Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.Since I now have blogging software on my smartphone (which happens to have a camera) I thought that I might try less formal writing on this when I am baking or cooking.

This evening I have a friend coming over for tea and I decided that I definately needed cookies to serve. I wanted something relatively healthy, so oatmeal was a must.

This recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I think it turned out quite well. The cookies are small (you could make them bigger) so they are perfect for tea.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cinnamon
2 eggs ( i used large)
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Instructions:
1. Cream butter,sugars, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon, until smoothish
2. Add eggs, mix until smooth again
3. Add vanilla, mix until smooth
4. Slowly add flour, in 3 batches, mix until well combined each time
5. Add oats, mix until well mixed
6. Add chocolate chips, mix.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Scoop dough out onto tray with a teaspoon, keep about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until edges are brown.
Cool on tray for 3 – 4 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

Christmas eating.

But of course, how could I not post today, it is the biggest eating day of the year. I find this the best day to reflect on the year that is coming to a close, mostly because there is nothing else to do while in a food induced coma.

This year I write. I have been typing up the recipes I have tried out while on vacation, so I thought I might share one with my lovely friends.

The night before christmas is for church (if you go), watching cheesy christmas movies, and enjoying a drink or two. And of course falling asleep half way through White Christmas, and again 5 minutes into A Christmas Carol. That may be just around my house 🙂

Why the story? Well because this year I decided to introduce my in-laws to my home-made eggnog 🙂 you can choose to make it pack a punch if you like. I actually grabbed the recipe from Alton Brown on the Food Network (recipe) It was great to drink while relaxing before Santa arrives 🙂

For those who don’t like store bought eggnog, neither do I. This recipe is for a light, foamy eggnog, that doesn’t sit like a rock in you stomach. Fresh nutmeg has the best flavour, but you can use dried stuff if it is all you have around.

The only notes I need to make on this are:

  1. I found it thickened up after chilling, so I added another cup of cream
  2. Don’t try to add the alcohol later, it just won’t mix in 🙂
  3. For those who are worried about raw egg, wash your eggs just to be safe. Don’t leave this sitting out for longer than 2 hours.

I am going to toddle off and look over some of the nice presents I received this year, and enjoy the good company around me.

More to come.

Rory

Food for Thought?

I have decided to finally try my hand again at *real* blogging. I don’t have a very good track record for these things, but I need somewhere to practice writing. You see, by day I am a web designer/developer, I would love to write about what I do there, but I find that the words just don’t come to me. When I need to write up blurbs for my business I find myself at a loss for words. I am hoping that by writing here on a regular basis I will start to find that the words just start to flow better when I need them.

So what are you going to blog about, you might ask? Well, I tried my hand at tea, and I got intimidated by all the professional bloggers out there who knew more than I do. I will now try my hand at something a little less research intensive, and something that I do on a regular basis in my daily life. I plan on blogging about food, cooking, and anything related. It gives me a lot of things to write about, all of which I enjoy and I read about on a regular basis. But I will write my opinion – there may be no fact behind what I say, I am upfront about that.

What have I got to offer you that other blogs don’t have? That is a really good question. This is why I have been toying with this blog idea for a long time: I still don’t fully believe I have something to offer you. I know that I can’t be the only amateur chef with a very small amount of training but a passion for cooking. I have developed a small collection of my own recipes (based loosely on recipes I have found in books and on the internet) that I think I cook quite well. I don’t profess to be a chef by any stretch of my imagination. I cook for the pleasure it brings to me and those around me.

I also love/hate a lot of the food blogs I find, they are great to read but they are about only the good experiences. I know I screw up recipes on a regular basis. I am not perfect with techniques; I find I have to research techniques on a regular basis because I have no idea what they are talking about. And above all, my stuff almost never turns out like the stuff in pictures, unless I have made it many times, and even then every time is different.
With all of that said nothing is greater than taking a handful of raw ingredients and turning them into a delicious meal that will feed those I love. I will admit I used to buy a lot of pre-packaged stuff; heck, through 2 years of college I considered Lipton’s Noodles and sauce to be a meal by adding a can of tuna (if I could afford it), peas and tomatoes. I think I lived off that meal when it was close to payday and I couldn’t afford much more than that.

Those days are behind me. I have started worrying more about what I am putting in my body, trying to keep a steady weight without going to the gym and wanting to save money. These factors have led to a drastic change in the way I shop and cook. I tend to make everything I can from scratch, and I hate wasting things. I have become a little more frugal now that I work for myself; I dislike spending money on things I can create for much less money and a little more time. (Think about how much chicken stock in a box costs, or even how much pancake mix costs, both of these are simple to make and cost pennies). These changes did not happen over night, it was years in the making

All that being said (apparently I can be wordy), this blog is about food, for the love of food and everything that goes with it.

Stay tuned for adventures in my cooking world!

Rory