Sunday, March 30, 2008

Megan and Making Cookies

I got to spend some time this weekend with my 7 year old niece Megan. And what do you do with a 7 year old little girl? You make cookies!

I had just watched an episode of Alton Brown on the Food Network and it was all about the different ways to make chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to try them myself so I went to my computer and printed the recipe from the Food Network web site. "The Thin" recipe was the one that inspired me and the recipe is as follows:

The Thin
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show:
Good Eats
Episode:
Three Chips for Sister Marsha

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg 2 ounces milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardware: Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Combine the egg, milk, and vanilla and bring to room temperature in another bowl. Cream the butter in the mixer's work bowl, starting on low speed to soften the butter. Add the sugars. Increase the speed, and cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add the egg mixture slowly. Increase the speed and mix until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for more even browning. Remove the cookies from the pans immediately. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

After I printed the recipe I went to the cupboards and luckily we had all the ingredients to make them.

As with all little girls, I have learned that it is not just making them it is being able to lick the spatula and the bowl. The batter to her was better than eating the baked cookie.
This is our final product and I must say these were probably the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made.

We had a lot of fun and yes Megan can multi task and eat spaghetti at the same time while making cookies.

Stepping Outside the Comfort Zone

So I was convinced by my family to change my hair color.


Why, I am not exactly sure!


No I did not go blond!


So here is a picture of me with my red hair!






And here is my new hair color, black!

Tell me what you think?