Riding out Typhoon Bolaven, Part I

Riding out a typhoon is a lot like being under house arrest.  (Minus the cool-looking ankle-bracelet.)  

Typhoon Bolaven is continuing his eastern Pacific jaunt, and we're still stuck inside our little concrete boxes on-base.  

We're all starting to become a little stir-crazy

It looks like Bolaven has lost some of his gusto, though.  It should hit Okinawa as a Category 3 hurricane at about 6 pm.  At its peak, Bolaven should be generating sustained winds of about 115 knots, with gusts of up to 140 knots. 

As for now, you can hardly even tell there's a storm outside

Being stuck inside means that I actually have time to tackle domestic affairs. I've already cleaned the house, made a total mess in the kitchen and cleaned the house again.  I also baked for the first time since I moved overseas.  

These peanut butter cookies don't have any flour or butter.  (But don't go eating an entire platter of them ... I'm pretty sure they're still unhealthy.  The cookies are basically just peanut butter and sugar.)  They're still pretty damn delicious, especially considering how few ingredients they contain.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies (Makes 16-18 cookies)

-1 cup natural peanut butter (can be smooth or chunky, depending upon preference)

-2/3 cup sugar

-1 egg

-2 t vanilla extract

-1/3 cup chocolate chips

-sprinkle of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, egg and chocolate chips in a large bowl.  The dough should be thick and relatively sticky.

Roll the dough into small balls.  Place them onto baking sheet.  Gently press down on the dough with a fork, creating a criss-cross pattern.  Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt and sugar.

Bake for 10-14 minutes.  The dough will continue to brown a little after it's removed from the oven.

Wait until the cookies have cooled before handling them.  (They may appear a little crumbly at first, but if you just let them rest for a few minutes, they should firm up.)

Enjoy!