I’m finally back from my adventure in Europe with loads of recipe inspirations. My Europe trip, as I feel all proper ones should, started with a mess of confusion. I thought after our first stop in Amsterdam, I messed up with the train and hostel booking, leaving my friend and I stranded for one night in Belgium.

I can’t say I am happier that this week is over. It was one of those weeks were it seemed everything went wrong. My dog kept eating my one plant that I have managed to keep alive for more than a month (uch), I watched parking authority give me a ticket as I was one minute over the meter (double uch), and I scrambled to finally finish my thesis (triple uch). Let’s just say many happy hours were attended this week. But on a brighter note, I am officially moving to NYC and I submitted my thesis. Yay’s all around!

I decided to bake up some cookies for a friend’s birthday, but since she is a quirky cool girl, the cookies had to be as well. Once described as “so not mainstream,” I thought my baking should reflect the same. After having party-goers as my taste testers, the inebriated responses were unanimous of THESE ARE AMAZING.

After arriving home from vacation, I soon found myself preparing for a blizzard. Naturally it only made sense to bake an absurd amount in order to occupy my time. I decided to make cookie sticks (in addition to cookies and mini cakes), but as in my new year's resolution, I wanted to make it without butter. According to my multiple taste testers, they came out great. Although having to shell my own pistachios, since no pre-shelled (for the lazy cook) could be found in stores, was not all too fun. Regardless, enjoy this sweet and a bit healthier treat to help stick to those resolutions.

Sometimes you just want something sweet with a little kick- you want a little feisty to spice up your life. This might just be your small and feisty indulgence- although do remember it is a cookie and not an exotic stripper as this description is starting to read like. (I did once have a teacher with a twitter account with that name- that along with the tweets were semi-questionable, but that is quite a far-fetched story from this cookie recipe.) 

Sometimes you just need a good cookie. Whether after heartbreak, joy, stress, or just a sweet-tooth craving, a chocolate chip cookie is just the thing to satisfy. In one of my late night baking sessions, this recipe to concoct my "heartthrob" cookies popped into my head. From the start of smelling the fragrant toasted pecans, I slightly gave myself a little brush on the shoulder for baking up some great cookies (although my little brush usually follows my personal rendition of the harlem shake).

As the last two weeks of my internship are approaching, a bitter-sweet feeling comes about. I am happy to be able to enjoy an actual summer for what is left of it, but I am sad to leave a great environment as well as the wonderful people I have met. As this bitter-sweet feeling is in the air, I thought a bitter-sweet, or more so a ginger-sweet cookies would be ever so appropriate. Although the ingredients sounds a bit reminiscent of what you would ingest while feeling under the weather, these cookies are on the opposing sickly spectrum and will make your tummy and taste buds feel ever so happy.

Ah, July 4th- America's Birthday. The most obvious of foods come to mind such as a variety of pies and barbecued food. But, if you ponder a bit longer, peanuts are a classic as well. Yes, there are references in Shakespearian times to tell the "peanut gallery" to be quiet or see their reaction to the newest play. Although at America's favorite pastime (duh, baseball) eating some dry roasted peanuts can be on the same scale as grabbing a hotdog.

As the weather becomes warmer and the sun shines brighter, my want to sit on the beach all day rather than at a computer screen significantly increases. Being a jersey girl, the jersey shore is an easy option, but with that comes embracing the typical "meat-heads," girls with big hair and poofs (not that I don't have big curly and frizzy hair as well), and pre-tanned orange people spread out amongst their towels soaking up the sun and blasting the radio's top hits. But, some of the most stunning beaches I have been to were on my family vacations to the various islands of Hawaii. 

Once again I've had to adapt the classic Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip cookie to make a crazy cookie concoction. Cook's Illustrated just creates the perfect cookie base- it is like a blank canvas that ingredients can be added to in order to make a decadent culinary conception.(Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie) I have to say these s'more cookies are addictive

When stressed, I tend to bake- and by bake I mean I make loads of cookies. I keep seeing Nutella cookies and I happen to love one certain chocolate chip recipe, so I thought why not combine it? Cook's Illustrated produces perfect products, which I often refer to for a multitude of recipes as well as refer to for various cooking techniques