Care to join us for a slice?

Also, it was a delightful with our morning coffee.

Exhibit 1.

I was woken up by Jessie and handed a box. Inside the box was a bottle from my favorite whisky distillery, Laphroaig.

What a way to start the morning!

Exhibit 2.

After work, Jessie invited me to meet her down at the lakefront. Surprise! A crowd of friends from work and church were there to enjoy rhubarb pie, ice cream, and fine Wisconsin beverages as the sun set on my special day.

(Note: The above picture is not the actual pie consumed on my birthday. However, this pie was made by Jessie about a week prior.)

This weekend was lovely.

We had temperatures in the 60s.

We babysat for our pastor this weekend and watched Enchanted.

We had a Cinco de Abril fiesta with a couple from Robb’s department.

I went shopping.

Robb had his first intramural softball practice.

I went for a run.

It was sunny.

I wore sunglasses all weekend.

We made fresh squeezed lemonade and lemon scones.

We saw the world premiere of Welcome to Macintosh at the Wisconsin Film Festival.

We will start gardening soon.

After enjoying the weekend we must return to reality (school & work).

This month will be busy.

Oh yes. Our marriage is now 3 months old.

From Mark Bittman of the NY Times

The boy is awesome! Here is the original. Reminds me a lot of Alton Brown.

(Like this episode episode!)

This year was a little bit different. Mom is spending time in lovely, sunny San Diego and we are here in Seattle enjoying the rain. But of course, what would a holiday be like without baking something amazing. Left with a sweet pumpkin, I decided it would be only fitting to have Olivia over and attempt to bake a Fresh Pumpkin Pie.

Our victim (can you see? he is sweating in fear!)

Olivia gives him a good wack!

Ta-da!

Baked pumpkin

The lovely, homemade, pie crust chilling in the freezer

What if we just put the ingredients in the pumpkin, glue it together and serve?

Olivia going in for the baby … erm … pumpkin mush

We just about killed the blender… oops

Pumpkin guts (measuring out the pumpkin puree so we can smoosh out the water)

Pumpkin pancake!

Mixing in the dairy goodness

Ready to bake

What to do with the seeds? Well, cook them of course

Finished product, just waiting to be eaten!

Now this is one pie I am ready to dig into… And with the left over pumpkin puree, about 4 cups, I think I will be making some pumpkin bread. Any suggestions?

Welcome back from the dead, eh? It’s been hectic… but I am still alive! Much has been going on, and I even have a new recipe to post! So if you are patient with my rambling, you’ll be able to see a grand recipe for come delicious chocolate chip cookies like none other.

OK. Let me give you a quick rundown of the current happenings:

- I went to my grandfather’s memorial and funeral last month and I was blown away. It was a military service, and there was not a dry eye left in our family. I am happy to know that Grandpa is home and happy.

- Directly after my return from San Diego (which was just beautiful and wonderful), I came down with a nasty stomach bug which left me very drained for quite some time.

- School, of course, is almost done which means it’s time for all of those terrible projects to be due. Just too many group activities for me. Oh well. I’ll be done for the quarter on 8 June.

- I don’t have to fret about a job for the summer, though! I am going to be working at a hospital in Seattle this summer which will help me get my foot in the doors of some of my possible grad schools.

- I have a list of about 15 schools I am looking through… We’ll see what comes my way.

- I also have a place to live next fall. A huge sigh of relief.

- I am making plans to go to France this February to stay with Shazz when she is teaching English abroad.

- And finally, I think I will get a new computer. Yes, the brand new Intel MacBook.

OK. And now for the recipe (adapted from Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies):

Chewy Low-Fat Chocolate Chip & Oatmeal Cookies.

1/4 cup Brummel and Brown (Yogurt spread)
1/2 cup unsweetened, natural applesauce
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 bananas
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup unsifted flour (I like to use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup rolled oats
2 cup Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, cream butter with applesauce, sugar, brown sugar, bananas and vanilla. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Don’t overcook!

Enjoy. (Yes, I know the bananas sound weird, but trust me they are goooood cookies.)

A quick story about why these cookies are the way they are:

I was making cookies for a friend who was helping me study for my microeconomics exam, and I realized that I was nearly out of butter! Yet, I had only 1/4 cup of my Brummel and Brown “butter” left so I crossed my fingers and used the remainder of that mixed with the applesauce. Delicious cookies! Not too hard at all! And then last night for our little LOST party, I made cookies, but we were out of butter AND eggs this time, so I used some of our frozen bananas (which are in the freezer because our friend gave us about 10 very ripe bananas — too much banana bread). Once again, the cookies were delicious. And low in fat. Fancy that.

Let me know if you try it.

1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup blueberries
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons applesauce
1 medium mashed banana
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Heat oven to 350F. Cook oats for 5-10 minutes in, stirring occasionally, until they have a nutty smell. Allow to cool and blend in food processor.
2. Heat oven to 400F. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffin cups.
3. Mix ground oats, milk, blueberries and vanilla in medium bowl. Allow to stand for five minutes to soften oats.
4. Beat in oil and egg with fork. Mix remaining ingredients; stir into cereal mixture until moistened. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to stand five minutes in pan before removing to wire rack. Serve warm.

My first mistake was that I didn’t see the first measurement of butter in the ingredient list (1 Tablespoon). Rather, I shockingly saw the 1-1/2 sticks of unsalted butter measurement, and thus added that to the 3 cups of sifted flour. After rubbing in the butter (the flour felt amazing and it would have made a delicious pie crust) I wondered how this rich flour mixture would turn into a bread. Wouldn’t all of the butter melt out of the flour mixture while cooking, or for that matter, while rising?

I consulted the recipe. To my astonishment, there was a second mention of butter which would be part of the filling. Oh dear. It called for “1 stick of the butter”… but where was this extra stick in the ingredient list? I was, at this point, dumbfounded and confused. I continued to read and saw that I was to “melt the remaining butter and sugar together” (for the topping) while the pecan loaf was baking. Where did all of this butter come from? By this point I decided I was baking a butter loaf rather than a pecan loaf. What was wrong?
Perhaps I should give you a bit of background from my week. I had another bout of exams and projects this week. At the time of baking this pecan loaf, I was running low on steam and black tea. I was also multitasking by caring for my ill brother and preparing the chicken for dinner last night. Needless to say, I didn’t read the directions as well as I should have.

At this point, decided that if I attempted to turn my buttery-flour into dough, I would have one slimy mess. Especially if I decided to bake it and serve it to my friends. With my nutrition background, I could just see my friends’ blood turning to an ooey-gooey mess of lipids and chylomicrons and that didn’t make me all warm and fuzzy inside. I did perhaps the only thing I could think of: I begrudgingly threw the buttery-flour into the garbage. What a shame. I hate wasting flour.

So, I started over.

This time, I used 1/2 stick butter instead of the full amount the recipe called for. I, of course, assumed the loaf, this time, was going perfectly. It wasn’t until after the dough proofed for the first time and I felt how incredibly soft it was did I realize there was something wrong. I have made cinnamon rolls many a-time, but never following a recipe similar to this. Somehow, I added too much butter, I was sure of it, but how is that possible?

Again, I reread the ingredients and instructions. Oh bother! I thought as I saw the second ingredient in the list: 1 tbsp. butter. So that is my problem! I had missed this ingredient and had added three tablespoons of butter too much to the flour mixture. Well, there was no turning back now. But at least the dough didn’t contain 12 times the amount of butter the recipe called for.

Well, let me end this story on a happy note. I recruited my dear roommate to assist me in the cutting of the pecan loaf with thread (my favourite part of making cinnamon-roll-esque desserts) as well as making the caramel pecan topping (by this point, I just wanted to sit on the couch with a cup of tea and zone out).

Finally, the caramel pecan rolls were cooked and topped with a beautiful, sweet sauce. My tasters enjoyed the treat very much. And commented that the extra butter made the rolls even more delicious.

In conclusion, I have learned the following:

1. To thoroughly read the ingredient list;
2. To thoroughly read the directions (before, not just during, baking);
3. To refrain from baking when am too tired to think clearly.
4. To go with the flow. Obviously the caramel pecan loaf turned out splendidly regardless of my flop-ups. And after all, it is more fun to write about the mistakes than how everything went perfectly. Eh?

For your enjoyment… The Recipe:

I don’t think I cried as much the last time I read the series. But this time I identified so much more with specific instances in the character’s lives. I joined them in their sorrows and excitements. This time I grew more attached to the characters. For that I am happy. I love being fully immersed in a book.

Yet, this time, I was taken with the Bear’s character. Yes, some may say he was a bit dense, but I think he was such a truthful character. He did not understand evil. He did not understand the ways of The World (or “Narnia”). (At the same time, he didn’t fully understand what had happened to him after he died and went to his true home — Aslan’s home). Ah, but I identify with this character. I feel so clueless and confused by the ways of the world. I know that I am still quite a child in the ways of both the world and in God’s eyes. There is much to learn. And every time I do learn something, I feel there is even more to learn and thus I feel even further behind in the scheme of things. [I have no idea if this makes sense to you, but to me it does… perhaps that is my fault, I’m sorry. You can talk to me and I can try to clarify this.]

Perhaps my favourite part of the Bear was after he went through the stable door:

The Bear was just going to mutter that he still didn’t understand, when he caught sight of the fruit trees behind them. He waddled to those trees as fast as he could and there, no doubt, found something he understood very well.

Oh, yes. Sometimes the only thing I understand is food. Oh bother. To me, it makes perfect sense. I don’t understand murders. I don’t understand hatred. I don’t understand politics. I don’t understand so much… but food: I understand.

We have all been given gifts by grace, yet I wonder what is my gift? Am I just a keen bread maker? What is my gift? It shouldn’t be something I ponder, I reckon, but how do I hone it if I don’t know what it is? Am I baking bread in vain? Sigh.

On another, but similar note. I have a plan. Over the Christmas Holiday, I bought a copy of Julie & Julia, and while it appears to be a grand idea (cooking through every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking) I am not greatly thrilled with the book. But she has given me an idea. I will apply her plan of cooking Juila Child’s recipes to baking through Carol Tennant’s Knead. I have already begun with three of the copious amounts of recipes. 1. Cinnamon (minus) Raisin, Bread, 2. Basic Whole Wheat Loaf, and 3. Rosemary Foccia. Today I am making Malted Grain, Hazelnut, and Golden Raisin Loaf. We shall see how it turns out. I actually didn’t have any malted grain flour on hand, so I mixed unbleached bread flour with some whole wheat flour. Anyway, please give me some feedback about my plan. I’ll write more about it later.

Thanks for listening.

Yes. So instead of studying last night, I baked a loaf of foccacia. I think I am an Italian at heart. I was watching Molto Mario this afternoon and he was talking about how his fingers are long enough to grab the exact amount of pasta for a serving of four people. I wonder if I could do that. First, though, I need a nice electric scale (the kind that Alton Brown always talks about). Mmhmm.

Mario also said that the biggest mistake Americans make with sauce and pasta is that they oversauce their pasta. This intrigued me. Why? Because everyone has always laughed at my minimalism when it comes to pasta sauce. Yet, Mario informed his audience (me included) that sauce is a dressing. Simple. An enhancement of flavour. No, not something that hides the beauty of pasta. But, of course, some people do buy those cheap unappealing pastas… and I guess in that situation, gallons of sauce are needed. Otherwise, sauce your pasta as you would dress your salad. Yet, that is still a touchy subject because people overdress their salad.

Sigh. I should just move to Europe. Who is with me?