Spring fun

We've been running around like crazy in this heat. If the rest of the summer's schedule looks like this I'm going to have to figure out a way to "quit" and homeschool summer too.  We're always on the run! Splash parks, playgrounds, pools, berry patches and playdates--we need to slow down before we break down. Individually it's all fun, but it adds up to a wee bit much. Here's a photo of my little guy trying to swipe strawberries after our recent berry-picking excursion. I made the mistake of letting Dorothy use her own tray, and I had no idea how many she'd pick. I ended up with two gallons of strawberries--about twice as many as I'd planned on. I made strawberry-mango jam, cooked strawberry pie, uncooked strawberry pie, pie filling for the freezer, strawberry ice cream, strawberry daiquiris, daiquiris for the freezer, strawberry bread, bread for the freezer, and we ate huge amounts of strawberries and cream. Enough! Enough! Like our recent schedule of fun, the berries were wonderful but too abundant.

Somewhere in there (I think it was before the advent of the strawberries) I also invented a new cookie I'm pleased to share. I'm not sure what to call it--a Derby Pie Cookie?  Is that trademarked too?  A Kentucky Cookie? A chocolate walnut cookie with thoughts of thoroughbreds? Anyway, it's sort of like Derby Pie (I mean NOT Derby pie, since the original of course is famously trademarked) but a cookie.  Here's what I did:

1 cup plus 2 TB all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick (8 TB) softened unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 TB bourbon
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet, but I think next time I'd use dark)
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts (toast for 10 minutes at 350)

Stir flour with soda and salt together with a fork. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar in a mixer bowl, then add egg, vanilla and bourbon.
Add flour mixture and stir until smooth. Stir in chocolate and walnuts.
Drop onto parchment-lined cookie sheets and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until done.  Leave ample space between cookies because they spread a lot.