Somewhere East of Life

I made cookies today. Tried out a new recipe, tweaked it as per usual, and they turned out pretty yummy. Not going to be my all time favorite chocolate chip cookie, but they're surprisingly light, and very soft.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ Applesauce

Ingredients

½ cup unsweetened applesauce
½ cup butter (softened)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats (or old fashioned)
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped pecans


Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, cream together the applesauce, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Use 1/8 cup to measure spoonfuls.

3. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I ended up cooking Christmas dinner again this year. We decided to forgo the traditional recipes and do something different. I cooked a roast pork loin, scalloped carrots, spinach salad, fresh french bread (which I actually made myself!!!), and then some chocolate cake.

The Errors
* The dressing recipe was bad. The ingredients would have made one yummy vinaigrette, but unfortunately it only made savory caramel.
* The french bread recipe lied when they said how much time it needed to rise. I didn't look closely enough at the beginning when planning my schedule. It turned out really good (if a bit misshapen).
* The pork roast recipe also lied about how much time it needed to cook. I cooked mine for twice what the recipe called for, but in the end it was super yummy.

Chocolate Overload
It was the chocolate cake that was so delicious. It's really super rich though. It's called Decadent Chocolate Fudge Cake. You cook up a box of devil's food cake. Then you make ganache (melted chocolate, cream, and butter). Chop up the devil's food cake into cubes, then use a mixer to mix it with the ganache. Then ya' freeze it for a bit and frost it with a bit of leftover ganache.

I've got a major chocolate hangover today (which is partially due to some major vertigo, but we're ignoring that). LOL

Speaking of chocolate, this was one of my gifts this year. Cracked me up!


...and now for something completely different!
Sometime later today I'll finally get a chance to start hooking up my new Wii. My friend is so excited for me to get it going so we can network on our games together. LOL We're so easily amused.

On the plus side, my sister was also enthused to find out we had one now so she's been making plans with my mother on what new games and gadgets we can get for it.

Off to forage for lunch, and then lazing around and thinking about potential gamage. Lord, but I do love Holidays. :D

Health
Almost, but not quite, driving by this time. My mom's been sick. Had some test done, didn't react well. Test turned out okay, but found out some long-term health problems she's got. They're not serious, but enough to make her day to day life hell.

I've been sick too. Haven't been able to shake it. I'm tired all the time. I've had a lingering fever. My migraines are worse. I'm starting to get a bit better. I'm going from sleeping 12 hours or more to 9 or so now.

Christmas
My mother and I are making all our gifts this year, which is why we're on the way out the door. We're heading out to the craft and beading store to pick up supplies. We're doing candles, jewelry, craft totes, gift baskets, book bags and jeweled bookmarks. Things like that. We've got a ton of baking to do now too.

That's about all for now. How's everyone else getting ready for the holidays?

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I wanted chocolate, but I was out of cocoa to make anything. I went searching on the internet and found a recipe for brownies that called only for chocolate syrup. They turned out pretty darn good, so I thought I'd share the recipe here.

Chocolate Syrup Brownies

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 200 | Total Fat: 7.6g | Cholesterol: 40mg

Yields: 30 servings

Notes: I didn't use the frosting they suggested and topped it with powdered sugar instead. I also used about 12 oz of Hershey's syrup from a squeeze bottle (I ran out of ice cream to put it on, so it's all for a good cause). Oh, and I used pecans in mine rather than walnuts. Yummy!

With a final run to the store for last minute grocery items (for the second time in as many days), I started my Christmas baking. I'm not doing any of my family's traditional recipes this year. I'm trying all new ones. A bit late for gifts now, but I cut down on the recipes so they didn't make so much.

I just finished a batch of Almond Butter Blossoms. Didn't quite have what the recipe called for, so I substituted with what I could find in the store. Instead of almond butter, I used equivalent amount of almond paste, and then added a couple tablespoons of homemade peach butter (from last year's baking) to offset the lack of butter.

My peach butter is pretty spicy, so that both colored and spiced up the dough more than it would normally have been. I also couldn't get the almonds as finely ground as the recipe called for, even using my spice mill (and that's partly due to impatience).



All around, they turned out pretty good. I've been trying not to eat too many. I've ate the ones that fell apart, and then the ones that made the number I baked an odd number (which after doing that twice, it adds up). LOL

Next up is either Chocolate Gingerbread Drops or Amish Sugar Cookies.

My most recent cooking experiment was a success. I finally managed to cook a successful batch of refried beans, although that was partly because my Mom was there to help me spice it up. I made some more flour tortillas to go with it, and we made ourselves some nice burritos.

They were actually pretty good. Mom even gave me a cooking compliment (every little girl's dream), "You're actually turning into quite the accomplished cook." *beams*

There was a downside, of course. When is there not? Well okay, maybe two downsides.

1. I made enough to feed the neighborhood.
2. I got impatient and didn't make the long version of the recipe. I made the refried beans in about three hours, rather than the six (or more) it usually takes. What is the difference you ask? There's a ratio in there somewhere for about every hour you cut out of the cooking time, you increase the amount of time you spend in the bathroom after dinner. o.0 It was not a pleasant night for me.

On the plus side, I had a great time cooking (even if I did somehow manage to use every pot, dish, and utensil in the house to do it). *big grin*

LJ Coding Woes
I've been coding today. I had to sort out some messes with a Bloggish layout for txrabbit. The new customize wizard that LJ has been a bit of a booger. It does make things easier for those wishing to just copy and paste a layout and have at it. But you know me and my endless fiddling. Apparently the new system is fiddle-proofed. You fiddle with it and it just puts up a blank page and says, "Oh yeah?! Well take this!!! See how you like it now!!!"

...or something.

New Blogger Layout
I'll have to make myself a new layout soon. To make myself feel better before I do that, I hooked myself up with a new layout from carriep63's website for my Blogger - http://saifaifox.blogspot.com/. Though now that I've done that I might actually have to update the damn thing. *moop*

Stalling Now
Okay. Back to the drawing board. I'm actually only stalling on the one last image needed for miss rabbit's layout. I'm doing it now, I swear!

P.S.
I gave up on the hamburger bun recipe. However, I did find in my family's cookbook a lovely recipe for both potato rolls (which work great for hamburgers), and angel biscuits. Angel biscuits are an all time fav of mine. Thought I'd share the recipe for those that are interested:
( Angel Biscuits Recipe )

I've had the baking bug lately. No clue why. Just picked up a recipe book and started baking (and good 'ol cooking) one day.

I've tried tortillas, cakes, cinnamon rolls, donuts, biscuits, cookies, refried beans, and soups. All with varied levels of success.

However, I have found my nemesis: hamburger buns. They just don't turn out right.

Day One: Tried the recipe word for word. Thought something might be off. Discovered what was wrong after the buns came out like hockey pucks.

Day Two: Stubbornly tried recipe for a second time, this time with appropriate changes. Dough looked pretty good. Still didn't rise. Baked 'em anyway and didn't get hockey pucks. They're just really small and very dense hamburger buns.

My mother thinks I could use them to make miniature hamburgers.

I strongly suspect she's mocking me.

*goes back to the drawing board with a different recipe for hamburger buns*