I want to make these!

I wish this post was a description of how tasty these cookies were, but alas, I haven't even bought the ingredients yet. I'm just enjoying looking at the picture, and am trying to figure out when I'm going to make "The Best One-Bowl Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies." I'm such a sucker for any recipe that starts with "The Best." If they're the best, well, then I just have to make them!

By the way, this is starting to feel more like a cooking blog and less like a Detroit blog, so I'll throw in a local picture for good measure. This is Matt showing off his wakesurfing abilities for the ladies!

The longest salon visit of my life

I really only like to have men cut and style my hair. I feel like they're more objective, and not as chatty. I also am partial to having the owner of a salon cut my hair, and fortunately I've always been able to find skilled men who own their own salons and don't chat too much.

However, I'm beginning to feel a little uncomfortable about how much my haircuts and highlights cost, so last week I went down a new path. I went to the Douglas J Aveda Institute, which is a fancy name for school. So I entrusted myself to a very tentative young stylist and just told myself that anything she did could probably be reversible.

What I neglected to consider was the amount of time it would take a student to highlight and cut my hair. When 30 minutes had gone by and she was just getting around to sectioning my hair for the foils (which, by the way, is not something pros do - they just start foiling), I knew it was going to be a long morning.

Three hours later my hair was still not cut. I had texted Matt multiple times pushing back my ETD, as well as made it clear to poor Suzie (don't worry, I'm giving her a fake name) that I needed to leave by 2:00. (this was sort of a lie, but just couldn't take it anymore!)

Thankfully, Suzie's supervisor swooped in and saved the day by cutting my hair in 12 minutes, while Suzie supervised, or, rather, observed. This almost totally redeemed the situation, especially because I got a professional haircut for only $16! Oh, and you're not allowed to tip at the Institute, so I scooted out of there without a hole in my wallet.

Would I do it again? I'm not sure. I think it's a question of what's worth more to me - my time or my money.

And of course I'd like to find a male student, but I'm still figuring out a tactful way to make that request!

Birthday weekend

We had a fun, full weekend with my parents in town for my 29th birthday. Activities included cleaning out our basement, antiquing, golf, a trip to the University of Michigan Botanical Gardens, time with Matt's parents at their lakehouse, a birthday dessert with friends, and plenty of excellent meals.

One comical highlight turned out to be the root beer coolers we fell in love with. A few months ago I blogged about the Frosty Freeze up the street from our house. Well, they sell a drink that Matt adores called a Boston cooler, which is actually Vernors ginger ale (one of America's oldest soft drinks that happens to have come from Detroit) mixed with vanilla ice cream. It becomes a ginger ale milkshake and really is delicious.

Well, they also sell the same drink but with root beer, and my mom and I shared a small one on Friday afternoon. Big mistake, as that gave each of us about a dixie cup worth each - hardly enough.

What really got my mom thinking, though, was how on earth they make these milkshakes with carbonated drinks like ginger ale and root beer without soda going everywhere!

This never occurred to me, and I just assumed they had some contraption that took care of fizz and any soda explosions.

But, when we stopped by again on Sunday night for a second serving, it was still nagging my mom, so she asked the girl at the register her question.

The girl's whole demeanor changed. Her eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped. "OH my GOSH," she said. "These are SO hard to make."

She then went on to describe how precarious the process is and how easy it is to get splattered with ice cream and soda. You could tell she really appreciated that we had asked.

Then, she put her game face on got to work on our four coolers. I think she made it out clean.

Now I feel a little badly that we put her in harm's way ... but not that bad. In fact, I think I'll have another one this week.

Why girls bake cookies

I think all girls know that when they bake cookies, or any kind of dessert for that matter, for a significant other, they're really just baking them for themselves.

I noticed a recipe for nutty oatmeal cookies today and realized I had all the ingredients. Plus, we bought a LOT of local oats yesterday, and I was excited to have a purpose for them other than breakfast.

So I decided to make cookies for Matt. He deserves a little treat in his lunch every now and then, right? Especially since I usually smuggle away the little chocolate treats I get at Trader Joe's in a place where he couldn't find them unless he was really looking.

The recipe called for a cup of dried fruit, and I realized this was a perfect opportunity to use up some dried cranberries I'd bought awhile ago and hadn't used very much since Matt isn't crazy about cranberries.

Why I thought he would like them in cookies, I don't know. Maybe I thought the cookie would compensate for the cranberries and he wouldn't notice them very much.

Not the case. Looks like I'll have my share of lunchtime treats for a long time.

In truth, though, I really think I was making them just as much for Matt as I was for myself. I think it might have been a little subconscious guilt over squirreling away chocolate treats,which now maybe I'll have to share since he's not interested in my cookies. Darn.

Beans and freezer bags

I know this is a strange thing to say about beans in a ziploc bag, but don't you think they look pretty? I cooked up a big pot of beans this weekend, a 17 bean variety bag from Trader Joe's. Every kind of bean you can imagine came in this bag! I put the leftovers in this ziploc bag and I think all the different colors and sizes of the beans are so pretty to look at ... a cross between a mosaic and a spread of marbles.

I'm also a big fan of the bag they are in. My mom gave me this great little gadget that sucks all of the air out of special ziploc bags so that your frozen goods keep longer and don't develop freezer burn. For someone who likes to freeze as much as I do (just ask anyone I've ever lived with and they can all tell tales of frozen bananas tumbling out of an overstocked freezer ... but in my defense, a full freezer runs more efficiently and saves energy, not to mention food!), this gadget is a life saver.

Ideal weeknight meal

We've had Melissa Clark's Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp twice now (including tonight) and I think it is now one of my favorite weeknight meals. It truly is quick, relatively affordable, healthy and doesn't dirty too many pans. Plus, it consistently makes enough for generous leftovers, a real bonus in this household!

Summer road trip - Charlottesville, VA and Annapolis

Well, eventually we made it to Charlottesville, tired, hungry, a bit edgy and basically just ready to call it a night. My parents were letting us use the cottage they rent on Beau Pre Farm in Charlottesville and had even had an extra key made for us to ensure easy access.

Not so easy - for some reason, the key didn't work and we found ourselves in the pitch black dark. Perhaps Matt was secretly hoping this was his one shot to convince me to camp, but I had hotel on the brain if we couldn't find a spare key.

Fortunately, my parents' landlord was awake and let us in. Phew!

The next morning Matt and I drove northwest and up to Skyline Drive, where he began a 40-some mile bike ride along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park. He wasn't sure how long it would take him and just asked me to meet him at a certain point about 4 hours later.

3 hours later, I was in the middle of running errands and leisurely enjoying my morning, when I got a call from Matt saying "I'm finished!" Maybe he's a better cyclist than both of us thought! So I picked him up and we stopped at the Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton, VA for pizza and local beer.

Then it was on to my brother and sister-in-law's house for an extended play session with our nephew Tucker and dinner. Austin and Jackie have more squash growing in their garden than they ever could have asked for, so you can guess what we had for dinner!

At one point during our vacation, I got it in my head that I just had to go to a swimming hole. Just had to! Well, Matt had already plotted out a Wednesday morning run for us along Moorman's River, which runs through Shenandoah National Park and has numerous swimming holes. Serendipitous! The picture below isn't actually Matt, just one grabbed from the Internet ... but you get the idea. SO fun.

After our run we cleaned up, had a quick breakfast at the Bluegrass Grill and Bakery in Charlottesville and began our drive to Annapolis. Before ending up at my parents' house, we met Katie and Anabelle Roberts for smoothies at Robeks, which turned out to be a somewhat eventful episode, but you'll have to ask Katie for the details on that one. :)

Our time at my parents' has been full of fun, delicious food, golf, porch sitting, reading, and of course plenty of Tucker time - he, Austin and Jackie arrived Friday afternoon and it's been one Tucker-centered activity after another, as you can see from the pictures below!