Caught in a heat wave

Baking up a storm. The hottest day of the summer so far, (I'm not sure if that is true, but it sure felt like it!) and I decide to bake. :)

I blame my parents, because they dropped off their dog and with her came 3 close-to-overripe-bananas. The problem with this (as I like to eat speckled bananas) was that I already had 2 of my own on my fridge. So, I was forced to make some banana bread, and to change things up a bit, some banana chocolate chip cookies. IF the cookies are good I'll post them here. :) I've talked about the way I make cookies before, but if you need a reminder go here.

At this very moment I have a bowl of chocolate chip-banana-oatmeal cookies waiting to be scooped up, 4 small ramekins (and one medium sized) with Smitten's banana bread ready to bake, and my Kitchen-aid mixer bowl with a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. We ran out of chocolate chip cookies a couple weeks ago, and since I was already making a mess of my kitchen, AND making cookies my husband will not eat, I figured I better make him his favorite, too.

It has been too hot all day to even think about actually baking anything though. Once I sign off here, (and the little nugget is in bed) I'm going to start scooping the banana cookies. One problem with baking in a hot kitchen, is the dough gets too soft and gooey, the banana cookie dough has been in the fridge for longer and should be firm enough for me to scoop (then place on a cookie sheet) and into the freezer they will go!

There really is no other way to bake cookies. I love having frozen dough balls on hand! :)

I plan on freezing the mini banana breads and pulling them out for Riley and I to share (or for me to take to work) depending on my mood. :) I'm so happy that I have a deep freezer now. Oh that husband of mine sure spoils me!

Sweet tooth

I think it is high time for a post with a more positive attitude. I realize I've sort of been writing about depressing topics and have been expressing some of my darker emotions. For that I am sorry, and hope you bear with me. Motherhood is absolutely amazing, but it definitely isn't easy either. When I'm feeling my best, I usually don't have my computer in front of me, it is usually when I'm in need of an escape that I find myself writing. The easiest thing to write about is what is weighing on my mind, and as you probably have guessed, it is the more difficult aspects of motherhood. Without further ado...

I don't know if you can get much more positive than fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.

I think I've mentioned before my husband's love of cookies. He can (and will) eat nearly a dozen cookies in one sitting. No cookies in the house? He'll devour half a bag of the chocolate chips, followed by a cold glass of milk. When I bake a batch of cookies, I find he will eat about a dozen fresh out of the oven, but only a couple day-old cookies. Sometimes when he's desperate he might nibble on a two-day-old cookie, but he'd probably rather have the other half of the bag of chocolate chips he broke into before. Leaving me with the leftovers. (because unlike my husband, I believe no sweet should be left behind, and they go straight to mine...)

So I devised a plan. He loves cookies, fresh out of the oven. And while cookie dough tubs/cubes are abundant in the stores, they sometimes don't taste as good, or are overpriced. SO I decided to do it myself.


I mix up a double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, then proceed to scoop it out and form it into balls like I would if I were to bake them. Then I place them on on wax paper and put them in to the freezer to harden, to keep the sticky dough balls from making dough clumps. Once they harden a little, I put them in a large ziplock bag to keep in the freezer until ready to bake.


I don't add any time to the bake time (I pretty much always shave off a couple minutes when I make cookies so they don't get over baked) and usually put Chocolate Chip cookies in for 8 minutes. I don't even wait for the oven to get preheated all the way. I just turn it on before I put the cookies on the cookie sheet.


Which leads me to the question: Have you ever used Parchment paper? If you haven't, I absolutely love it, and recommend it. I will not go back to baking cookies without it. Cookies easily go from paper to plate, (or paper to mouth) only sometimes leaving a bit of melted chocolate behind (if you didn't let them cool all the way.).

It takes a bit of extra time to make cookies this way (since I make a double batch), but now my dear husband can have fresh baked cookies any night he likes, and doesn't have to hear my excuse as to why I don't have time to whip up a batch of cookies. (We won't even get into how much this method saves my hips.)

In the freezer to harden.

On parchment paper, ready for the oven.

Freshly baked cookies. Yum!

You're my inspiration

I watched Julie and Julia the other day and was inspired to blog a bit more. That is why I've been blogging every day since the 6th of this month.


It also made me want to get Mastering the Art of French Cooking and try making some of the recipes I saw in the movie. I'm sure that I wouldn't make too many of the recipes, as I'm sure many of the recipes are a bit more labor intensive than I prefer. I'm also sure that some of the ingredients might not appeal to the husband or me (or both), and therefore would not be made. But, I would still like to have the book in my arsenal of cook books.

If you haven't seen the movie, you really need to. I laughed. I cried. I drooled.

Speaking of drool, my drooling bug is stretching and groaning, which means that soon he will be awake and fussing for boob juice. I better get to him. Then it is dishes time (the husband got out the last of the homemade ice cream and at that last night, so cookies were not made. And since I didn't have to do dishes, I sat on my butt instead.) Can you tell I got some sleep last night? :D I think the poor guy has reflux and doesn't like to be very flat for sleep. I put him in his swing, and we had like 2-3 hours of sleep at a time. Most of the time I didn't even have the swing on. I slept on the couch next to him, which was much more comfortable than our recliner chair. My back doesn't feel like I slept on rocks.

Happy Monday to you!

Desires

Day 49/50.

A few things.

I've been thinking about taking classes lately. One day, I hope to return to school for nursing, but at this moment in my life, I, one, cannot afford it, and two, cannot fathom writing papers again.

I am still paying off college, and cannot imagine taking out more loans.

The classes I've been thinking about taking are more for fun.

1. Quilting
2. Cooking
3. Photography
4. Spanish

Quilting
I am already taking some quilting classes, one will be continued this week on Thursday, and another will be on March 14th, which is a table runner class.

I really am excited to quilt/sew. Though I don't think I really have any ambition to sew clothing. Since I have an embroidery machine, I have ambition to embroider, but not to actually piece together an outfit. Perhaps this will change in time. Perhaps a mini-me, might persuade me to sew a beautiful dress or Halloween costume. But at this time in my life, I feel it is simply easier to buy said dresses. Why, do I feel it is easier/better to quilt or sew my own quilts, table runners etc? I do not know. It makes absolutely no sense to me either. ;D

Cooking
I would love to take some cooking classes to learn some new techniques/recipes, and I think it is uber romantic to take said classes with someone you love. However, I do not think that my DH would ever take a cooking class with me. It (cooking) is not something he enjoys doing. He doesn't care what he eats. A bag of chips is okay in his book. Sandwiches everyday, that's fine. He likes most of the food I make, and I think is grateful that I make it, but if I didn't he would be fine with that too.

Growing up, my family had home cooked meals. We sat around the table, prayed before every dinner, and ate together. We asked "may I be excused" when we were done with dinner, and if we had successfully made a dent in our meal we would be allowed to scrape our plate and wash our hands. I have fond memories of dinnertime. It was family time. Every Saturday night, my extended family would have dinner at my Grandparent's house, the cousins and I would play, and then eat together, sometimes outside if it was nice out.

So for me, food is very comforting and reminds me of family, love, and friendship. But DH does not share these thoughts on food. If I spend all day cooking something special, he does not understand why I have done it. To him, food is simply a necessity. For me, sharing a meal is an extension of my love, and a way to bond and grow as a family. He knows how I feel about dinner time, and that once we have children things will be changing in our house. Currently we eat every dinner in front of the TV. This will not be okay for my children. I fought for a while to eat dinner at the table, but eventually he won, and we have the horrible habit of eating in front of the TV. I'm not proud of this. I'm terribly ashamed actually...

Photography
I want to learn some photography techniques so that I can take beautiful pictures of my crafty projects. Also, I am mesmerized by the talent of people who take abstract photographs that are beautiful enough to be framed and exhibited.

I hate posting photos of my cards or other projects when I feel that the photo doesn't capture the essence of my work. I want to be proud of my craft both online and in life.

Spanish
A language that I did well with in high school, and one that I encounter the most at work, has always been something I wanted to be fluent in, well since I started classes. I had to choose between choir and Spanish senior year of high school, and in order to be in the musical, I had to go with choir. My Spanish teacher was very upset with me for not continuing, as she knew that I grasped it well, and enjoyed the language. After that, I never went back. I wished I took some Spanish in college, but since my schedule was jam packed with multiple sciences pretty much every semester, I didn't have time for the studying involved with a second language.

I find myself understanding most of what my Spanish speaking patient's say. And one particular Spanish interpreter, can tell that my grasp of the language is pretty good for only having 2 years of high school Spanish under my belt. Patient's have told me that my pronunciation is pretty good as well, though sometimes they have to correct me as I once said something about a "bull", instead of whatever it was I was trying to say. ;) It would be incredibly helpful if I could speak with my Spanish speaking patients, at least at an elementary level if nothing else, so that I could determine their needs without an interpreter present. 


What fun classes, if any, would you like to take??

Call me crazy...

but don't call me late for dinner.

The other day I decided to buy cayenne pepper. The reason I did so, was I read about this recipe on this blog, and thought I needed a spicy spice for my spice collection.

In college I created this masterpiece: rice and bean burritos. I added chili powder to it the first time I made it, trying to make it spicy, when really it added no true flavor to it. I was disappointed to say the least, and instead added taco seasoning the next time I made it to make it a little more flavorful and spicy.

I've been plagued by that experience ever since. I wanted a spicy spice that I could add to things like chili or rice and beans to give the food a little kick.

I have found what I've been looking for in cayenne pepper. It certainly is spicy, but I love the flavor it adds. I realize that I might be alone in this feeling, not everyone craves a spicy spice, but I thought I might share a few of my discoveries. I've since been adding it to everything...mostly when I cook for myself.

Spicy Fried Rice
Ingredients:
-cooked brown or white rice (I often use leftovers to make fried rice the next day)
-1 Tbsp oil (olive or sesame or a little of each)
-2-3 Tbsp soy sauce
-1-3 eggs (depending on how much rice you are using; I use 3 eggs for 4 cups of rice)
-cayenne pepper to taste
-freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large pan/skillet over med/high heat.
2. Add the rice and stir until warmed. Drizzle rice with soy sauce. Stir to coat rice evenly.
3. Let the rice continue to cook by pressing the rice gently into the pan and leaving it for a couple minutes. Using a spatula cut the rice "pancake" into quarters and try to turn the rice to fry the other side. (I'm not very good at this, but it doesn't really matter.)
4. After the other side of the rice has been fried a little, push the rice over to clear about a third of the pan to cook the eggs on. Scramble the eggs until dry.
5. Stir rice and eggs together. Sprinkle a little cayenne pepper and fresh ground pepper. Stir again, and serve warm. (If you want it spicy, and others do not, sprinkle your serving with cayenne instead.) :D
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And my personal favorite,

Spicy Stove top Popcorn
Ingredients
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1/4 c. popcorn kernels
-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
-1/4 tsp popcorn salt

1. Heat the oil in a 2 quart saucepan over med/high heat (make sure it has a lid). Sprinkle with cayenne pepper and popcorn salt. Swirl the oil in the saucepan to combine.
2. Add the popcorn kernels and put on the lid. Stir the popcorn kernels with the oil by lifting the pot and shaking, gently, forward and back (not up and down). Set the pan back on the burner, and periodically shake the kernels. Once the kernels are really starting to pop, shake the pot continuously until the popping slows. I sometimes set it back down to heat the pot back up, but you must be careful to prevent burning.

Enjoy!!

Good gadgets

Last post, I shared a favorite of mine, the Garlic Grater Plate. I forgot to mention that I got mine at the Puyallup fair a couple years ago. At that time I don't think you could buy them in stores, but now I've seen them in Bed, Bath and Beyond, as well as on Amazon.com.


Another favorite of mine is helping me to eat more apples. I've never been very good with a knife, I make my mom nervous when chopping food. I don't like eating apples whole especially at work. So I bought a slicer and corer last week, and every night at work I ate an apple. :D

What a fulfilling goal!

Now I should go to bed...

Favorite gadget

Thus far this week I've made 3 of the planned meals and all three of them have been good. Jamaal finished his meal all 3 nights. He would eat all three of them again (as would I), but for last nights meal we both agree it was missing a little something.

I'll share yesterday and today's recipes at another time. I'm very exhausted right now, and would rather ramble on about something else. ;)

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I would like to share one of my favorite kitchen gadgets with you all: The Garlic Grater Plate. It is essential for my kitchen. If I ever drop it, I will immediately need to buy a new one.

If you haven't heard of it before, you can check it out in the video shown below. It is so amazing for garlic, much easier than chopping it, no risk of cutting yourself, and it is much easier for your body to digest.

This week, with Beef Bulgogi, it was the first time I worked with fresh ginger. I used the grater plate, and it worked so perfectly!! It takes very little effort to do, and creates a sort of mush, so it adds very little texture to the dish. Last night, for the pasta sauce, it calls for a grated carrot (my grater must be packed still, because I can't find it anywhere) so I decided to use the grater plate, and again it worked really well. It was perfect, because carrot isn't something I particularly desire in my Italian pasta sauce.

I have yet to use it for dry ingredients like chocolate, but I'm sure it works just as wonderfully. :D

Key points:
-When grating a "moist" ingredient like garlic, ginger, or carrot, first run the plate under cold water, so that the plate is wet. Shake off excess water so that the plate is moist but not dripping wet. 
-When grating a "dry" ingredient like chocolate, or Parmesan cheese the plate must be dry.
-It comes with a brush to move the ingredients to the center for easy removal from the plate, but it is just as easy for me to use my fingers to bring it into the center of the plate.
-After use with garlic, immediately rinse the plate with cold water to prevent it from smelling like garlic later.

I LOVE it. What gadgets can't you live without??