Milk & Cookies

I did end up making those brownies I mentioned after I finally picked up some eggs. I made them from scratch, using Baker’s chocolate (100% cacao). This is the way we made brownies when I was a kid, and I always was kind of a snob about it! I didn’t like brownies from a mix as they were usually too cakey. Now, I have to say… the mixes are getting pretty good. Everyone who used mixes thought I was crazy for making brownies from scratch instead of the easy way. Actually, making them from scratch is incredibly easy but you don’t have to tell people that…

I just followed the recipe on the Baker’s chocolate box (“One Bowl Brownies”):

• 4 squares Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
• 3/4 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter – the recipe says to microwave it and that’s what I always did as a kid, but our only large microwaveable bowl is currently full of cat food. So I used a double boiler instead which is just as easy. Then stir in sugar. Then eggs and vanilla. And finally the flour.

Grease a 13″x9″ pan. If you’re smart, line it with aluminum foil so you don’t have to wash the pan! Even so, you have to grease the foil. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake 30-35 minutes.

These came out pretty good, nice and fudgy, but I think I have been spoiled by great chocolate. I actually think the brownies from the Ghirardelli mix may be better than these from scratch! Heresy! I think it just comes down to the quality of the chocolate. All 100% cacao is not created equal…

Hey guys, I know it’s been a while since I posted anything. Well, I’m back from the twilight zone and should have time to post my most recent escapades soon. And by twilight zone I mean quals-studying-and-trying-not-to-freak-out zone. That’s right, they are over, after a very noneventful 1.5 hours. (And I think that’s a good thing)

Okay, I have been really craving sweets so I bought some baking chocolate and was going to make brownies this weekend. But we ran out of eggs! D’oh! Instead, I remembered that we had some leftover gingerbread dough in the freezer from Christmas AND still had that fresh ginger from the past two cookie recipes. Ginger lasts for a really long time in the fridge. So I decided to make the gingerbread cookies, adding some fresh ginger and some extra spices for more flavor.

I was also excited that I baked these during the day so there was some natural light for the photography. I discovered a secret of some of the food blogs out there – they use special, expensive flashes instead of the one that comes on their camera. I always wondered about that… most people cook at night but the cooking blogs have these beautiful pictures that look like they are naturally lit. Anyways, this blog let me in on the secret. For now I am stuck with natural light (and not much of it) or the regular flash.

Chopped ginger

First, I defrosted the dough and let it come to almost room temperature so it was roll-able. Meanwhile I chopped the ginger, watched some winter olympics (biathlon!), took a shower, and took some pictures of my cats. Some of these steps are optional – use your judgement.

Maya, the photogenic one

Once the dough was  ready, I rolled it out a little and carefully measured a pinch of nutmeg, a pinch of cloves, and 2 pinches of cinnamon onto the dough. Then I added the fresh ginger and kneaded it all together a few times.

That looks about right

Then I rolled out the dough and cut out some shapes. I made some hearts, a dog, 2 cats, a flower, a moon, the state of California… then by the end I got tired of the shapes and made Colorado, Wyoming, and some coastal states that might have existed had we drawn the lines differently. One of them looks like Kentucky but that was an accident. Then instead of frosting I pressed each one into a pile of sugar and baked them for 7 minutes at 350 F.

There's Wyoming in the middle, and part of Kentucky in the bottom left

Then I ate them and ruined my dinner.

Mmm. I ate four of these today, and four yesterday. At least. It’s hard to keep track after four (and embarrassing).

These cookies sparkle in the sunlight. The main difference between these cookies and a vampire is YOU get to eat THEM. (Also, note to producers, next time try rolling him in sugar for a more believable effect.)

Okay, so here’s the recipe:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
• 3/4 cup raisins
• Additional 2 Tbsp white sugar for rolling cookies in before baking

Brilliant idea from the vegan.

I found this recipe on Recipezaar (here). I noticed that the description mentioned that it had been modified to be vegan, but I figured I would just unmodify it by changing the margarine back to butter and all would be good. Well, I got halfway through the recipe when I realized the other vegan change: there were no eggs! I love eggs! I know some cookies don’t have them but I would never take eggs out of a cookie just so it could be vegan. (Plus, this way my cookies have “protein” and “nutritional value”.) So I went back and I think I found the unvegan recipe this had been modified from. From Allrecipes (here). Apparently the vegan had made a few changes: changed butter to margarine, used 1/3 cups of water instead of 1 Tbsp, 2 1/2 cups of flour isntead of 2 1/4, and 1 1/2 tsp baking soda instead of 1 tsp. The vegan had also added fresh chopped ginger (brilliant)! By the time I looked at the recipe it was too late to change the amount of baking soda or flour, but I decreased the water, added the one egg, and kept the fresh chopped ginger. Everything came out great, but you could play with the amount of flour, baking soda, and water if you wanted and maybe it would turn out even better. I actually think you could decrease the amount of sugar as well and it would still be good.

Do what I say, not what I do (I combined steps 6 and 7). Or you'll get flour stuck in your raisins!

Okay, after that long literature review, here’s the instructions.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Chop ginger until you get 1 Tbsp
3. Mix dry ingredients (flour, soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt)
4. Cream sugar into butter
5. Add egg, molasses, and water to sugar/butter and mix.
6. Add dry ingredients and mix.
7. Add raisins and chopped ginger and mix.
8. Form walnut-sized balls and roll them in the additional 2 Tbsp of sugar.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
10. EAT EAT EAT. OW! Let cool first.

Whoops, we didn’t get a chance to make cookies this week. Instead I thought I’d share an article I read about Michael Pollan’s new book, Food Rules. I like Michael Pollan, but be warned. I’m going to make fun of him a little.

First of all, I find it a little hilarious that his last book, In Defense of Food, had these three rules printed on the front cover: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” I liked the minimalism. Food Rules contains 64 rules spread out over 70 pages. You know, because his intention was to make eating healthy simpler.

The rules themselves I pretty much agree with. Here are a few that I like:

Memories.

“Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” – Well, Michael Pollan never met my great grandmother but if he had, she would have offered him Planter’s Cheez Balls which she always had on hand for guests/great-grandchildren. Just because she was born in 1895 doesn’t mean she never embraced modern culture! She lived to be 101 and got her first cavity filled when she was 99. Sadly, Planter’s Cheez Balls have been discontinued. (And our country’s health is deteriorating! Coincidence? You can sign this petition if you’re concerned.)

“Eat all the junk food you want — as long as you cook it yourself” – I have to totally agree with this one. Most people are too lazy to bake very often, even if it means getting to sit on the couch with a whole batch of cookies and be even lazier afterwards. Case in point: We haven’t made cookies in more than a week! And we have a blog about it!

“Avoid foods you see advertised on television” – I mean, if you buy ANYTHING that’s heavily advertised, a lot of your money is going towards the advertising instead of the value of the product. It’s just even grosser to think about with food because after you buy the low value product you have to eat it.