Peanut Butter, Bourbon, Potato Chip Cookies

These cookies are too good to pass up. And they even come with a whole softball team’s worth of approval. They’re chewy, crunchy, sweet, and salty, all rolled into one pop-in-your-mouth bundle. Pour a shot of bourbon for yourself and get to work.

1 1/4 cups, all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon, baking soda

1/4 teaspoon, baking powder

1/8 teaspoon, ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon, salt

4 tablespoons, unsalted butter

1/2 cup, peanut butter (I used reduced sugar and it tasted just fine)

1/2 cup, granulated sugar

1/2 cup, packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tablespoons bourbon, plus more to taste

1/2 cup, potato chips

Directions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.

• Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

• Incorporate peanut butter and butter. I cut in the butter cold, similar to how you make scones. Beat in granulated and light brown sugar, then add egg and bourbon.

• Gradually add in flour mixture until combined.

• Fold in potato chips. Add more as needed.

• Arrange balls of dough on ungreased baking sheet. Brand with fork if desired.

• Bake for 10-11 minutes. Dough should still be pliable when removed from oven.

Watermelon Gazpacho

I’ve fallen in love with a man about seven decades too late. His name is Ernest. Ernest Hemingway.

I don’t know why I’ve never read anything of his beyond The Old Man and the Sea. Maybe it was because I hated that old man and his sea. Or maybe I should have gone into it with a mindset other than, “This is the shortest book on the required reading list. Read it as fast as you can because you have a project due on it tomorrow.”

Regardless of the reason, I’m currently reading The Paris Wife, which is Ernest Hemingway as told by his wife, Hadley. It’s a historical fiction, so I have to take everything with a grain of salt, but the way Hemingway is described with such a zeal for life makes me not want to sit down. It was while reading this book, in fact, that led me to making this soup.

While visiting Spain, Hemingway and Hadley sit down to a lunch of gazpacho, good hard bread, and fish poached in lime. Doesn’t that just sound like the loveliest lunch? I had to have it. Just the watermelon, mint version of it. The beautiful weather today left me no other choice.

Try not to slurp.

4 cups, diced seedless watermelon

1 peeled diced cucumber

1 plum tomato

1/3 cup, fresh mint

1 tablespoon, olive oil +more for serving

1/4 cup, lime juice

1 teaspoon, vinegar

1 packet sweetener (optional)

Sriracha, to taste

Salt and pepper

Directions

• Dice watermelon and cucumber
• In a small pot, boil enough water to cover the tomato. With a knife, make a small “X” at base of tomato in order to make skin easier to peel. Boil for 30 seconds, or until skin begins to split.
• Submerge tomato in ice water for a few minutes. Once cooled, peel off skin. Dice tomato and scoop out seeds.
• Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Adjust seasonings as desired.
• Serve drizzled with olive oil