Summer is slowly coming to an end. I only have about a week before I leave on my big trip and wont be able to see my boyfriend until Christmas. I am remarkably sad. It is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever been through and I am not looking forward to it. Another thing that is slowly coming is college and the daunting problem of becoming lost in The Ohio States giant landscape. Bid me good luck because I will need it.


College also brings me to the sad realization that I will not be able to cook until Christmas and cook I shall. I will gain a lot of weight simply because I'll be baking so much and "testing" my creation.


I now bring you doughnuts.


Yes, I said doughnuts. One of the many things I have on my list to make. I was nervous, I don't even know if I did them correctly, and I was like a watchful dog once these little doughnuts hit the oil. The verdict ended in my friends enjoying them so I would like to say it was a success. My personal opinion is that some were a little dry, especially my first ones. Other than that it turned out great and in all reality was not too difficult.


Chocolate Doughnut Holes


Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup sour cream or buttermilk
• 3 tbs butter, melted and cooled a bit
• Vegetable oil for frying
  

For Glaze

• 8 oz powdered sugar
• 3 tbs milk
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Put flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl whisk eggs, sugar, sour cream, and butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until incorporated. Chill batter for about an hour.

When it is thick enough to handle, make round balls of batter, generously using flour so they do not stick.

Heat oil to about 375 degrees.

Add the holes to the oil but do not over crowd the pan. I rotated them quite often so they were cooked the same through out. It is difficult to tell when they are done since they are dark colored already but use your best judgment and you may have to experiment a little. Do not leave them in over two minutes or they may become to dry.

Take them out and put them on a paper towel lined plate. Let cool. Continue to cook the rest of the holes but make sure the temperature is 375 before you add them again.

For the doughnut glaze simply add the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract together and whisk until smooth.

Here I am again. I know, I am absolutely all over the place when it comes to updating this blog but may I blame it on being a teenager? Or maybe that I am busy? Excuses, excuses, they don't really work but we all do try, don't we?


I will tell you about my day. First, I got sushi and it was awesome actually the word awesome doesn't even explain it. I think my waist size my just do the trick, will that do? I also spent practically the whole day with my boyfriend in which I was overwhelmed by his extreme cuteness.

The day gets better, really it does! I went to something that was actually quite interesting, which was a RAD class that the local police station is promoting. I learned that you should keep your bushes trimmed so that you can see someone behind them and I learned that you should always check your car before you get in, not to mention locking the doors. I learned things that are common sense and things we hear over and over again but we hardly take them into account. The common "it won't happen to me" scenario will probably replay in your minds a hundreds of times once it actually does happen. Basically stay smart and know your surroundings.

My next subject is revolved around these beautiful gnocchi. Ok, so many of them are not really that beautiful but they tasted incredibly good. Just take my word on it and try it. They seem like they would be difficult and time consuming but they are really not that bad.

Gnocchi

Ingredients

• 1 lb 2 oz floury potatoes, unpeeled
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbs Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup flour

Boil the potatoes until just tender. Let cool and remove peel and mash. Mix in the egg yolk and Parmesan cheese also add salt and pepper to your liking (1/4 tsp of salt recommended).

Slowly add flour until it becomes sticky and doughy. Knead for about five minutes, adding flour if necessary.

Divide into four and take one piece and roll into a long snake like shape. Cover the rest until ready. The dough should be 2 cm thick. Cut into pieces, adding fork indents. Put on parchment paper. Repeat with other three pieces of dough.

When ready to cook boil water and add gnocchi until they float to the top. Remove then serve!

You can add any dressing you would like such as pesto or marinara. I used marinara with lots of Parmesan cheese! Yum!

The recipe is courtesy of the book Home style Low-Fat by Bay Books

I went biking today for about a little over an hour and I have to admit I am quite ashamed of the results. I am no longer in shape, not that I was in much shape but I could say I was a little. My father who is coming up to fifty was not breathing heavy while I found myself a little out of breath. In my defense I can at least say that I was a tad bit dehydrated, which consisted of me becoming dizzy, nauseated, and extremely tired. To say the least I was a wimp.

My next goal is to attempt to limit my refined sugar intake because I have been tired none stop it seems and I want to try anything to help me gain more energy. This is going to be a tough battle because everything has refined sugar in it. EVERYTHING. Like I said I am only going to try to limit it as best I can. This is a true challenge.

My picture above resembles broccoli with rice, which is basically what it is. I simply cooked a cup of rice and added broccoli and asparagus. Of course I had to add something a little more than that! Sooo I drenched it with Soy Sauce. One of the amazing things in this world! That and teriyaki of course. Those Asians they knew exactly what they were doing.

Bring on the Asian food!

I love chopsticks too! Such a neat invention and will come very handy for my sushi excursion (I hope that is the right word, I mean you know what I meant right?) tomorrow! I cannot wait. Spicy tuna and eel here I come!

It is interesting all the different blogs that are out there. Why do we make these blogs to share with thousands of people information about our everyday lives? It really is a question to think about because it doesn't make that much sense. Does it make us feel more important? Or does it simply help us through any problems by writing them down and sharing them, like a little bubble that is trapped but finally is able to burst when written down. I have decided that maybe I should start really writing down what I think and expressing my emotions every once in awhile. Who knows it might make me feel better, not that I really have any trouble with feeling good but a little bit relief could be found.

I will start by saying that I want to be a runner. I will next state that I am not a runner, not by any means in the sense I want to be. Another thing I must confess, which I am sure you have noticed, I am not the best with grammar so I do apologize for that.

Recipes will still be here. Trust me, I cook way too much for there not to be. I don't expect there to be many people reading about my life or my experiences but I want to see what writing them down will do.

Any way back to the running. So, I went running, already tired from the day, and ended up only running for twenty lousy minutes. Trust me, these twenty minutes good hardly be considered running but none of the less I am counting them. What makes a person get up or even walk out the door and step outside into usually either blazing hot or freezing cold weather and run? It really is a mystery to me.

I get bored.

Yes, I said it. I get so bored when I run. I have my music blasting away, I am trying to think, and I am looking (sadly not very well considering things are slightly blurry) at the things around me, yet I am bored.

What can I do? I want to be healthy but I just do not like exercising.

And now that I stated how I want to be healthy, I am going to go take a shower and eat some ice cream.

Yes, my logic is faulty and quite confusing but then again I just love food. It's a fault, I'm working on it just not very well. Can you tell?

This tart was decadent, rich and beyond amazing. For really the first time I can say I adapted a recipe and sort of made it my own. Well not really adapted it. I couldn't give myself any credit for that. I simply took a recipe for a tart used the recipe for the pastry and chocolate ganache then took a recipe for chocolate mousse and used that as the filling. The results were perfect. Such a rich dessert that milk is almost needed but in a good way because who doesn't love chocolate?


This was my first attempt at a tart so the crust ended up being a little sticky and I had some trouble getting the tart off the plate. All and all though it was pretty easy.

Sadly I was a little rushed on time and just took some simply snap shots. I wish I could have really taken my time and find a better piece to picture too because the last part I had cut off didn't slice so easily.

This tart really was easy to make and was so incredibly good.

Not to mention you have some chocolate mousse left over to eat right out of the bowl and this is gooooood mousse.

Chocolate Mousse Tart

Ingredients

For chocolate dough

• 8 tbs butter
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbs of confectioners sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder

For chocolate mousse

• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 6 tbs butter (3 oz)
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 cup cold heavy whipping c ream
• 1/8 tsp salt

For chocolate ganache

• 3 1/2 oz chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

To make the dough cream the butter and confectioners sugar until combined. Add egg yolks and vanilla, beat until mixed in and smooth. Stir in the flour and cocoa powder until combined. Put dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Roll the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out until it is a little larger than your tart pan. Shape dough into your tart pan letting the dough rise up the sides. Don't worry if it falls apart just reshape it and mold the dough back into the part that has fallen apart. Chill the tart for 30 min.

Prick the tart with a fork and line with parchment paper. Add pie weights or dried beans on top. Cook the tart for about 15 min then remove parchment paper and cook until it looks dry, about 5 to 10 min.

To make the mousse melt the chocolate and butter over over a bowl that is on top of a sauce pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth.

In a small bowl beat egg yolks with a mixer until thick enough for ribbons to form when poured. Whisk together the egg yolks and melted chocolate.

In another bowl beat cream until stiff peaks form. Then in another bowl beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form.

Fold the whipped cream and egg whites into chocolate mixture a little at a time.

Once the tart is cooled transfer the mousse into the tart shell until it fills close to the top. Use your best judgment on amount but remember we still must add the ganache.

Let sit in the fridge until the mousse is firm. Put plastic wrap over the tart while it chills

To make the chocolate ganache heat the cream in a sauce pan. Once thoroughly heated but not boiling, pour over chocolate. Let sit for a min or so to let the chocolate melt then mix until smooth. Pour the ganache over the mousse. Chill until ganache is set.

Then serve your decadent chocolate tart!

Don't forget that milk.

You'll need it.

The dough and the ganache is courtesy of Lottie and Doof.

The mousse recipe is courtesy of Smitten Kitchen

I finally did it. I tackled the quiche and to my great surprise it turned out great! My mom loved it and it looked super pretty! Can you tell?

The only thing that gave me troubles was the crust. When I was rolling it out it was a little bit crumbly and didn't get quite big enough to go up the whole side of the tart pan but other than that this was super easy to make!

Spinach Quiche

Ingredients

For crust

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 6 oz cold unsalted butter
• 3 tbs ice water

For inside

• 3 oz cream cheese, room temp
• 1/3 cup half and half
• 3 eggs
• 10 oz package frozen spinach thawed
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper

To make the dough you simply run the flour, salt, and butter through a food processor until crumbly. Add the water slowly until mixture begins to hold together. I used my hand and that will also work out just fine too.

Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or freeze until needed.

To finish the quiche roll out the dough until big enough to be put in tart pan and cover the sides or there is a nice overhang. Cut off any extra scraps along the side of tart pan.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth and gradually beat in the half and half and eggs. Mix in remaining ingredients and pour mixture into prepared tart pan. Bake until crust is golden and filling is set, which will be about 25 minutes. Let cool, then serve!

This recipe is courtesy of SmittenKitchen.

Must I really say how amazing these brownies are?

Don't they look beyond delicious?

Do I have to tell you to go make these?

Right.
Now.

Grasshopper Brownies

Ingredients

For Brownie

• 1 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 10 1/2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder

For mint ganache

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 10 oz fine-quality white chocolate (I just used chips and it worked out great0
• 2 green creme de menthe
• 1 tsp peppermint extract

For chocolate ganache

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 10 oz bittersweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly butter a 13- by 9- inch baking pan. Place foil along bottom leaving enough to hangover the edge on both sides and grease the foil to prevent stick.

Melt butter and chocolate with brown sugar over moderate heat. Continue until smooth, mixing it every once in a while. Remove from heat and whisk in eggs and vanilla. Once combined mix in flour, cocoa, and salt.

Spread batter in baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool for about 1 1/2 hours.

For the mint ganache heat the cream in a pan. Once heated pour over top of white chocolate chunks. Let sit for about a minute then mix with a whisk. Add the peppermint and creme de menthe. Cover and put in fridge to thicken, about and hour. Mix every once in awhile

For chocolate ganache do the same procedure by heating the cream and pouring on the chocolate. Let chill for 30 minutes, mixing every once in awhile.

To assemble, spread the mint ganache over the brownies. Then chill for about 30 minutes. Spread chocolate ganache on next and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Lift dessert out of pan and cut into bite-size pieces!

This recipe is courtesy of SmittenKitchen

Buttermilk Pecan Sticky Bun Coffee cake.

This cake was good to my standards but then again I love caramel sooo that has a very significant part of decision. My parents on the other hand only thought this cake was ok but I must admit it is a cake that must be eaten right away. If you let it sit for too long it starts to get a little hard. Other than that I found this cake to be quite satisfying!

So, if you like caramel you must go and try this cake!

The recipe is from a very cute little website with great photographs! The blog is called Savour Fare and I would defiantly go and check it out!

ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tbs molasses
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tbs vanilla
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

For Frosting

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 buttermilk
• Pecan halves to dust on top!

Preheat oven to 350 and spray cooking spray or other grease in a 10 by 13 baking dish

Mix the butter, sugar, and molasses in a bowl and beat until nice and fluffy.

Add the eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Mix until combined. Add the flours, baking soda, and salt next, also mixing until combined.

Pour into pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

For the frosting heat the butter until it becomes a deep nutty brown color. Be careful so it doesn't burn. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and buttermilk, and cook on high heat for about two to three minutes. Take off burner and let cool for just a little bit. Then poor all over the cake! Garnish with the nuts but be careful after they dry of moving them because they will take the cake with them too!

This recipe is courtesy of Savour Fare

Today was a bright sunshine day and all I could think was I wish the sun would go away. I am probably not like everyone else when it comes to the weather. I like it when its overcast and days people think are dreary. When it is all sunny out all everyone does is want to sleep and I sit extremely drowsy not wishing to do absolutely anything. Please rain come my way!


As much as I love the rain, hamburgers are best when it is nice and sunny out. These light brioche burger buns do just the trick when your in need of a good burger fix. The recipe is courtesy of the Smitten Kitchen who has such extremely good recipes and photos! I would most defiantly check out her website at http://www.smittenkitchen.com/.


Everyone has their own way of making their perfect burger, for me it is simply lettuce and tomato. You let the tomato bring that nice juicy bite and it is perfect. These buns were great at soaking up that tomato juice and giving the great taste that I was looking for. Please do go make yourself these buns on a nice sunny day.


Light Brioche Buns




Ingredients

• 3 tbs warm milk
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 tbs sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 tbs unsalted butter, softened
• Sesame seeds

Combine the milk, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for about five minutes until foamy.

In a medium bowl mix the flours and salt. Add the butter, mixing with hand until crumbly. Add the yeast mixture and one beaten egg.

Dust your counter top with all-purpose flour and dump dough out on to counter. Knead until smooth and elastic. The dough is very sticky and I had trouble with it at points but try to only add as much flour that is absolutely needed! Too much will make them not as light and delicious!!

Put dough into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about one to two hours. The dough should double in size.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and separate dough into eight small balls. Lay them as spread out as possible on the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. They should rise a little more, I would say leave there for about an hour to two hours.

Put a pan of water at the bottom of your over and preheat to 400 degrees. Beat the remaining egg with a tbs of water and brush onto the buns, adding sesame seeds. Bake for about 15 minutes until tops are golden brown.

Let cool and get a hamburger between that bun!

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Bowties with mushrooms, baby spinach, and pine nuts

So this was basically a big hit with my family. Not to mention it looked pretty it also tasted insanely awesome! I made it for my parents but as I was making it the quantity just slowing started to go down...and down...and down. It was just too good to resist!

I would have to say not much is going on in my life right now. It is summer. I am sitting around trying to find out what to do. I think I'm going to start knitting which I can admit is a little oldish I suppose but well I've done the cooking, the photographing, attempted scrap booking, tried guitar...Just seems like I have trouble sticking with stuff I suppose. I hope to maybe make something for my boyfriend before he goes of to his basic training! How cute would that be!!

I am so utterly lame.

Ingredients

1/2 oz dried mushrooms, (I used morel because I had them lying around)

1 Cup boiling water

8 oz uncooked bow ties

2 tsp olive oil

2 cups cremini mushrooms

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

salt and pepper to taste

big handful of spinach

2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, which means a lot more then that....for me anyway

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

Put the dried mushrooms with the boiling hot water and let sit for about 15 minutes. Drain through a sieve or if you don't have one just use a paper towel. Reserve the mushrooms soaking liquid. Rinse off any remaining grit on the dried mushrooms and slice.

Cook pasta according to packaged direction.

Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and both fresh and dried mushrooms. Cook until fresh mushrooms look wilted and look done.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining 1/4 cup cold water and add to mushrooms as well as the remaining mushroom soaking liquid. Simmer until sauce begins to thicken.

Pour the mushrooms sauce over the pasta and add the spinach and parmesan. Mix until spinach is wilted and parmesan is melted. Add pine nuts and serve!

This recipe is courtesy of Weightwatchers.....AGAIN

Enjoy!!!

I'm here again. And I am adding a recipe. Surprise surprise, right? So sorry I am not the best at this whole writing thing considering I take the pictures and do the cooking. Well sometimes I photograph.....I have been baking a lot but well haven't really been taking pictures of those things which is rather sad considering I've been a pretty big baking fool. Yesterday, for instants, I made hummingbird cake which I have been wanting to for a while now. It consists of crushed pineapple and mashed bananas with cream cheese frosting. It was pretty delicious not going to lie and AND I was able to put it together without absolutely destroying it. I've also made strawberry cupcakes, red velvet cupcakes, and toffee cookies. All delicious.

So the recipe I bring you today is Thai-Roasted Tofu with Chili and Basil from Weight watchers

I changed a few things but kept it pretty close to its original recipe.

Ingredients

• 14 oz extra firm tofu cut into slices


• 3 tbsp soy sauce


• 2 tsp olive oil


• 2 tbsp ginger root


• 1 garlic clove


• red pepper flakes to taste


• 3.5 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced


• 1 bell pepper sliced


• 1 cup string beans, trimmed and cut in half


• 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce


• shredded basil
  
• scallions, sliced
  

Place the tofu on several sheets of paper towels and place more paper towels over the tofu. Set a cooking tray on top and put some heavy objects on top to squeeze the water out. Keep the tofu like this for about 20 to 30 minutes or until you feel as much moisture is out as possible.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Dice the tofu up into small cubes. Spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray and place tofu on top. Take some of the soy sauce and brush the soy sauce on top of the cubes. Spray the tofu with cooking spray.

Roast in the oven for about 25 min but depending on size of tofu I would recommend watching it once it hits the 20 or even 15 mark.

Put the oil in a skillet big enough to hold all the ingredients. Add the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes and stir until fragrant. Add the mushrooms next and cook until softened. Once the mushrooms are ready add the green beans and peppers. Stir until the vegetables are cooked through.

Add the remaining soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, basil, scallions, and tofu. Mix together until all is heated through.

Serve!

P.S. Rice is included in the recipe but I did not use it. Simply cook up some brown rice and add to the vegetables at the end and your good to go!

Blueberry Crumb Bars

So I know it has been a while....ok it has been a really really long time. I can't help it! Graduation came, AP test to study for! Way too much I say so I would just blame my teachers but I am here again and with Blueberry Crumb Bars by Smittenkitchen. Yum. Unbelievably yum.

These bars are without a doubt one of the prettiest things I have ever made. The blueberry layer and the crumbly top come out perfect together and really bring out the gorgeous colors of the blueberries!

Again. I repeat....YUM!

Easy Vegetable Soup



It has snowed a lot over the last two weeks. I have missed around 5 days of school which in all reality I'm not complaining but I am so completely lost. What am I doing in school? Well good question, I don't know. I feel like I should be doing something and I am getting backed up with my scholarships and AP studying but it is like time stopped. It doesn't really feel like I am wasting my day and time is continuing. This is bad, really bad. I feel sort of useless. I need a schedule really bad but another plus is I am about to go to Disney! Missing school again for that...

When I get back I hope everything will work out and I will find myself on track again, I am in dire need of it.

Vegetable soup, one of the easiest things to make and possibly one of the most delicious.
This simply consist of me throwing a ton of vegetables in a pot with some chicken broth, garlic, and two thyme sprigs. It came out just as I had hoped and my boyfriend absolutely loved it, so I must have done something right! Actually I wish there was some still left....

So go and make vegetable soup, you'll be glad you did.

Peanut butter Cookies Sandwiches

Yum.

Originally I am not a big peanut butter cookie fan and in all reality probably wouldn't like these without the filling. Harsh, but sort of true. I am sure the cookies were fine plain too but if you can put filling in them then whats the point of having them plain?!

Sadly I made these for no reason but too simply bake and I was left with all these cookies! Not that that is really a terrible problem to have but trying to watch my weight with a ton of delicious cookies around is not good.

So, I fed them to my mom's work. Of course a couple friends too. They all liked them so I'm pretty sure this recipe was a hit! Not to mention it was from Joythebaker and well she is fantastic. I love all of her recipes and always tend to go back for more!

So here is her amazing recipe. I would recommend checking her blog out and making these cookies of course.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Filling

• 2 cups crunchy peanut butter (I mixed it with smooth too)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (pretty much liquid)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375

Mix together peanut butter and butter. Mix on medium until well combined. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix until incorporated. Then add the egg and do the same.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and add to mixture slowly. Mix until fully combined, my dough was pretty thick too the point that no dough stuck to the side of the bowl. If your dough needs to harden stick the fridge for about 30 min.

Make about a tbs round balls. Press with a fork to make the decorations on the cookies. Cook for about 7-10 min until slightly brown on the top.

As the cookies cool, mix the filling ingredients with your mixture. When I created the filling it was a little bit of an experiment but take the basic idea and add what you think will taste the best. Sorry!

To finish them up just add the filling and combine two sandwiches and you have your Peanut Butter Sandwiches. Take and enjoy!

Homemade Yeast Pretzels.



I finally tackled the yeast monster.
I would like to be able to say that I did it perfectly and it was so completely easy but well I messed up. Go figure. I probably should have researched a little more and got more comfortable with how to use it but I was feeling ambitious and just wanted to go! Well bad move, instead of using dry active yeast I used high active yeast, or something like that. As I began to knead I knew that something wasn't right. My dough was dry, and crumbly and the recipe specifically said it should feel tacky. Ok, something isn't right.

To the store I go. To get dry active yeast.

With the left over dough I felt like it was just too sad to throw away so I turned the oven on at 425, sprayed some cooking spray on "rolls" that I had made out of it and stuck it in. I watched the time and eventually whipped them out. What appeared seemed rather pleasing. See I am a bread lover. You put a giant cookie in front of me and a loaf of bread, well lets just say the cookie can go to the cookie monster. I want my bread. So maybe these rolls were horrible but I couldn't help but like them. I mean you could defiantly tell something was a little off but I didn't die when I ate them! So their good to me.

Back to the pretzels. These pretzels were good. I got the approval from my best friend, parents, and my boyfriend. That's pretty good, right? After I got the correct yeast, it worked out fine. These did take a long time to make but mostly because of having to roll out each pretzel and shaping them. It really wasn't too bad through, much better then I would have thought. And so the yeast demon is defeated. I can use yeast and oh how I plan too. Nothing beats the taste of freshly made bread. Yum.

Homemade Pretzels

Ingredients

• 1 package dry yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 cups water
• 2 tbs baking soda
• 1 tsp cornmeal
• 1 tsp water
• 1 egg
• salt or sesame seeds for toppings

Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water together and let sit for 5 minutes. Make sure the yeast is active.

Combine the 3 cups flour and salt together and slowly add it to yeast mixture. Stir until dough forms. Prepare a surface to knead the dough with a lightly floured surface. Put dough out and begin to knead for about 8 minutes, adding flour if sticky. Try to add as small amount as possible. Place dough into a large bowl coated with cooking spray, covering with a wet towel. Let rise for 40 min.

Press dough with two fingers. If indentation remains then the dough is ready. Punch dough down and cover again for another 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425

Divide dough into 12 portions and roll out the dough and shape into a pretzel. Place on a baking sheet, slightly coated with cooking spray. Keep dough covered as you continue the process. Cover and let rise for 10 min after you have made all 12 pretzels.

Combine 6 cups of water and baking soda in an non aluminum dutch oven. Bring to a boil and let simmer. Lower one pretzel into the water and cook for 15 sec and flip over and cook for another 15 sec. Continue with remaining pretzels.

Place pretzels on a baking sheet coated with cornmeal. Mix egg and water together and brush the pretzels with the mixture. Coat with according toppings.

Place in oven for 12 min.

Your homemade pretzels are ready to eat!

Oh, and this recipe is once again courtesy of cooking light. Seriously get the book, it is amazing!

Snow day today. Sort of happy, sort of not. I have been dying for a snow day ALL YEAR but the one time I don't want one, well we have one. Really? I am gong to Disney next week and I'm going to miss about three days of school and I don't want all my tests to be pushed back to those three days! All well, I guess just take advantage of the snow day.

Which is why I have the chance to enlighten you about a very delicious recipe.

I want to cook, mostly bake, so bad lately. It's to the point where I am asking people if they want me to make them anything, practically pleading them to let me. My mother finally caved and told me I could make her muffins to bring to her work, so tah dah yummy delicious Sour Cream Muffins with Poppy seed Streusal Topping.

They were light. They were fantastic. I will make these again. and again. and again.

Sour Cream Muffins with Poppy seed Streusal Topping

recipe courtesy of The Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp salt


• 3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
  
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
  
• 1 tbs grated orange


• 1 tsp vanilla extract


• 1 large egg


• 8 oz reduced fat sour cream
  

streusal topping

• 3 tbs sugar


• 2 tbs flour


• 1 tbs butter, melted


• 1 tsp poppy seeds
  

Preheat oven to 375

Add the dry mixtures together, the first 5 ingredients. Stir together the liquid ingredients, or the remaining ingredients and pour over the dry. Stir until mixed throughout and a dough consistency appears.

Spoon the batter into 15 (I ended up with around 17, it all just depends on how big you want your muffin) muffin cups.

Mix the streusal toppings into another bowl until crumbly. Sprinkle the toppings over the prepared muffin cups.

Place the muffins in the oven for about 18 min, varying depending on the amount you put in each cup. Watch until the muffins start to turn a little golden on the top.

Then enjoy!

So I am giving this a go again.

Sorry, I am sort of a failure when it comes to being consistent I've come to realize that. School had started, my senior year of all years, and well it just sort of went down hill from there. I wasn't able to cook as much as I did in the summer, especially during band season, and then I just got caught up with college applications and scholarship stuff. Who ever said that senior year was the best? Well they lied. It is not fun at all and in fact sucks really bad. I have worked a lot this year which was not suppose to happen at all and senioritis has kicked in double drive. Such a drag. To top that off i have no pictures of the things I have made to give you, but trust me there has been quite a bit. Peanut butter rice krispies, an apple cake, several cookies, some failed brownies, apple crisp, all made it into my kitchen yet my camera magically was lost during that time. Sorry again for such the sad disappointment. But I bring you the cookies that I have been made famous for, well not famous but my friends practically drool over them. There simply sugar cookies, nothing dramatic.


But they are amazing, I have to admit. The best part of course is licking the cookie dough, oh man oh man is that good cookie dough.



These sugar cookies are not suppose to be sugar cookies. They were originally suppose too be snicker doodle cookies, which I also made with this recipe and was also extremely good, but I wanted sugar cookies. So, that's what they became. The recipe is the snicker doodle recipe off of http://www.joyofbaking.com/, just simply exclude rolling the dough in cinnamon and sugar.

My friends demand these cookies and for good reason really. They are amazing.

P.S. I am apologizing for my horrible grammar in advanced. I am in Honors English but grammar, well lets just say that's not why I am in Honors English.