ooh, so crafty and clever

This makes me want to head to the Goodwill! Awesome!

Which came first???

The chicken or the egg? Well - I’ve come out of my Idol induced coma - to post a video that I just saw today. I’m not an animal rights activist - and I am actually pro-farmer - just not industrial farms. This video shows the treatment of laying hens at a facility in Turlock, California. I’m not saying we shouldn’t eat eggs - but maybe now would be a good time to look into getting your eggs from a local source - or at least find some that are cage-free - and fed a vegetarian diet.

WARNING:  THIS VIDEO IS VERY DISTURBING AND SHOULD NOT BE WATCHED BY SMALL CHILDREN

We interrupt this (unintentional) blog hiatus…

…to sing the praises of Naan:

Seriously. Dude. Go make this. You can find the recipe here.

I do hate to be the bearer of whole-grain bad news, but it’s totally not as good when you add whole wheat flour. It’s best to follow the recipe, using bread flour, for tastiest results. I added a mere half cup of KAF organic wheat flour (which is very mild) and it did throw the recipe off. (sigh)

The only other change I made was one that was suggested in the reviews — instead of kneading the garlic in, I sauteed it in olive oil and used that oil in the cooking step. mmmm, garlicky.

I fell to temptation

…because what I really, really need is another time-sucking web site to visit.

(sigh)

Right, Carrie?

Just the right amount of cookies

I think I’ve found it — the holy grail of baking. (mine, anyways…)

I do have quite a few chocolate chip cookie recipes that are Very Good, but they do all require softening of the butter. And I am a complete stickler when it comes to that — if the recipe calls for it, I must let the butter sit out on the counter for four hours. But sometimes you just want cookies NOW!

I did come across a chocolate chip bar cookie recipe that calls for melted butter instead of softened…and it is divine. But I still wanted a drop cookie recipe that didn’t call for softened butter. Finally it occurred to me that I could tweak the bar recipe — duh!

Dude. These are amazing.

This is a small recipe…just the right amount of cookies, if you’re anything like me and will eat all 24, 36, 48…whatever you make…in one sitting. I would guess this recipe makes about 16 cookies. So if you aren’t like me and don’t have concerns about devouring them in one sitting, feel free to double the recipe. I’m just not strong enough.

Quick Chocolate Chip Cookies

Combine in a small bowl and set aside:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a slightly larger bowl, mix:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter

then add:

1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Add as many chips as you like — I use the big ol’ Guittard milk chocolate chips, and I think I added almost a cup. You can either immediately scoop the dough onto cookie sheet with a large scoop, or you can roll it up in waxed paper and throw it in the fridge. If scooping, don’t flatten. If rolling refrigerated dough, just cut off thick slices to bake. Bake at 350F for about 12 minutes.

Thursday Thirteen

I’ve got the gimmees today. It’ll pass…but until it does…13 things that I want, even though I Definitely Don’t Need Any More Stuff. In no particular order.

1. serger
2. food processor
3. espresso machine
4. wii
5. a weekend somewhere it’s not sleeting, snowing, raining, or cold (hey! that’s not stuff!)
6. telephoto lens
7. macro lens
8. dual-disk DVR
9. nano
10. built-in Bosch kitchen machine
11. venti peppermint mocha
12. chicken fajita burrito bol from Chipotle
13. cake decorating lessons

Vote for Jason Castro

I’ve never voted for anyone on American Idol - but I will tonight. . .

This is a great song by Brandon Heath - I’m not who I was - so chill - great to hear in the car.

Potter Puppet Pals

This is what my son wants to do for his elementary talent show. . .

Pink Poodle in Paris Cake

I know - cheater cheater. I’m using this as an entry in a dessert contest - though I did make the cake two years ago. I wasn’t a blogger at the time - so I didn’t take pics of the stages of the cake. . . but will tell you how I did it. This cake was inspired by a dog cake I’d cut out of a Gourmet Magazine article - long before I had kids - and simply loved beautiful baked goods. I believe it was about a bakery in Philadelphia - though I can’t find the original right now (I’ll give credit when I find it).

So, for the body of this poodle, I baked a yellow cake - in one 9 inch round and one 6 inch round. After cooling, I cut each of the two cakes in half and plopped them on the cut side. The two 9 inch halves are the body in the middle - the two 6 inch halves are the crouching legs on either side of the body. The picture below gives a better idea of how this happened.

The head was made with a store bought sara lee pound cake. Because they are nice and firm - I could easilly carve the head that I needed. I rounded it in the back for the neck - left it pretty square in the middle - and then chopped away about halfway down the front for the eyes and tapered the nose. I’m so sorry there’s not a pic of this step. Maybe if I ever make another. . .

The Classic Buttercream Frosting recipe is from The Artful Cupcake, by Marcianne Miller. It calls for

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter softened.
2 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
Liquid food coloring
2 T milk or fruit juice (optional)

Cream butter, gradually mix in sugar (says to sift - I don’t sift). Beat until icing is pale and fluffy. Mix in color and milk or juice if desired. I used Wilton Rose for the shocking pink effect.

I iced the whole cake with a spatula - and then used a large star tip for the poofy areas - around the legs, ears, feet and tail. This icing gave it a wonderful feathery effect - very fun.

Well Serendipity, I’ve wanted to post pics of this pup for a while - for those who may be doing a Pink Poodle in Paris Party - so thanks for giving me the push to get it done.

just in time…

I actually made my contest-entry-dessert a long time ago — it’s just taken me this long to upload the photos. Speaking of which, this is going to be a very photo-heavy post….to be kind I’ll start after the jump!