2/14/13

cookies and cream cookies (plus blizzard 2013)

I'm back!
And I can say I survived the blizzard of 2013!
As most of you know, cape cod got hit pretty bad with the blizzard, or was it called storm nemo?
My area got hit hard.
Thankfully we survived it ok with minimal tree damage and house damage, but we lost power for three days.
For three days in 30 degree temperatures during the day and teen temperatures during the night.
You can only imagine how hard that was, mentally and physically.
I can honestly say it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.
By day two our inside home temperature was 43 degrees!
Hubby and I would lay in bed at night with 7-8 blankets, fully clothed, listening to the house creak and moan with the declining temps.
We could see our breath inside our home.
We didn't have a fireplace, but we did boil water over the gas stove every three hours.
Granted this is not safe and I don't recommend it to anyone, but we have high ceilings and only did this a few times to raise the temperature up a bit.
On day two and a half with no heat, we looked everywhere for a hotel room--they were snatched up fairly quickly and the waiting list was about three pages long.
The only communication we had was the radio and our iphones with which I got updates via the NStar website that said we had another three days to go until power was completely restored.
You can imagine the freak out factor I had with this news.
I wasn't so worried about us making it in the cold, my biggest fear was our pipes.
It was only a matter of time before the pipes would freeze.  We did wrap a few pipes that were closest to the outside walls with clothes and towels, and blocked up the doors and windows with sofa cushions.
During the day we'd go to a local grocery store that was partially open, running on generators and eat whatever they had and use the restrooms to wash up.  It was hard to come home to the house at night knowing it would be dark and cold.
There were two homes on our street that had whole-house generators, driving by these homes every night seeing them inside watching TV, using the computer, or cooking away in the kitchen was surreal--strange to say the least.  It leaves you desperate in a way; longing for any kind of normalcy---again.
On our third day of no power we decided I would go the next day and stay with friends.
My husband was not leaving the house--under any circumstances.  I didn't like this, and had zero say in the matter, but he did have a lot of army training so he was quite familiar with handling extreme conditions and weather.
You know how there are certain moment-like life events that happen to you that you never ever forget?
The time the power came on was in my top five.
We were just coming home for the night, driving down our road, seeing some lights on in houses that we were confused on whether or not those were the ones with the generators--we weren't sure because it all looked different.
Then we drove onto our street, and noticed the entire street was lit up like a christmas tree!  When you're used to seeing black and then you see everything illuminated it's quite a change.
I remember screaming the whole way down our street to our house, saying 'oh my god, oh my god....!"
And then we got to our house and it was all black!
I didn't know hubby had turned all the lights off so that when the power did come back on we won't blow a fuse--he forgot this too!
So we both weren't sure if the power was on.  Then I remembered that above the garage door is a motion detector light that glows red laser light when there is movement in the driveway which in turn turns on the outside lights.  And POOF, the little red laser light started moving as I drove closer to the garage door and the lights on the garage door clicked on!!
I screamed "yes, the power is on!"
I screamed again, opened my truck door and started to get out, forgot to put the truck in park, caught myself and put it in park, got out and ran towards to the gas meter to hear for the sound of hissing to validate my curiosity again of whether the power was truly on.  It was-- It was hissing away!
We both ran inside and were almost crying with happiness.
Hubby remembered the vent to the heater was blocked with a 4-5 foot snow drift, he ran around to shovel it out, while I ran around the house in shear happiness, turning on this or that light, and checking the all the heat panels.  Finding my cat sitting on one of the floorboard heat panels--how he managed that balance act I'm still not sure, but porr thing he was cold too.
That night taking a hot shower-- well there are no words really for that; how do you describe that?
I mean it had been three days without hot water; your body just does a collective 'sigh' when the hot water hits your back for the first time.
We did lose power again the next day for six hours--what's six hours though when you've been through three days?  Nothing.
As of today, thursday, my town still has about less than 100 homes still without power.
These are the places that are farther out from the main grid; homes that lost a lot of power lines and have older power lines/systems.
But thankfully today, thursday was the day that everyone in my town would be restored according to NStar. Happy Valentines Day indeed.
I haven't been cooking or baking for a while, cleanup is first, but I did find a recipe from the archives that I hadn't posted yet.
Happy Valentine's Day!
I know I'm happy--very happy and VERY grateful.
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The taste of cookies and cream literally in a cookie.  Seriously these are good.
Any type of Oreo will work and flavor-wise you can mix and match too.
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Eating the dough is just as tasty too, plus there are no eggs so it's fairly safe.
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cookies & cream cookies

2 cups + 2 TB flour
1/2 ts baking soda
1/2 ts (oversized) salt
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
8 oz. cream cheese softened
1 cup light brown sugar, NOT packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 ts vanilla extract
2 cups crushed Oreo’s (not fine crush but not big chunk either)

Cook notes: I made my cookies larger than normal, about golfball size.
So make them whatever size you like.  If you make them smaller you should reduce baking times.
Whisk all dry ingredients together; set aside.
With stand mixer, or by hand mix butter and cream cheese together until smooth.
Add in both sugars and beat until thoroughly combined.
Beat in vanilla extract until combined.
Add dry ingredients & beat at low speed just until combined.
By hand, add in the crushed Oreo’s.
Cover dough securely with plastic wrap and chill two hours or overnight. 
When ready to bake cookies preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are set and bottoms are light brown. Do NOT overbake!
Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking and place on wire rack to cool.
Should make about 30-32 cookies.



24 comments:

  1. Thank God you're safe and that's behind you! Wow, what a story. I grew up in rural MN and we'd get blizzards and I've lived through a few but can only imagine how cold it was..without heat and power for days!! The cookies are more than well-deserved!

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  2. I'm SO glad you guys made it out ok! I was thinking of all of you during that crazy storm. Yayy for heat, warmth & health.

    I love how fluffy your cookies are. They make me happy

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  3. When you didn't post any snowstorm photos, I suspected you were without power. My sister's in southeastern Connecticut and she was without too. They weren't allowed on the roads so she was pretty confined to her house. Here in eastern Pennsylvania we only got five or six inches of snow. It was just enough to use the snow blower but fortunately not enough to cause problems. Glad you're back.

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  4. Glad you're back. I live in Boston, and I lost my internet connection for a few hours, but that was it. I was so grateful that I didn't lose power. Cookies look de-lish. I will try soon.

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  5. 40 inches here in Hamden CT...5 days of "stuck" with a cranky 11 year old and 6 month old puppy who looked out the door and looked back at me like "are you for real?". Needless to say Nemo set us back weeks of housebreaking but we are back up and running like true New Englanders. Off to find if we have enough Ores to make these for dessert.

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  6. oh my gosh, i'm so glad you're back with power!! if only i had a generator to bring to you! i was lucky enough to be out of town for the storm (my friends picked an awesome weekend to get married in key west), but was thinking of you! these cookies? YUM. totally want to shove a few in my face right now :)

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  7. I was so worried about you and am so glad you are okay!!! I can't even imagine going through that...but you survived!! And that's all that's important.

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  8. OMFG, I have literally made these twice in the last few weeks. Sprinkled a little sea salt on top, too. Great minds, girl.

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  9. These look so yummy! So scary about the power outage - I'm glad you're okay and have your power back!

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  10. You put a cookie into a cookie.

    That's a crazy good idea!

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  11. What an ordeal. You never really know how much we take for granted until it is no longer available. We are so happy life is turning back to normal.

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  12. So happy to hear your power is back. I can imagine it being one of those life changing moments. I don't know how you made it. I'm freaking out just reading about it. I keep telling my mom we need a generator. These cookies look like a great way to recover. Big cookies rule!

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  14. If I put foil down instead of parchment paper, do you recommend greasing it first, or not?

    I'm going to make these for my boyfriend's birthday this weekend. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. gloria - you always want greased sheets if you're not using parchment paper. so yes to greasing!

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  15. I'm glad you are back just so I can make these cookies. Here in Colorado we've been without power for 5 days as we apparently are on the last line to be fixed. Though it didn't get quite as cold (55 inside) it is a miserable feeling. Lots of candles and got out the camping stuff like the propane burners and lantern.Hope it doesn't happen again for a long while.

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  16. cream and cookies cookies sounds better to my ears. :) these look great!

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  17. Wow, I've never gone without power for more than an hour or two. So glad it's back on and you're left with a grateful heart. Cause really, you need power to bake :)

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  18. Oh Dawn, you poor thing! It sounds like a miserable time... I am so glad things are back to normal and that you have heat, hot water, and power. The cookies look amazing.

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  19. Cookies 'n cream cookies - yes please!! I've made cookies like these before, and I think they're one of my favorites. There's something about adding cookies to cookie dough that is just... delicious.

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  20. What a crazy ordeal you went through. I would not have been a happy camper, but glad your power was on so you could bake these cookies.

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  21. Glad you survived the blizzard! Three days with no power...that's brutal. Hopefully the weather will be much kinder- now that March is at the door. :)

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  22. I just made these and they are divine!! thanks for sharing a great recipe. (sorry about your ordeal)

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  23. Wow, I was out of power for a week with Sandy and although it was cold (my house was in the 50s), we didn't have freezing temperatures and snow! I enjoyed reading this post SO much--it made me so grateful (still) that my community survived Sandy and yes, having the power back on is the best feeling in the world!

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