Throwback Thursday: Washington D.C.

During my senior year of high school, I had the opportunity to go on a trip with my classmates to Washington, D.C. for a week. We toured the city, visiting monuments and landmarks and even sat in on sessions of Congress and met with our State Representative, Kevin Brady. 

Left to right: Myself and two classmates at the Lincoln Memorial. | View of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, and Capitol Building from the Arlington National Cemetery. | Inside the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building. 

The trip that I went on was with the Close Up Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to allowing students the opportunity to see democracy in action and learn how they can take a more active role in policy making in their community. Me and the other three students that attended from College Park High School had a fabulous time.

This trip to Washington, D.C. was big for me because it was the first time that I was going far away from home. The three-hour flight was also going to be the longest I'd ever been on. We went to D.C. in January. As a Texan, my wardrobe was not prepared for Washington D.C. in January. I had to go out and buy sweaters and I borrowed a wool coat from my mom. We had to wear semi-professional attire when we were on Capitol Hill visiting the capitol and congress. As someone that didn't wear professional wear often, I seriously underestimated how terrible of an idea it was to wear heels on Capitol Hill for a day of walking. I remember my feet just being absolutely numb by the end of the day and sitting on the steps of Capitol Hill just regretting  everything about my shoe choice.

Oh, the things you remember about trips!

Top to bottom: Supreme Court Building | Me and my classmates on the subway in
Washington, D.C. - my first subway ride. | View of the White House
from the top of the Washington Monument. | Picture of the Declaration of Independence. 

Apple Crisp in a Jar

I bought all of the ingredients for this and had planned to make it for a delicious post-Super Bowl treat. But, by the time that the (uneventful) game was over we just weren't feeling baking any more. Our Sunday night laziness meant that we got to enjoy the cinnamon apple goodness on Monday.

My mom had bought me 2 dozen half-pint jars around Christmas time so I could make baked goodies for friends, family, and coworkers. I have a few left over from the holiday season and have enjoyed making small personal-sized desserts for Jacob and I.

The recipe was really simple.  It took about 10 minutes to assemble it all and 25 minutes to cook. It is sooo good, an 8 out of 10! I'd definitely make this again. We served ours with a dollop of sugar free vanilla ice cream and it was divine!

Ingredients

Apple Filling

2 apples

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons honey

Crumble Topping

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

*a little brown sugar for sprinkling on top*

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium-size bowl, mix melted butter, cinnamon, and honey.

Cut your apples into one-inch, bite-sized pieces. Toss in above mixture.

Make sure the apples are thoroughly coated in the sticky, cinnamon concoction.

Divide the apples between the two half-pint jars.

Set aside.

In another medium-sized bowl, mix together rolled oats, flour, walnuts, and salt.

Add in melted butter and honey.
Stir together until mixture becomes clumpy.
Cover the top of the apples in the jars.
Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the crumble.
Put both jars on a cookie sheet
Put in the oven for 25 minutes. 

The crumble on top will be golden brown and delicious!
Let the desserts cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Thick & Chewy M&M Cookies

It seems that I am on a cookie baking spree this month! I've made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate "Bits" Cookies, and now Mini M&M Cookies! Jacob and my coworkers have enjoyed been enjoying my experiments in cookie baking.

The special ingredient in these cookies that make them thick and chewy is the cornstarch. The recipe is pretty easy- just used a whisk and a large bowl- didn't even need my KitchenAid.

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)

2 & 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 & 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini M&Ms

Directions

In a medium bowl...

1. Mix together melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
I used a whisk. Make sure that you mix it really well so
no lumps of brown sugar remain in the mixture.

2. Whisk in egg, extra egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix well.

3. Mix in wet ingredients: flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt.
The dough is going to be very dense at this point, but make sure
to mix it well so there are no streaks of dry ingredients.

4. Mix in mini M&Ms. The melted butter makes it so they
wont stick to the outside of the dough very well, but try to
disperse them evenly within the dough.

Chill dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours 

(you can chill it for up to 3 days if you want to wait to bake it).

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Roll dough into balls and place on cookie sheet- I put them on a silpat. Cook for 11-13 minutes. The cookies will not change much in color except for the edges along the cookie sheet.

Inspiration
I got the recipe for these cookies at Sally's Baking Addiction. She has a ton of great chocolate chip cookie recipes. If you're looking for a bunch of cookie recipes, you should check out her blog! Her recipe was originally for chocolate chip cookies, but I had mini M&Ms on hand, so why not?! 

Easy Pork Chop Dinner for 2

I hadn't thought about what I was going to do for dinner until after I arrived home from work and realized we didn't have much to work with. After assessing the pantry and fridge/freezer, we the right ingredients for making some yummy pork chops. After thawing some frozen pork chops we threw the marinade in a bag with the pork chops, let all the flavor sink in and grilled it up. It turned out great & I'll definitely make it again!

Ingredients

2 boneless pork chips

1/4 cup honey

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 & 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions
Mix soy sauce, honey and garlic in bowl. 

Place pork chops in ziplock bag and seal after removing all of the air you can. 

Place in fridge for 1 hour. 

Cook on stovetop or grill until cooked through.

We served ours with a side of hash browns.

Don't judge, remember that we were working with what we had on hand!
We were in such a hurry to chow down that I almost forgot to take a picture of the finished product.
I remembered to take one right before I took my first bite. And it was delicious!