Butterscotch Cookies

Nicole (my co-tech) is on vacation, so a sub tech is working today because I have to work on Friday (that way I don't end up working a 52- hour week). So I have today off. After getting my emissions testing done and doing a very small amount of house work, I decided to do something I love: cooking, of course. Well, baking actually. I made "Butterscotch Cookies." I think baking is so much easier than cooking; it's pretty hard to mess up a batch of cookies or a cake. And yet I can't even remember the last time I baked something. I only had $7 to spend today, so I decided to mostly use ingredients I already had, plus any form of oatmeal cookies are my favorite. I bought butterscotch chips and slivered almonds and the cookie sheets. I prefer the ones you see in the 2nd photo. They have the pre-made circles on them for perfect cookie placement. Plus, they are disposable. I prefer to only use my cookie sheets 3-4 times because after a wile the cookies will start to taste like the pan, and with the disposable ones, that never happens. I had to buy almonds instead of pecans or walnuts because they were the cheapest, and as I said, I only had $7 to spend. But I think almonds are good too (pecans would have been my first choice). I didn't read how much butterscotch chips the recipe called for before buying them, and turns out it called for 24 oz, and I bought an 11 oz bag. Oops! They would have been much better with the extra butterscotch, but then I wouldn't have had money for almonds. So, I guess it all balances out! I added cinnamon and honey and extra vanilla (would have been good with almond extract if I had it). I rated them an 8 1/2. The extra butterscotch and pecans would have probably given them a 9 or 9 1/2.

Note the third photo: that is all the space I have to use when cooking/baking. I hate my tiny kitchen. That little space makes it very difficult to cook, and things get spilled and/or broken a lot. Oh well, shouldn't complain, at least I have a house to cook in!

Lemon Noodles With Mushrooms

Then I made "Lemon Noodles With Mushrooms." I also gave it a 7. My noodles were too mushy; the package said to cook for 3 minutes, and I did, but they were too soft (I always prefer al dente). Plus too much garlic in the recipe, so I'll use 1/2 the amount next time. And it needed more lemon flavor, so I'll double that next time. With that in mind, if the noodles are firmer, less garlic, and more onion, I think it could be an 8 1/2 or 9.

I know my presentations are not artistic yet, but these are just quick photos today. For more cooking experiments, I'll figure out how to make my photos of the finished recipe look more appealing. On "Master Chef" if the contestants dishes weren't attractive enough, the judges wouldn't even pick the contestants' food for that round.

That's it for the cooking fun this weekend. I probably won't get to do this much cooking every weekend because I have to work it around my pay check (when I can afford the ingredients). Hopefully at least once a month I can try 2 or 3 new dishes.

Tomato Potato Soup

Although I made a huge amount of the coconut veggie chowder, I decided to make the "Tomato Potato Soup" today. Mostly just because I didn't want my tomatoes to go bad. It's pretty good; I gave it an 8. I added a can of corn just to give it some flavor. I didn't actually eat a bowl of this soup today because I mad the other two recipes, but I tasted a spoonful. I will freeze most of it until I need it. I posted the last picture just to be funny. That's me after chopping onions! I hate the prep work when it comes to onions, but I really love sweet onions in my cooking; it's worth the searing pain in my eyes, and the headache, and runny nose. Just have to be careful not to drip my nose into my food!! Next...

Two-Zucchini Stir-Fry

I made three recipes from the same cookbook (in the photo) today. I started with the "Two-Zucchini Stir-Fry" because I was excited to try the wok Cheryl got me for my birthday. I don't think I did the best job using the wok for the first time. My veggies were not crisp. They weren't soggy, but not quite the right texture. Also, I followed how much oil to use, but I think they tasted too oily. But I liked the fresh ginger. I used it in the chowder too. It's the first time I've used fresh ginger. It smells so wonderful. It's spicy if you get a bite of it in the food, but oh so yummy! I gave this one a 7. I felt it was lacking; maybe too simple? Not bad for my first time using a wok though. I'll be sure to find a way to improve the next time! Next...

Coconut Vegetable Chowder

I did a lot of cooking this weekend. Friday I made this recipe for a potluck/harvest festival I went to yesterday with my mom (a Jewish festival called "Sukot). I wanted to bring something fall-ish, so I decided to try the "Coconut Vegetable Chowder" from October's Bon Appetite. As you can see by the recipe, I tend to change this a lot. This is what my recipes often look like when I'm done with them! I'm a sloppy cook too! But this was really yummy! You can see a plus 10 rating on the page. I always rate whatever I cook so I know if it's worth making again or not. This was a lot of work peeling & chopping so many ingredients, but so worth it. I doubled the recipe because I knew some of it was going to the potluck. But I had enough I froze a 1/3 and gave my dad a 1/3. I still have quite a bit leftover from yesterday too.

From now on, I'll try to take photos of the recipe with the ingredients (as will be posted next), and/or the food cooking and/or a photo of the finished product. Next...

The Little Red Cat

In order to keep my sanity this week, I've been sketching a lot of little red cats for the logo of my dream place. Realistically, about 80% of me does not believe it will ever happen, but the 20% that does has been enjoying at least dreaming about it. The bottom photo is from another scrub top. I have always thought that artwork on the scrub top looked like Corin, so I tried to draw it in some of my sketches. The middle photo is of my sketches, and the top is my favorite one (so far - it still needs work).