I don’t know how I pulled this off

I am not really much of a baker.  Baking involves things like measuring and following recipes because it is a matter of chemistry and science, what with the flour and the baking powder and the baking soda.  Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard.

But for part of a holiday present I wanted to make some kind of cookies involving caramel, and the lovely Betsy forwarded me this recipe.  We consulted back and forth a bit, mostly about the fact that the instructions for the caramel involved wearing a long sleeve shirt and protective eyewear.

Scary, right?  I thought so too.

However, I bet you didn’t know this about me, but I am quite brave.  I really live on the edge.  For instance, sometimes I cross the street on a solid hand.  So I decided to give the caramel a go.   But first, I had to make the cookies:

Then I put on my long sleeves in preparation for the caramel:

No eye wear, though.  Like I said, brave.

The recipe calls for light corn syrup, but my local grocery store didn’t have that, so I bought this instead:

And then I put it all in the pan and started stirring:

Nothing happened for a while, and I was getting pretty annoyed because I’m an impatient person and I wanted to see some action in that pan.  But then things started bubbling:

And then everything happened all at once and I was running around grabbing cream and stirring and looking at my laptop and freaking out and then I poured the warm cream in and the whole thing bubbled like crazy and I would’ve taken a picture but I was scared out of my mind because I didn’t have protective eye wear on.

Finally, after all that, there were these:

Pretty good, right?  I think they’re okay.  The cookies aren’t the best peanut butter cookies I’ve ever had (probably because I again didn’t follow the recipe and used natural peanut butter) but the caramel is AWESOME, if I do say so myself.  However, I had a ton leftover and I didn’t know what to do with it so I ate like half poured it onto a sheet pan in hopes of making brittle:

Yeah.  Apparently that’s not how you make brittle, because it didn’t harden.  Maybe I’ll work on that one next.

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Long post about small things

Thanks for all the lactose-related tips from the other day.  I know that I will probably be able to eat Sun Chips and butter and yogurt, but for some reason my doctor said not to until I go back in two weeks.  I’m serious.  I specifically asked about the Sun Chips.

In the comments of my last post, Heather mentioned that I should take a picture of my very small stove.  I don’t find it very interesting – mostly I find it annoying – and almost everyone I know in New York has one the same size, but I can imagine that it would be fun for someone who has a real stove to laugh at my easy bake oven.  It’s kind of like Roadside America. 

Roadside America definitely makes me laugh.  I am laughing right now.  I had no idea it had a website.  

Anyway.  I am getting sidetracked.  Here is my stove:

It’s hard to tell out of context, but you can’t realistically use more than two pans at the same time.  I mean, you could use four small sauce pans, I guess, if you angled the handles just right.  I don’t really count that as a perk, though, since I can’t envision a time when I’ll need to make four sauces at once. 

I tried to take a picture of my dark and scary broiler, but it was too dark and scary to show up. 

Along with my mini stove, we also have a mini fridge that looks like this:

Yes, that is Bo Jackson.

Here’s the inside:

Quite expansive, I know.

Really, though, I don’t mind my small kitchen and its small appliances.  It could be smaller for sure.  And I can turn on the stove from the couch.  Major perk.  If only I could reach the fridge, we’d really be in business.

Anyway, on to food.  Today I tried some soy yogurt:

Um.  Someone please tell me there’s a better kind.  Right?  There’s a better kind?  

I also made THE cookies from Betsy’s blog:

These are for Chris because he is turning 30 on Monday.  Yikes!  I’m glad I’m not that old.

I hope he thought that was funny.

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Puppies and cookies

Seriously, what’s better?

I was a slacker with the photography this weekend, but Saturday night was a long one and I decided that we needed cookies yesterday:

I used this recipe but subbed chocolate chips for the raisins, and left out the walnuts and flax because we didn’t have any.  I also halved it so it only made about five cookies.  Needless to say, they are all gone.

And now, for the Big Puppy News:  After two long, agonizing months, we finally got an email that Jack’s photo was selected for the calendar – and I didn’t even have to bribe anyone.  Here is how he will be represented:

I’d say it’s appropriate.

I’m pretty sure that almost every dog was picked, but don’t tell Jack.  He’s already acting like a diva, demanding things like sparkling water instead of tap and extra walks to keep his figure nice and trim.

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This could be trouble

Sorry for the late post, I didn’t eat any snacks this afternoon.

Unless you consider about a pound of cookie dough a snack.

I don’t.

Chocolate chip cookies.  I made them for my friend’s bbq tomorrow.  And then I ate three.  And then I stood over the tupperware container, staring at them.  Chris finally pulled me away when I started quietly whispering “not for me, not for me.”

At least they are from a vegan recipe, so no butter or eggs.  And I used whole wheat flour.  And Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, which I know are not vegan, but they are just so good.  And so big.  Like Hershey Kisses.  Only better.

I have to stop talking about the cookies now.

After this, while I was making dinner, Chris had some cheese and crackers and I stole a chunk of white cheddar:

And then we just had tofu and rice for dinner:

I made very small portions by mistake.  We were both still hungry afterward, which is surprising, considering the amount of cookie eating that went on beforehand.  I haven’t had a snack yet, but I am drinking wine.

That was foreshadowing.

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Well. This is embarrassing.

So last night we went out to dinner, then came home and had the following exchange:

Chris: Are you going to bake a cake?

Me: Huh? Why would I do that?

Chris: Because I want some cake.

Me: I do, too. I wish we had ice cream or chocolate or cookies or maybe brownies. Brownies would be good.

Chris: Oh! I know! You could make those cookies with the chocolate and peanut butter.

Me:

That’s right. Silence. No need to speak. I was already pulling the peanut butter and cocoa powder out of the cabinet.

And then there was this:

Which was eaten as shown.

I also had a Z Bar before we left for dinner:

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Cookies!!

I made the best oatmeal raisin cookies tonight.  And I don’t mind saying so.

But really, here’s the thing.  I love to bake.  Just ask my mom, I used to make cookies and brownies all the time when I was growing up.  You know, back when my metabolism was fast as lightening and I could eat five brownies in one sitting.  With chocolate chips in them and also probably icing on top.

Chris doesn’t believe me when I tell him about the good old days, because I hardly ever bake now for fear of eating the final product.  The last thing I need is a batch of cookies hanging around this apartment, let’s be real. I have enough problems keeping my spoon out of the peanut butter jar.

But tonight I got the itch to bake because my friend just took an apartment down the street from us and I was going to meet her there to check it out.  And so I thought I’d bring her cookies because she is very thin and if she’s living this close, we need to be sharing clothes, which means I need to fatten her up a little.  So I went by the store while walking Jack and bought some raisins.  I selected the ones in miniature boxes because I knew there would be leftovers and – as we’ve all seen – I need portion control around dried fruit.

Then I came home and turned Dreena’s vegan chocolate chip cookies into an oatmeal cookie recipe by using:

* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

* 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

* 1/2 cup oats

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp baking soda

* 1/4 cup brown sugar

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 1/3 cup maple syrup

* 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

* 1/4 cup canola oil

* 3 oz (two mini boxes) raisins

* A small handful of chopped walnuts

* 2 – 3 T ground flax

Combine the dry, combine the wet, mix together and add the raisins and walnuts.  Bake for eleven minutes at 350.  I mean eleven minutes, too.  Not ten.  Not twelve.  ELEVEN.  Otherwise they’ll dry out, says Deena, who, by the way, is a genius, so I believe her.

I made eight huge cookies.  I didn’t realize they would be that big or else I would’ve made them smaller.  Not that I didn’t manage to eat one and half, plus some batter:

I really think these could be a healthy snack, what with all the fiber and raisins and walnuts and flax.  They are downright good for you.

Oh – and dinner, which was a total after thought, was stir fry with quinoa, tempeh, vegetables, and this sauce:

I couldn’t eat all this, so I put some back.  I am going to try desperately to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I hate leftovers.

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Dinner + Breakfast

Just want to add last night and this morning quickly – it is so nice here that I have to get back outside immediately.  I think it’s going to be 73º!  I think I’m going to go meet a friend and do some shopping because I’m all about spending money that I do not have.

Last night for dinner I made stir fry with tempeh, broccoli, snow peas, peppers, carrots, mushrooms and udon noodles:

I have actually only used tempeh one other time, and I don’t remember liking it that much, but this time I loved it.  I think I may never use tofu again.  Also, I finally made a peanut/soy sauce that I really like so I’m going to post the recipe in that section.

And then, I did it again.  I made the cookies.  I knew this was going to be a problem.  I made the same amount again, and had 2 1/2.  Here’s one up close:

They are so good, I really can’t believe it.  Make them now.  Well, maybe it would be more appropriate to wait until after 10 a.m.

This morning for breakfast I had yogurt, raisin bran, banana and flax:

I managed to not go back for more cereal, which is quite remarkable, really.

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I’m in trouble

Oh man. I made these cookies tonight, and there is no turning back. Thank god I had the foresight to cut the recipe down. I essentially made a fourth of it, and ended up with three small cookies and three teeny tiny cookies. I also only used half maple syrup and half honey, because I’m cheap and maple syrup, unfortunately, is not.

THEY ARE SO GOOD. And also relatively healthy, I mean the only ingredients are the maple syrup/honey, oats, cocoa powder and peanut butter. We’ve got whole grains, antioxidants, protein, and healthy fats! Who the hell knew that these things could combine and create such magic? Not me, or I’d have been mixing these babies up every day. And that, actually, is the problem here – now that I know that I can do this, and even, really, create single servings, all hope is lost. I may never live another day without eating one of these cookies.

Here they are:

That one on the left? Chris took a bite out of it before I could get there with the camera. We ate all six, by the way. I ate the three very small ones and he had the three slightly larger ones. I also licked the bowl pretty vigorously, so I think we’re about even.

Before cookies, we had dinner, of course. We’re not totally out of control. We had polenta, which I bought in a roll from Trader Joe’s. I’m actually a little scared of making polenta on my own because the one time I did, it was a total disaster. I grilled it with some shrimp that were marinated in some olive oil, garlic and lime juice:

No grill marks, I know. That’s because the smoke detector was going off and Chris was fanning it and things were starting to get out of control so I just ended it. They were hot, just not as crispy as I would’ve liked. I am now forbidden, by the way, to use the grill pan, so if you’re looking for grill marks, you’ll have to visit a different blog.

With it, I tried out the kale chips that everyone has been talking about:

I really liked them – I just used salt and a little olive oil spray. Chris hated them, so I ended up eating way too many. Like all of them. Way more than this. It was a lot of kale.

Also, earlier I had some grapes:

And a Clif Z-bar:

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