{Katie’s Kitchen} Triple Chocolate Chip Christmas Cookies

Brought to you by Catoctin Mountain Orchard.

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies! Chocolate chips, whit chocolate chips and M&M’s!

Pre-heat the oven to 375.

In a mixing bowl, add 12 TBSP of butter, 1 egg, 1 tbsp. water, 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, 2 cups flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup of chocolate and white chocolate chips mixed together, 1 cup sugar. Mix into dough.

Form 1 inch. balls with dough and place on a cookie sheet. Next, take red and green M&M’s and gently press into the top of the dough balls. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes after they finish, before transferring to a cooling rack.

Super quick and easy with common essential ingredients…and I had some cute help to go along with it (see pictures below)!!

Ingredients:

-2 cups flour

-12 tbsp. butter

-1 egg

– 1 cup sugar

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 tbsp. water

-1 cup mix of chocolate and white chocolate chips

-1 cup Green and red M&M’s

House of the Week – 12/18/20

5753 Barts Way, FREDERICK, MD 21704

See the Full Listing

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: The Difference Between MDs & DOs

Going through health care provider qualifications can be daunting, especially as their names often come with designations that don’t really make their title clear. Most of us know an MD is a “Doctor of Medicine”, but what is a DO?

MDs & DOs, or “Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine”, get pretty much the same medical school training & experience. But, MD’s are mostly “allopathic”, or remedy-based, while DOs take a more holistic, or whole body, approach.

Their educations are largely the same for both, with 4 years of medical school followed by a residency. In fact, DO & MD graduates train in the same residency programs. But, DOs get roughly 200 hours of additional hands-on training with the musculoskeletal system, called osteopathic manipulative treatment, which is the manipulation or massaging of tissues to alleviate pain.

For chronic back pain without an injury, an MD might prescribe pain relievers. Meanwhile, a DO might investigate other potential sources of the pain by viewing the entire overall patient, looking for other causes like stress or other conditions. DOs take environment, nutrition & overall health into consideration. DOs are also taught to emphasize overall wellness, a more systemic approach.

MDs & DOs may have marginally different educational curriculums, but an individual physician’s approach to practicing medicine isn’t always bound by that guidance. An MD can take a holistic approach, while a DO may not use osteopathic manipulative treatment as much, or at all.

Neither MD nor DO programs are any easier or harder to get into or graduate from than the other. And, after graduating, both have virtually the same abilities in practicing medicine, including writing prescriptions. So, selecting an MD or a DO for your personal care is mainly one of preference. In the end, it’s the doctor you choose, not their title, that matters.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: How Do We “Smell” Snow?

Does snow have a scent? Your initial response might be “no”, since snow is only frozen water, which should be odorless. But, if you’ve ever predicted a big snowstorm based on a familiar tickle in your nose, then you understand the answer isn’t straightforward. So, what exactly happens when we “smell” snow?

The answer has less to do with specific odor molecules as it does with the climate. There’s a perfect storm of physical conditions needed to be able to smell snow. When temperatures near freezing right before it snows, it’s actually harder to detect scents in the air than it is during milder weather. Cold weather slows molecules in the air down. With less molecular activity, certain smells become less pungent. So, when “smelling snow”, you’re actually just smelling fewer other outdoor odors than what you’re used to.

But, if there was nothing else to it, a snowstorm would smell no different than a cold, dry day. The difference-maker? Humidity. The air is more humid than usual right before a snowstorm, which is what causes the flakes to fall: when the atmosphere hits its maximum amount of moisture, it dumps some of that wetness onto the ground in the form of rain, sleet, or, in our case, snow. That humidity also has the added effect of giving your sense of smell a quick boost. So, for many, the sensation of a warm, moist nose smelling certain elements in freezing weather ends up being linked with pending snowfall.

While all of that’s happening around you, there are systems at work inside your body that help to explain the unmistakable scent of snow. We sense the cold air we breath with our trigeminal nerve, which is the same nerve that interprets the sensations we get from tingly hot peppers or cool mint toothpaste, as well as other facial sensations that cause some folks to sneeze in sunlight. This is separate from our olfactory system, but we still lump that information with other more conventional scents like coffee or pine.

So, those elements (cold weather, humidity, and a stimulated trigeminal nerve) combine to create something that isn’t an odor, but a sensory experience we’ve come to associate with snow. Which is why, if you were to ask someone to describe the scent, they’d likely use words like “clean,” “fresh,” “cold”…all things that don’t have much of a scent at all.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

Closings and Cancellations 12/17/20

Schools:

Frederick County MD Public Schools- all virtual day of instruction; in person small group instruction cancelled.

Loudon Co. Public Schools- Closed, admin offices closed. All distance learning cancelled.

Washington County Schools- Code V (virtual learning)

Jefferson County Public Schools- Staff and students will work remotely. Essential snow removal personnel, please report on site. High School and Middle school student’s follow a “B” day schedule today, and “A” day schedule tomorrow.

Berkley Co. Schools- operating on a remote learning schedule for all students, including Pre-K.

Shepherd University- Closed today.

Frederick Community College – Closed.

New Life Christian School- is on a modified schedule.

Berkeley County Schools- operating on a remote learning schedule for all students, including preK.
Green Castle/Antrim Schools – closed

Childcare:

Thurmont Child Care will open at 9:30A

Government:

The Federal Government is opening at 10.

Ft. Detrick will open at 10AM under delayed opening; Mission critical employees to report on time.

Frederick County Court House- opening at 10AM; Court house staff to open at 9:30AM.

Some Frederick county government operations will open at 10AM. employees who travel to work report at 10AM, telework employees report on time.

Washington County Circuit Court- opening at 10AM, circuit family law clinic canceled for today.

Clarke County General District Court Closed today.

Montgomery Circuit Court will open at 10Am, all cases will be heard at this time.

Montgomery county government on liberal leave. All offices and departments will open at 10AM.

Maryland State Government on liberal leave until noon.

Frederick County Public Libraries will make a decision about when and if to open its branches for curbside pickup.

Medical:

Meritus Medical Group- opening at 10AM; Drive through screening center and Meritus medical plaza opening at noon.

Cardiovascular specialist of Frederick opening at 10AM.

Traffic:

Trans-It- 10A, 10B, 20, 40, 50, 51, 65, and 80 connectors, Brunswick shuttles on a one hour delay.

The 20, 40, 50, 51 & 60 PEAKS, Route 85, East Frederick and North Frederick Shuttles will be operating on time.

Trans-It Plus – on time with the exception of weather related delay.

Businesses:

FCB Bank will open at 11AM

Helpful Websites You Probably Don’t Know About

Seven Helpful Websites You Probably Don’t Know About

Here is a list of helpful websites you might not know about:

FULL STORY: If you’re sick of looking out your OWN window in lockdown, there’s a website called Window-Swap.com that lets you look out other people’s windows all over the world. Here are six more helpful websites you might not know about . . .

1. MyFridgeFood.com. You enter a bunch of random ingredients that you have on hand, and it suggests recipes you can make.

2. FutureMe.org. It lets you send yourself an email one year in the future, or even farther out if you want. Some people use it to help themselves stick to long-term goals. And some people say writing to their future self is just therapeutic.

3. RunPee. This one’s an app that lets you search different movies, and tells you the best time to take a bathroom break so you don’t miss anything important. For example, the first pee break in “Die Hard” is 45 minutes in when Reginald VelJohnson’s character is out buying Twinkies.

4. GetHuman.com. You type in the name of a company, and it gives you a customer service number that gets an actual human on the phone. Or if you have to go through a robot, it tells you which buttons to push.

5. JustWatch.com. You enter a movie or show, and it tells you the streaming platforms that are currently playing it.

6. WornOnTV.net. If someone in a show is wearing an outfit you like, you can search for it and find out where it’s sold.

(BuzzFeed) (THE WISE BROTHERS)

Closings and Cancellations 12/16/20

Schools:

Frederick Co. Public Schools- virtual instruction for all students, no face to face instruction.

Montgomery Co. Public Schools- virtual instruction for all students.

Washington Co. Public Schools- distance learning.

Loudon Co. Public Schools- Closed – no virtual instruction.

Howard Co. Public Schools- Virtual Instruction for all students; schools and offices are closed.

Jefferson Co. Public Schools- Closed- no virtual instruction.

Berkley Co. Public Schools- Open with virtual instruction.

Clarke Co. Public Schools- Students to log in to Google Classroom for instruction.

St. John Regional Catholic School- Closed.

St. John’s Catholic High School- Closed.

Mount Saint Mary’s University- Closed.

Hagerstown Community College- Closed.

Shepherd University- Closed.

Childcare Centers:

Thurmont Child Care Center- Closed.

Government:

Federal Government is open with unscheduled leave.

City of Frederick- Snow emergency has been declared, downtown city parking garages are open for free off-street parking.

Frederick County Government offices and facilities will close at noon.

Fort Detrick- Mission open critical employees only- telework authorized; liberal leave in effect.

Loudon County Government – unscheduled leave.

Howard County Government- Liberal leave.

Clarke County Government- Closed.

Washington County District Court- Closed.

Maryland State Government- Liberal leave for Washington. Frederick, Carroll, and Baltimore counties. Teleworkers should work as scheduled.

Traffic:

No Brunswick line today, commuter bus on enhanced S Schedule.

Businesses/Organizations:

Amvets Post 2- Closed

FCB Bank- closing at noon

Frederick Moose Lodge- Closed.

Frederick Elks Lodge – Closed.

Toys for Tots Distribution in Frederick is canceled today; will re-open tomorrow (Thursday 12/17) at 10 AM.

Woodsboro American Legion- closed; meetings canceled.

Frederick Health Hospital:

Due to inclement weather, the services listed below will have adjusted operating hours. We will continue to make updates as they come in. Please reach out directly to the provider’s office if you have any questions. You can find additional information and winter updates on their website at FrederickHealth.org.

Frederick Health Hospital is open and operating under a normal schedule.

COVID-19 Testing Site
Wednesday, December 16: Closing at 10AM
Thursday, December 17: Delayed opening – 9AM

Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab
Wednesday, December 16: All offices will be open from 7AM -12PM
Thursday, December 17: Delayed opening (TBD)

Ambulatory Imaging and Lab Services
Wednesday, December 16: Closing at 1PM
Thursday, December 17: Delayed opening – 9AM

Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehab and ProMotion Fitness
Wednesday, December 16: Closing at 12PM
Thursday, December 17: ProMotion Fitness will have a delayed opening (9AM) / Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehab will have a delayed opening (9:30AM)

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why Does Santa Give Lumps Of Coal To Bad Kids?

Misbehaving children getting lumps of coal actually predates Santa as we know him now; the tradition is also associated with St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas, and La Befana. There doesn’t seem to be a single specific legend about any of those figures that might give us a definitive explanation as to why coal is doled out to bad kids, but the commonality between them all: convenience.

Santa, as well as La Befana in Italy, enters folks’ homes via the fireplace chimney, leaving gifts in stockings hung on the mantel. For the Dutch, Sinterklaas’s controversial assistant, Black Pete, also comes down the chimney & places gifts in shoes left near the fireplace. St. Nicholas used to come in through the window, but then switched to the chimney once they became common in Europe. And, like Sinterklaas, his presents are traditionally slipped into shoes sitting by the fire.

This is pure speculation, but: all these characters are tied to the fireplace. And, when filling the stockings or the shoes of so many children, the holiday gift givers are inevitably going to come upon a kid who doesn’t really deserve a gift. So, to send a message & encourage better behavior next year, they leave something less desirable than the expected toys, money, or candy. And, think about it: since the fireplace provides an easy source of obvious non-presents, all the gift-giver has to do is reach down into the fireplace & grab a lump of coal. (FYI: while we modern-day folks tend to think of fireplaces that burn wood logs, coal-fired fireplaces were actually very common in the 19th & early 20th centuries, which is when this coal portion of Santa’s history really got established.)

With that said, and with the exception of Santa Claus, none of those gift-givers actually limits themselves to coal when it comes to “rewarding” bad kids. They’ve also been said to leave bundles of twigs, bags of salt, garlic, and onions. The moral of this story, though, is this: kids, just don’t be bad, so that Santa doesn’t have to haul around all that coal all night in such close proximity to the good gifts…YOUR good gifts, right?

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected]!

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What’s With The Whole “Spill The Beans” Thing?

(*in best Dwight Schrute voice) FALSE: the phrase “spill the beans” did not originate when Kevin Malone dropped his huge pot of chili in season five of The Office. People actually started talking about spilling the beans more than 2000 years ago!

Back in ancient Greece, they had a voting method that involved uncooked beans. If you wanted to vote “yes” on a particular issue, you’d place a white bean in the voting jar; if you wanted to vote “no”, you’d use a black bean. The jar wasn’t see-through, so, since the votes were meant to be kept secret until the final tally, someone who accidentally happened to knock that jar over in the middle of voting was both literally “spilling the beans” & figuratively spilling the beans about the results.

While we don’t know for sure exactly when the phrase spill the beans actually came into use, we do know that people have used the word spill to mean “divulge” or “tell” at least since the 16th century. The earliest known reference in the Oxford English Dictionary is from a letter written by Spanish historian Antonio de Guevara written prior to his death in 1545.

Writers started pairing “spill” with “beans” in the 20th century, with the 1st known mention by Thomas K. Holmes in his 1919 novel The Man From Tall Timber: “‘Mother certainly has spilled the beans!’ thought Stafford in vast amusement.”

Basically, it’s still a mystery why people decided that beans were the perfect food to represent spilled secrets. But, as for whether you imagine hard, raw Greek beans or tender, seasoned beans from Kevin Malone’s ill-fated chili, that’s entirely up to you.

If you’ve got a Mundane Mystery you’d like me to “spill the beans” about, send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What’s The Difference Between Soup & Stew?

With the chill in the air we’re feeling now, you couldn’t be blamed for daydreaming about diving into a big ol’ hearty bowl of soup. Or, perhaps, stew. Either will certainly warm & fill you up, but they’re certainly not the same thing. So, what’s the difference?

Both liquid-based, soups & stews can contain a variety of ingredients, from vegetables to meat, fish to potatoes, and lots more. Actually, both can contain the exact same ingredients. So, what sets your mom’s trademark beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and peas, apart from your spouse’s signature beef soup with potatoes, carrots, and peas? It actually all boils down to the amount of liquid used to make it.

To make soup, your ingredients usually get fully submerged in stock or water. For stew, you just barely cover them in liquid. With less liquid used for stew, it thickens during the cooking process & creates a gravy-like sauce, which makes the solid ingredients the stars of the dish. Some recipes even call for flour or a roux to make the stew even thicker & heartier. And, since it isn’t as liquid-laden as soup, stew is commonly served over noodles or rice or other grains.

The cooking process, itself, is usually different between soups & stews, as well: some soups can be made in as little as 20-30 minutes, while stews will always require more time to simmer. Because of the time needed, a lot of stew recipes will suggest you use a slow cooker, while most soups can just be made in an uncovered pot on the stove. Because of the time required to stew stew, its ingredients are often cut bigger than the ones in soups, since they have more time to cook & soften. What it doesn’t explain is why I can’t get soups & stews off my brain now! Either one, I’m game!

If you’ve got a Mundane Mystery on your brain, send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].