Brownie Cookies

Mother is the Town Clerk for Hubbardston, and today she had to be at work from 6 AM to 10 PM, presiding over the local elections and counting the ballots with her volunteer help. Earlier she had complained about the lack of chocolatey desserts available in the house, so it was Bee's idea to make her something to ease her pain. We couldn't decide between brownies and cookies, so I decided to attempt cookies out of a Betty Crocker boxed brownie mix. They didn't turn out terrible, but regular cookies seem to be more pleasing.

The ingredients were (assembled somewhat randomly):

1 box brownie mix

1 stick of butter (softened)

bloop of vanilla extract

1 large egg (farm fresh!)

1 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

~1/2 c. vegetable oil (when the dough proved unbearably dry)

a bunch of walnuts

a bunch of white chocolate chips

These had to bake for longer than a normal chocolate chip cookie. In the end they were kind of crispy, like chocolate crackers, but with a melt-in-the-mouth quality. Very different from the generally desired soft cookie, but I suppose if it's your thang...

There was a rainstorm during the baking process, and these freshly-baked cookies got splotched with rainbows in a most pleasing fashion.

Cookies for Father

The next stop for spring vacation was Meedle's apartment in New Bedford, MA. She had dictated an extremely long list of items for me to bring, and I packed and packed and packed. When I'd finished, I realized I had exactly one half hour before Mother came home to say goodbye, so I decided to make these cookies for Fath. Oatmeal raisin are one of his favorites, but we didn't have any raisins, so I made this variation.

1/3 c. white sugar

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

1/4 c. butter (softened)

1/4 c. shortening

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 c. white chocolate chips

In the original recipe, only 1/2 cup of raisins were required, so these cookies came out of the oven with a high percentage of add-ins, but I doubt anyone's going to complain.

Valentine Scones

I love British food. These scones were for my dearest Mother's birthday, which happens to be on Valentine's Day. That's the only reason she could stand something sweeter-than-toast for breakfast.

This particular scone was blackberry-lemon; the following recipe was split in three and flavored with:

1. Blackberries and lemon juice

2. Maple syrup and chopped walnuts

3. Chocolate chips, cocoa powder and vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

4 cups flour

1 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1 egg

1 cup (total) of add-ins above

First, blend the sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl. Then, mix flour / sugar / baking powder / cream o' tartar and salt in a larger one. Cut the butter into the dry mixture until it's crumbly and pie-crust like. Then stir in the sour cream mixture and beaten egg until it's all moistened.

At this point, I split the dough into three smaller bowls, and added the extras in no precise quantities. They were extremely dry and not sticking together at all, so like with pie crust, I added more water. It appeared to have been a problem of not-enough mixing, though, because in the end I had to knead in extra flour to make up for the added liquid.

I formed each round into a disk about an inch tall, cut them into 6 triangles each, brushed with egg white, sprinkled with sugar, and baked on an ungreased sheet at 400 degrees for probably around 18 minutes. My large-appetite family seemed to like them alright, and we offered leftovers to guests that appeared throughout the day, but there were still enough for me to take one of each back to school with me. FUEL FOR STUDYING? If I did any, that is...

Rotten Banana House

I had one soft banana in the fridge, and it was almost dinner time, so I bounced cheerily into the kitchen. Mostly the cheer came from the fact that cooking is a most excellent form of procrastination, and there is a giant career fair at my school tomorrow, which involves dressing up in a business suit and being generally discontented all day long. Also my roommate Deag had been discussing the merits of making chili tonight, and the urge to try something new struck!

For this recipe, I scaled down a general muffin recipe and added banana and maple syrup and walnuts. I didn't have an egg, so I added a little more baking soda + milk + oil than was required. The consistency was pretty close to perfect, considering!

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup oats

2 tbsp (plus) sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup (plus) milk

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 small mashed banana

1/4 cup walnuts

1. Mix dry ingredients.

2. Mix wet ingredients.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients; add walnuts.

4. Spoon into greased muffin cups, and add more walnuts.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

This made only four muffins (cooking for one ain't no fun)!

Leftover Stir Fry

I have been told that stir fry is usually the first thing people learn to cook, but I grew up in a household of all-American meals, so this was a new and exciting time for me. I used only broccoli, and the sauce, which was supposed to be a sweet-and-sour combination, consisted of:

3 tbsp vegetable broth

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp brown sugar

dash of chili powder

Under the unsure direction of my beloved roommate, I heated some grapeseed oil in the wok for a couple of minutes on medium heat, and then added half of the broccoli and poured in the mixed up sauce. After a minute, I added the rest of the broccoli and stood there for a few minutes, whereupon I declared it done. For me, raw vegetables are as delicious as cooked ones (and often more so!), so whether they were cooked or not was unimportant. To the mixture I added a tsp of cornstarch dissolved in cold water to thicken it up, and dumped it on a plate.

It was delicious! But there were leftovers, so today I used them in my lunch. This is simply a whole wheat wrap with the stir fry remains, basil-tomato feta cheese, and a few walnuts on top. I wrapped it up and brought it to class with me, expecting it to be a strange combination, but I was pleased to find that the flavors went well together like SO!