The Terminator, Cookies, Cupcakes, and LOST finale

This week I was passing by our large cafeteria area at work and suddenly heard a voice I recognized. He wasn't saying "I'll Be Back" but I knew it was Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was speaking to a crowd of non-Googlers and had security everywhere. I didn't stop long to hear what he was saying as I felt a little out of place. When I got back to my office and told my co-workers he was here, we all went running back to see if we could listen, or get a picture, but got stopped by security. There's an upstairs area where you can see down into the cafeteria area so we headed up there to see if we'd have any luck...and we did. He was speaking about The Green Product Innovation Institute. After his speech he actually came into the micro-kitchen right outside our office space, where he had some cereal and coffee, but was again surrounded by security. Below is the pic I was able to take from the upstairs walkway...check out those green shoes.


I thought I had two friends at work with birthdays today, Danny and Doris, so decided to make some birthday treats over the weekend. I wasn't sure if guys really like cupcakes, so decided to make some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for Danny (pic and recipe below). Doris doesn't like chocolate, but I wasn't sure if that meant she liked vanilla, or fruity cake instead. Luckily, another co-worker said she liked Carrot Cake so I made Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (pic and recipe below). I've never made Carrot Cake before so hopefully they're tasty. Note: The reason I say I thought I had two friends at work with birthdays is because when I delivered the cookies to Danny, he informed me that it was another Daniel on the team that had a birthday today. Whoops!

I ended the weekend with the finale of LOST. We watched the 2 hour pre-finale show, the 2.5 hour finale, and the 1 hour after-show on Jimmy Kimmel. The pre-finale show helped me understand a few things that had flown over my head week after week. I realize the finale didn't answer all the questions, but I wasn't expecting an ending like that. All I can say is thank you LOST, for ending 6 years of frustration with such an amazing finale. I LOVED it.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Shannon Sharper (co-worker)

Mix:

2 eggs

1 cup vegetable or canola oil (you can also use closer to 3/4 cup and it still works fine)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon vanilla

Add:

2 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick or 1-minute)

2 cups flour

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1 cup chocolate chips

Note: You can also try adding in raisins instead of chocolate chips or make a trail mix version with cranberries, nuts and chocolate chips.

Make: Large, golf ball-sized balls of dough

Bake: at 350 for 10-12 minutes

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes:

1 pound carrots, peeled and finely grated

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup buttermilk

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 vanilla bean, halved length-wise, seeds scraped and reserved (or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)

1/2 cup golden raisins

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together carrots, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, oil, vanilla-been seeds, and raisins. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir flour mixture into carrot mixture until well combined.

2. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 mins; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

Icing:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and then vanilla, and mix until smooth and combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 3 days in an airtight container. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.