Hello? Anyone there? I feel like it's been a little while. I guess I strayed from my usual peculiar ramblings in favor mostly of lounging about the house, reading. There was also some cooking, socializing and, wait for it...Tempur-Pedic mattress buying! Now wait just a minute! No, I do not by even the slightest definition engage in any sort of "Black Friday" monstrosities. I think it's absolutely horrendous. It is! Admit it. I'm just the messenger. We all know it. Is it really worth it all just to save 20% on a second microwave that you don't need anyway? No. Also, according to NPR you probably aren't even getting that much of a steal. So stay home and enjoy some good ol' fashioned family time. Oh no, I'm not done. I can't even imagine wanting to go shopping on Black Friday. I can't! But, I do hate shopping in general. Seriously, why would anybody even want to?! If you have to wait until one day of the year when there's a sale, chances are you don't really need what you're buying. Just a thought. People die and get injured! I won't even broach the subject of consumerism. Minimalism...it's going to happen. Whew, boy did that feel good. MOST AMERICANS HAVE SO MUCH MORE THAN THEY NEED! Okay, now I'm done.

Alright, with regards to the mattress...

Story Time

One day, as a poor Radiology student, I found myself in an effort to scrounge up food money, house-sitting for an Orthopedic (a.k.a. bone) surgeon. This surgeon had a Tempur-Pedic mattress in her guest room. I slept wonderfully. Todd didn't snore. He was also less sore in the morning (arthritis). Oh, and did I mention that he didn't snore!? We both vowed then and there that one day, one glorious day...the clouds of awful mattresses and sleepless nights would part and we would get a beautiful Tempur-Pedic mattress. Yesterday was that day.

To think, it all happened because I bought some amazing sheets from Garnet Hill (Bailey put a hole in ours about seven months ago...I swear we are not hobos). These are adult sheets. Real nice sheets. Legit sheets. Anyways, our prior bed arrangement was two twin mattresses shoved together with a very sad, sunken memory foam mattress-topper from Costco thrown on top. No, I'm not making this up. Don't judge us. Anyways, I forbid these BAMF sheets to ever grace that...setup. I decided to stash them away for when had a "real bed".

That lasted about a week. Yea...we had to get a real mattress. Unfortunately, that also meant that we had to move our former bedroom from the loft to the living room and the living room up to the loft, because the new mattress most likely will not fit up the stairs. We also do not have a bed frame...or a couch, because the couch won't fit up the stairs into the "new" living room. It's all very confusing. We kept the two twin mattresses for an awful (awfully awesome?) excuse of a couch. Maybe I'll post some pictures on Facebook today or tomorrow so you can feel better about your couch situation or the fact that your abode isn't the size of the thimble. Or the fact that you have a bed frame. Any of those will probably work.

We are currently taking donations. Live a minimalist life! Who needs a real couch? Yes, we both make fairly good money...we just choose to live like hobos. OMG...I've turned into my grandpa. Just not rich...or as homeless looking. My grandpa is a very homeless looking, former physician. He's also a bajillionaire and he his extraordinarily frugal. Grandpa Doc, for a long time, was the only doctor here in the valley. He uses a bungee cord as a belt to hold up his pink holey sweatpants that he got from Costco and gripes about how diesel fuel de-geller costs $8 a bottle. He only needs a few drops, you guys! I love you Grandpa.

Cookie Time

Whoa, I got way off track there. These cookies. Anyhow, basically, we really didn't have any desserts for Thanksgiving and so Friday night I was seriously craving some sweets! Cookies were in demand. It'd been way too long since I'd made them anyways and I really needed to satisfy a major sweet tooth. These were awesome.

No butter in these! Well...peanut butter! Peanut butter oatmeal cookies speckled with dark chocolate chunks and the perfect sprinkling of flaked salt on top. Sophisticated enough for your adult side but nostalgic enough to bring out the kid in you.

Salted Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Slightly adapted from Paint and Tofu

Makes about 20 cookies

1/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup of vegan sugar (I use Zulka)
1/3 cup cartoned coconut milk or other nondairy milk
1 tsp. Kahlua or vanilla extract (I still haven't bought vanilla extract...)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate chunks
sprinkling of finishing salt

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, oil, sugar, milk, and Kahlua. Stir until well combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Make your Home Ec teacher proud and gently scoop the flour into the measuring cup. Don't you dare scoop out the flour with the measuring cup. Don't do it! I'll be watching.

Now, add the dry ingredients slowly into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

Add in the oatmeal and the chocolate chunks to the dough and stir until just combined. Be sure to not overmix it!

Coat a baking sheet with a nonstick cooking spray and drop cookies, so they are spaced about one inch apart.

Bake at 425 F for about 8-10 minutes or until the edges are just barely golden brown. The top should not be brown and they will still be a bit pillowy. They might look like they need a few more minutes, but once removed they will set.

Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with finishing salt. Allow them to rest a couple minutes on the baking sheet before placing on a cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough.