"Operation Cookie"

My friends and I always have a hard time figuring out what we want to do when we hang out. Recently, whenever we don't know what to do, we have baked some sort of dessert. Cookies, brownies, muffins, we'll make anything as long as we have the ingredients, it doesn't look too hard, and we can find a recipe for it. We get some of our recipes from the cookbook Our Best Bites: Mormon Moms in the Kitchen.

The friend that I cook with most often also has an obsession with Batman. I try not to become obsessed with anything, but I admit I have become much more fond of the Batman movies because of this friend. Ever since The Dark Knight Rises came into theaters last summer, my friend and I have wanted to make Batman sugar cookies. A couple of weeks ago, we finally got around to it. We had a lot of fun with the frosting!

Batman Cookies!!!!!

My friend and I are really slow at everything we do together because our work is hindered by our laughter. Decorating these cookies took us so long that we got together multiple times to finish what we started. We named the whole thing "Operation Cookie." After decorating so many Batman-related things, we decided to decorate other cookies as well. To make "Operation Cookie" more interesting and unique, we made the most random things we could think of. It's a good thing that there's still room for creativity and you don't have to be a genius to make sugar cookies.

Our other creations

Sugar Cookies 
1 cup real butter (no substitutions!) at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg (make sure to use a large or extra large egg)
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (or other flavor of your choice, like vanilla)
3 C flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled (don’t scoop it!)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy- about 2 minutes. Add in egg and extract and mix to incorporate.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.  A very important note: It’s important to correctly measure your flour or you will end up with a dry, crumbly dough. Never, ever use your measuring cup to scoop up the flour.  Use a regular sized spoon and spoon the flour into the cup and then level it off with a knife.

 Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined.
Chill the dough in the fridge for about an hour, or use this great tip to make things easier:

When your dough is made, instead of putting it in the fridge, immediately roll  between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper and then place on a flat surface in the fridge.  Chill for about 20-30 minutes and then start cutting it out.  This way it chills faster and the bonus is that you don’t need to add extra flour to roll it out.  If you don’t use this tip, proceed as follows:

When you’re ready to roll out dough lightly sprinkle flour onto your work surface and roll out dough with a rolling pin.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on how you like them. If you like themreally and slightly chewy, about 8-9 minutes does it. If you like them slightly crisp and buttery, then go for 10-12.

(Recipe from: Our Best Bites Cookbook)

Workout Club: A Mental Game

High school soccer ended at the beginning of October and, for some unknown reason, my club soccer coach decided to give us a break until the beginning of November. I understand that "too much of a good thing can be bad," but isn't a month of no soccer a little long? Couldn't that break be more hurtful than helpful? I think it comes down to what you end up doing in the time off.

Our coach last year decided to give us a month long break as well and it proved hurtful because of each player's individual choices. Most players decided to be lazy throughout the entire month, which made coming back to soccer extremely difficult. We ended the fall season feeling like we had improved a lot and we were almost at the top of our division. Then we had a break from playing that set us back; the team looked and played sloppily when we started practices again. Instead of working on new things, we were forced to focus on old things and getting in better shape. 

I did not want a repeat of last year, so I decided to stay active during our time off and attend the Park City High School Workout Club. It is run by students in the weight room at PCHS. The workouts are different every time and I am always challenged. 

One workout that was difficult but that I enjoyed was the deck of cards workout. Each of the four suits represent different exercises you do and the number on the card determines how many reps you do. The deck of cards basically determines what order you do the workout in. In the end, you do at least 104 reps of four different exercises.

This workout was extremely challenging, but I still enjoyed it because of how I felt after completing it. I felt extremely accomplished and like I had made good use of my time. Working out is a mental game; you push yourself to the point where the last thing you want to do is another push up, but you keep going anyway. I really like how workout club has helped me to increase my mental endurance as well as my physical endurance. Sometimes things aren't enjoyable at the time, but we can see that they're worth it if we do them with the future in mind.

Deck of Cards Workout