 |
| Mmmmmmmm! Yummy cookies hot out of the oven! |
 |
| The Samsung Strive cell phone that is about to become history in this family! |
Well, here's what has happened on the cell phone front. Jim, my son-in-law and owner of the Alltel/ATT account (ATT bought out Alltel and that's when our troubles started), read my blog and I guess my troubles added to all their troubles was the last straw. He called Customer Service and discussed the problem with a very courteous and helpful person. The guy checked out the Verizon tower situation and assured Jim that ATT did have an agreement with them. He gave Jim a number for me to call and told me to request technical support. He made a big deal out of the request since you couldn't just hit a button to get it.
Jim, called me and gave me all the info so I got right on it and here's my story. I requested tech support just as instructed and was asked what the problem was. When I explained, the customer service person said oh, I can do that and the fun began! After about 30 minutes of checking this and that and talking to their manager, they decided I needed to talk to tech support (duh). So I go through the whole thing again with the young lady on tech support, including waiting for her to talk to her manager! Everyone kept assuring me they had an agreement with Verizon. After another 30 minutes she came back on and announced they had a 72 hour window to resolve this case and they would get back to me within that time. I thought "yeah right" but prepared to wait out the 3 days.
That afternoon I got a call from their field man! He wanted to know who he could call in town to check out service there. I tried to tell him no one had ATT in the county because service was so poor but finally agreed he could call River Rock Cafe if it made him happy. He had found them on his GPS map online when he put in Walden! In passing, he happened to mention their roaming partner, Union Cellular and I began to wonder why they were the partner if Verizon had the tower. Anyway he was going to talk to the roaming partner and see if any improvements were planned, etc, etc, etc. He would get back to me soon.
72 hours went by with no communication--no surprise there. I reported all my info to Jim and we kind of left it at that over the weekend. Sure enough, I did get a call from another field guy on Tuesday! Here is his report. He talked to Union Cellular and they said their coverage in North Park was fair to nothing. Big surprise there! He also asked if they were planning any improvements. None--no surprise there! I asked about the agreement with Verizon AND this guy finally admitted that Verizon had a different technology than ATT and of course we couldn't use their tower! I said, "So there is not going to be any change in service, right?" and he said no. A few hours later, I got a message saying our case was resolved. I will say, their customer service was good but not that helpful in the final analysis!
Meanwhile, Jim had decided enough was enough and has changed over to Verizon! We all have to get new phones and Thomas is going to try to sell our practically new ATT ones (remember, a whole different technology), I really do like this one I have, sort of, but will be happy with a new one too. By the way, while talking to the tech support people I asked about uploading my pics off the phone onto my computer. She told me only people with smart phones could do that! Why did they supply cords to Ozzie, and Erin if they wouldn't work???? I'm still not sure she knew what she was talking about.
You will be glad to know I got all my pictures off my cell phone. Here's what happened. I decided to try once more to email them to me when I was down at Danny's and had phone service. When I checked my email they weren't there again. I finally thought to check my spam and there they all were!!!! Finally I have them all safely on my computer! Yes, safely! I got a good deal on Carbonite and they are safely saved online as well as on my computer!
We need a recipe to go along with this story. I found a really good cookie recipe in the red-checked Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It is quick and easy and has very few ingredients, always a plus!
 |
| This cookie jar was a wedding gift to Bob and I over 51 years ago! I hate to admit that it is probably an antique--but NOT me! |
Butter-Pecan Shortbread
Ingredients:
 |
| All you need for this recipe. |
1 1/4 C. flour
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 C. butter (1 stick)
2 Tbsp. finely chopped pecans*
1/2 tsp. vanilla
* I used 1/4 c. and then threw in those leftover chopped ones as well--I love pecans! I also toast my pecans before chopping them. Not really necessary but good.
 |
| Quite a bit more than 2 Tablespoons but it made the cookies that much more yummy! |
Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling. I just cut butter in with my mixer. Dough is very crumbly at this point. Add chopped pecans and combine. Sprinkle vanilla over dough and form into a ball. I just dump the crumbs onto a cutting board sprinkle with vanilla and start squeezing it into a ball. I think the warmth of your hands helps it to hold together.
 |
| Crumbs dumped out and ready to knead. |
 |
| All kneaded and ready to roll out. |
Knead it a bit to blend in the vanilla and then you are ready to cut them. The cookbook gives several options but I like the quickest easiest plus I decided to experiment so I divided my dough in half.
 |
| I divided the dough into 2 batches to try something new. You can easily just roll out the whole thing or make one large log, too. |
 |
| This is about 1/ 3 inch thick |
 |
| Cut into squares or rectangles. 1 inch by 2 inches is recommended by cookbook. |
The first half I shaped into a rectangle and flattened it out with a rolling pin until it was about 1/4-1/3 inch thick. The book says 1/2 inch thick but I like my thinness better. Just my opinion. If you roll out the whole amount and roll it 1/2 inch thick , it should be about a 6 by 8 inch rectangle. Then you can cut with a knife 24 2X1 inch cookies. If you go thinner or divide dough like I did, make them whatever size you want--they don't spread out.
 |
| Shape into a squared log, You can wrap this in plastic and freeze for later use. |
 |
| Slice to your desired thickness. Adjust time accordingly. |
The other half I made into a cylinder. I kind of squared it up and then sliced the cookies as thick as I wanted them. This worked really well and I'd do it that way again. Also if you make a double batch you could wrap one cylinder and freeze it for later use.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 20-25 minutes (18-20 minutes for thinner ones--watch carefully) until slightly browned on edges. You can smell the browned butter--yummmm! but don't let them get too dark or it's burnt butter!
 |
| Slightly brown on the edges. Let them cool and eat them up! |
Oh my goodness I just can't quit eating them! Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment