Besides taking in the beautiful scenery (of which there was much) at Guadalupe and Big Bend National Parks, we really enjoyed being able to just be together (most of the time). Each day at Big Bend we took a very, long picnic lunch. One day we went to the western portion of the park and enjoyed a leisurely picnic. I thought it would be fun to make our own ice cream in coffee cans using a recipe I had found online. This was a lot of fun. I gotta admit it wasn’t all that cost effective since I first had to buy the cans of coffee, just for the cans, but we had a great time. (Yes, $9 in sunk costs right there… if I had been at home I am sure I could have gotten an empty can from a friend or something, but we had no spare room in our suitcases for empty coffee cans). 
The kids enjoyed rolling the can back and forth and then Scott and I took turns kicking it up and back across a field to really get it working. 
I was so happy it worked! (We would have had a very disappointed circus crew if it didn’t work)!
After enjoying our home made dessert, we saw a wild javelina across the way!
1 lb coffee can…..$3
5lb coffee can…..$6
rock salt…..$2.99
chocolate syrup…..$2.50
whipping cream….$2.00 (was supposed to have used half and half)
sugar….(borrowed from my gracious SIL)
2 egg beaters……$3.00
ice…..$2.49
smiling circus crew……PRICELESS!!
Home made chocolate chip cookies are my favorite! I am partial to the recipe my mom got years ago.
Perhaps you’ve seen the recipe as well. The story goes someone asked for Mrs. Fields cookie recipe and was told it cost two fifty. Upon receiving the recipe, she learned it cost two hundred and fifty dollars rather than two dollars and fifty cents. Outraged, she went on to share this recipe with the world to get back at them for charging so much.
I gotta confess until a month ago, I believed this little story. Thought I was going around with Mrs Fields very own cookie recipe. I’d see her store at the mall and think, “Why bother paying for the cookies when I could go home and make the exact same ones and even get to eat the dough?”
Yes, I am that gullible.
(I was the girl in high school who believed the line that gullible wasn’t in the dictionary too).
Last month I was craving me some cookies and couldn’t find my “secret” recipe anywhere. I thought I’d check online since you can pretty much find any recipe you want online. And that is when I read this nice little anecdote about how that was an urban legend, documented on snopes.com.
What a disappointment!
Though I did track down my most favorite recipe and in the process gleaned three tips for making your cookies taste even better.
I tried them and the results were amazing.
These cookies were already a favorite staple here at the circus and yet when I made this batch, my husband noticed right away and asked what I did differently.
- The first trick is to melt your butter before creaming it together to make your cookie dough. It changes the consistency of the cookie and gives you a much softer, chewier cookie.
- The second trick mentioned was to double the amount of vanilla called for in the recipe. I did this as well, and I noticed a difference in taste. It seemed to enhance the flavor if you will.
- The third trick was to add a tablespoon of milk to the dough at the last step when you are stirring it all together. Again this is to make a softer, chewier cookie.
I would assume you could adapt these tips to your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, or you can try the not so secret recipe I’ve been enjoying for years!
These tips worked for me. Visit Rocks in My Dryer for more great tips.
The kids enjoyed rolling the can back and forth and then Scott and I took turns kicking it up and back across a field to really get it working. 
I was so happy it worked! (We would have had a very disappointed circus crew if it didn’t work)!
