Checkerboard Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes creativity strikes in the kitchen. Some time ago, I set out to make a checkerboard cookie. I had seen this done before with basic butter cookies, but I wanted to take it a step further and see if I could apply the concept to two of my favorite cookies: chocolate chip cookies and white chocolate chip cookies. 

This video shows the process for taking two batches of cookies and combining them into a checkerboard cookie design. The recipe itself is not as important as the process here. In fact, these were made from the recipes printed on the bags of chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. They both used one bag of chips and thus yielded about the same amount of dough.

Not only are they delicious, but they look good, too.

MUSIC: "Django" by little dark one
https://soundcloud.com/littledark1/django
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Unported License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Live on Think Woodworks

I was fortunate to be invited into a live Hangout show on Friday night (March 11th). The broadcast was hosted by Izzy Swan, and I was joined by Laney Shaughnessy, Tim Sway, and Nick Ferry. It was a fun night with some good stories and discussion, both from the guys on camera and those in the chat room. After the broadcast we stayed on the chat and talked shop for another hour.

UPDATE 3/18/2016 -  The video has since been taken down. Anyway, it was a fun event for those who were able to watch and I hope to do more stuff like this in the future.

If you haven't already, go check out all the guys' channels:

Izzy Swan: https://www.youtube.com/user/rusticman1973

Laney Shaughnessy: https://www.youtube.com/user/flatiger4u

Tim Sway: https://www.youtube.com/user/timsway

Nick Ferry: https://www.youtube.com/user/ferrynick

March 2016 Channel Update

Thank you to all my 3000+ subscribers. I'd like to drive some more interaction with all of you and see if there's anything else I can bring you on this channel outside of the mostly project-based videos. I'm trying a quick shop update here, recapping some recent videos, sharing some recent events, showing off the new channel sticker, and asking for your feedback and ideas.

Thanks for checking in.

LED Backlit Sign from a Free Harbor Freight Flashlight

I was recently given the task of building a small light-up sign. I volunteered to build the sign on short notice, and managed to use what I had to get it done, including modifying a Harbor Freight flashlight to serve as the backlighting for the sign. Watch to see how it was done.

Walnut Box

I recently got some nice hardwood scraps off craigslist, and decided to try my hand at some fancy box-making with my relatively limited tools. This was also a fun excuse to experiment with mixing wood and aluminum as well.

The main box structure is made from walnut and hard maple, accented with aluminum splines on each corner. The interior liner is made with maple sides and a thin sheet of aluminum at the bottom. I'm aware that wood movement may cause problems with my aluminum splines in the future, but for now I think it looks cool, and it made for a fun build experience/experiment.

I don't claim any expertise in making boxes. I would consider this more of an experimental art project and a skill-building exercise. However, if you want to see some really impressive box-making videos, check out Marty Backe's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MartyBacke/search?query=box
He goes into more detail on process and technique, and is more qualified to teach the material than I am.

Thanks for taking the time to watch (and to read this).

MUSIC:

"Metanoia (Instrumental)" by Razbaque Dirge
https://soundcloud.com/razbaque-dirge/metanoia
Used with permission from the composer