Booking Through Thursday and Chocolate Chip Cookie #3

Today's  (even tho it's late Thursday on the West Coast) BTT question, isn't just one, but  many.  It's part 2 of the interview  (part one was here) and I just thought I'd end my night by answering it.

You can check out  Booking Through Thursday here.  It's a fun blog hop/meme which is all about books.

This week, it begins like this:

But enough about interviewing other people. It’s time I interviewed YOU.

1. What’s your favorite time of day to read?

I love to read anytime of the day, but my most favorite is early in the morning.   I get up early  (between 5-6am) and love nothing more than to grab a cup of coffee and my book.2. Do you read during breakfast? (Assuming you eat breakfast.)
Yes, I do.



3. What’s your favorite breakfast food? (Noting that breakfast foods can be eaten any time of day.)
If I am honest?  2 cookies to go with my coffee  (while I'm reading my book, of course.  2 HOMEMADE cookies, preferably the PERFECT chocolate chip!)
But I like oatmeal too.  (I mean a bowl of...not the cookie)
And muffins and fruit.


4. How many hours a day would you say you read?
It all depends of course, but on the average, about  2hours.


5. Do you read more or less now than you did, say, 10 years ago?
I would say more.  No reason why, I've read my whole life...it's just now I dont' have any kids at home.




6. Do you consider yourself a speed reader?
No.


7. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
To be a speed reader.
(I have so many books to read before I die!!)



8. Do you carry a book with you everywhere you go?
Yes, I do. Everywhere.
(I have a big purse)

9. What KIND of book?
What ever I'm reading at the moment.   And my Kindle.  And my Ipod with my audio book on it.



10. How old were you when you got your first library card?
Probably about  6 years old.  I loved, Loved,  LOVED the summer reading program at the public library. 




11. What’s the oldest book you have in your collection? (Oldest physical copy? Longest in the collection? Oldest copyright?)
I can't answer that question....that would involve going up to the library room and sorting thru all my books.




12. Do you read in bed?
Yes, I do.




13. Do you write in your books?
Not very often, but once in a great while I do.



14. If you had one piece of advice to a new reader, what would it be?
A new reader?  That would be, what?  1st grade?  My advice would be to--turn off the TV and grab a book.  Never go to bed without a bedtime story.  Eat your cereal while looking at magazines  (Ranger Rick, Ladybug,  Cobblestone, etc)

HEY!!  All that advice is good for grown ups too!

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Now about those chocolate chip cookies to go with my morning coffee.....

If you remember, I am not only working my way thru this book:

I am also going to make all the recipes I've collected from friends over the years and any that YOU suggest to me  (I've bookmarked them to try during the year)

But this week, I made .....


Chocolate Chip Cookie  #3   from the book above.
exactly as the recipe is written---to see if we can find that 'perfect' one.
I must note, tho, that all the NON-perfect ones don't stick around the house too long.  (if they are someone's perfect ,  just not mine, they are still great to eat!)

Recipe #3. 
These tasted real good on day one, shortly after I took them out of the oven. I was  very excited about them.  They weren't quite as crispy as I would have liked, but they were chewy.    My excitement waned on day two tho, as they did not hold up.   They lost everything and were just  kind of  dry.
I also had  to increase the cooking time from  12 minutes to 15 minutes, and I still wasn't happy with their color.  I wanted them to brown up just a tad bit more.  To be more golden.  But that could have been why they dried out on day two.
Still good---just not  "the one".

They kind of look crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, don't they?

The ingredients and directions for   CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE  #3 are:

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine
1 1/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs
18 oz  (3 cups) semisweet chocolate chips 

Combine without stirring, flour, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
Cream margarine with sugars until light.  Beat in vanilla and eggs until smooth.  Beat dry ingredients into creamed mixture, a little at  at time.
Add chocolate chips and stir to mix well.
Drop by heaping tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake at 325 F for  12 minutes, turning sheets end to end halfway thru the baking time. 
Remove from oven and slide parchment off sheets, with cookies still on top. 
Leave undisturbed until cookies are just barely cool enough to handle.
Transfer to  racks to cool completely.

PS  Readers:   I found a great blog with a great picture of the not so perfect chocolate chip cookies.  It explains what went wrong with each cookie and how NOT to do that.
I'll be sharing that soon, but  just remember that even if you want to correct my cookies--I am just copying the recipes as written in the book.   I would be really happy to make yours tho, if you want to send it to me.