Goings On About My Kitchen

This has not been a slow cooking week, that's for sure. A few days ago I made Moravian Molasses Thins. I have made molasses cookies many times before, but never molasses thins. Most of them were pretty thin, but after a while I got lazy and stopped rolling the dough out quite as thin. I also used a new ginger powder, rather than fresh ginger, and it was much more ginger-y, so the cookies came out quite ginger-y as well. If you love ginger, then you probably would have loved these cookies. I liked them - though they could have been less ginger-y.

Tonight I made goat cheese truffles. I haven't tried one yet, but I did like the spoon I used to stir everything together and OO LA LA they were yummy. It chilled for an hour, and then I rolled it out in to balls and coated with sifted cocoa powder, and now they are chilling again. I can't wait to try one - they look and smell so damn good!!

I also made spice cookies. I did not have high hopes for the recipe, since the dough was wicked crumbly and most of it stuck to my hands. The recipe only yielded like 7 cookies as well. I decided to try one and I was pleasantly surprised. It was spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. The cookie did not fall apart in my hand. I can safely say that it was very good. I tried another one, and came to the same conclusion. I am totally satisfied with this recipe. A+ will make again.

I have been meaning to bake various things for people's Christmas presents, but I have not really had the time nor the energy. We'll see if I ever get to it, especially with time being of the essence right now.

Goodnight.

Brunch And Such

Right now my cat Lily is sleeping by my head. This is something she has never done before. It's cute and awesome.

Anyways, Saturday my husband and I met up with some friends for brunch at Johnny D's in Davis Sq. I'd never been there for brunch before, just pizza and trivia night. I was surprised to find no line, but it was about 1pm, so I suppose I should not have been that surprised. There were definitely a lot of people there, and it's a large enough space to hold quite a crowd. I ordered my usual cup of coffee, but also decided to treat myself and get a Mimosa. It had quite a lot of ice, but was still yummy. For food, I ordered a cup of grits with butter to start out with. They were yummy, but not as yummy as I remember from when I lived in Atlanta. Then I ordered 2 eggs scrambled with hash browns and wheat toast. The eggs were quite good - not too dry, and there was definitely no chunks of meat (or whatever) from other people's orders mixed in. They were fluffy to, which always leads to the illusion that there are lots more eggs on your plate than in reality. The hash browns were also good. They were seasoned with something that I can't quite put my finger on. Parsley too. I don't like parsley, but I couldn't taste this, so I was fine. The toast didn't really have any butter on it though. From what I could tell, everyone else enjoyed their food too. The service was great, and it was nice to be able to chill out for a bit after eating. So many places try to rush you out that it's no fun.

After brunch we headed over to Magpie to do some shopping. It's a cute store. Well worth your time if you are in the area. Afterwards, we went to Kickass Cupcakes for some treats. The cupcakes were pretty kickass, so I guess the name works =)

Dinner!

I've actually been cooking a lot lately, which is awesome. Last night I made chicken with yogurt & Indian spices - cinammon, turmeric, curry powder, cardamom, etc. I got to use my awesome Le Creuset dutch oven. It came out pretty well, but could have used more spices. I also made naan, but I failed to read the recipe till too late and didn't realize that it needed to rise for 1 and a 1/2 hours....the chicken was almost done when I started the naan, so it only rose for about 30 minutes. It still tasted pretty decent, though I should have rolled it out about more (I didn't actually roll them - I just smoothed them out with my hands). All in all it was decent, but there is absolutely room for improvement.

Tonight I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas, and BREAD!! Best loaf of bread I have made yet. Such a smooth consistency - so yummy. The meatloaf came out well, though it was less of a loaf and more just flat. The mashed potatoes tasted really good, but mashed potatoes always taste good. The peas were just plain old frozen peas.

But the BREAD!! Ooooh so good! I can't find the thing for uploading my pictures, but once I do I will publish them, because this was a damn good specimen of bread.

Also, it's the second night of Hannukah. Last night my husband gave me clocky which is totally awesome! My cats are petrified of it.

I've been busy

My apologies for not posting recently. I've been pretty busy, and by the time I get home I have no energy to type. Along with the busy-ness, I have had no time to cook, so I have been eating out a lot lately. For the most part it's just been pizza and the like, but I did get take-out from Wonder Spice the other day. I hadn't been to Wonder Spice in I don't know how long. It's a bit of a hike to JP from Brighton, but I decided to grab some take-out, as I had nothing else to do. Whatever I got the last time I was there was sooo good, but I couldn't remember what it was, so I went for ol' faithful and got Sweet and Sour Chicken. I asked for pan fried noodles and a side of white rice, but the noodles were forgotten, and I didn't realize until I got home. I had expected pineapple to be in the dish as well, but there was none. And then the sauce leaked. Everywhere. That being said, the chicken and veggies tasted good, and the sauce was quite yummy. I mixed some in with my white rice and it was quite good. I think the next time I go, it will have to be for sit down. The wait staff was very nice - they let me sit there and wait since it was wayyy too cold to go back outside. And it was cheap - only 10$ for the whole dish, and it was huge. When I was walking back to my car I noticed another Thai restaurant (next to the Indian restaurant on Centre St - Bhakara I think that one is called) that I want to check out, since I have been wicked in to Thai lately.

Today I hit up the Druid in Inman for lunch with some folks. I also had not been there in forever (lately I have just been sticking to Allston & Brighton, occassionaly heading over to Harvard). It's tiny, but I really like the atmosphere and the fact that it's low key. It does not try to be anything it's not. I wasn't feeling adventurous, so I just went for a hamburger with fries (and 2 Magners, of course). The fries still had the potato skin on them, and they tasted very good. I don't really like fries that taste like they had been in a freezer for months, and this was definitely not the case. Plus they had just the right amount of seasonings, though I wish there had actually been more fries. But I guess it's good that there weren't, since fries are my weakness and I could eat them always. The burger was also good - I only get it with lettuce and mayo. It was definitely more than medium, as I had asked for, but that's ok. It was juicy and there was just enough mayo. Too much and it's gross, too little and it's too dry. The lettuce was not the standard iceburg, which is cool, since iceberg can get really old after a while. I think it was mixed greens, but I didn't really examine the lettuce too closely. The bun was a bit too store bought-y (if you know what I mean), but that's also just fine. Our waiter was nice; he didn't bother us except to clear our plates, which is just what you need on a lazy, freezing Saturday afternoon. All in all a good time, and I'll definitely be heading back there soon.

So when I said earlier in this post that I hadn't cooked at all lately, I lied. I made pasta for the second time ever a few days ago. The first time ever was a few days before that, and I failed miserably. Hahaha. This time was better, but not by much. I cut the dough in to four pieces, and the first piece ended up being sacraficial because there was STILL grime in the pasta machine. After all was said and done, the final product still didn't taste that great. I guess I don't put the dough through the roller enough, the the pasta was pretty thin. I let it sit for about 20 mins after cutting. Perhaps I should have let it sit for longer? This will require some experimenting.

Grocery Shopping

I cannot remember the last time I did serious grocery shopping. I think it was definitely still summer time. We tend to just do bits and pieces here and there, but with Thanksgiving coming up, I needed to do a more serious shop. Except, I don't know, but I feel that grocery stores have become more confusing lately. Or maybe I am just going crazy in my old age. There are certain things I am never able to find at Shaw's, like pignoli nuts and mace (the spice, not the stuff to fend off bad guys). I felt better when I saw a man asking an employee where some things were; at least it is not just me. It took me months to find cake flour.

I think the biggest problem is that I get impatient with all of the people in the store. When I walked in, some lady had parked her cart RIGHT IN THE DOOR so everyone else had to squeeze by on the side. I saw her again a little later, and this time she had blocked one of the aisles with her cart. She had a child with her, or else I would have said something. It's instances like that were I get all flustered and then don't feel like looking for the things I need. I have to go back again tomorrow to get the remaining items on my list.

I had planned to do some more baking tonight, but I have a throbbing headache. I hope am not getting sick. It is probably due to the weather changes and the fact that I got stuck in horrible traffic on the way home from work. One snowflake falls and people start driving like assholes. It's crazy.

Eventually I want to make chocolate mousse and chocolate espresso pots de creme but no one I know really likes chocolate, so perhaps it will be a just-for-Alice-thing. I have a serious thing for chocolate. My friend Diana and I went to the Chocolate Barat Cafe Fleuri at the Langham Hotel a few years back and it was simply awesome. Perhaps I'll have her go with me again. I could seriously go for some chocolate indulgence again soon.

Dietary Restrictions

I had only 1 egg and less than a stick of butter, but I really wanted to bake something and had no desire to venture out in to the cold (to go all of 1 block to the store. I really am that lazy). The only thing I could make was a vegan chocolate cake, so I set about to do just that. It actually came out really, really well. I have never made anything vegan, and my cakes have been pretty horrendous lately (like the time I put wayyy too much batter in the pan and it spilled over the top) so I did not have high hopes for this. But it tasted yummy! And looked a-ok! I put some powdered sugar on top and ate a piece while it was still warm (I know, I know, not supposed to cut before it cools, but who cares).

I had wanted to type so much more, but I am just too tired right now.

Can we agree on one thing?

If there is one thing that I can agree with people on, it's that nuts in brownies = WORST IDEA EVER. I like nuts. I like brownies. Sometimes I feel like a nut. But NEVER, EVER should nuts go in brownies (unless you like it that way, in which case, knock yourself out).

My bread came out rather flat (probably since the pan I used is not really meant for bread) but it tastes soooo yummy. I am quite happy with it. I broke a cardinal rule and sliced some while it was still hot, but I regret nothing, since warm bread is quite possibly one of the best things ever.

Also, for your enjoyment: http://freerice.com/index.php

Take 1

The last time I had a blog, it was a Livejournal account and I think it was 2003. I remember it taking forever for actually set it up....so many different steps to go through. Setting this blog up was about 3 steps and took less than 2 minutes. Ah how times and technology have changed.

I am in the process of baking my second ever loaf of bread. The first time it came out rather dense, but tasted good when heated up. I got some good advice from a friend to do it by hand the first few times instead of using the mixer, so as to get a better feel for how it will look (and feel). I took that advice, so we'll see how this loaf turns out. Should be done in about 10 minutes.

I also baked some peanut butter cookies, as they are a favorite of my husband, and I had lots of peanut butter in the cabinet. It finally dawned on me that cooking keeps the kitchen warm - only took what, 26 years to figure that out? Since there is no heat in the kitchen, I guess I'll be baking a lot this winter to keep in warm back there.

I hope someone gets the reference to my blog name.