the disadvantage of our apartment is that there’s no back yard, not even a scrap of ground to plant some vegetables in (there’s a lovely yard, actually, but my landlord is a master gardener and has A Plan for all of the yard that doesn’t include my vegetables). so, porch gardening for us.

after a somewhat disastrous attempt at growing tomatoes suspended from 5-gallon buckets in Berkeley (climate was too cold, not enough sun, i nearly ran a drill through my own hand trying to drill a hole in the bottom of the bucket, and the weight of the bucket nearly pulled the fence over), this year i bought the as-seen-on-tv topsey turvey tomato (and strawberry) growing bags. ben helped me plant them today. then when we went to hang them, i started to wonder how i was going to get water up there – the top of the bag is about 10 feet above the porch.

so, off the the hardware store and my amazing husband spent the next 2 hours creating a pulley system so that i can fly the bags in for watering, pruning or harvesting, and then fly them back out where they get plenty of sun. check it out:

meanwhile, i did this:

(not pictured, the only i already ate).

this, btw, is The Only Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You’ll Ever Need. throw away the nestle tollhouse bag recipe right now and never look back. get yourself some turbino sugar and Guittard chocolate and go forth with this recipe from my dear friend adam:

Soften 2 sticks of salted butter, NOT MARGARINE! Not melted, just soft.

Beat in 2 eggs.

Stir in 1 tablespoon REAL vanilla (imitation is unacceptable).

Stir in 3/4 cup dark brown sugar.

Add 3/4 cups “sugar in the raw” (blonde large crystal turbinado sugar) stir JUST enough to mix it in. Don’t want to dissolve any more than you have to. Set aside.

In a larger bowl, measure out 3 cups flour. I use all purpose, but unbleached is okay. [n.b – i recommend a mix of half (142 g) unbleached AP flour and half (142 g) white wheat flour -JG]

Stir in 1 teaspoon salt.

Stir in 1 teaspoon baking soda (NOT baking powder. That’s… Embarassing.) [I’m not entirely clear on what’s embarrassing about baking powder, but hey, Adam’s the one with a PhD in food science, not me. -JG]

Once the dry stuff is thoroughly mixed (fork is good, whisk is better) add the wet stuff gradually, and stir only enough to get all the dry stuff incorporated.

Add 1.5 cups walnut pieces. NOT chopped, but halves will require some breaking. Throw away the black ones anything else that looks or feels wrong. Can use macadamias instead, but those require some chopping.

Add 1.5 cups milk chocolate chips. Can use dark or semi-sweet, but milk chocolate is part of why they’re different and magical. Ghirardelli is worth paying extra for, but any brand that actually uses real vanilla, cocoa solids, and cocoa butter is okay. “chocolate liquor” is BULLSHIT! [n.b. – This is where Adam and I differ in opinion. Guittard semi-sweet or bittersweet is the ideal option. Ghirardelli if you can’t source Guittard. Don’t bother with Trader Joe’s or Nestle brand chocolate here and milk chocolate? no way. -JG ]

Now you have to mix the nuts and chips into the dough. Really the only good way to do that is with your bare hands. Sorry. Again, try not to mix any more than absolutely necessary.

Cover, and put into the fridge until stiff to the touch.

Preheat oven to 350. Use air gap cookie sheets if possible, and/or cover the cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Once stiff, make dough into balls roughly golf ball/ping pong ball sized. [Chill again if you have the time — it really helps make a taller thicker cookie – JG]. You can put them closer together than you think. Put no more than 2 trays in the oven and stagger the trays on the racks so they aren’t right above one another (air flow is key).

Bake until a fine network of cracks is visible. Roughly 12 minutes, but start checking once you can smell them.

If you have a cooling rack, transfer the cookies as soon as you can, but either way get the cookie sheet away from the stove as soon as they’re out. Whether you transfer them to reuse the cookie sheet, let them cool completely before putting in Tupperware or ziplock bagie. Anything not to be eaten in the next several hours should go in airtight storage. And they freeze well.

Make sure milk is available when consuming.

And THAT is one of the many reasons we all love Adam Ganderson.