Hello friends! Happy first weekend of summer. I made chewy chocolate chip cookies loaded with gooey milk chocolate and chewy toffee bits — basically a Skor bar transformed into cookie form. I’ve booked a babysitter for the whole day tomorrow so Adarsh and I can enjoy some grown-up time: a bike ride, a movie, and no small-person interruptions. I can’t wait.
But first, here’s a peek at a morning from our last weekend.
(5:46 a.m.) Everett, aged two: MORNING TIME! “Mama look, mama LOOK!” He bursts into my room, giggling and announcing he’s “naken” as he climbs all over me. I rub my eyes, grunt, and reluctantly head downstairs to prepare a Father’s Day brunch — a South Indian breakfast of sambhar (lentil and vegetable stew) and dosa (rice pancakes).
Everett: “Me want wallawellon.” He darts to the fridge, hangs on the door until it opens, de-shelves everything in reach and helps himself to watermelon before I get to the kitchen.
Everett: “Me want ganana.” He grabs a banana, takes a bite, then abandons it.
Everett: “Me want to stir that.” He eyes my bowl of crepe batter, grabs it — and sneezes twice right into the bowl. I consider Tylenol. He wanders off.
Then: a scream from the living room. I drop the bowl and race around the corner.
Me: “What’s wrong?” My eyes search for blood or injury.
Everett, yawning: “Me cold.” He’s still naked and perfectly relaxed in an oversized bean bag chair. “Put my clothes on,” he says.
Pause.
E: “Uh oh.”
Me: “What?!”
E: “Me peed.”
He wanders off again, walking with his legs wide apart. I leave the chaos to sit with my coffee and let the fight-or-flight hormones subside. The sambhar simmers, filling the house with fragrant steam. I survey a kitchen strewn with watermelon rinds and banana peels. Everett climbs into my lap; I kiss his curls and forgive him as he headbutts me full force. My nose may now tilt slightly East.
Dada comes downstairs.
Me: “Happy Father’s Day, babe,” I mumble, haggard.
Everett: “Happy Halloween,” he cheerfully replies.
That, friends, is a typical morning before 8 a.m. around here — and precisely why I’ll be doing cartwheels out the door tomorrow.
Before heading out this evening, I’m making another batch of these Skor-style cookies and popping over to a neighbor’s patio for a drink. I’ve been so touched by how welcoming my new neighborhood has been.
This neighbor is someone I met for three minutes while walking home — our kids are the same age, we swapped numbers, and she invited me to a girls’ night tonight. That kind of openness means a lot.
I wrote about the art of “doing” on my Instagram this week. I often catch myself wasting precious work hours on “research” — endless scrolling for inspiration. While research can be useful, it’s easy to get stuck consuming instead of creating.
So let’s take a break from consuming and start creating. Pull a recipe from your Pinterest board and actually make it. Put down the photography inspiration and pick up your camera. Book that AirBnB. Close the Goodreads app and read the book you already own. Schedule a sitter and go for a bike ride. Text a neighbor and invite them over for a glass of wine.
Make this a summer of doing. There’s rarely a “perfect” time; motivation follows action. Are you in?
Toffee & Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups gently spooned into cup & levelled off + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups chopped good quality milk chocolate
- ¾ cup toffee bits divided use
Instructions
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In a stand mixer bowl, combine the butter and both sugars. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, then fold in toffee bits and chopped milk chocolate.
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Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes (or up to 48 hours). Preheat the oven to 375°F. Drop tablespoon-sized portions of dough onto parchment-lined, rimless baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining toffee bits. Bake about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. Cookies are done when golden at the edges and still soft in the center.
Tried this recipe? Leave a comment!