Party On

It is that time of year again - the week long Ultimate Blog Party, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom!
There are nearly 800 bloggers participating already! So head on over to check out the fun and meet new bloggers - and enter to win some of the fabulous prizes!

I want to extend a warm welcome to any visitors - I am glad you made the stop over here!

My name is Jessica and I am married to my handsome husband Paul. We have a one year old son, Judah, and I am 23 weeks pregnant with our second baby.

These guys are pretty much the coolest people ever and I love them so much :)

Paul & Judah Feb. '08

Judah excels at saying "Heyyyy" with a southern drawl, hiding Gold Fish in the oddest of places and making me laugh. Everything roars and he loves to be chased.

Paul is serving in the US Army. I love having a man in uniform coming home to me every day =)
We just moved into a house the beginning of February and Paul has been helping me with making it into a home. We have had fun working on different projects together. And we both *love* living in a house rather than an apartment! We actually have a back yard!

One of the coolest things about Paul is he loves being in the kitchen. He bakes *amazing* bread, and even more amazing Chocolate Chip cookies. I recently blogged about how he makes a large batch of the dough and then shapes and freezes them so we can pull out just a few at a time and have freshly baked cookies whenever we want.
Because he loves me so much he gave me the recipe and said I can post it on my blog. :)

So in honor of the party here is the recipe for the most amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (make sure it is melted!)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
*semisweet chocolate chips
*Heath bits

*He doesn't measure these - he just dumps them in. He's very generous with the chocolate :)

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line baking sheet with tin foil (that way you don't have to wash anything!!)
2. Combine first three ingredients. Set aside
3. In another bowl combine remaining ingredients until creamy. Add dry ingredients until just blended.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and Heath bits.
5. Use a 1/4 cup measuring scoop to shape the dough into balls.
6. Bake for 15 - 17 minutes, and then let cool on the baking sheet.

These taste best when eaten the day they're baked.
If you plan on freezing them place the shaped cookie dough on a plate and place in freezer for a few hours so they can individually freeze. Once they have, you can throw them all in a zip lock bag. Then pull out however many you want and place in a pre-heated oven. I don't think we've ever timed how long they take from frozen, but it's not much longer than from a non-frozen state!

Enjoy!!

And happy Ultimate Blog Party-ing :)

Oh - and there really are TONS OF COOL PRIZES to be won!! I would be thrilled to win anything, but my top picks are:
# 1 - Rocking Horse
#14 - 12x12 wall canvas
#70 - Chocolate!
#87 - Orange and Blue Beaded Necklace
#91 - Burt's Bees Skin Care Products
#114- $20 GC for LUSH