at long last

It's been a while, I know, but I have a good excuse. I was on the academic job market last fall, and it was crazy busy. But don't worry, I made time to eat. My goal was to cook simple meals and not rely on pre-packaged garbage or take out, and I was mostly successful. Last night, I scrolled through the pictures on my phone and found these highlights:

Apparently, I made fried egg sandwiches one day. I believe that the biscuit recipe is from the Smitten Kitchen, but I'm not very good at biscuit making so I didn't do them justice. 

I also made a red lentil and broccoli curry, from Veganomican. The original recipe calls for cauliflower, but I'm not a fan, hence the broccoli.

I also made fettuccine and meatballs. The sauce is a butter-roasted tomato sauce from Bon Appetit, and so is the meatball recipe. I made the fettuccine (my reward after returning from a campus interview--fresh pasta is the best!) from Food 52's feature on Mario Batali. 

Let's see, what else? I was on a veggie burger kick and made these beet burgers, from the Post Punk Kitchen. They were super good, but messy to make. I shredded the beets in the food processor and I got beet juice everywhere--the counters and floor--and the kitchen looked like a crime scene.

I also made a butternut squash and cheddar galette, from A Year of Pies.

I was able to make some time for baking, beginning with pumpkin whoopie pies, from either Baked: New Frontiers in Baking or Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Revisited. 

For Christmas, I made Funfetti cookies.

And chocolate peppermint cookies from Baked Elements: The Importance of Being Baked in 10 Favorite Ingredients. 

 And rugelach from Baking Out Loud: Fun Desserts with Big Flavors.

I know I cooked other stuff last fall, and the lack of photographic evidence doesn't mean it didn't taste good enough to share. It just means that I was too hungry and impatient to take a few seconds and document it. 

funfetti cookies

You know that 'birthday cake' flavor? 

I love it. 

I don't know why. 

For some reason, I've never tried to emulate it at home. Until now.

I stumbled across this recipe for Funfetti cookies. I had the feeling that they might be like the birthday cake flavor I adore, and I was right. Apparently, the secret is a combination of vanilla extract and almond extract. 

Well, guess it's not such a secret now.

I really liked these cookies. They were soft and buttery, and I know sprinkles are weird and artificial, but they're so festive and fun! These cookies were a great way to use them up. 

  

frosted sugar cookies

I have a confession to make.

You know those frosted sugar cookies packaged up in plastic and decorated with their seasonal sprinkles? 

I love them. 

Shhhhh. 

I'm not sure where the fascination comes from. I think they're tied to memories of Girl Scout camp, when I was a counselor. I think I ate my fair share in the staff house. 

And now, I see them taunting me in Target, but I find the willpower to resist. I'm always tempted, but I just can't buy them. I try my best to steer clear of pre-packaged foods with ingredients I can't pronounce and these cookies have so many preservatives that they last long enough to go on sale long after the holiday they were intended for has passed. 

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I found a recipe and immediately made them. A lot of them. The recipe calls for one stick of butter, and upon seeing this, I thought 1) whoa, only one stick of butter? and 2) whoa, since when did I become Paula Deen? 

I loved these cookies. They're soft and fluffy, and hit the spot. 

orange pecan brown sugar cookies

Big Fat Cookies was one of the first cookbooks I ever purchased. 

During my last year in college, my roommates and I used to go to the Barnes and Noble in uh, Roseville, I think, to study. One of the big draws was that this Barnes and Noble also sold used books, which were a lot of fun to peruse when I took study breaks. 

The cookbooks at this Barnes and Noble were located near the restrooms, so I passed by them a lot during my visits. I was just getting into cooking and baking, so I usually stopped to browse, but since money was tight, I usually restricted my purchases to the used book section. For some reason, Big Fat Cookies caught my eye, and after passing by it more than once, I finally gave in and bought it.  

This is a great cookbook. In the beginning, I used to make the cookies big and fat, but I eventually stopped because they were, well, too big and fat (now I just make them a normal size). I even remember the first thing I made: Chocolate Chip Stuffed Cookies. That was a long time ago, but I still turn to this cookbook when I'm in the mood to bake cookies. And when I'm not in the mood to bake cookies, I turn to Elinor Klivans' other cookbooks: the Cupcakes! cookbook, the Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook, or Chocolate Cakes.

I first made orange pecan brown sugar cookies back in December, and my friend loved them. In fact, he was the one who reminded me of when I first made them because I couldn't remember. It was his birthday earlier this week (we're birthday buddies!) and he requested these. I happily complied, and they were a big hit at his birthday party. 

brown butter snickerdoodles

While snickerdoodles are one of Drew's favorite treats (shocking because they don't have a trace of chocolate!), I'm not such a huge fan. In fact, I don't really see the appeal. I mean, I like them, but they're just so simple and so not showstoppers at all. After all, they're just cinnamon, sugar, butter, flour, cream of tarter, baking soda, and salt. So not surprisingly, I've made these only two other times in my life. 

While paging through my Baked Elements cookbook, I was intrigued by the recipe for Brown Butter Snickerdoodles. I'm a sucker for brown butter, ever since I made a Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake, which is quite possibly the best thing I've ever baked in my entire life. Despite my ambivalence with snickerdoodles, this recipe had me at "brown butter" (old movie reference-do you get it? It's from Jerry McGuire, circa the late 1990s. That I just referred to a movie released while I was in high school as old makes me a little sad.).

Anyway, I had a bit of a tough time browning the butter. Not like it was hard or anything, what I mean is that I had a difficult time detecting when it was "done." I followed the directions, cooked it for the recommended number of minutes and until it reached the appropriate color, but my sense of smell was off and I couldn't smell if it was sufficiently browned. Given that I ate 5 cookies yesterday (2 for breakfast, and 3 for dessert after dinner), which is very unusual, I'm guessing that 1) I must be a huge fan of brown butter, and 2) it was sufficiently brown. 

Let me say  a few words about the Baked cookbook (and this will explain why I was eating cookies for breakfast). This is the 3rd Baked cookbook, and I have all three. For the most part, I like them, though the recipes have many steps, seem a little high maintenance, and usually require some advance planning. As long as you plan in advance, it helps alleviate the high maintenance aspect. And best of all, the results are terrific, so it's all worth it. If you make any of the cookies, you can pretty much count on chilling the dough from 1 hour to up to 24. I made the cookie dough on Monday morning and baked the cookies on Tuesday morning...hence cookies for breakfast. In my defense, there is almost nothing better than fresh baked cookies straight out of the oven. 

mint chocolate chip shorts

I joined Girl Scouts when I was 7, and even though I was a Girl Scout for many years thereafter, I remember my first meeting as being rather traumatic. I was a shy kid, and I didn't want to go. I didn't know anyone. There were tears, but I think that what finally lured me to stay was the promise of a cupcake (there was always a snack at these meetings, albeit not a healthy one). And so I stayed, and the only thing I remember  (aside from the cupcakes with luscious swirls of frosting) was that I made a sit-upon (a portable seat that you sit on) with newspapers and a heavy duty trash bag.

I remained a Girl Scout after that first meeting and throughout high school. Like anything, Girl Scouts is what you make of it. Most people think it's only about the cookies, but it's so much more than that. It's about empowering girls, providing them with opportunities to try new things, and helping them to develop their self-confidence. 

I was very active in Girl Scouts--I earned a lot of badges and awards, and I went to Girl Scout Camp. In high school, I was a junior counselor at the day camp, and in college, I worked at the resident camp (twice in Minnesota, and twice in South Carolina). Being a Girl Scout has left me with many, many fond memories and experiences, and I'm certain that it has shaped the person I have become. For example, I was a shy kid, and public speaking terrified me. But in Girl Scouts, I didn't think twice about standing up in front a group and giving a speech or leading a song. Because I was able to develop this skill in a safe space among my peers, I was much more comfortable standing up in front of others when put in non-Girl Scout situations. 

Of course, I can't talk about Girl Scouts without mentioning the cookies. I sold a lot of these, and even though I was a Girl Scout for so many years, I don't go crazy for the cookies. For example, I have never understood the appeal of the Thin Mints (there, I said it). Maybe it's because that for me, the cookies aren't a once-a-year occurrence that they are for most people. I mean, back in my day, when we had extra boxes of cookies, we didn't sell them in front of grocery stores; we (my parents) had to eat the costs. And at Girl Scout camp, there were always lots and lots of cookies. So for me, cookies were always around, all year long.

Though I could take or leave the cookies, whenever I see Girl Scouts selling them, I usually buy a box or two. It's not really that I want the cookies, it's that I want to support the Girl Scouts, and I like the memories the cookies represent. But this year, I haven't purchased any cookies, because here's what happens: I eat one or two, and then forget about the rest and then they go stale and I have to throw them out.

A couple weeks ago, Drew and I passed by some girls selling Girl Scout cookies, and we had this exchange:

Drew: You know, you usually buy a couple boxes, but haven't this year.

Me: Oh, I've never had any cash with me, and they don't take credit cards.

Drew: Well, you didn't ask me if I had any cash.

Me: Oh yeah...

Drew: I think I know the real reason why you haven't bought any cookies. It's because you think you can do it better.

I'd be lying if I said he wasn't right. Girl Scout cookies are good, but they're not mind blowing or anything, and I think homemade versions would be superior. I feel really bad typing this, and a part of me fears that my Gold Award will be revoked. I haven't been proactive about making homemade versions of my favorite cookies; rather, I just happen to come across recipes that are reminiscent of thin mints or caramel delites.  

I came across one such recipe in my new cookbook, Baking Out Loud by Hedy Goldsmith. She promises that her Mint Chocolate Chip Shorts are evocative of the Thin Mints, and they certainly come very, very close. But as she promises, this version is a lot better than the pre-packaged kind.

junk in da trunk

I bake a lot- about once a week (sometimes twice).  I think that this is baffling to some, but it's not to me.  When I first started grad school, some version of the following was not an uncommon refrain: "I wish I had time to bake." This really bothered me until one day (for some reason), I was telling one of my professors of this frustration, and he said "The thing is that when people think about baking, they're thinking about themselves baking, not you.  They're thinking about how long it would take them to bake something, not you." And this made me feel infinitely better.  It's true.  I enjoy baking, and it's not time consuming for me.  Just like anything else, with practice, you get better and more efficient.  

The upside to baking is that when you have a craving for say, brownies, you just go to the kitchen to bake them.  And they are significantly better than anything you'd buy in the store.

For me, the downside to being a proficient baker is that sometimes I just don't feel like baking the easy stuff- like chocolate chip cookies.  Sometimes I want more of a challenge, I want to bake something more interesting.  But I have to bake chocolate chip cookies because they are Drew's favorite and I won't let him buy them.  Correction, I won't let him buy most baked goods in the store.  The following is not an uncommon exchange in the grocery store:

Drew:  "oh look, (insert macaroons, cookies, whatever)." 

Me:  "Don't buy it, I can make it for you."

And sometimes I do, but sometimes I don't and I just make something else.  Except for chocolate chip cookies.  Most of the time, I make those, despite finding them to be a too simple and uninteresting baking project.  And so I am continuously trying to find interesting ways to spice up chocolate chip cookies.  Fortunately, Drew is open to variations and does not require chocolate chip cookies in their purest form.  

Enter the treat I bought myself the other day: Baking Out Loud by Hedy Goldsmith.  I checked out this cookbook from the library before purchasing it.  It's a fun, interesting cookbook and I'm drawn to the pictures (despite being a grad student, I apparently still prefer picture books).  Goldsmith shows you how to make stuff you'd normally buy in the store, like candy bars (I've already tried the peanut butter cups and the snickers bars), and she adds some nice twists to the classics (which is why I bought the cookbook).  Her recipe for chocolate chip cookies is called "Junk in Da Trunk."  The "junk" is mostly chocolate chips, but then you add anything you want.  Here, I've followed her recipe for the most part and added malted milk balls, butterscotch chips, pecans, walnuts, pretzels, and potato chips.      

That's a lot of junk.  The cookies are pretty big, but they have to be so as to accommodate all the junk.  

The cookies are soft, and contrast nicely with the crunch of the pretzels, potato chips, and malted milk balls. I made a double batch and put most of them in the freezer so Drew can eat them whenever he'd like.  Okay, that's kind of a lie.  I really made a double batch so I'd be off the hook for baking chocolate chip cookies for a while.