oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

HOLY COW! these are good!



so my obsession with baking continues. did i mention how much i hate baking? after many disappointing endeavors to bake the perfect batch of cookies, by God, i think i've come across the perfect recipe. these are DELICIOUS! it probably helps that i was looking through the list of 50 best food blogs in the world and just happened to settle upon #1 to seek out a recipe.

indeed these cookies are delicious and i think i am in shock that i was able to whip up such yummy treats in a short period of time. an easy recipe to follow, resulting in a cookie, crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside (as all perfect cookies should be), with a not-too-grainy oatmeal texture. i used just 1 Cup of chocolate chips instead of the 1 1/2 C it asks for, making it bearably sweet. next time i think i'll use even less.



Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Orangette, thanks!)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs best-quality vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup best-quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 ½ cups quick-cook oats, or rolled oats zizzed in a food processor for a few seconds

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease cookie sheets with cooking spray or line them with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter and brown and granulated sugars until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk, mixing until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients, working until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and oats by hand, using a wooden spoon. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to one hour. Use a table knife to scoop and press dough into ¼-cup measuring scoops, and plunk the mounds onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be three inches apart.

3. Bake cookies for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove and Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes.

easy as sunday mornings

i wish everything were as easy as Sunday mornings...
i have fond memories of Sunday mornings as a kid since it was the one day of the week my parents were off from work. we'd wake up to the clanking of pots and pans from the kitchen and the scent of something yummy wafting through the vents. Dad would have Vivaldi or an aria on full volume to fill our small apartment and we'd hear the rise and fall of his deep voice as he reminisced about old times with Mom. while rubbing the sleep from my eyes, smelling breakfast, and hearing the cacophony of familiar sounds, it was the only time i felt completely safe. it was the only moment that i didn't need to worry about or feel responsible for anything. no pretending to be a young adult... just being me was enough.

God, i miss that feeling.

Macaron Attempt #1

....FAIL.

my first attempt at French Chocolate Macarons was kind of a nightmare. i don't think i whipped the egg whites enough to make stiff peaks in the meringue. boo.... resulting in spreading and cracking (and smoking?) and sticking. no good. these ARE NOT easy to make and technique is EVERYTHING. these treats are not something you can just whip up on whim which makes me dislike making them even more. but with any failure i face, i feel like i should attempt it again. the plus side was that these flattened, cracked out macarons didn't taste bad at all. crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside. subtley nutty from the almond flour and slighty chocolatey from the cocoa powder. if they had turned out nicer, i would have made a vanilla cream ganache to make little sandwiches. but alas, these cookies did not pass. perhaps they will be better paired with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert tonight. can't go wrong with ice cream.

Happy Cow hails from Korea

Cows immigrate, too.

Keith Olbermann on Marriage Equality

Keith Olbermann is THE MAN. I cannot express how grateful I am to him for making such bold statements on behalf of the LGBT community and allies. I *heart* Keith! I wish more people could be as passionate and as expressive as this man.

Trust Art

Interesting concept. Great PR and fundraising strategy for artists while investors get a return for publicizing the art. But it is only a brilliant concept when the art is good. in my humble opinion, the art featured in this year's collection is not so appealing. i do not understand what the artists are trying to accomplish. listening to what the artists had to say didn't clarify much either. In order to instill trust in investors, the art must inspire. i was not so.

New Year's Resolutions

a little belated... I didn't have much inspiration or motivation to make them in the beginning of 09 but after an amazing weekend surrounded by wonderful people, the energy of the city I love, and meeting wonderful new people really gave me the courage to look forward with hope. Just a little schpeal on this blog to keep myself accountable.

I resolve to:

1. Choose to surround myself with good people
2. Maintain healthy communicative relationships with those closest to me
3. Exercise for good health-- mind, body, and spirit
4. Offer more words of praise, encouragement, and condolences to those who need it
5. Take better care of my eyes (aka... stop staring at the computer screen for extended periods of time)
6. Take Bailey for longer walks.
7. Spend as much time as possible outdoors
8. Start training again for races
9. Not linger on negative thoughts, people, experiences, conversations.
10. Be more focused and goal oriented w/ out all the distraction
11. Brush up on photography skills
12. Smile more often
13. Listen to more music
14. Dance more often
15. Not eat based on emotions
16. READ BOOKS

the list goes on... and it's all a work in progress always. but to have set goals to work on is an important thing. It shows you and only you how you have failed and what you have accomplished. It keeps you motivated and accountable. but always a work in progress....

mexican wedding cookies

Hold the Macarons!!! I didn't have much time today to experiment with the Macarons so I quickly whipped up a batch of Mexican Wedding Cookies (aka Russian Tea Cakes, Butterballs, Snowballs, Italian Butter Nuts, etc...). Every Christmas (9 years and counting...), one of Mom's customers bakes these sweet melt-in-your-mouth treats for us. They're soft and buttery like shortbread, with a pleasant nutty crunch.

During my trip to San Francisco in early December, Mike and I baked the Christmas version of Mexican Wedding cookies with pistachios and dried cherries (get it? green pistachios and red cherries=Christmas colors? haha! ). They were delicious thanks to Mike's excellent baking skills. The smooth nuttiness of the pistachio went really well with the tartness of the cherry. They were addictive but we made sure to have just one a day due to the 2 cups of butter that went into the whole batch... oh WHY must they be so unhealthy!? (as I bite into another one...)

Here is the recipe that I used for this batch (adapted from joyofbaking.com):

2/3 cup (65 grams) toasted nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans)

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (30 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

1 teaspoon (2 grams) pure vanilla extract

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1 cup (110 grams) powdered (icing or confectioners) sugar, sifted

Toast Nuts til golden. Cool completely. Grind in food processor or blender with 1-2 Tbsp of flour from your 2 Cups so that the nuts don't stick or become pasty.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the remaining flour and salt and beat until combined. Stir in the nuts. Cover and refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour or until firm.

Form the dough into 1 inch (2.54 cm) balls and place them 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown. Remove and cool completely. Roll cookies in confectioners sugar.

Tip: Be careful not to touch the cookies while they're hot because they are delicate and crumble easily. Also make sure the cookies are cool before covering in powdered sugar because the sugar will melt.

i think i've had my share of cookies for today... (gotta hit the gym tonight!)
Bon appetite! :-)

new year's obsessions

much like new year's resolutions, i find that in the new year, i seek new things to be obsessed about. last year, it was electronics (which i couldn't afford). this year, recipes. and god, i hate recipes! clarification: i hate having to follow recipes... a tsp of this, 2 2/3 cupsof that... UGH. I do NOT have the patience to follow meticulous instructions. but for some reason, after i had decided that i was not very good at baking, i became obsessed with perfecting baked goods. so far, with success! at least with the limited baking that i have attempted... baking really is all about understanding the chemistry of how one ingredient interacts with another ingredient all under specific conditions-- hence, following recipes to a T. but scouring the 'net for recipes, i've come across some a m a z i n g food blogs with PICTURES. Glorious mouthwatering marvelous PICTURES! how could one resist trying to recreate such delectable goods? not i. so i have been quite busy in the kitchen these days, spending whatever spare time i have in my daily routine to cook or bake something new.

my new mission:
Macarons

Chocolate Macarons, Photo from www.davidlebovitz.com (one of my fav food blogs)


some of these food blogs that i've been reading through have been really helpful in getting ideas for my kitchen repertoir. i get really excited reading through recipes blogs... ( also happens when i read through cookbooks, which i do quite frequently). it makes me wonder... WHY DIDN'T I GO TO CULINARY SCHOOL?! FOOD makes me so happy! eh... actually, lemme clarify. the PROCESS of preparing food for others makes me super happy.

will update with macaron results!