so bad at the end of the game, I couldn’t even put weight on that leg and had to sub out for the last few minutes of the second half. Of course, this was the play right after my legs gave out after running so hard for a loose ball that I fell flat on my face. Smooth, real smooth.

Somewhere while traipsing along the sidewalks towards the auto shop, Target, the bank, brunch, or Old Town Pasadena, I thought of something… Everybody poops, but that’s no excuse to be full of crap. True story. How many people do you meet in your everyday life that make you wonder, “how have you gone through life this whole time thinking that way?” They’re full of shit. Also, the older we get, the more we tend to believe our own bullshit. You’ll be convinced you turned the heater off before you left for work, but end up coming home to the pre-heated oven that once was your home. Or you’ll say “pffff… I totally took everything out of my gym bag after basketball” only to find that your sweaty gym socks from 3 days ago pleasantly smell like fresh cut flowers. Or, does the latter only happen to me?

The point is, check yo’self before you wreck yo’self. This applies not only to preventing your house from catching fire and common hygiene, but it’s a good reminder to not make other people as crazy as they make you. Make sure you’re assessing your thoughts and actions as objectively as possible. It will help your friendships, relationships, road rage, everything. Don’t live in delusion, unless you are above the age of 90. Then everything is unicorns and rainbows…and very big diapers. Besides, you won’t remember who you are anyway. What was it I just said earlier this week? I look forward to getting older?

That was my rant.

So, who’s in the mood for some COOKIES?!

These were part of my Holiday Bake-A-Thon 2012, in the vein of the tea theme I had going. Mint tea! Yes, it’s a stretch but mint and chocolate do go together. These are also probably the ugliest cookies I’ve ever made.

I followed the recipe that I found on First Look Then Cook pretty meticulously, but I think I should have used a small rolling pin to flatten my layers before rolling them into the log. The recipe said to just use your hands to push the layers flat. DON’T JUST USE YOUR HANDS, unless you’re aiming for the Burton-esque look.

They were supposed to come out in nice smooth swirls, but they remind me of that weird looking hill that Jack is always singing on top of in The Nightmare Before Christmas.