Yum Snickerdoodles!

Well life continues in the kitchen. And I figured since making food is such a big part of my everyday life these days perhaps I should put up some pictures and recipes and such. So. Well this was not my first baking attempt yesterday. I actually tried out a new recipe for "Triple Chunk Chocolate Muffins." Doesn't that sound heavenly? Anyway, I had them all nicely in tins and such, then thank goodness I tried the batter, which informed me that I forgot to add sugar! Close call. So it got a bit messy putting it all back into a bowl, mixing in sugar, and then putting back into muffin tins. Brushing sweat off my brow (ok not really but I gotta make this story elaborate ya know :p) I breathed a sigh of relief thinking I had saved these about-to-be heavenly muffins. I figured I'd probably have to exercise my fingers to sign billions of autographs, thats how delicious these were to be. Anyway. It flopped. I mean it still tasted fine, but did not stay together at all. So I ended up with crumbly chocolate mess. Obviously I could not serve that for tea, so I rounded up some students to polish it off for me. They enjoyed the tasty mess, whilst I threw out the recipe.

I know I know you thought this was about snickerdoodles. Okay so then yesterday evening take 2 at baking I decided to make snickerdoodles. I had never made them or tried them. But they sounded so yummy what with cinnamon sugar and all. And they turned out real well. I didn't take a picture of the ones I made, but they do look kinda like this picture I found on good ol' google. So. Alas. A recipe for you:

Snickerdoodles (makes 48 if you make them real small (ie: actually use a teaspoon to form cookie balls, I made 25)

2 3/4 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 190. Stir together dry ingredients. In separate bowl cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients. Put teaspoonful of dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar.place on large papered tray and flatten a slight. Bake 8-10 min.( Then pray a little blessing over the cookies) *Next time I shall add some cinnamon sugar into the dough mix as well, I think it would add extra oomph.

Enjoy!

Creek Water Soup

Today I learned that cooking without a recipe will not work every time. And so the tale begins...

Once upon a time, in the land of sheep, one brave warrior princess set out on a mission. All warrior princesses need to be armed for battle you know. And so she grabbed her weapons-her never fail apron, and ugly but oh-so-functional crocs. And so the mission began. A mission to defeat the mountain of leftovers multiplying in the chiller. Particularly the veggies. Obviously the chiller was getting too healthy. Having gotten creative before and made a decent pot of soup, she had no reason to believe this mission difficult. And so she set to work, roughly sort of but not really using 3 recipes as a very broad vague subject to her edits and creative whim. In went the veggies to the pot. In went some leftover delicious soup. So far so good. Shepherds pie? Why not. Still looking good. So good that she got carried away adding heaps of delicious things, so sure that it would be splendid. Well. Something went wrong somewhere. The taste was not so awful it was inedible mind you, but definitely not anything to write home about. It would have been ok. Except for abomination of color. Or lack therof, I should say. Funny how mixing so many beautifully colored things could create such an awful, murky unappetizing brown color, a blood relative of some nearby creek water I'm sure. People's expressions were priceless. Going from "yay soup!" at a safe distance from the pot, to a scrunched up face trying to decide if it was worth the risk or not, to polite to question the warrior princess on the edibility of the soup. Needless to say, the abundance of leftovers went to the pigs-hopefully they appreciate the warrior princess' efforts. And so the morning was a right off. At first, this greatly saddened the warrior princess. In the end, she simply had to laugh at herself. After all, how was she to know this conglomeration smorgasbord mishmosh of things would not taste good without trying? "Those who never make mistakes are afraid to try." And so, she is simply human. And continues to dawn her armor each day for a new mission.

I like to freestyle

You know something? Recipes are real boring sometimes. I'm just realizing this more and more as I cook. I used to be mindblown at those who seemed to do the impossible-that is cook without a recipe. Then I felt the iron cage of recipes and saw the light :D. Here's to quotes that I read yesterday:

1. We are ourselves creations. We are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves. This is the God-force extending itself through us. Creativity is God's gift to us. Using creativity is our gift back to God.
2. Cooking is like love-it should be entered into with abandon or not at all.

 I think it just clicked yesterday for me, that I CAN cook without a recipe. I made a big ol' pot of soup yesterday (aren't you proud mom?!). Kinda funny, I was just slicing tomatoes and didn't want to throw away the ends, so I was like, heck, why don't I try out that new tomato soup recipe? Somehow this seemed like a really good idea in spite of the fact that I've never ever made soup before. And so the journey began...but after maybe 5 minutes I got tired of running back and forth from the pot to the recipe to see what went next. Then I realized we didn't have all the ingredients. Well enough of that, how hard can it be to make a pot of soup? I thought. And so I closed my recipe book, through caution to the wind, said a little prayer and off I went. And it ended up tasting great! Funny thing is I'll probably never make the exact same pot of soup again. And I have no idea how to write that "recipe" down, b/c it was helter-skelter freestyling in my apron cooking. A pinch of this a palm of that a little prayer here...

Anyway. So continues life in the kitchen. Don't ask me for recipes :p

 

Well. Still standing after 5 days in the kitchen. You know something-God's a funny guy. So before outreach I remember saying you couldn't pay me to cook, and as soon as I arrived back from outreach He really put it on my heart and I couldn't see myself doing anything else. So now I have the privilege of working with a wonderful women who has been a professional chef for something like 18 years. I'm kinda like a gopher, but I really don't mind. I don't know alot, but I'm absorbing everything I can like a sponge. I am learning many things...a bottle top covered in aluminum foil makes a handy drain plug. Letting surfaces heat before adding veggies works way better. For everything there is a season...a time to peel and a time to refrain from peeling. Whilst I'm not a big salt fan the general consensus is to keep the masses happy the soup needs salt. Aioli makes an excellent salad dressing. A serrated knife is key when cutting tomatoes. Having a dish crew to come in and wash all your dishes (it seems everyday we use half the dishes in the kitchen for each meal!) is a wonderful blessing. And so on and so forth.

I am having a hayday in the kitchen, chopping and chopping and chopping and then chopping some more, helping the chef put out delicious and nutritious concoctions for the masses. I laugh at myself alot, as I dip the oven mitt in batter checking cupcakes, or ruin my facade that I know what I'm doing because I've smeared chocolate batter all across my apron. (I think if I'm wearing an apron I might as well make use of it-the person doing laundry probably doesn't agree :p) I am gaining huge respect for cooks and realizing cooking is a very physical job-no joke, I'm sure I can see new muscle forming already from all the lifting :D. I enjoy being in the kitchen, and I also enjoy leaving the kitchen and relaxing after dinner.

Anyway. That's basically what my week has involved. Now time for some rest and relaxation this weekend. And my brothers and sisters from Justice DTS are coming back this weekend-so I'm uber excited to see and catch up with them.

And then back to the grind Monday, cooking for even more masses!

21

Well, once upon a time I was born. 21 years ago today. So to celebrate this grand occasion here's a post different than most, 21 random facts about me:

1. I have never broken a bone.
2. At the young age of 21, I've had the privilege of seeing (some more than others) Fiji, India, New Zealand, China, USA, and Australia. And plan to see many more. My suitcase remains open and ready at all times-ok more like neatly stowed under the bed, but I do love to travel.
3. I take great pleasure in eating with my hands.
4. Veggies are my friend.
5. This is the first fall I've seen in 3 years. I jump over the equator so often that some days I barely know which season is which anymore (do you mean summer summer, or winter summer? lol)
6. I currently have a hankering for some good ol' Canadian maple syrup.
7. I will be an aunt in about 3 months, which I'm stoked for.
8. I don't generally add salt to my plate, except watermelon.
9. I cannot build fires. Even if my life depends on it.
10. I am a chocaholic. And dessertaholic. It's a very important food group you know.
11. I absolutely love the ocean.
12. I'm single and love it.
13. Whenever I eat birthday cake with vanilla goop in the middle, I always eat it last.
14. Music and spelling are my fortes.
15. I'm a middle child and have 5 siblings whom I love dearly.
16. Growing up I much preferred fishing and helping dad fix tires over helping mom in the kitchen.
17. Speaking of fishing, I have gutted a fish only once. It was so disgusting I will never do it again.
18. My ideal Saturday night is a movie date with 2 of my sisters.
19. I've always wanted to learn to play the violin and the drums.
20. Growing up I wanted to be a librarian or a teacher.
21. I'm hoping to write many songs this season.