I'm a WINNER!!!!!!!

I won. I won. I wuhhhhhh-naaaaaa!

Okay, it wasn't first place, but I was runner up and I got a medal. A medal! Look:

It's MY cookie medal for taking second place in our SCBWI Western Washington cookie contest. I have never entered before, but I knew one day I would. And one day, I'd win. Especially with these sweet and delish babies:

Those are my Candy Cane Kissed Chocolate Cookies. If you read on, you may find the recipe at the end of this post.

I really did win. I'm paranoid you all will think I lie (after I told you that I have). But, I promise, this did happen. Unfortunately, my camera wasn't flashing during this particular winning moment, but many were and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get my fingers on some pics from a wonderful night spent with friends. Including these two:

I'm sure most of you recognize this pink-haired sweetie. That's Laini Taylor with hubby Jim Di Bartolo. What a treat it was to have them join us on Wednesday night. A group of us got together with Laini and Jim before the SCBWI WWA meeting, where Laini was our amazing speaker. Honestly...AMAZING! So amazing, that after a week or so making little progress with my own writing, I made some yesterday. And some is better than none. I attribute this to Laini's inspiration (she's FULL of it). If you want a little taste of what she said, check it out HERE.

A funny thing: At dinner, Sara and I both gave Jaime a belated birthday present. And look at what we got her:

Hello, Cupcake! How does that happen? Just one more sign that Sara and I have been and are a great team. And just maybe, we often think alike (and buy friends the exact same present). But seriously, what gift could be more appropriate for such a cute cupcake like Jaime Temairik?

Now, put down the cookie or the fudge and go work on those La La Goals! Or, go and make some of these:

Candy Cane Kissed Chocolate Cookies

2 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided
6 Tbs Flour
½ tsp Baking powder
¾ cup Sugar
2 large eggs
2 Tbs dark corn syrup
½ tsp peppermint extract
½ cup chopped peppermint candy cane

-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper (Really! Use the parchment.)
-Melt half the chocolate morsels and set aside.
-In a medium bowl, with electric mixer on medium, beat sugar, eggs, corn syrup, and extract until thick (about 3 minutes).
-Gradually beat in melted chocolate, then dry ingredients.
-Mix in remaining morsels and freeze for 10 minutes.
-Drop heaping tablespoons of batter, 3” apart on baking sheet. Refrigerate remaining dough. Bake 12 minutes. Quickly sprinkle tops with chopped candy and then bake 3-5 minutes more until cookies are softly set.
-Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool.
Enjoy!