Snapshots & Tourist Activity

As I mentioned in the pancake post (I'm still salivating over these), my mom was here to visit last weekend. It was a short trip for her - just Thursday night to Saturday night - but we managed to pack a lot of stuff in. I've lived in Boston for over eight and a half years and there are still a lot of things I've never done. I've never eaten a whole lobster (Really? I have to dismantle the whole thing just to eat it?), I've never been on a boat of any kind (Not in life. Just here.), and I've never been to The Cape (I know. I KNOW!). While I didn't accomplish any of those things last weekend, I did go to two places I had never been before and I'm pretty happy about that!

Clockwise from top left - The view from a chef's table at Sel de la Terre; Apple, bacon, and onion pizza from Otto; Tropical fishies; Penguins

On Thursday night we had dinner at a chef's table at Sel de la Terre. When I was there for Kristen's Stella & Dot party I noticed the chef's tables and knew my mom would love them. She works in the restaurant industry and tries to get as close to the kitchen as possible just to check things out in every restaurant we go to, so why not get her a table right next to it? It was a really fun experience the rosemary pommes frites may be the best fries I've ever had.

We had lunch the next afternoon at Otto Pizza right in my neighborhood. Brookliners - if you have not gone to Otto yet, run don't walk! Their pizza is amazing. I mean, there are apples, bacon, and onions on this slice. NOM.

After pizza we were off to our first tourist destination - The New England Aquarium! I had always wanted to visit the aquarium, but had never gotten a chance to. If you've been in the Park Street T station this summer, then I'm sure you've noticed the ads for NEAQ with the adorable and funny sea lions on them. This is fantastic advertising from NEAQ because the photos of these cute little slippery guys sent my desire to go there over the edge! I loved the penguins and beautiful tropical fish too. I ran far, FAR away from the anaconda. Even typing that makes me feel uncomfortable. I will never be friends with a snake.

Clockwise top left - The very cool aquarium building; A new seal friend; The Zakim Bridge at dusk; The best gnocchi EVER

We had tickets to an event at The Garden that evening so we had dinner at Strega in the North End. This was my first time at the North End location, having been to the waterfront locale before. The gnocchi simply prepared with tomato sauce, cheese, and basil is the best gnocchi I've ever had. I think I could eat it every day and be happy. Some day I'll branch out and try something else at Strega, but for now it's going to be all gnocchi all the time.

Clockwise top left - MJ on the big screen; My yummy pancakes again; Artwork by Os Gemeos; The gorgeous ICA building

The reason for Mom's visit was because Boston just happened to be a stop on Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson Immortal World Tour. She loves Cirque (I had never been before) and we both love Michael Jackson's music so this was a must-see. It was just a bizarre and cool as I thought it would be. The show was a combination of acrobatics, dancing, music, and weird stuff (Bubbles the chimp, anyone?) and I think that's exactly how a Cirque show should be!

After brunch on Saturday morning we headed out to the Institute of Contemporary Art. This was my first time visiting the new ICA even though it's been in this location for a few years now. Remember when it used to be on Boylston in the old fire station? Well, this is a much improved version. The building is a work of art in itself and has a gorgeous view of the harbor.

One of the main attractions at the ICA this summer is an exhibit by Os Gemeos, which means The Gemini in Portuguese. The artwork is created by identical twins and being both a twin and a Gemini, this made me quite happy. All of their artwork is mixed media and it's all very colorful. In conjunction with the exhibit, Os Gemeos are painting murals all over the city and I definitely want to see some in person.

Clockwise top left - An Os Gemeos installation that I get yelled at for playing; Neon and neutral; A nice view; Reclaimed charred pieces from an arson that were suspended from the ceiling

A bit of advice - even though when one sees a piano one's first instinct is to play it, do not do this in an art gallery. I thought the above installation with said piano was a free for all situation, but not so much. I played it and quickly got reprimanded by an ICA employee. Oops!

Clockwise top left - a Josiah McElheny chandelier; The greatest tourist attraction in Boston, Quincy Market; Cookies & Cream!

Mom and I were in need of some ice cream after our afternoon of cultural activity. Like all people who don't live here, she loves Quincy Market. I'm pretty sure most people who live in Boston proper or the close surrounding areas can do with NEVER going there. At least not in the summer. It's a sea of tourists and children and just really not for me! But being there for about an hour wasn't so bad. The cookies & cream ice cream didn't hurt either.

I'm really happy to have done some new things in my own city! I'm going to try to work on the others. But maybe not the lobster. Unless someone wants to take it apart for me! 

Do you do touristy things in your own city or stay far, far away?






Carrot Cake Pancakes

I have a confession. I don't really like pancakes. I think they're kind of boring and bland and if I go out for breakfast I am much more likely to order something savory. With bacon. I do, however, LOVE cake. It's one of my favorite things in life and carrot cake is definitely in my top five of cakes. It's spicy, it's nutty, it's carroty and it's delicious. The cream cheese frosting it's typically paired with ain't too shabby either.

I can't remember if I saw this recipe on Pinterest or if I saw it somewhere else and pinned it immediately, but it piqued my interest straight away. Sure they're pancakes, but carrot cake for breakfast? Okay! It just so happens that my mom came to visit this past weekend and her visit gave me a perfect excuse to make brunch. Only problem? I had never made pancakes before. Operation pancake commenced.

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 salt
1/8 ground nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of ground ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups finely grated carrot
Cooking spray

Making pancakes really cannot be too difficult, I thought. Just mix the batter, plop it on a skillet, wait for the bubbles, flip and you're good to go, right? I'm happy to say I was right!

First things first, I set about grating the carrots. I didn't peel them because it's really not necessary and who doesn't need a little extra fiber in their life? Just as I did with the zucchini in my zucchini nut bread cookie sandwiches, I put the grated carrots in a colander and let them sit in the sink for a bit just to get out any extra moisture. I also chopped and toasted the walnuts and set them aside until I needed them.

There are really only two steps to mixing this batter. First, mix all the ingredients from flour through ginger and whisk to combine. I did not have any ground cloves on hand and I wasn't about to pay $10.99 for a tiny little jar of them at Shaw's (What's up with that price?) so I just left them out. The pancakes weren't lacking at all.

Next, in a separate bowl, combine all ingredients from brown sugar through eggs and whisk to combine. Add the sugar mixture to the flour mixture and stir until everything is combined and the lumps are minimal. Fold in the two cups of carrots. The proportion of carrots to batter will look ridiculous and at this point I obviously thought I had done something wrong. There were so many carrots and so little batter! But I started folding and they combined beautifully. Phew!

I sprayed a skillet with non-stick cooking spray and set it to medium heat. Nobody likes a burnt pancake. Since this was my first time (A pancake virgin, if you will.) I decided to do a test pancake first.

I scooped out the batter using my 1/4 cup measure and spread it out in the skillet with the back of a spoon and waited for the bubbles to appear (about 2 minutes). They appeared and I flipped.

Success! I made a pancake. I cooked it on the other side for about another minute to a minute and a half, checking to make sure the bottom was golden brown.

My pancake confidence grew after my test pancake came out perfectly so I did three at a time next. A big step, I know. I'm happy to report that these were also a success!

That's a lovely stack o' pancakes! The recipe called for these to be served with honey butter and I thought that would be a perfect accompaniment. Syrup would have overpowered the flavor, but if you like syrup then have at it. For the honey butter I just took 2 tablespoons of softened butter, added 1 tablespoon of honey and stirred to combine them.

In addition to the pancakes I grilled up some sweet apple chicken sausages and made a fruit salad with fresh peaches, raspberries, and strawberries. Whenever I make a fruit salad, I always add a little sugar and let it sit for a while. The sugar will bring out the juices in the fruit and they'll all blend together and taste even yummier.

These pancakes are awesome! They taste like carrot cake, but they're light and fluffy like pancakes. The spices aren't at all too much and the nuts add a great texture. My mom loved them too and I don't think she was just saying that because she's my mom and she loves everything I do! Well, mostly everything.

I know I'll be making these again some time because my sister is a pancake AND carrot cake freak and I know she'll love them.

These may have just converted me into a pancake lover! Or at least a carrot cake pancake lover. I'm happy I tried something new. I love accomplishing new things in cooking even if it is something as simple as pancakes. Do you like pancakes? What's the most fun pancake combination you've ever had?

Hot Looks Of The Week & My Faves

Image via InStyle/Steve Jennings/WireImage

Jaime King In Giambattista Valli

This look is the hands down winner for me this week! Gambattista Valli is in my list of top five favorite designers right now and this dress just shot up to reason numero uno. A proper tea length is one of my favorite things in fashion and I think it's so underutilized. By proper tea length I mean a dress hitting just at the bottom of the calf. Not this just below the knee crap that hideous bridal retailers that will remain nameless want you to wear. I'd like to thank Emma Stone for helping put tea length on the fashion map this year with her stunning Alexander McQueen dress at the SAG Awards.

Now on to Jaime. It should come as no surprise that she's styled by Annie Ladino, who I think is the best in the business right now. Some celebrity fashion sites think this look is too old for 33 year-old Jaime, but I couldn't disagree more. It's sophisticated and looks vintage while still being modern. Longer hemlines are in! If I were Annie I may have gone with the burgundy platform wedges the dress was shown with in the Pre-Fall presentation, but the black works too. I also adore her heavily lined cat eye and light lip color. Kudos, Annie!

Image via Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images North America

Rashida Jones In Thakoon & Valentino

Rashida Jones is one of those girls that makes it hard for me to decide between wanting to be her or just wanting to be best friends with her. She's gorgeous, she has really good bangs, always wears good lipstick, and she got to make out with Andy Samberg for their new movie Celeste and Jesse Forever. All of those things will be lifelong goals for me. Also, her episode of Who Do You Think You Are? (Yes, I'm a nerd and I watched every second of that show! I'm so bummed it got cancelled.) is one of my favorites ever.

Rashida is styled by Brad Goreski (he of Rachel Zoe fame) and he smartly put her in this Thakoon Resort 2013 dress for the NYC premiere of the aforementioned movie I can't wait to see. I'm really into orange right now so I'm glad to see it will be sticking around for a while. I really like the addition of the belt that helps break up the print a bit. Those amazing Valentino heels don't hurt either.

My only teeny tiny little gripe here is her lipstick shade. I would have gone with an orange instead of a pink, but the pink doesn't look bad at all. My favorite orange of the moment is Givenchy's Gloss Interdit in succulent orange. Maybe next time, Rashida. You're still perfect though and I will probably cry at your movie.

My Faves

I ordered these two dresses from Old Navy this week. Summer's almost over so this will probably    be my last summer clothes purchase. I adore the feather dress which will also pair nicely with tights for fall and winter. Old Navy has some gems sometimes.

I made this - fish and vegetables with pesto baked in foil packets - for dinner a few nights this week and it was super yummy and easy!

I am in the process of buying new furniture for my living room so I'm looking at as many design blogs and apartment tours as I can. My stuff will be coming from Ikea because my budget is minuscule, but they're good for inspiration! Apartment Therapy has the best online tours and this is the one I'm currently obsessed with. I'd kill for that striped wall!

Just a few faves this week. My mom is here visiting until Saturday evening. We'll be doing lots of tourist stuff and tonight we're seeing the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show at The Garden. It will be my first Cirque show and I can't wait! Happy weekend!

How To Style: Smoking Slippers

Not just for Hugh Hefner anymore. Image source

Smoking slippers have popped up all over the place lately and with good reason; they're the newest, chicest thing to hit footwear since the red sole. We all have a million pairs of ballet slippers so I'm excited to try something new this fall.

I mentioned these leopard print slippers from Target last week and Lani at Mon Petit Chou Chou put together an impressive selection on her blog last Friday. I wandered into DSW last week just to kill some time (and to look at the sale shoes - got these for $17) and I was faced with a plethora of these guys.

One pair immediately stood out to me - the Tahari Clementine flat - A) because they're green; 2) because they're loud; and D) because of the AMAZING leaf print. My fashion radar has been pinging for anything with a leaf print since seeing this post on Elements of Style way back in March. So chic! So vintagey! So green! They will be mine.

With a print so bold these could indeed pose a styling conundrum. It would be easy to just default to pairing them with neutrals or just jeans and a t-shirt. That's fine, but I think you can do so much more with these! The key is to treat the colors as solids and ignore the print. Does that make sense? So instead of wearing leaf print flats you're wearing green flats with a little black in them.

Since these are borrowed from menswear, the first outfit I thought of was a clean pair of cropped skinny jeans with a classic collared shirt. These polka dots had me at hello. If J.Crew has anything to do with it (which, OBVIOUSLY they do), polka dots will be in for fall in a big way as a carryover from last fall. But polka dots with leaf print flats? Am I mad? No! Just look at the colors and worry about the print later. This works!

Some fun accessories (omg vintage owl necklace) and a colorful bag make that a perfect outfit. Change out the jeans for a pair of black or royal blue trousers and you've got a work outfit. 

I also want to be able to pair these with dresses and as the roulette wheel of options went around in my head it landed on chambray, as it so often does. Chambray is a light-weight denim-like fabric and it goes with virtually everything. When in doubt, go with chambray. I'll get this stitched on a pillow some day. This chambray shirt dress is so versatile - wear it by itself, with a striped sweater over it (as I've imagined here) or over leggings or skinny jeans as a tunic. I thought the leaf print scarf (told you I was obsessed) is a fun way to bring green into the look to further connect it to the shoes. All of the things on this board are interchangeable - the striped sweater can go with the jeans and the polka dot popover can easily go over the dress. Just make sure you belt it so you still have a shape with that little bit of extra bulk.

Day Dresses
Flats

I can't wait to wear these outfits! The acquisition of the flats would, er, be helpful first and as soon my employer bestows the funding on me at it's regularly scheduled time (next week), they will become a member of my fleet of shoes.

I haven't decided whether or not I want to do style posts myself. I don't have a good camera and I'm not sure if my self esteem is prepared for the judgement that comes with doing something like that. But what good are my styling tips if I don't show you how I execute them myself? Someone twist my arm.

So how do you feel about smoking slippers? Is this a trend you can get behind?

Also, I'd much rather use Polyvore for styling sets, but not everything is available there. While I don't like the layout ShopStyle has, they have a lot more to choose from. So excuse the slightly wonky look that ShopStyle boards have.

Hot Looks Of The Week & My Faves

Image via Jason Merritt/Getty Images North America

Zoe Saldana In Jonathan Saunders & Christian Louboutin

I don't think Zoe Saldana gets a whole lot wrong when it comes to fashion. She's styled by Petra Flannery and they obviously make a great team because both are major risk takers. Even this bizarre Givenchy Couture dress she wore to the Oscars a few years ago had redeeming qualities (purple is a nice color and the sparkly part is nice). 

Zoe wore this lovely Jonathan Saunders Pre-Fall 2012 look to the Teen Choice Awards last Sunday night and I am a big fan. In a sea of tweens wearing sparkly mini dresses, this really stood out for me. Even though the color palette is on the drab side it's still fresh and stylish. 

I LURVE her Louboutins as well. They're not the exact blue-green as the skirt and top, but they still work.

Yay Zoe. Sorry you broke up with Bradley Cooper, but I bet that was fun for a while.

Her boy toy doesn't look half bad either. Image via FameFlynet Pictures

  Jennifer Lopez In Tom Ford & Christian Louboutin

Jennifer Lopez is forty friggin three and she looks like this. I am impressed. She celebrated her birthday earlier this week with her son boyfriend on a yacht in NYC and wore the reddest hottest dress possible from Tom Ford's Fall 2012 collection. Tom Ford is a sexy man who makes sexy clothes and J. Lo has the perfect body for them. 

I have been lusting after her Louboutin Bis Un Bout heels since I first spotted them (in neon yellow, natch) and I can't think of a better shoe for this dress. The ankle strap and the PVC are so hot. If you're going to wear a red dress with red shoes, it's best that at least one has a break in the color somehow or else it could be a little much. 

Her cougar prey is pulling off those nerd glasses too, isn't he? I also love the little boy hiding behind the tree there all "Dios Mio!" style. 


My Faves

I am a nail polish junkie, but I won't buy the color unless I really REALLY love it. I really REALLY love these shades from Trina Turk for Julep Nail Color. I want them all. Especially that yellow!

I've never really been a DIY-er even though I think crafty stuff is fun and I've always been pretty good at it. I saw a link to this Lizzie Fortunado inspired fish scale bracelet DIY this week and I'm a little obsessed. I promise myself that I will make this soon! 

I saw this recipe for a raspberry-almond crumble from Whole Foods (Boston is getting another WF woohoo!) and pinned it immediately. Fruit crumbles are one of my favorite desserts and as soon as I can justify spending money on almond flour and coconut flour, or at least figure out other ways to use them, I'll be making this. 

This flamingo dress from Paul & Joe Sister is calling my name. But not my wallet. Luckily, I bought a flamingo dress from Target about a month ago and it was only $25!

Lastly, I had the pleasure of attending a super fun Stella & Dot shopping party last night hosted by my lovely friend Kristen a/k/a The Boston Fashionista. A portion of the proceeds from the sales are going to the Animal Rescue League of Boston. I don't need an excuse to shop, but the thought of helping cute furry animals made it a little easier to splash some cash. I picked this rose gold pave bar bracelet and I'm mega excited to get it. 

The night also included gazing at my dream necklace, birthday cake for the lovely Michele, and some AMAZING octopus from Sel de la Terre. I LOVE octopus and this was some of the best I've ever had. 

I'm very ready for the weekend and SO EXCITED about the Olympics! I'm most looking forward to the gymnastics, swimming (hey Ryan Lochte), track, and soccer. Do you have a favorite event? Happy weekend!

Grub Report: Park

I'm sure we're all fans of Groupon/Gilt City/LivingSocial, ect., yes? If you're not, then you best get familiar because you're missing out on some good stuff. Stuff like an amazing three course dinner at a new Cambridge hot spot at a very reduced price.

Image via Facebook

Park has been brought to us by the same folks behind Harvard Square's Russell House Tavern and Grafton Street. If you're familiar with those two spots, then you're right to assume that Park is awesome. The restaurant is located on ground level so it doesn't get much natural light, but the darkness makes it feel cozy and warm.


My roommate Ashley joined me and since I was late the T was late she got a beer at the bar. According to Ashley, the bartender made a perfect suggestion for her after she told him what she was in the mood for. Park's craft beer selection is extensive and exciting. Unfortunately for me I was nursing a little migraine and opted to skip a hoppy treat so it wouldn't get any worse. I went with a headache friendly (for me at least) glass of South African Sauvignon Blanc, which happens to be my favorite. 

Mmmmmm beer. Image via Facebook

We settled into a cozy little table and began scrutinizing the menu. In lieu of a bread basket Park gives you cheese and crackers. This is GENIUS. Any time free cheese is available is a good time. We each changed our minds at least three separate times because everything on their new American cuisine menu looked amazing. I settled on the crispy mussels with preserved lemon and horseradish dipping sauce and holy crap were they delicious. I had never even heard of fried mussels before let alone eaten them. The batter was a sourdough batter so it was super light and fluffy and had a sweet finish. And I would buy the horseradish dipping sauce and put it on every sandwich ever again if that were an option. Ashley got the salt and pepper shrimp, which I tried a bit of, and it was equally delicious. 

 Crispy mussels. And how cute is the box?!

I should add that before we got our starters the general manager Nicki (forgive me if I'm spelling that wrong) came over and talked with us about Ashley's nut allergy, which she obviously has to address with every restaurant she goes to because she doesn't want to die. Nicki talked us through the whole menu and their cooking practices and told Ashley what would be okay and not okay for her. I've eaten out with Ash a fair amount of times and this is the first time a manager has ever come over to the table to talk about food allergies while I've been with her. Ashley said that other restaurants have done this with her, but it left a great impression on me!

Since I was obviously going to be eating dessert I wanted something a little lighter for my main course and went with the seared scallops with corn puree, shaved asparagus and house-cured bacon vinaigrette. Anything involving scallops and bacon is a winner for me and this did not disappoint. The scallops were perfect.

  
I am very much a dessert person, but don't order them very often. I think I should change this. I love chocolate, but after a meal out I usually favor something fruity. Something chocolate based just seems too heavy most of the time. Park does a seasonal fruit pie as one of their dessert options and when our server informed us that the day's seasonal pie was a raspberry and peach tart with vanilla ice cream I was SOLD. The crust was perfectly toasted for me (I don't mind a well done pie crust) and it was just the right size so as not to make me feel like I needed to lay on my stomach as soon as the meal was over (usually reserved for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas). The ice cream Park uses is from Christina's Homemade Ice Cream in Inman Square and is some of the best ever. 

 I was so excited about this that I ate some before photographing it. Oops. 

Park gets two very enthusiastic thumbs up from me. The food, the drinks, and the service were stellar and I will definitely be back to sample the rest of their menu! 

What's the best new restaurant you've been too recently?   

Zucchini Nut Bread Cookie Sandwiches

I was browsing Pinterest (follow my boards here) last week, as you do, and amongst the pretty things and yumminess I saw these cookies pinned by Martha Stewart. They immediately reminded me of those Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies, which I haven't had since I was a kid and remember to have been delicious, and I knew I had to make them. Plus, they have zucchini and oats in them so they're maybe a little healthy? Maybe not.

For the cookies:

1 cup flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated zucchini
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

The first thing I did was grate my zucchini. It only took about one and a quarter of those little ones pictured. It wasn't part of the recipe, but I put my zucchini in a colander and left it in the sink for a while just to get rid of a little of the water. I'm not sure if this made a difference because this is the first time I've made these, but it couldn't have hurt. Next, I chopped and toasted the walnuts. I put them in a dry skillet on low heat and let them toast until they became fragrant, about 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine. I'm not a sifter because I think it takes too much time. A good whisking will get out any lumps. Beat the butter and sugars in a stand mixer until they're pale and fluffy, as Martha says. Then beat in the egg and vanilla. 

Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Make sure you turn your mixer back on low while doing this and add the dry ingredients a little at a time. Not doing this can result in a kitchen covered in flour dust. I speak from experience. Stop the mixer and stir in the zucchini, oats, and walnuts until they're well incorporated and the dough looks like this. Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.  

When the dough has set, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Martha wants you to scoop the dough using a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop, which she says is about 2 tablespoons. I do not own said ice cream scoop and I found 2 tablespoons to be a little too big so I went with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and it was perfect.

Bake until the edges are golden, about 17 minutes. My oven is a little wonky and gets hotter than advertised so mine took only about 15 minutes. Online recipes are great, especially those from Martha Stewart, but don't always take them at face value. Things are often left out or written wrong or you may have an oven with issues so it's okay to change the recipe to make it work for you. I always find it really helpful to read the comments that other cooks and bakers have left too. There are usually helpful tips about the recipe there.

Once my cookies were baked and cooled I got to work on the filling. Now, these cookies would have been fine and dandy without the filling, but in this case I wanted to stay true to Martha's vision of a delicious cream cheese frosting filling.

For the filling:

1/2 stick on unsalted butter, room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Cream cheese frosting is ridiculously easy. It's just these three ingredients beaten together until smooth and glossy. Martha's recipe calls for 1 cup of confectioner's sugar, but I like a thicker frosting so I added another half cup.

Once the frosting is done, slather one cookie with a heaping tablespoon of it and make a sandwich. I went with Martha's measurements for the frosting, but this creates about twice as much as you need so I just stuck the rest in the freezer for another baking project, a rainy day, or a stress eating episode. 

These are SO GOOD. The cinnamon really makes the cookies. They're perfectly chewy and no, you can't taste the zucchini. But it's there providing nutrients and color. I'm afraid these may have ruined me in a way because now I'm going to want to make all cookies sandwich cookies. Which isn't exactly the worst thing in the world. I suggest keeping these in the fridge since it's so warm out and they'll be a little better if the frosting is firmer. They got many thumbs up from my co-workers this morning so I know I done good. There is one left in my fridge that I'm already excited to eat after dinner tonight. You can come over to fight me for it, but I guarantee you will lose.