Giving Thanks 2011

This year was the first year having Thanksgiving dinner in my new home(ish – “ish” because it’s not really where I “live”.. long story). This is also our first Thanksgiving dinner with TURDUCKEN!!! I have to admit, that I wasn’t ambitious enough to make the turducken myself from scratch.. all that bird de-boning, stuffing making, bird tying-up, etc. etc. Some day, though, I will make one of these from scratch.

Last year, we were able to make a completely GLUTEN-FREE Thanksgiving. This year, because of the turducken, we weren’t able to succeed in that regard (brown rice and cornbread stuffing were already included with the turducken). But all the sides were kept strictly gluten free.

Tur-duck-hen!

The Menu for an ALMOST Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

Creole-Style Tur-Duc-Hen (from Big Easy Foods at Costco.com) with Roasted Root Veggies
Gluten-Free Dressing (my own recipe with mild italian sausage, leeks, mushroom medley, walnuts, apples)
Creamy Mashed Potatoes (made in the slow-cooker)
Brussel Sprouts with Maple Butter Pecans (recipe from The Family Kitchen)
Sauteed Green Beans with Bacon and Pine Nuts (my own recipe)
Cranberry Sauce (my own recipe)
Corn (from frozen.. nuked with butter and garlic salt.. it’s a dinner staple at my house)
Classic Gravy (from pan drippings and gluten-free)
Apple-Pear-Cranberry Crumble (modified from Epicurious)

Makeshift prep table

Apple-Pear-Cranberry Crumble.. baked and cooling on the counter

Tur-duck-hen.. fresh from the oven

Tur-duck-hen… all sliced up and ready to eat!

A sink-full of dishes

Thanksgiving dishes aftermath…

I LOVE my dishwasher!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!

I originally wanted to make this to bring to work for Valentine’s Day:

Red Velvet Cake Ball Cake (via Bakerella)

But.. my cake skills aren’t exactly up to par, so what I ended up with was this:

Chocolate Cake with Red Velvet Cake Balls

Side View - so you can see the chocolate candy cups

I will say though, it turned out pretty nice. It’s a two-layer chocolate cake (recipe adapted from A Chef’s Kitchen), with a simple whipped cream frosting (tinted pink), decorated with some red velvet cake balls (adapted from Bakerella). All from SCRATCH (no box cake mixes or premade frosting here!… although I didn’t go milk a cow or mill my own flour, this is as close to perfectly from scratch as it gets for a “city” girl).  It was my first time making cake balls, and it was harder than I had expected (the candy coating part, not the forming part). I think if I ever try it again, I’ll make the cake pops.. in my head, that seems easier and will likely produce prettier results. Recipes to follow later this week….

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!

Recipe: Spaghetti Squash “Lasagna”

I LOVE VEGETABLES! The only vegetables that I don’t like are ones with bitter tastes (bitter melon.. which is from the squash family, I think).. and funky textures (like spongey eggplant.. gross). Other than that (but I’m sure there are more).. I’ll eat all vegetables, at least once. And I love them all different ways: raw, steamed, sauteed, braised, roasted, fried, … you get the picture. Minh LOVES PASTA! He could eat pasta and Mexican food (not together) every day for the rest of his life. Anni loves food, but has that danged Celiac’s. So… imagine my delight a year or so ago when I discovered SPAGHETTI SQUASH!! It’s like a match made in heaven (just like me and Minh… haha.. cheesy). The first time I made spaghetti squash, it was not awesome. We cooked it in the microwave (not knowing how else to quickly steam it), and it ended up a mush. Then, Minh and I had an AWE-MAZING spaghetti squash dish at Haven Gastropub.. and decided that we need to give this vegetable another try.. which is where we get the following..

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna!!!

Spaghetti Squash “Lasagna”
Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

1 medium sized spaghetti squash
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1 28-oz can stewed tomatoes
1 tsp Italian Season or Herbes de Provence
1 lb mild or hot Italian Sausage
1 med onion, diced
6 oz (or so) sliced salami
12 oz shredded mozarella

Step by Step

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out seeds and stringy stuff. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Coat the bottom of a foil-lined baking sheet with olive oil. Bake squash, cut side down, until tender (about 40 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, brown meat and onions in a large skillet.
5. Once meat is browned, add stewed tomatoes and seasoning. Simmer until thickened, then remove from heat
6. Once squash is cooked (can be easily pierced by a knife), remove from oven and let cool slight (so you can handle it).
7. With a fork, shred the squash meat into “spaghetti” strands inside the shell.
8. Layer ingredients in a buttered baking dish: Half the spaghetti squash, half the salami, half the meat sauce, half the cheese.. then repeat (2 sets of layers total).
9. Bake in the oven until bubbly and top is brown (about 25 minutes).Let cool slightly before serving.

Here are some (blurry.. sorry) shots of the process…

Roasted and shreded Spaghetti Squash

First layer.. spaghetti squash

Second layer.. salami

Third layer… meat sauce

Fourth layer … cheese… mmmm… gooey…

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna!!!

If you’re like me.. and tend to bake things in small baking dishes (7×11), then you’ll need two.. and only one set of layers will fit into each baking dish. But.. if you’re smart and use a big baking dish (9×13) then it should all fit into one with 2 sets of layers. I ended up making two littles ones, but that worked out will, becuase Minh, Anni and I devoured the first one and a little bit of the second.

Recipe: Baked Mac’n'Cheese

This week, we revived the tradition with Baked Mac’n'Cheese and The American, starring George Clooney. I got the general recipe for the baked mac’n'cheese from Cooking For Engineer, but made some modifications based on what I had on hand and the taste that I was going for. But, basically, you take a basic bechamel sauce, add a mixture of shredded cheese, mix in your cooked macaroni, top with a breadcrumb mixture and bake in the oven until bubbly, brown, and crispy. I went with mostly Monterrey Jack, but also went a little nuts on cheese from Whole Foods…. used a little Young Emmi Gruyere and Unie Kaas Robusto in the cheese mixture (I was also looking for Fontina, but couldn’t find any at Whole Foods) and topped it off with Reggianito from Argentina with the bread crumbs. We also added some Apple Honey Smoked Bacon that was DELICIOUS!!! I made sure to have cheese leftover for nibbling (and some future recipes). I used the nutmeg and mustard that was called for in the recipe, but not really sure if it did anything for the dish. I think next time I’ll go with some smoked paprika or cayenne instead (we omitted the hot sauce since we couldnt’ find any at Minh’s house). We also ran out of butter, so were unable to mix the breadcrumb mixture with butter for that reallly crunchy top, but it didn’t hurt the dish.

Baked Mac’n'Cheese
Adapted from Cooking for Engineers

Ingredients

4 T unsalted butter
4 T AP flour
3 12-oz cans of evaporated milk
1/2 t nutmeg
1 t ground mustard
salt and pepper
12 oz shredded Monterey Jack
1/2 cup(ish) shredded gruyere (or other cheese of your choice)
1/2 cup(ish) shredded Unie Kaas Robusto (or other cheese of your choice)
1 lb elbow macaroni (or other shaped pasta)
2/3 lb (or more) bacon (we used Apple Honey Smoked)
grated Reggianito (or parmesan)
1/2 c breadcrumbs

Step by Step

1. Cook your pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, brown bacon. Drain on a paper-towel lined plate, then coarsely chop.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F.
4. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat until foaming. Add flour and stir until well mixed.
5. Slowly add evaporated milk , stirring or whisking constantly to prevent lumps.
6. Add seasoning. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the bechamel sauce has thickened (coats back of spoon).
7. Remove from heat. Stir in your shredded cheese and stir until melted.
8. Add pasta and bacon. Stir until well coated.
9. Transfer pasta-cheese mixture into a baking dish (1 9×13 or 2 7×11). Top with grated Reggianito (or parmesan) and breadcrumbs.
10. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

We made ours in two 7×11 baking dishes since it was only the two of us eating (and we weren’t going to get anywhere close to finishing a 9×13 baking dish). So we only baked 1 and saved the other for a later time (dinner with Michele on Friday). To help it keep better, we didn’t add the bacon until we transferred the mixture into the baking dish, and then we only added the bacon to one dish (saved the extra bacon on the side for the other). On the spare, we left the breadcrumb topping off, since this should be added right before baking… just cover and let cool before sticking in the fridge (or freezer).

The whole thing was delicious and creamy. It had a light flavor since it was mostly Monterey Jack cheese, but felt very heavy because of the creamy sauce. The bacon added a salty, sweet crunch that was very pleasant. Next time, I think I’ll add more fo the Robusto to give it a little more flavor.

Happy with Christmas non-Traditions

Of all the normal Christmas “traditions” my family has, we only kept one of them this year. First, let me clarify the idea of “traditions” in my family. I wish we had more traditions, like Christmas pajamas and expected stocking stuffers, but we don’t. Out typical Christmas traditions are as follows:

• Prime rib roast for Christmas Eve dinner
• Opening presents with cousins and aunts on Christmas Eve after dinner
• Midnight mass
• Wake up Christmas morning to open presents with Mom, Dad, Anni and Grandma
• Make french toast for Christmas Day breakfast
• Eat prime rib leftovers for lunch/dinner
• Catch a movie that night

Pretty much the only “tradition” we kept this year was having prime rib for dinner (that’s a Christmas staple!). Everything else was pretty much thrown out the window, which bothered me at first, but eventually turned out for the better. Anni and Morgan were able to spend Christmas Eve at Morgan’s house with his family for their traditional Christmas tacos and enchiladas (now there’s a family very set in the Christmas traditions and sometimes not very flexible about them). Anthony and Nina were actually able to EAT dinner with us instead of showing up for dessert (as they usually do for our family dinners). And my aunt was able to get here BEFORE 6:30PM because she got off work a little earlier on Christmas Day than she did on Christmas Eve… so overall.. it was a good Christmas.

Mom was too tired to go to Mass a Midnight (which was fine by me), so we ended up going to mass Christmas morning. When we got home, Anni made GF chocolate waffles..

chocolate GF waffle batter.. YUM!

Then we opened presents!

The MORNING tree...

Awesome "Italian" presents from Minh and a super comfy, cute scarf from Anni

I spent the rest of the day getting dinner ready, which turned out AMAZING!

The COOKBOOKs used for Christmas Dinner

The Christmas Dinner Menu:

• Ribeye Roast with Roasted Root Veggetables
• Garlicky Green Beans
• Baked Beets
• Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Creamed Corn
• Croissant Chocolate Bread Pudding
• Gluten Free Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Salted Caramel Buttercream

The DELICIOUS ribeye roast... cooked perfectly...

After dinner, we all gathered in the living room to open presents.

The EVENING tree..

Grandma got a BRAND NEW 32″ LCD HDTV, that we all watched Morgan and my uncle mount to the wall.

"What's THIS???"

Didn’t get any shots of everyone else opening presents, but it seemed like everyone like what they got, which is always a good sign.

Finished off the night with Croissant Chocolate Bread Pudding.. DELICIOUS!

Here’s a shot of my Christmas HAUL:

The 2010 Christmas "HAUL"

• From Mom and Dad: Coach make-up bag and a camping light
• From Anni: Hand-knit scarf and three flavored sea salts (Wild Porcini, Hickory Smoked, and Herbes de Provence)
• From Minh: Marcato pasta maker, The Silver Spoon Pasta cookbook, Bialetti Moka 3, Illy coffee (I think it’s a hint that he wants Italian food in our future)
• From Minh’s parents: 14-piece Pyrex round glass container set
• From Anthony and Nina: two bracelets from SEED
• From Di Nhan: $50 giftcard to REI
• From Michele:Fiesta Head Chefs cooking utensils
• From Angie: Cuisinart Electric Fondue Set and Melting Pot cookbook
• From Lampa: Wine from Opera Prima and cheese/crackers/salami
• From work gift exchange: Dexter Season 1
• From Scott and Laurie: Beers of the World

And here are some things I see in my future from other’s presents:

• A pair of homemade socks from Anni’s Sock Looms
• Homemade icecream with Dad’s Cuisinart Icecream Maker
• Beef jerky and dehydrated fruits and veggieswith Mom’s new NESCO Dehydrator
• Home-brewed IPA from Minh’s Beer Making Kit
• Camping food cooked in a CANcooker

Overall.. it was an AWESOME CHRISTMAS!!! and all traditions can get thrown out the window as long as holidays are like this. Now just waiting to close out 2010…

Dad and Minh.. just chillin’, waiting for waffles…

chocolate GF waffle batter.. YUM!

GF Chocolate waffle and maple syrup (from the Christmas penguin)

The MORNING tree…

Anni knit Grandma a nice beanie

Mom opening up her NESCO Dehydrator (with jerky gun)

Dad opening up his Cuisinart Icecream Maker

Anni’s sock looms (from which we are expecting many PAIRS of socks)

Electric bug-zapper racket from Minh… it was this or the extendable fork..

Minh opening up his CANCOOKER

Awesome Beer Making Kit from Anni

Super soft and cute scarf handknit by Anni

Awesome “Italian” presents from Minh and a super comfy, cute scarf from Anni

This is how Minh will look after his first batch of beer

The COOKBOOKs used for Christmas Dinner

Board and knives ready for action

Roast is in the oven, ready to get cooked to perfection..

Food is cooked.. table is set.. Where is EVERYONE?

Anthony and Nina

The DELICIOUS ribeye roast… cooked perfectly…

Baked beets and rosemary garlic mashed potatoes

Creamed corn and garlicky green beans

Mom had the honor of slicing the roast…

… while the rest of us just watched and waited..

My dinner plate… can’t wait to dig in!

The EVENING tree..

That’s a BIG box you got there, Grandma!

“What’s THIS???”

Morgan and Bac Vinh mounting the TV…

… while the rest of us spectate..

Croissant Chocolate Bread Pudding was a HIT, too!!

The 2010 Christmas “HAUL”

Making GF Whoopie!

I recently got my hands on (read: “bought”) a copy of Whoopie Pies by Sarah Billingsley and Amy Treadwell. To be honest.. I don’t think I’ve ever had a whoopie pie before… although the idea of snack-sized cake and frosting is treat that anyone would go for.

One of the Christmas Dinner desserts I made was gluten-free whoopie pies with chocolate cake and salted-caramel buttercream. I followed the cake recipe from the book, but had to take some liberties with the salted-caramel buttercream.

mmmMMMmmmm.. salted caramel...

The chocolate cake turned out different from expected. I was expecting the batter to spread more in the oven and get a bit flatter and smooth out on top. The batter spread a little bit in the oven, but also rose just as much, so I still ended up with rather tall cakes instead of round, flat ones. The cakes also came out rather cracked (like cookies) instead of smooth on the top as whoopie pies should be. This is probably one of the times when a whoopie pie pan would come in handy. We’ll see if the non-GF recipes also result in cracked, semisphere-shaped cakes.

The book doesn’t have a recipe for salted-caramel buttercream. It has a salted caramel recipe and a classic buttercream recipe. So I made both, and then poured the salted caramel (slightly warm still so that it would pour and mix well) into the buttercream frosting (sans vanilla extract and salt). The frosting ended up runnier than it I liked and also very very sweet. So I mixed in another stick of softened butter and then stuck it in the fridge to cool. But then it got hard, so I guess it needs to be room-temperature and runny in order to fill the sandwiches.

The resulting whoopie pie was okay. Not “to die for” delicious, but not horrible either. The cake was a little dryer than I had wanted, but probably because of the GF nature of it. Next time, I’ll substitute oil for butter and hope for a more moist cake (this is what Anni does with her cupcakes). The buttercream was good, although a little on the sweet side. Next time I’ll have to reduce the amount of sugar to account for the extra sweetness of the salted-caramel. All-in-all, a good experiment and I will definitely try it again with some tweaks to the recipe.

Best Part of a Office Christmas: POTLUCKS!!

Christmas is upon us!!! The week before Christmas is one of the best times at work. Essentially, it’s a week-long potluck of cookies and chili/soup and ham and cheese & crackers and candy and other good food. And the food is out pretty much all day, so there’s a lot of eating going on at work (stretching the stomach out for the Holiday feasts at home). Here’s what I brought it for the week-long work potluck..

Day 1: Rainbow Broken Glass Jello, Spicy Chocolate Cookies, Chewy Gingerbread Cookies.

Pretty colors!

Recipe from The Food Librarian – hers turned out much prettier than mine. Probably because I didn’t take the time to cut it into nice bite-sized pieces

This is what's left of the 6 dozen cookies I made for work

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies Recipe from Martha Stewart 2010 Holiday Cookies Magazine

Pretty much a perfect looking cookie (one of the few)

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies Recipe from Guilty Kitchen

Day 2: Cheese Ball Three Ways: (1) Cheddar-Apricot with Dried Cranberries, (2) Goat Cheese and Scallions, (3) Gorgonzola Walnut

mmm.. cheese balls...

Recipe from Martha Stewart

Day 3: “Idle Hands” Bars (or PB Nanaimo Bars)

Didn't turn out as pretty.. but still tasted delicious!

Recipe from Guilty Kitchen

and MORE Rainbow Broken Glass Jello, but cut up nicely this time.

Like edible "abstract" stained glass... YUM!

The nicely cut up pieces of jell-o were pretty when I packed them up the night before, but didn’t survive the trek to work (sliding around.. I guess I didn’t pack it tightly enough, and should have probably used foil cups rather than paper ones)… but it was still delicious.

Day 3 of Christmas Potlucks was also our White Elephant Gift Exchange at work. I came with a useful work lamp from OSH and went home with this…

Season 1 of DEXTER!

Guess what I’ll be watching while spinning on the trainer or running on the treadmill?

Day 4: NADA

I didn’t have time to make anything for Day 4.. but there was still plenty of food to go around. Plus, our management made their annual breakfast burrito feast for our facility (all 500 of us)… YUM!

And lastly.. here’s a shot of my FAVORITE Christmas tree this year:

Where Christmas bicycle presents go to die... (image taken from somewhere on the internet)

This green beauty is on display at The Rocks in Sydney, Australia. So PRETTY!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Oh.. and sorry for the crappy quality of the pictures. Minh has BOTH cameras (the point-and-shoot and the Nikon) in his possession.. so I’ve had to resort to the camera phone.

THANKSGIVING!!!!

Minh and I making gravy... last thing to finish off the meal..

Thanksgiving – as I’ve said before – kicks off one of my favorite times of the year… THE HOLIDAYS!!! But before those precious days of baking and gift-giving and no work can come around, we must first get through Thanksgiving… which I don’t mind so much since I LOVE to cook!!

This year’s Thanksgiving was easy enough. I tried some new recipes, but kept it fairly simple without the complicated ingredients or processes. I knew that I wouldn’t have THAT much time to prep since I was spending most of my free time working out or being lazy… so I kept the recipes down to things that had few ingredients and very little prep or hands-on time. Oh.. and since Anni is diseased with the Celiac’s.. we made everything completely GLUTEN-FREE!!!

The Menu:

• Sage Butter Turkey
• Cornbread-Sausage-Chestnut Stuffing/Dressing
• Buttermilk Chives Mashed Potatoes
• Glazed Carrots
• Sauteed Butternut Squash and Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
• Garlicky Green Beans with Pine Nut
• Apricot Cranberry Relish
• Brazilian Cheese Bread (adapted from Little Teochew)
• Simple Turkey Gravy
• Chocolate Beet Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from Simple Bites)
• Nina’s Signature Pumpkin Cheesecake

I got pretty much everything I needed in two trips to the grocery store (plus maybe one or two side trips that don’t REALLY count). Since the turkey was provided by my aunt (as it has been for the last few years), the total cost of the meal (for 12+) came out to under $150. CRAZINESS!!!

Turkey turned out PERFECT... except for the lack of skin color.. wanted to keep it in longer, but was afraid it would dry out...

For me.. it’s always the SIDES that make the meal. I usually take just a small piece of turkey (dark meat, of course), and LOAD UP on the sides. This year was no exception.. although I think I may have an allergy to brussel sprouts. Minh and I decided we would need to make another dish to be sure, but I got a slight rash on the backs of my hands in the middle of dinner.. and the same thing had happened last year at Thanksgiving. The only thing that we ONLY have at Thanksgiving that we don’t have any other time of year is brussel sprouts and pine nuts.. and I kind of REFUSE to believe that I’m allergic to pine nuts.

LEFT: cornbread sausage chestnut dressing; RIGHT: sauteed butternut squash and brussel sprouts

LEFT to RIGHT: gravy, buttermilk chive mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, sage butter turkey

Anni - Playing "Angry Birds" on the iPad while waiting for dinner...

For some reason, dinner always gets done a little bit earlier than expected, or just in time… but we’re never all ready to sit down and eat. There’s always last minute things that need to get done before everyone is ready to sit down to dinner.. Dad needs to pick out a bottle of wine and somehow get it open (the ever missing wine opener that is never there when you need it)… Mom NEVER sits down with the rest of us but has to finish doing something in the kitchen… Pictures need to be taken.. cups need to be (first put out, and then) filled with various beverages.. etc.. etc.. There’s always SOMETHING. Inevitably, we can all be starving – and at least half of us will be standing around the dinner table waiting to sit down, but dinner will always be thirty minutes AFTER you expect it to start..

And no family gathering is complete (at least not in the last couple years) without some inappropriate picture taken of my grandma holding alcohol that someone has thrust into her hand…. You can’t hear it from looking at the picture, but we’re ALL laughing hysterically in the background.

This picture cracks me up.. Oh Grandma!

Minh and Khiem - "shooting the breeze" while waiting for dinner...

And the last odd thing about our typical Thanksgiving dinner.. NO ONE ever wants to carve the turkey. As the chef for the night, I probably should be the one to do it, but I NEVER EVER EVER carve the turkey. Probably because I’ve never bothered to figure out the best way to do it. I’m always afraid that I’ll completely butcher it.. or worst.. that it’s actually UNDERCOOKED!!! I don’t want to be the one to reveal THAT! Usually Mom will carve the turkey, but since my uncle was in town this year, he did the honors. Although, truth be told, he only made the first cut, then my mom took it away to finish carving in the kitchen. You can also see in the picture how Dad is starting off on the sides before the turkey is even ready.. trust me.. we’re all hungry…

Uncle Viet had the honors of carving the turkey.. mostly because NO ONE ever wants those honors in my house...

And of course, we had to get a family picture for the night. Only ones missing that came later are my aunt Nhan, Anthony and Nina.

Family picture before we all stuff our faces...

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving.. now we have THE HOLIDAYS (!!!) to look forward to…

Chocolate Chip Cookies – Thomas Keller Style

Fall and winter always seem to be the “baking” seasons. Perhaps because the weather is actually cool enough to stand the oven being on in the house (oven at 400*F + 100+*F summer weather = HEAT STROKE at home). Perhaps it’s the overwhelming desire to give homemade baked goods as gifts rather than store-bought. Whatever the reasons may be, I have developed a HUGE desire to bake. More so than usual, because usually I just ignore it and continue working out. This time… I HAD TO SUCCUMB!!!

I decided on Thomas Keller‘s Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Ad Hoc At Home Cookbook. I figured what better way to kick off “baking” season than with the basic chocolate chip cookie. It’s a crowd pleaser and it’s a good recipe to have in your arsenal. I’m not going to re-print the recipe, but you can find it here.

The Ingredients - Thomas Keller Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Ad Hoc at home)

I was heading over to Michele’s for the new FRIDAY NIGHT DINNERS!!! (second installment) and brought much of the ingredients (ok… ALL) and equipment (stand mixer, rubber spatula, cookie scoop, parchment paper) over there since I knew she didn’t have any of this stuff. Plus, had to bring the cookbook… and myself. I would have brought the hand mixer (smaller and more portable and not heavy) but my sister put it SOMEWHERE (i.e. not a logical place) where it was impossible to find.. so I had to carry over the stand mixer. If I really wanted to go OLD SCHOOL (like pre-electricity old school), we could have mixed it all by hand… but I wasn’t ready for that exercise.

Supplies and equipment packed up to head to Michele's

Soon to become part of some DELICIOUS cookies

The cookie dough is simple enough to put together. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in eggs to butter/sugar mixture. Mix in flour. Mix in chocolate. The dough looks heavy on the chocolate chips, but it ended up being the perfect ratio of chocolate to cookie.

Almost wanted to make little balls to freeze for ICECREAM... next time...

I used a 1 1/2″ scoop to make the balls, but I used MOUNDING scoops. The original recipe says it would make 30 cookies… I ended up with 23 (just shy of 2 dozen). I think next time I’l use flattened scoops for more cookies at a smaller size, though these turned out pretty good.

Scooped, placed, and ready to BAKE!

Popped these suckers in the oven for 12 minutes (rotated pans halfway through), and they came out PERFECT and smelled DELICIOUS. I almost wanted to eat one right away, but knew that I’d probably burn ALL the tastebuds in my mouth (and then wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything later).

Chocolate chip cookies.. straight from the oven..

We let them cool on top of the stove for a few minutes before transferring them to our makeshift “cooling rack”…. which ended up being the plastic lid that came with the new cookie sheets she had. Perhaps not the best way to “cool” the cookies since the air isn’t really circulating all around, but it was all we had.

"Cooling" on not a rack.. because we didn't have one on hand..

In the end, the cookies turned out pretty much PERFECT-O! They were soft and gooey in the middle, but had a good crispness on the outside. The cookies were still slightly warm when we ate them, so the chocolate was still all melty…. mmm…

I left some with Michele (only four… she seriously said, “If you leave more, I’ll become diabetic.”.. hahaha) and took the rest home to share with Minh and my family. They were still good in the morning too… still soft and chewy.

A good dozen... saved for later...

The recipe was so simple, I’ll definitely be making these again. I really want to try out chocolate chip cookie brownie bars… wherein you make a brownie mix, but also drop in chocolate chip cookie dough into the pan and bake it all together. Can you even imagine how delicious that would be using Thomas Keller’s recipes???

Wishlist: Cake or Pie(chart)?

Wishlist: Cake or a Pie (Chart)?

How awesome is this cake pan from Danklhampel Design (via Tasteologie by NOTCOT)?

Each part of the of the cake can be a different flavor of cake, which would be awesome for a dinner party where one person likes craisins, but another wants chocolate. Not sure where to buy it, but perhaps it’s something I can make at home.