What do you know about Hartford, Connecticut?  My answer is: not much.  Which is interesting because that is where I am spending the summer.  I got a great summer internship in Hartford, so I had the fun task of finding a place to live for 10 weeks.  I hate apartment hunting, I seem to do it too often.  This is my 6th apartment since college, which doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but I had my five year college reunion this year.  That means I average less than a year in each apartment (not to mention a few stretches at the parents house between places).  At this point I can move with the best of them.

Pack the apartment? easy.

Cancel my utilities and start the new utilities?  no problem.

Deal with the cabel guy(s)? with pleasure.

Forward my mail? duh.

Change addresses for everything important? no sweat.

Hand over the old keys and get the new keys? ok.

Corral my brothers to do the heavy lifting and UHaul driving?  I’m going to need back up:

Dark Chocolate Cookies with Espresso

From Martha

Yields about 2 dozen (maybe less)

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs espresso powder
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate (4 oz to melt, and 4 oz to chop)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt), and set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer.  Add eggs and vanilla.
4. Add espresso powder to melted chocolate and combine with wet mixture.  Make sure the chocolate is not too warm because it will cook the eggs.  Combine slowly and keep mixing to avoid this problem.  Slowly add in dry mixture.  Finally, fold in chopped chocolate.
5. Spoon dough onto parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Remove cookies and allow to cool.

I’ve concluded that there is no such thing as an “easy move,” and my brothers will be in bad mood reguardless of the baked goods provided.  But these are certainly a step in the right direction and a much needed shot of sugar/chocolate/energy, during a long day of moving.

Do you have any good tricks or advice to make a move easier?