So freakin' domestic.

It's making me sick. (Work with me here. I was always one of those kids who was going to get the hell out of my small home town and live the high life in a large city, juggling men and partying 'til the cows came home. Never mind that I don't LIKE partying any more, and juggling men got old fast.)

Anyway.

The new scarf pattern, it turns out, knits up REALLY FAST. I sit down and read a chapter of a book or watch Iron Chef (I prefer Iron Chef Japan, but Food Network isn't running it any more), while knitting, and the next thing I know I've got another six inches knit up. And the COLOR! It's a sea green, but it's got odd aqua blue overtones in certain light. I love looking at it. (It's color #8512.)

I'll post a formal pattern, such as it is, when I've got this thing done and a decent photo taken.



While I had the camera out, the baby was being cute, so I snapped a photo for the baby fans among us:

How do you stay in a bad mood with that looking at you?



And this brings us to cookies. I've had several questions about it.

When it comes to cookies that travel well, anything small, dense, and round works best. Without icing. Those types of cookies can take a beating. It's possible to transport cut-outs and other, more fragile things, but in that case I try to take them frozen (straight out of the freezer, into a cooler in the truck) and add the icings or toppings when I get to where I'm going.

In Hawaii, I would freeze everything as I baked it, and then in one rushed fit of speed, pack it all into pre-addressed boxes and take it off to the Post Office (which was a couple miles away). The cardboard of the boxes was fairly insulating, and usually when I posted them someone would ask why the box was cold. They would thaw within the first day or so, of course, but it gave them a slight edge on freshness. I suggest mailing in the US during the first week or two of December; that's when the post-office is geared up and ready for more packages than usual, but they aren't swamped yet. It would usually take less than a week for boxes to get to the mainland, if I mailed then.

Last night I made toffee-chip shortbread cookies, and had a request for the recipe, so here you guys go. (I'm so freakin' domestic.) These are really fast, really easy, travel well, and are rather cheap to make (compared to, say, fruitcake).

TOFFEE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES:
-1 stick (1/2 cup) butter REAL BUTTER. It's shortbread, for crying out loud. Do NOT cheap out and get the margarine or I will hunt you down and make you knit Lion Brand.
-1/4 cup confectioner's/powdered sugar
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-handful toffee chips (if you can't get these, chop up some Heath bars or other toffee candies)

Mix it all together into a paste. That might take a little time. Scrape it all out onto a sheet of aluminum foil and roll it into a log shape. Roll the log in the foil and toss it in the fridge for an hour or so. When it's cold, take it out, unwrap it, and slice it with a thin knife. Lay the slices on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until the edges just barely turn brown. Yum.