A Cookie Recipe and a Fun Night for All

Last night my hubby and I went on a date...whoo hoo! I'm not sure when our last date was. I mean an actual date, not just us going to town together to run errands. Of course often times our dates include running errands either for ourselves or for the church since we don't get into town all the time and we try to save gas by getting more things done at once. I'm okay with it....it sometimes needs to happen. 

The plan was to go to dinner at the Olive Garden since we had a gift card, and we love Olive Garden. Well...that ended up not happening. We had to stop at Kinko's and it took about 40 minutes longer than expected. It wouldn't have been so bad except that as I sat in the car waiting (it was only going to take a few minutes and I didn't want to go in Kinko's), I began to get really hungry. My stomach started growling and I was to the point of no return...I needed FOOD!!  By the time we left Kinko's we were too far away from Olive Garden to make it worth our while. We thought we'd try Newport Bay but the wait was too long. My poor hubby felt so bad. I was bummed we didn't get to Olive Garden but I was okay with doing something different, even if it was fast food. We ended up driving to Lloyd Center in Portland and eating at Wendy's. I like Wendy's. I enjoyed a fish sandwich and a small fry. 

Our date also included going to the Portland Trailblazer vs. Phoenix Suns basketball game at the Portland Rose Garden. We parked about 4 or so blocks away at the Malls cinema parking lot and rode the MAX to the Rose Garden (which was a free ride instead of having to pay $10 to park at the Rose Garden). I am not a city girl, and so walking in downtown Portland at night and riding a MAX (public transport.) had me kind of wary...even though I was with my hubby. It was fun though and I survived (LOL). We arrived at the Rose Garden and found our seats. We both wished we had brought binoculars. It was hard to believe those guys were 6'3-7'1. From where we sat they didn't look that big...well all except for Shaq who looked like a giant compared to the rest. I know nothing about basketball, but still had a blast watching. I'm a people watcher too, so I also observed others in the stadium. I cannot believe how much beer is consumed at these events. A few people in front of us easily consumed 3 or more beers each. I also was not impressed with the Blazer Dancers. I'm sorry, but they looked and danced like they should be in a strip club. I'm not a prude, but come on! 

While we were gone, two of our amazing young adults and one highschooler from our youth group came and hung out with our girls. I know I've said it before but we are very blessed. They BBQ'd steak, made garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli....(ummmm...they ate fancier than we did). Then they made these yummy pudding cookies that were to die for. I'm including the recipe below. We received two texts from the girls..."can we use your guitar dad?", and "can we use your trumpet dad?" Hmmmm...sounds like a lot of loud fun going on at home! We arrived home at 11:00 and were ready to hit the hay. Portland won and everyone went home with coupons for a free egg mcmuffin (because they got 4 3-pointers in the first half), and a free chalupa (because they got over 100 points). The egg mcmuffin I could do without, but I do like Chalupa's.

Okay, for the cookie recipe...

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
(Printable Recipe)

2-2 1/2 c. flour (they only used 2 c.)

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1 c. butter, slightly softened

1/4 c. white sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 sm. package of vanilla instant pudding (they used 1 lg. pkg. of choc. fudge pudding)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg of chocolate chips (they used a pkg. of peanut butter chips)

nuts, if desired

Combine first 3 ingredients in mixing bowl. In a separate bowl cream together butter, sugars, and pudding until well mixed (2 minutes), then add egg and vanilla. Add in flour. Then chips and nuts. Bake in a 350 degrees for approx. 10 minutes.

These looked sooo good that at 11:00 at night I just couldn't resist. I had to try one, and  I couldn't wait till morning. So I poured myself a glass of milk and ate a yummy cookie. Two of my favorite ingredients (chocolate and peanut butter)...oh yum! I was not disappointed.

With Joy UNquenchable,