Chocolate Chip Cookies: recipe, tips and secrets

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Chocolate Chip CookiesI always enjoyed my mom’s chocolate chip cookies growing up. I can still remember the aroma that filled the kitchen while she baked them. Getting them while they were fresh out of the oven and still warm was a treat. The only downside was that the cookies would get hard after setting for more than a few days. Granted, this was rarely a problem since the cookies went fast. However, after using my mom’s recipe to bake cookies with the kids, I was convinced there was a way to make softer cookies.

A Google search for soft chocolate chip cookies pointed me to the “Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies” recipe at Allrecipes.com. After just one use, we were hooked. Using this recipe, the cookies are soft and stay this way for days. The family absolutely loves them, and we get rave reviews anytime we take them somewhere as a dessert dish.

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Pacific Coast Bike Route – Ventura to Carpinteria

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Pacific Coast Bike Route at Bates RoadMy oldest daughter Amanda and I enjoyed our first ride along the Pacific Coast Bike Route in Ventura County this past summer. We liked it so much that we decided to do it again during her winter break. We had to cut our first ride short at the Cliff House Inn since the trail was still under construction (and due to time constraints). This time, we took the trail from Marina Park in Ventura to Rincon Point at the Ventura-Santa Barbara county line.

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2014 blog review, 2015 blog goals

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2014 wraps up my second full year of running my personal blog. Overall, I’m happy that I’ve been able to maintain the blog and consistently post content. One of my biggest worries starting a blog was that I would stop posting. I’m confident that I’ve overcome that hurdle, so now I can focus on other goals for 2015.

Before getting into plans and goals for 2015, here’s a look at the performance for 2014 and how it compares to 2013.

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This year’s edition

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At the end of each year, I like to let my beard grow out. You can see the results from 2012 here and 2013 here.

Usually I only do it for two or three weeks, but this year I started in November when one of my clients convinced me to do a no-shave Movember. So here are the results of two months of facial hair growth. It’s by far the longest I’ve went without shaving.

Gregg Borodaty

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Book review: The Case of the Wilted Broccoli

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The Case of the Wilted BroccoliWilliam Hertling is one of my favorite authors. His Singularity Series is one of my top Must Reads. I strongly encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already. Anyways, I recently discovered that Hertling had decided to write a book for kids – The Case of the Wilted Broccoli. I decided I needed to check it out and picked up a copy for my youngest daughter and me to read together.

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A second ride to “The Rock”

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Back in July, my oldest daughter Amanda and I took our first ride to the rock. It was my first extended bike ride in years, and, quite frankly, I was just happy to survive. We subsequently took a few more rides over the summer before she headed back to college in the fall.

When she came home for winter break, she asked if I wanted to take another ride out to the rock. I figured, why not? So we took our second ride out to the rock this past Christmas Eve.

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College Football Playoff – Four isn’t enough

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Make no mistake about it, I’m watching college football this upcoming New Year’s Day. Major college football has finally gone to a playoff, and I don’t plan to miss it.

The match-ups for the first year are epic. There’s coaching legends Nick Saban and Urban Meyer going at it in the Sugar Bowl with Alabama vs Ohio State. In the Rose Bowl, there’s current Heisman winner Marcus Mariota going up against last year’s Heisman winner Jameis Winston when Oregon takes on Florida State.

A college football champion will finally be determined on the field. It can’t get any better than this, or can it? I think it can.

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Book review: Robopocalypse

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Robopocalypse by Daniel H. WilsonA little over two years ago, I decided to start reading again. I put a heavy emphasis on science fiction as I wanted to develop better insight into where technology was heading. It’s amazing how much technology we use in our every day life has been depicted or foreshadowed in science fiction novels.

One of the first novels I read was Avogadro Corp by William Hertling. It’s a great novel depicting what happens when artificial intelligence (AI) runs amok. Since then, I’ve had an interest in reading and learning more about AI. It should come as no surprise then that Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson showed up in my Amazon recommendations. It fit with my science fiction and AI themes, so I added it to my 2014 reading list. It finally made it to the top of my queue last month.

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My favorite Christmas music

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I’m a Christmas music junkie. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I listen to a steady stream of Christmas music. I’m sure it drives my family crazy, but I can’t help it. It’s the only month of the year where you get to play these songs.

I have a long list of favorites, but here is an attempt to narrow it down to my top 50. The result is a mix of classics, jazz, modern pop, and a couple of offbeats. It wasn’t easy, but here goes.

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