Chocolate Crinkles + Boards Festivities

Oh chocolate... oh the festivities... oh the looming 500 questions two day test that's so conveniently scheduled the day after Christmas..... yep. That sums up my life right now... just like last year, I will spend part (hopefully not all) of my break studying for this glorious test... NBDE Part II. Part I seemed like a very distant memory for me right now... that test was brutal, my mind.. thoroughly blown.. then wiped out... and well .. what else?.. my spirit was just not quite there... but yes.. here we go again.... second year in a row.. I'll be married to my books for the next week and a half.

My days as a dental student are sadly winding down... I can't imagine what my life will be like without school...  I think of things as the "last" now... the "last" time I'll see that patient... my "last" winter in the city.... my "last" science class... it's quite bittersweet actually... but any who, all this studying makes me want to bake.. every day. I chose to stay in the city and try to focus on my own this year... I still have a few days to go before the test so my studying intensity is slowly... ever so slowly.. picking up. This year I feel like I'm in a happier place than I was last year. I spent the past year picking up the pieces and turning my life around. No more fights, no more anger, no more persistent sadness...I never want to look back on that time in my life. This year I wanted to be more festive. I wanted to try to enjoy the holidays... but as always school got in the way. I gave myself 1.5 weeks to study... and 1.5 weeks to enjoy the break... we will see what happens during the latter 1.5 weeks ... until then... daily cooking... and baking... coupled with massive amounts of studying.... I signed up for this...and the endpoint is so close.... but I have so much more to do... and learn..

Chocolate crinkles... I used to make these in high school, I remember bringing them to my sister in college... the recipe I had was from the Williams Sonoma Cookies book... but I don't have it with me in my apt.. I looked up a simpler one and followed it.. Overall, pretty good if you like chocolate, they definitely are stunning but I don't really like chocolate cookies too much.. so they're just sitting here.. They last a long time, and are a breeze to prepare. No butter.. just oil. They taste like a brownie... covered in powdered sugar, I was planning on putting peppermint extract into the batter.. but somehow, I forgot. I prepared the dough in between 2 finals.. yep. call me crazy all you want... but this is really what I do when I'm stressed and/or winding down :)

As for the nails... I love having my nails painted all the time.. why? I do a lot of lab work for school and I can't stand to see my nails dirty... the solution? colorful nails... every day! I just find it a nice way to express myself since I don't wear too much jewelry. I typically spend my Sunday nights painting my nails... this time.. I painted them a beautiful silver foil.. then used Konad's stamping method for the blue details in the middle... this kind of reminded me of an ornament.. or an ugly sweater pattern.. we'll see what I come up with next week...

RECIPE : http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-crinkles-ii/

~ Cut the recipe in half, made 15 large cookies
~Followed the recipe exactly (when cut in half) no reduction in sugar, and it was very sweet!
~Chilled for 4 hours in the fridge
~TIP: Move the rack to the second to highest position ( do not place it in the center of the oven..) I found that this makes the cookies "crinkle" better! 

Happy Holidays to all! Thanks for stopping by!

Nothing like a festive sweater to get me in the holiday mood :)