Mexican chocolate "Que Sopresa" cookies

I'm baking a new cookie now, and I just sampled. So far, so good: I do want more immediately.

I was going to make vegan poop nuggets (the name really caught on in our household), but the bananas I have in the house aren't ripe enough for smooshing. I glanced around, "What to smoosh?" How about... an avocado? Que Sopresa!

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

4 tsp cocoa powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 large, ripe avocado, smooshed (or 1 1/2 little ones)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp rice milk

2 dashes habanero sauce (another surprise)

about 1/8 cup coconut flakes

1/3 cup chocolate chips

I had to use my hands to mix these. I formed balls o' cookie dough and baked them for 16 minutes at 325.

Heist Society: superfun

It may look like I haven't been reading or eating much, but au contraire! I've just been so busy doing both, plus working, that I haven't posted much. Sorry, my three faithful followers. I'll try to be better.

I zipped through teen novel Heist Society by Ally Carter. Delightful con romp. I do love a great art heist! This feels like "The Thomas Crown Affair" meets STORM meets "Ocean's Eleven" with teenagers. Kat comes from a family of cons and thieves-- the classy, awe-inspiring kind. Her billionaire friend/ accomplice Hale frames her to get her kicked out of her first attempt at normal life, Colgan boarding school, but that's nothing compared to the frame job someone has done of her father: a seriously evil man is convinced that Kat's dad stole priceless (Nazi-tainted) masterpieces from his undermoat secure art lair, and Kat has two weeks to return the paintings before dire consequences ensue. Yes, I did write "undermoat secure art lair." There was a mini-sub involved. It's that kind of book-- LOVED it!

My favorite thing about the book was Kat's crew and their clockwork precise planning. I cracked up as the kids threw out ideas of different cons to try, all with hilariously evocative names: "the Ben Franklin," "the Princess Bride" ("But where would we get a six-fingered man on such short notice?"), "Dog in a Bar..." Most of them go unexplained, which makes it even funnier to me.

The globe-trotting adventure is dizzying, the teens are full of hijinks and even some romance, and the whole idea of kids as pros in the heist underworld was just delightful. I hope Carter writes more about Kat and her crew. Kat, don't just go back to Colgan yet, I beg!

Eat, Read, Sleep

The Indie Bound bags have one side with the slogan "Eat, Read, Sleep." That's the inspiration-- now, GO!

What I'm reading:

Family Man by Elinor Lipman (she's coming for an event May 8)-- literally just opened to the first page so far, but I have a feeling it's going to be a fun spring read.

Dust City by Robert Paul Weston (ARC-- publication date 11/10). Halfway into this (and several other teen or kids' books for the Penguin fall season, since I just had my rep meeting today) and I'm LOVING it! Weston's debut, Zorgamazoo, was my favorite kids' chapter book for 2008, and his second novel is blowing me away. This one is for teens (and adults), and it's a noir/fantasy/fairy tale, featuring Arthur Whelp, the teenaged son of Little Red Riding Hood's murderer, as the main character. It's not just a witty reimagining of fairy tales (although the kick-ass Snow White had me giggling out loud)-- it is a great, gritty coming of age story, a mystery, and even social commentary. Fantastic! I wish I could start selling it right now. Oh, wait-- PREORDERS! I guess I can!

What I'm eating:

Since New Year's, we've been vaguely vegan. After convincing arguments against animal protein from The China Study (and our annual post-holiday detox), we have been cooking vegan at home (mostly) and eating vegan or vegetarian/pescatarian for the most part. The reason is health-- personal health and environmental health. But we're staying flexible and listening to our bodies. (We were total omnivores during our China trip, and we will eat whatever our friends serve us!)

Today's menu thus far is a good example.

We started off with one of our favorite breakfasts: oatmeal! Yes, it warrants the exclamation point. Today's was a mix of steel cut oats and rolled oats because I was down to oat dregs since I need to go to the grocery store. No matter-- it cooked up tasty and delicious with dried dates, sliced almonds, cinnamon, a little bit of flax seed, and a splash of coconut milk. Banana on the side, and OJ, too.

Then I was feeling peckish and almost broke into some age-old graham crackers in the pantry. Instead, I made chamomile tea for myself and Colleen, my sales rep who was coming for our fall appointment. Lucky, lucky me, Colleen brought a bag of homemade amazing graham cracker toffee! She coated graham crackers in boiled brown sugar/butter toffee mixture and nuts (hazelnuts and pecans), then cooked all at 350 for about 8 minutes. When she took it out of the oven, she sprinkled chocolate chips on top. Then this morning, she brought some to me. It's like she read my craving mind! Not so vegan or so healthy, but that's OK-- it is so delicious, I'm sure the endorphins I got from the toffee must be beneficial.

Lunch was "raid the fridge while working," so it was a little weird, but still good. I had some leftover rice from Indian food, leftover sweet potato (with a hint of cardamom), and a fried egg. Yes, an egg. Again, not so vegan. But I had two eggs left over from baking for a store event, so I thought I might as well eat one. I probably should have had some more veggies, so I'm thinking about some broccoli or a carrot for snack when I get hungry later.

Who knows what dinner will hold? I'm thinking some sort of pasta, since Sunday is J's marathon, but I'm also in the mood to make some soup. Why not both?