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Posts Tagged ‘cookies’

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

Posted in Food and..., tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

In my tradition of sharing recipes I like (and not incidentally storing copies in one easy-to-access place), here is a flour-less peanut butter cookie recipe. This version of the classic recipe has chocolate as well as peanut butter and is very easy to make. I like it. I hope you do too.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

2 cups [500g] peanut butter
2 cups [400g] brown sugar
4 Tablespoons [30g] cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
2 eggs

1. Heat oven to 350F.

2. Mix peanut butter, sugar and cocoa powder until smooth.

3. Add baking soda, salt and vanilla.

4. Add eggs one at a time. The mixture will be stiff.*

5. Roll into 1-inch balls, lay out on ungreased cookie sheet, flatten with a fork.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They will be soft; let cool five minutes before transferring to racks.

* If your mixer isn’t up to this I recommend a potato masher.

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More USPS? Yes, please.

Posted in Likes, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Once again, Senator Elizabeth Warren is proving herself a proponent of innovative ideas around finance. Her latest call is based on a report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and the idea is to include basic banking and bill payment into the U.S. Postal Service. I think this is a terrific plan.

Giving the unbanked an accessible, above-board, affordable way to cash checks, pay bills or take out small loans would provide significant savings to clients. According to the OIG’s report, more than a quarter of U.S. households are at least partially outside the traditional banking system. It would also provide the postal service with much-needed revenue, maintain local jobs, and keep the mail coming.

This isn’t as dramatic an idea as some might believe. The Postal Service already offers domestic and international money orders. Fifty years ago, customers could make deposits as well through the Postal Savings System. Other countries have taken this same step with great success, and financial services aren’t only for the unbanked. I was surprised to see people at Swiss post offices pay their utility bills or make a deposit, but I quickly realized it made a lot of sense.

I love the USPS (along with public libraries and the freeway system). Think of what it would cost you, dear reader, to personally move a piece of mail from, say, Florida to Ohio. Or Alaska. Or Hawai’i. (Yes, email is great but sometimes you have to send something physical. Like cookies.) And then think of what it costs thousands of people everyday to do something as simple as cash a check without access to a bank account.

Support both financial inclusion and an institution that predates the U.S., provides almost half a million jobs and helps tie the country together? Yes, please.

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