In Which She Pretends She Is a Chef :)

I was visiting my grandparents' house last week and I got a chance to envelope myself in the Food Channel now and then. When I encounter these shows I am so glad we do not have cable t.v., for I'd be sitting there watching the cooking shows all day long. ;)

Some of my favorite chefs to watch at their trade are:

Ina Garten on "The Barefoot Contessa" [who I didn't get to see this time. :( ]

Giada De Laurentiis 

Bobby Flay

The Pioneer Woman

And the cooking-competitions "Chopped", "Iron Chef", and "Cupcake Wars." :) I have a silly little fondness for such things. So watching the cooking channel leave me having two desires:

1. To be able to chop that fast and with those knives.

2. To be original with my meals--to make them look amazing and taste superb.

I started thinking of ways that I could dress up the food I make for my family--after all, I spend half the day in the kitchen [literally] and there has to be something I could do differently now and then. :) I am thinking about starting up a recipe-inspiration series--what do you think of that idea? :) For now, here is some Pinterest-inspiration to help you and me along. :)

Frankly, this is brilliant! I have not tried shaping my eggs this way, but I think it would look stunning for a Mother's Day breakfast for really any occasion where you thought a little extra love would not go amiss. (Pity I don't like hard-boiled eggs. :D)

Okay. So this is not exactly food, but I adore this color scheme--it is so...Sicilian or something, with the citrus fruits mixed with the simple flower arrangement! Gorgeous!

Aren't these just so happy?!? Love it. I'm thinking it is Jell-o layered with...yogurt or pudding or something? Hm. Not sure how that would taste, but it's stunning!

Admittedly, I'm a sucker for pretty things. Especially parfaits...

What a cute little chubby pot-pie! I love personal things, and that dish looks simply adorable.

I've decided radishes are not good for anything except decoration. In that category they are irresistable...

And check this out:

Isn't that breath-taking? I love it. So. Much.

While on the subject of flowers I've gotta say, someday I am totally doing this:

There is a surprising array of flowers that are entirely edible--you just have to ferret them out. I had sudden inspiration (while taking a walk with Maryanna after choir) of sprinkling a salad with Violet Wood-sorrel (pink oxalis) which grows in profusion around here--The leaves, stems, and flowers taste like lemon, and so as children we called it "Lemon-grass," little realizing there was already a plant christened that. :D

This is what the wood-sorrel looks like--isn't it beautiful? But back to food.

It is also a proven fact that I am fond of tiny things like appetizers--aren't these adorable?

These are really neat too:

Not sure what they are filled with, but those appear to be roasted squash blossoms on top. :)

Anyway, I was greatly inspired by the Food Channel last week and I hope this post inspired you too. Look out for more neat recipe ideas in the future!

Cookie-love :)

In my quest over the years for the perfect chocolate-chip cookie, I had narrowed my criteria down to a few things:

• They have to be chewy
• They have to be thick
• They have to have plenty of chunk to them
• They have to be a cookie texture. [i.e. not cake-y]

But there was always something wrong. I'm sorry, dear Nestle-Tollhouse, but your recipe does not cut it. There was also the strange problem of the cookies turning out a different way every time. Sometimes they were just hard little balls. Other times it appeared that there was a steamroller in my oven running back and forth across the cookies. And once, once in a midnight-blue moon I'd get it. The ideal cookie.
Then I started baking as a business. We wanted to sell chocolate chip cookies along with our other products, but I knew for a fact that our classic recipe just wasn't reliable enough.

Enter The Brown-Eyed Baker.

 Not only was her name simply adorable, her recipe looked smashing. So I printed it off. I tried it. I fell in love. Simple as that. These cookies are it. They are fat. Chunky. Enormous. Everything we girls dread in ourselves but adore in a cookie. The secret? I'll quote The Brown-eyed Baker herself:

Source

"The secret to the thick and chewy cookies is the combination of using melted butter, an extra egg yolk, and a higher ratio of brown sugar to white sugar. Also, definitely follow the instructions for making jagged edges on the top of the cookie – this gives them the crinkled and craggly bakery cookie look."

The craggly look, as I soon found out, comes from the fact that you roll your ball, then pull it in half. You'll have two squiggly sides, you know what I mean. Rotate the halves so that their squiggly sides point up into the air. Squish the bases of the two halves together and leave squiggles galore. Set onto the parchment paper and bake as is. This is the secret to having that classic rocky-topped bakery look. I was tickled pink when it worked, and I laughed my head off trying to show a friend how to do it. I've linked to the instructions for this craggle-top if you're still confused...

How to Craggle-Top

 I've shared the recipe below as it is found on both her website, and Baking Illustrated, page 434. (Her source for this recipe)

 Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: Baking Illustrated, page 434)

Makes about 18 large cookies.

These oversized cookies are chewy and thick, like many of the chocolate chip cookies sold in gourmet shops and cookie stores. They rely on melted butter and an extra egg yolk to keep their texture soft. These cookies are best served warm from the oven but will retain their texture even when cooled. To ensure the proper texture, cool the cookies on the baking sheet. Oversized baking sheets allow you to get all the dough into the oven at one time. If you’re using smaller baking sheets, put fewer cookies on each sheet and bake them in batches.

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (10 5/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips to taste.
4.  Roll a scant 1/4 cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough’s uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart.
5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a side metal spatula.

 *    *     *    *    *

My notes on this recipe are only a couple of things. First off, don't worry if the dough is goopy--you're melting the butter so it will be a little soft. You can refrigerate the dough for a few minutes if you like, though a little while on the counter will do the trick. Secondly, use parchment paper. I can't tell you how many times this has saved my skin! Third and lastly, bake only one tray at a time--that's probably the most important thing of all! :) So give these cookies a go and come back and tell me how they worked! I like using Nestle Chocolate Chunks instead of the chips--they only enhance the over-all rockiness of these beauties! -Rach

Dreamy Snippets

There's a certain precious impossibility in dreams that make them almost twice as valuable if they don't come true.

When the snow melts the morning after it falls I always feel like it's apologizing and creeping away..too bad it thinks it's unwanted!

 

When I hear a piece of music and get chills, I know I must be an instrument-less musician at heart.

There is always someone better than you in whatever field you choose...it's comforting really, knowing you've not yet reached a dizzying height.

 

There is no use in reading for reading's sake. But when you open a book and your heart is drawn in...let yourself read till your eyes refuse to take another word more.

A letter sent through the post is far more worthwhile than a letter sent online--it could be the same letter, but a stamp and an envelope and that devil-may-care attitude a travel-worn letter has is priceless. Keep the P.O. in business!

No matter what anyone says, Winnie-the-Pooh books are for adults. Read them today and laugh your head off.

Rubber boots are the number one must have for a country-girl...hmmm...Then why am I bootless right now?

Your dear Someone can have no ill manners, no vexing habits, no petty faults until you meet him... :D