Category: food

Monday, December 28, 2009

I’m back? – 12 Comments

Yes, I realize I suck and have not posted in awhile. I’ve just been having a difficult time juggling life. For the first time in my life, I had to find a balance between work and school. Throw in boys and a social life into the equation, and you’ve got yourself some confusion.

I’m on my winter break right now. I just finished fall quarter, and I got my first B. I’m not terribly bummed out about it, but it was just weird to see a B, haha.

Now, I’m off to clean my room from this holiday mess. Hope everyone’s holidays are going well, and we’ll see if I can get this blog up again :)

Here’s a holiday treat for y’all… I made a pumpkin roulade for Christmas Eve dinner!



Wednesday, August 26, 2009

yee-haw!!! – 15 Comments

I always know what I want to blog about, but I haven’t been able to because I am always so busy, and I hate blogging after midnight because of the date!!! For that reason, I’m actually posting this blog after midnight but am changing the time to 11:59pm just to associate this post with today, haha.

So my friend is leaving for NYU tomorrow, and I only got to see her once since I’ve been home. Last night we all went to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. Anyway, I knew I had to get her a going away present. Among my friends, I’m known for baking, so of course I decided to bake a little treat. What to make? I haven’t replenished my pantry since May, and I don’t know what I have.

I was reading through my RSS feed on Sunday, and I was inspired. I made some COWBOY COOKIES! Or cowgirl cookies? I wish I could take all the credit for them, but I was inspired by Bakerella, my go-to blog for baking. I will admit though that I made a mistake that wasn’t drastic at all. I also didn’t have all the ingredients she used, so I just used whatever I had in my pantry. I guess a “cowgirl” cookie has elements of cookies that are so common. Think of it as an everything cookie, you know, it’s got the works.

What I used:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature (1 stick)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed*
1/4 cup white sugar, packed*
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon*
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup quick-cook oats
3/4 cup raisins (heated in a microwave in water for 3 minutes, then cooled and drained)*
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips*
1/2 cup butterscotch chips*

*different from Bakerella

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Combine well. Slowly stir in the flour mixture into large bowl, in about 3-4 additions. Add the oats and mix until well-incorporated. Add raisins, chocolate, white chocolate, and butterscotch. Stir.

Scoop by rounded tablespoon onto a grease or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving at least 1.5 inches between each cookie (I used a cookie scoop). Bake in a preheated-350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Every bite is just so warm and wonderful full of different flavors. My family really enjoyed these, and I will definitely make these again. I was so excited to gift these cookies, so I bought some cellophane “treat bags” from Target in the party section to pack these cookies for my friends and family. I then used some Chinese gifting take-out boxes I had bought months ago, and VOILA!

Monday, August 17, 2009

simply sweet – 15 Comments

OK just to update… I haven’t been saving that much money yet because I went to visit a friend in the North Bay, and I’ve been visiting my friends here in San Jose (finally!)

Before I leave my mom’s on Saturday, I wanted to use up all the ingredients I accumulated that I know she won’t use. That means I had to use up her butter! I also wanted to bake my new friends from summer school something because that’s what I do… and I had a lot of cake mix. Now, I’m very limited here at my mom’s place when it comes to ingredients, so I had to think of something. That’s when I decided to try to make brownies out of cake mix!

I used:
1 box of store-bought cake mix (I used Devil’s Food)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) room temperature
2 eggs

First, I softened the butter with a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Then, I poured 1/3 of the cake mix and creamed well. Then I alternated additions of one egg and 1/3 of the cake mix, ending with the mix. The dough was very stiff. That’s when I realized I used this same combination to make some cake cookies! Anyway, I spread the very stiff dough into whatever glass dishes my mom had. I stuck those into my toaster oven (I hate my mom’s big oven) to 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. If I were using my big oven, I would have preheated it to 325 beforehand and bake for up to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I had some dough leftover, so I put them into my favorite nut and party cups. These are great and are quite retro for cupcakes! If you use them, be sure to get ones that are wax-free. I exercised more freedom here and added semi-sweet chocolate chips which ALWAYS go well with brownies. I didn’t have any almonds or nuts on hand, but I DID add some Nutella!

These baked for a lot less time, only about 11 minutes total.

I decided to top these off with some chocolate ganache. I ran to Starbucks a block away and got some half-and-half(I didn’t want to buy any heavy whipping cream). I tried to make a Nutella ganache, but I was too greedy with my Nutella… I only used a little bit and added some more chocolate chips. Anyway, I had to microwave this in 15 second intervals, stirring in between each one. I didn’t have a small saucepan lol. SEE? I am very limited here!

Anyway, I came up with this:

Now, I feel super guilty having tried some of the brownie bites because my blood is high in sugar… but they tasted pretty good. I definitely liked the plain Nutella brownies the most. I would add about 1/2-3/4 cup of Nutella to the entire batter next time. The brownies were more cookie cake like, but we can’t be purists here. I might want to try melted butter or olive oil instead. It was also very sweet, so next time, I might try a dark chocolate cake mix to tone down the sweetness a little more. Overall, I am pleased, and I’ll definitely do this again when I’m in a hurry.

P.S. Sorry about the picture quality.. my hands were messy and in a hurry, so I couldn’t find a nice place to snap a picture more carefully.


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