I’ve never been a lover of cooking, I’ll start there. My grandma cooked some great meals when I was little, but I never helped enough in the kitchen to actually learn what she was doing. My mom is a cook of specialty dishes: she makes amazing tamales, potato salad for EVERY family function (the family is not usually happy if there’s no Achi potato salad at any given event, ha!), and amazing traditional Guatemalan dishes, like pepian. But being just the two of us when I was little, I also wasn’t in the kitchen much for the day to day cooking.
When Jeff and I first moved in together to our little apartment in Irvine, I’d venture to say he was the main cook. Or he’d make the main dish and I’d make the sides.
I’m not exactly sure when the shift happened, but I’d say it was after we had Jake – when going out to dinner became less and less of an option, haha. And having to buckle down on finances. When we moved into our Lake Forest apartment, we’d been living with Jeff’s parents for a couple years, and I got to observe my mother-in-law cooking some really great meals – when I wasn’t busy sleeping on the couch…
I think all of those things combined forced me to start cooking more at home. I’m by no means a natural chef…I’m a cook-by-the-recipe “chef” (not sure you can call someone that follows a recipe a chef…but I’ll give myself that title for now). I think I’m just recently getting comfortable enough to improvise here and there – but only in small ways. Jeff and I joke around about me messing with recipes – my experiments rarely work for the best, haha. But I’ve come up with some good recipes for veggies and such small plates.
Anywho, a little over a year ago I was at Costco waiting on a cake order, and I gravitated to the book section to kill some time (everyone gravitates to the book section, right?!), and found this cook book:
I’ll admit, I’ve become quite a skeptic of cook books because I end up buying them and then realizing I don’t like any of the recipes in them (we’re not adventurous eaters…). [How am I a recipe chef without cookbooks? Most of my tried and true recipes come from allrecipes.com, but I digress again.] But I kept skimming this one and finding several recipes that caught my eye, and after a good five-minute hesitation I decided to buy it.
I’m not exaggerating: this book has changed our life, haha. The harissa chicken recipe is seriously our favorite dinner, and it’s my go-to when I want to impress family/friends. It’s also easy to double and make for larger crowds. A couple things I’ve learned from making it several times:
I use skinless chicken thighs rather than skin on
I add lemon rind to the yogurt sauce (I did it by accident the first time, as the lemon rind is also used for something else, but now we love it)
I cut the harissa in half since it can be pretty spicy. Trader Joe’s used to carry an amazing harissa sauce but has discontinued it (we were heartbroken). We’ve found a different version at a local Persian store – it’s not the same but it will do.
Harissa sauce spoils quickly, so it was a bummer to buy a jar and have it mold in my refrigerator before I had a chance to make it again. A coworker who I shared the recipe with came up with a brilliant idea that has worked great for me: freeze a couple tablespoons in snack-size ziplock bags and freeze! I can take it out just before using and unfreeze pretty quickly.
I also love the pizza chicken recipe. This one I’ve paired up with angel hair spaghetti and it goes great. I also freeze extra sauce and use it for a second spaghetti night – it’s a perfect spaghetti sauce!
The other recipe I make regularly is the chicken salad – with crispy skin! It’s such a light and refreshing meal, but I do cut the sauce out (I made it the first time and realized it’s just not our taste).
Well, it’s been a while again, hasn’t it? I was reading someone else’s family blog and realized I miss writing about my own little family and all the stuff I/we’ve been up to. So, in the free minutes I have, here’s what’s been going on:
Meeting my dad. The biggie is that I met my dad and his family for the first time last month. I found him last year around October or so. It was weird: I came in to work and searched an Obama speech that I wanted to listen to, saw an ad at the bottom about finding people, entered my dad’s name as I occasionally do on generic web searches, one thing led to another, and boom, all the dots were connecting. It felt a little like this, to be honest…
Which reminded me of this..
Anyhow…it was a bit of a bombshell for my three sisters, and things have taken time to develop, but the boys and I headed to Arizona last month to visit some of Jeff’s family so I decided to take the leap and see if they were ready to meet. I’m so glad they were. Jeff, the boys, and I went over to their house for lunch and it was really nice to get to meet them each in person and get to know them a little better. Unlike my expectation, it wasn’t awkward, but I do think it was a little emotionally tense: trying to figure out our comfort levels and boundaries (too soon to hug? do I call him dad? what do we tell Jake?), and I think most of us were a little nervous about how it would go. Thankfully it went well enough that we all want to see each other again and get to know each other, although the distance does make that a little challenging.
One thing I didn’t think about when I reached out to them last year were the ripples. I’ll admit I was selfish and just thought of myself and that I had a “right” to reach out to my dad. I didn’t think about the girls and what that would put them through. Or my mom and how she would feel (although I did give her a heads up that I had found them and again when I decided to meet them). Or my aunts and cousins. I really hadn’t considered how this would affect so many people, and in every sense that has been the most challenging aspect of this journey.
When I found him and when I met him, people kept asking how I was doing and how I was feeling…I think expecting a hot emotional mess. I think we’re all dealing a little with the “what if’s” that I was starting to come to terms with a few years ago, but over all it’s been very non-dramatic. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been holding on to any resentment or bitterness for the last 33 years, but I’ve been fine. I’m honestly just excited to meet my dad and his family and get to know them. I have an amazing family as is, so if meeting them hadn’t worked out, it would have been a bummer but thankfully I have a wonderful and supportive family already, so my risk was non-existent. Finding my dad and his family is icing on the cake. And I mean, who doesn’t love icing, right? But this cake is pretty delicious by itself also :) But I have to admit, I’m pretty excited about getting to know each of them.
Phew, maybe that should have been a separate blog post, haha, but let’s move on to some less intense updates.
Cooking. I’ve never been a huge fan of cooking. My grandma cooked for us every day and did it solo (I just snuck in to steal tomatoes), and my mom was a lone wolf in the kitchen as well. It was something that needed to get done, food had to be put on the table, and that was that. Except for annual tamale making around Christmas, cooking isn’t really family tradition for me, or something that I’ve grown up learning. So it’s a chore. And one that became even more daunting when Jake starting eating adult food (man, I really wish he would eat-he’s a terrible eater), and cooking “healthy” food became even more important. Throughout our entire relationship (ten years now!), Jeff and I have talked about eating better and exercising regularly. The exercising hasn’t stuck, but there’s something about someone’s life depending on you that makes you want to only do the best by him. I’m not saying we shop at Whole Foods and are vegan, but we try to cook at home more which I count as a success.
The routine of work, home, dinner, clean up, bath time, bedtime, is exhausting, repetitive, and…less than thrilling. Up until recently I really dreaded cooking. I felt like it took me away from hanging out with the boys or doing something more productive or exciting around the house. Thankfully Jeff has always liked my cooking, and recently he’s loved it. And I think that’s made a huge difference in how I approach cooking. I love making food that my family loves (Jake loves my cornbread…that’s about it, but I’ll take it for now). I love the praise I get from Jeff when I cook, and I love knowing that my family is eating something healthier than eating out constantly. Maybe not in the sense of healthy food (we eat more than our fair share of southern, fried stuff…), but at least I know there aren’t a ton of preservatives in it!
So as of last week, I’m enjoying cooking! Buying groceries every week though….ew.
Gilmore Girls. I just finished watching the new episodes of Gilmore Girls. My mom came over after Thanksgiving so we could watch it together since it was our thing when the show was on, but man, throw a toddler and a baby into the mix and we paused the episode so many times and I yelled at Jake so many other times, that I was exhausted and thankful when the first credits rolled up. I’ve managed to watch the rest after I put Josh to sleep and during my pumping sessions at work, and finished up last night. It wasn’t all perfect, but I have to say, I loved the imperfection of Rory’s life. Not all of us land that dream job, even if we were smart and ambitious at one point. I found it refreshing, maybe because it reflects my life a little: sometimes you don’t get exactly what you thought you wanted, but you get so much more!
The moment you’ve all been waiting for: The boys. The boys are doing great :) The first two-three months of Josh’s life were hard. HARD. This blog is getting pretty lengthy so I’ll save my pearls of wisdom of those first three months for a separate blog post, but thankfully now we’ve all gotten into our new regular of being a family of four. Josh is still keeping me up at night a lot (nursing every 2-3 hours, not awake and screaming, thankfully), but I’m also a sissy about sleep training, so I guess it’s my own fault. Other than that, he’s great. He’s pulling himself up everywhere, he’s mastered the army crawl, and really likes to be walked around everywhere now. I’m sure he’ll be walking in no time! He loves to give me open mouth, wet, kisses, and he is so so happy when I get home, it truly makes my heart happy. He’s constantly smiling, and has the most amazing crinkle nose smile!
And Jake. What can I say without sounding like “that” mother? He’s truly an amazing child. I mean it. He uses words like “frustrated,” “comfortable,” “area,” and “vehicle” to name a few. And he uses them all correctly! He knows plurals, and when to use us/them/their/me. He can have a lengthy discussion with you about his toys and the latest Tayo episode. And those are my favorite moments. When he is so excited about something that he just goes on and on and on. And he’s so sweet and kind, and always willing to lend a hand (and…and…and…). I love the relationships he has with his grandparents, and he loves them each so dearly. Things I don’t love: how hard it is to get him to eat, his dry skin/allergies, his quickness to get angry/frustrated with toys, how often he says “I’m mad” or asks “are you happy?” He’s always concerned about our happiness and making sure we’re not upset, haha.
Jeff. I know this blog is way too long already, but I can’t leave Jeff out. I truly, honestly, can’t imagine my life without him. Believe it or not, I get moody. A lot. My mom knows. And Jeff knows. And they both still love me the same and are amazing support people for me.
This parenting thing is no joke, but I am so blessed to be able to do it with a man that is patient, understanding, considerate, loving, etc., etc., etc. For example, last night at the dinner table he noticed that I forgot to get a glass of water, so he got one for me. I mean, he was already sitting down eating his food, trying to get Jake to eat, and NOTICED that. Insert heart googly eyes here.
I also love our parenting system: I love that it’s not a 50-50 in the sense that we have to split everything down the middle, we just work within our strengths and weaknesses. And it works for us.
Ok, I’ll let you all resume your normal daily activities. I really am going to try to blog more frequently so each blog doesn’t become a mini-novela.
I’ve been wanting to try a new recipe for a while, so I found one of my old cook books that had been in storage for over two years, and decided to go with “beautiful zucchini carbonara” from Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life. The attorney in me is a little leery of copying the recipe on here, but you can find it word for word at Jamie Oliver’s website, here. FYI, “courgette” means zucchini but in British ;)
My phone takes awful, non-focused pictures so it almost seems pointless to post them….almost.
I started by prepping the fresh thyme…and I’m glad I did because that took freaking forever. Have you every de-leafed fresh thyme?? Not sure it’s worth it…but anywhoo, I’m glad I did that before I got anything cooking. I then cut the bacon and placed that in a bowl, ready to go (side note: I live and die by “prepping” and having bowls with all my ingredients measured out and ready to go, it reduces my amount of anxiety once I start cooking, just to know that things are ready to go when I need them).
After that I followed the directions step by step. Do you know what the most beautiful kitchen smell is?
Yep, bacon. Soooo good.
Loooooooking good! At this point my pasta was already done, and the recipe says the zucchini and pasta should end at about the same time. So either I was slow in getting the zucchini in the pan (which is possible), or the pasta cooked faster than expected. Either way, I think next time I make this I will wait to get the pasta cooking until after I cut the zucchini or once I get the bacon going.
Mmmmmm-mmmmm! Not gonna lie, this turned out pretty great. A couple things: since my pasta finished cooking early I drained it and completely forgot to keep some of the pasta water. I didn’t want to use just plain, flavorless water (not sure that pasta water really has much “flavor,” but anyhoot…), so I compensated by throwing in a little canned chicken broth. Another thing was that I thought there was too much pasta, so I only used about 3/4 of it. Although it turned out delicious, it was a bit rich for me towards the end, which I think is either because I didn’t use enough “pasta water” to lighten it, or the chicken broth was a bit much to use instead of pasta water. I’ll have to try out a couple different things the next time I make this, but it was definitely good and definitely worth making again! And surprisingly, not too difficult to make :)
I still can’t believe how happy I was with this, especially considering how easy it was. I was a little weary of the cumin and chili powder, but the lime and cilantro are the flavors that really jump out once it’s all cooked.
For a side dish we made Crash Hot Potatoes. Ours did not look nearly as beautiful as these (they cooked unevenly and did not squish quite this perfectly at all like this), but they were so, so good! We used a seasoning called Herbs d’Provence, or something like that, which already has a mixture of great herbs and spices.
One thing to keep in mind is that these take a while. You have to boil the potatoes first (which depending on how many you’re making and how much water you’re using, could take a while), and then you back them for an additional 25 minutes or so, so plan accordingly–we didn’t and we were starving by the time we ate. Ha, maybe that’s why I thought everything was so good!
I’m pretty sure this chicken would go great with rice instead of potatoes, but we’d had rice the night before so I decided to switch it up. Added a salad on the side, and ta-da, dinner is served!
I realized recently that it’s been a while since I baked or fixed a dessert for a special occasion, so this Fourth of July I decided to make something I’ve been wanting to make for a long time now: PEACH COBBLER!
My obsession started when I fell in love with the Peach Cobbler from Lucille’s BBQ. Since then I’ve wanted to make a good, made from scratch, peach cobbler. I settled on this recipe yesterday, and I’m very happy with my decision. I think the topping on the Lucille’s peach cobbler might have been a bit sweeter somehow, but that could also be my imagination just taking flight (it’s been a while since I’ve had it there).
I didn’t make many changes* to the original recipe, so you can follow the link for ingredients and instructions, but I’m posting some pictures below of the process.
*I did follow the advice of one commentator on how to peel the peaches since mine were a little hard (I would recommend buying them a few days or a week in advance so they have time to ripen, and then maybe you can avoid this whole process and peel them much more easily without having to do all of the following). I’ve never “blanched” anything before, but thankfully my mom was around to give me a hand. Basically, get a pot full of water to boil, place the peaches in there for a minute (instructions didn’t say if I should leave the heat on during this process or turn it off, I went with turning it off), take them out of the boiling water and then plunge them in cold water, after which the skins should come right off. This worked great for 6 of the 8 peaches we had, the last two were a bit stubborn about shedding their skins…
Slicing the peaches after they’ve been peeled (*instructions called for thin slices, but everyone advised to do thicker slices which is what I went with).
Yep, that’s my baby belly.
First phase of baking… (the peaches I bought were pretty large, so one 8×8 pan just didn’t seem big enough. I’m glad we put the extra in another dish, otherwise the whole thing would have overflowed once we added the breading & topping).
It already looks good! This is after just ten minutes in the oven.
Preparing the breading and topping.
My mom adding the cinnamon sugar topping after I’ve added spoonfuls of the breading
Finished product: DELICIOUS!
I went ahead and paired this with Breyers Homemade Vanilla ice-cream. SOOO GOOD!
I’ve made this recipe several times with fabulous results, so I figured it was time I shared it!
I wish I could give credit to wherever I got it from, but I forget. I’m pretty sure it was on allrecipes.com. I also have no pictures because it’s a bit of a hectic and messy process, so the thought of taking pictures while I’m making these just never really crosses my mind.
INGREDIENTS
4 breast halves*
1 chopped onion
1/2 pint of sour cream (aka, 1 cup)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese (more is always better in the cheese department, if you ask me)
1 tbl. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce (or smaller can of tomato paste)
1 tbl. chili powder
1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 clove minced garlic (I use the pre-minced garlic, works like a charm)
Corn tortillas (original recipe calls for flour tortillas, I always use corn)
1 (19 oz or larger) can taco sauce. I use Las Palmas, medium spicy (we used spicy ones, and they were pretty spicy, even for Jeff). I would get a larger can if you really like your enchiladas drenched in sauce. This is barely enough to cover them evenly.
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In medium, non-stick skillet, over medium heat, cook chicken until no longer pink and juice runs clear. Drain, cube, and return to skillet. *I always use leftover chicken from a previous meal, such as chicken soup or a rotisserie chicken. I think this works great and gives the chicken a much better flavor, although the amount of enchiladas will vary depending on how much chicken is left over.
Throw in a little bit of olive oil with the chicken, toss in the onion, bell peppers and garlic, and let that cook on low heat until the bell peppers start softening up a bit. I used to just toss everything in together, but noticed that the bell peppers were always a little too hard, so I started doing this first and it works great–peppers come out soft and delicious!
Add sour cream, cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano and pepper. Heat until the cheese melts; stir in salt, sauce, chili, and pepper. It starts smelling delicious right about now. Turn off heat.
Warm up tortillas so they don’t fall apart or crack when you roll them. I do this by tossing them in the microwave for a few seconds.
Get a large dinner dish and pour some of the enchilada sauce on it, just enough so you can dip your tortillas in before adding chicken mixture. Also pour some enchilada sauce on the bottom of your baking dish for a little extra flavor.
Dip tortilla in sauce, covering both sides, then spoon even amounts of mixture on tortilla, roll, and arrange on 9×13 inch baking dish. I usually end up using one 9×13 dish and then an 8×8 or 9×9 for a few extra enchiladas (they make amazing leftovers!).
Cover all your enchiladas with taco sauce (otherwise they might get a little crusty in the oven), then cover with the remaining cheddar cheese.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
When using leftover chicken, this usually turns out 18-20 enchiladas.
So last night I tried this recipe, and it was DELICIOUS!
I’ve made alfredo/cream sauce pasta before, and my main complaint was that it didn’t taste like much–just bland. This actually had a really good flavor, but it might also have to do with the fact that i added a couple things to it:
I used the leftover chicken from Monday’s dinner, and threw it into the sauce once that was boiling
I bought some fresh spinach and threw that in as well. NOTE: spinach is such a sneaky vegetable! I always think I have too much so I err on the side of caution of not cooking too much, even though I KNOW it’s never enough because it cooks down like crazy! So, go crazy with the spinach ;)
Also, I made the whole box of penne pasta but only had enough sauce for about half of it, so next time I plan on doubling the sauce so there’s enough for leftovers–there wasn’t a single bite left of the pasta I mixed in with the sauce (I take that as a good sign).
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but once I got things started, it all moved along pretty quickly and I had no time to snap photos. Good thing is: it’s fast and easy to prepare!
Jeff put some sourdough in the oven with garlic and butter, and I made a quick garden salad to go along with it. It was perfect.
In an effort to change our menu up a bit, I looked through my Pinterest cooking ideas board last night to come up with something different.
We decided on a simple chicken with lemon-garlic green beans. You can find the recipe here.
Here are some pictures from my cooking adventure:
Coating green beans in olive oil and garlic
Could probably have used a few more slices for this picture :)
Looks super fancy, doesn’t it?!
Forgot to take a picture before I put it in the oven, but here it is going in!
And of course, I didn’t take a picture of the final project because I got carried away serving it up to be eaten, haha.
My tips:
Make more of the coating if you’re using gigantic chicken breasts like I did—my end product wasn’t as covered in it as the picture in the actual posting.
The potatoes cooked perfectly, but the green beans were still a little hard. If I make this again, I will steam them separately for a bit before throwing them into the baking dish.
The green beans were also a little toooooo lemony, so although it looks nice, I would forego the lemon slices on the bottom.
Other than that, it was delicious and pretty easy! Fixed a tomato, avocado and onion salad to go along with it, and voila, dinner served!
It’s been a while since I had a general update, and there are various fronts that need updating.
TECHNOLOGY USAGE
I did delete Words with Friends and Draw Something, and I honestly couldn’t be happier about that. I’m not having to check my phone every two seconds to see if it’s my turn or not, and I really like that feeling.
However, my general reliance (addiction?) on my phone hasn’t decreased substantially by any means. I still find myself checking Facebook every few minutes, and when I’m in line or bored somewhere I always turn to twitter or some news app or another.
A drastic thought occurred to me this week: to delete the Facebook app on my phone. I honestly don’t think I’ll do it, but it would be a good way to drastically cut down the usage of my phone. Part of my reluctance is because I do use Facebook for a lot of different things, whether it’s messaging people about wedding stuff, jumping on people’s requests for a wedding photographer or getting a message quickly to someone who’s phone number I don’t have. I also feel like I should be able to do this without resorting to that: I have to have SOME kind of self restraint….right?!
FOOD
This past Sunday Jeff and I went to the grocery store and actually planned out our meals for the week. I know, I know, most grown ups do this on a regular basis. Well, not Jeff and I, unfortunately. That means that we end up eating out a lot, because it’s faster than figuring out dinner, going to the store, and THEN cooking it. But since Sunday we’ve been making dinner at home, and having sandwiches or leftovers for lunch. I even packed lunch twice so far this week! (don’t mock, ok? Just be proud of my progress).
I also bought a bunch of fruit, and I’ve been trying to snack on blue berries, cantaloupe and watermelon instead of milk and cookies. Although I also snacked on milk and cookies yesterday. C’mon, one out of three days is a HUGE accomplishment for me! I don’t think anyone but Jeff really understands the lengths of my milk and cookie obsession….
Here’s what we’ve had so far:
Sunday night: pollo guisado (basically chicken cooked with tomatoes, potatoes and onions), with rice, tortillas, and a salad.
Monday night: guatemalan beef paties, russet potatoes, green beans.
Tuesday night: pork chops with homemade mashed potatoes, and corn.
Wednesday night: guatemalan style chicken stew…not weather appropriate, but the only reason for making it was to have left over chicken to make chicken enchiladas tonight :)
I’m still trying to figure out non meat/chicken dishes, that are not pasta, that are still filling enough for dinner. Suggestions are welcomed.
CAREER
Well, this has been crazy lately! Mostly crazy in a good way, with a little crazy in a stressful way sprinkled in.
There has been a lot going on in the last few weeks: I’m working with the mediation clinic from 8:30am to 12pm Tuesday through Friday (Monday’s it’s only from 10:15-11:45am), I’m working on four contract immigration cases for U-visas, and managing my own case load of family law cases. On top of that, I had a couple wedding ceremonies in the last month, and Jeff had a wedding photography gig two weeks ago that I assisted him with.
I’ve been trying to sell some stuff on Craigslist, as well as follow up with potential clients for both my law firm and Jeff’s photography stuff (we possibly have two more weddings to book for this year!). We’ve been working quite a bit on promoting Jeff’s photography stuff, because it’s something that we both think could turn into a full time job for him. It would allow him to spend his day doing something he likes, plus more financially beneficial than where he is now. Not to mention, he’d get to work from home with meeeeeeee which would be awesome.
Just like any time we buy a lottery ticket, we’ve started planning all the things we’d like to achieve and accomplish together, and let me tell you: we’ve got some big plans! Who knows where they’ll end up, but we’ll never get anywhere unless we start dreaming, right?
All in all, I’m pretty excited about where we both are right now. I feel like it’s taken a long time for us to get to a point where we actually see a little light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel still looks fucking long, but at least we see the light at the end!
A couple weeks ago I was thinking to myself how I wanted to start baking…just for the sake of baking and experimenting. Then last week Jeff mentioned how he missed the snickerdoodles from the coffee shop he used to work at. *lightbulb*
So Sunday I decided to look for a good snickerdoodle recipe,and got to work. My go-to recipe resource is All Recipes. What I love about it is that you can go through the comments, and see how people improved on the recipe, or read suggestions they have, or read a heads up on what to avoid or do differently. For someone who does not have kitchen common sense, I getting these little pieces of practical advice from people who have tried the recipe before. This is the snickerdoodle recipe I used, although I’ll write it out with the suggestions I found helpful.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened (let it soften by leaving outside of fridge for a while, do not microwave)
1/2 cup shortening
1 and 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar (if you want fluffier cookies, use 2 tsp. of baking powder, which is what I used)
1 tsp. baking soda (make sure your baking soda is still good–test it by placing some in water and making sure it still fizzles) (is “fizzles” a real word?)
1/4 tsp salt
For coating:
3 tsp sugar
3 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375
Mix all dry ingredients together; mix all wet ingredients together (hand mix, do not use a mixer)
Mix both dry and wet ingredients together
Use spoon to measure out small balls, shape until you have used all dough
Mix the coating ingredients in a ziplock bag
Roll each ball in the cinnamon mixture
Place parchment paper on cookie sheets, and place coated balls about 2 inches apart
Bake for 8 minutes; remove immediately from cookie sheets
I had a lot of cinnamon coating left over. I think that’s because I made my cookies too big, and therefore there were less of them to coat than what the recipe called for. They still turned out uh-mazing.