How did it come to this?
I ask myself that question a lot.  When I hear certain news stories, read people's Facebook status updates, watch tv.  I was laying on my couch yesterday trying to decide what to do next.  Before switching on what has to be the world's stupidest movie and the biggest waste of my time in a long while, I had the tv on.  For the few minutes that it was on I saw a Canadian talk show host interviewing a woman in suburban Toronto.  This woman was talking about her lawn... her grass.  The grass on her front lawn(!).  She was explaining that a tree had been removed leaving uneven grass and a bare patch on her front lawn.  She needed advice from an expert so that she could once again have the best grass on her street(!!!!).
At first I thought it must be a joke.  But the show seemed to be taking things further by having a expert work with her.  This woman was absolutely sincere and in earnest about her lawn.  She was completely committed to having the best grass on her street.  And then I thought, 'How did it come to this'.
Who in hell cares whether you have the best lawn on the street.  Grass is something I consider just filler between my door and the sidewalk.  I know that it's not the best use of the space and I completely understand that it sucks the earth of it's good stuff.  Damn.  Dig up the lawn and put veggies in there.  At least it's productive.
But seriously, why do we care.  Does it honestly say something about me as a human being if I have the best grass on my street?  Or if I have the worst grass?  I don't think about people that way at all.  I don't ever wonder what their lawn looks like or if it's the best lawn or if maybe I should consider not talking to them anymore if it's the worst lawn.  I guess that it just never occured to me that the grass on my lawn was something worth competing over and/or making an effort with.


D was telling me about a visit he made to a friend a couple of days ago.  They were having some lunch and hearing these weird noises coming from outside.  Deciding to go for a walk along the beach after lunch they left the house and discovered that the weird noises (which had been going on for some time now) were being made by someone using some machinery to remove dandelions from their front lawn. Wow.  Dandelions are actually useful and grass isn't.  This person was spending a lot of time to get a great but useless lawn and removing truly useful stuff in order to do it.  I'm astonished.


Well after that whole revelation I was exhausted and had to refuel with some of these cookies.  It was truly important.  I suppose that the time I spent making these cookies could have been spend outside pulling up my dandelions or trying to repair the holes in my own grass that have been made by racoons or squirrels digging for grubs. But the truth is that I don't care.  I don't care about whether my grass is awesome because there are so many really important things in my life that I don't have time to worry about my grass.  Cookies however are another matter entirely.


Chocolate, White Chocolate Chunk Cookies adapted slightly from Eats Well With Others
makes about 30 smallish cookies - 24 med. sized cookies

8 oz very dark or bittersweet chocolate
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 lg eggs
3/4 cup white chocolate, chips are a good quality bar cut into coarse chunks

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler (you can just simmer a little bit of water and place a heat proof bowl on top - but not touching! - the pot).  Set aside to cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Line two cookies sheets with parchment or a silicon baking mat.  Set aside.
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in bowl and set aside.
Add the sugar, espresso powder and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and mix well.  Add in the eggs one at a time and whisk well after each addition.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture.  Do it in about 3 batches mixing well after each addition.  The batter will become quite thick.
Add in the white chocolate chips/chunks and mix well.
Scoop the dough onto the cookies sheets using about a tbsp of dough for each cookie.  These cookies don't spread very much so they can be fairly close together.
Bake for about 10 - 11 minutes or until they look just a little under baked.
Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
Stores well for about 3 - 4 days.