THE Cookie

It's the season for milk n' cookies.



I'll have to admit I thought my milk n' cookies and pizza party days were behind me. But I am glad to report that adults have pizza parties too. And grown ups besides Santa Cause can enjoy milk and cookies.



My boss had the wonderfully retro idea of having an office pizza party to celebrate the holidays. I decided this was the perfect opportunity to get back on the wagon and try my hand at baking again. You see, I have been failing miserably lately, and I thought that if I ended up botching yet another cookie recipe, at least there would be pizza around to comfort any disappointed individuals.

I refuse to be one of those "I-am terrible-at-baking" people. A wise friend of mine once expressed his disdain for this sort of complacent, self-aware-of-my-faults attitude. Of course, his disdain lies more in character flaws like "I-am-selfish-so-sue-me" or "I-am-always-late-so-just-learn-to-expect-it-people" and less in things like "I-have-no-patience-for-baking" or "I-use-too-many-hyphens-when-I-write-blogs".

However, as an exploratory recipe-blogger I feel a sense of responsibility to try things with which I may be uncomfortable, particularly because I may demand you do the same at times. This "we're all in it together" mentality is the message of this blog.

I have wanted to try the NY Times recipe for a while now (which was all the craze a few years ago). However, that recipe requires you to refrigerate the dough at least 24 hours. I hardly have the patience for baking; waiting at least 24 hours to bake the dough is out of the question. I found a recipe that claimed to be the "last chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need" and did not require the 24 hour chilling period. The recipe comes from Ashley Rodriguez of the popular food blog, Not Without Salt . I decided to give it a try and follow the recipe exactly as is. The only thing I changed was to use already chunked chocolate (high quality) instead of chopping my own. Ashley explains in her post that chocolate chips have a waxy texture that makes them cute and pretty, but does not do so well in the taste department. The chunks really were better than chips, and I bet a great quality chocolate bar broken up would be even BETTER! The tiny pinch of sea salt on each cookie was such a great touch too. I truly have found the last chocolate chip cookie recipe I will ever need.



I know that if I can make great cookies, anyone can. It seems this is a fool-proof recipe if I ever saw one. Just follow the directions exactly. The cookies turned out perfectly. They were thick with just the right texture: soft/chewy on the inside with a nice soft crusty outside. I do not like the flat greasy/chewy kind of chocolate chip cookie because the cookie does not absorb the milk the way these could. Sometimes it pays off to take risks and attack your flaws full force.



The party was a success as well! A great group showed up, and it was really nice to just relax and spend time with the people I work with or at least along side of every day. I am including a couple pictures of the office here. It is such a great space, and my boss has it decorated so nicely. My camera doesn't work very well without tons of natural light so these pictures don't even do it justice; most pictures of the attendees were just too blurry to post.

Main room:


My desk:


PTP (Personal Trainer Patrick) judging all the cookie and pizza eaters as he offers a tangerine instead:


The guardians of the pizza:


THE Chocolate Chip Cookie

(recipe from Not Without Salt, a food blog)

2 sticks butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw)
1 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cup All Purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 lb. chocolate (use the best quality chocolate you can afford. With a serrated knife cut chocolate chunks roughly 1/2 inch)

Cream the butter and the sugars until light. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Continue mixing while adding the eggs one at time. Make sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Combine the flour, soda and salt in another bowl. With a whisk, stir to combine. With the machine on low, slowly add the flour. Mix until just combined, taking care not to over mix. With a spatula fold in the chocolate.
If you so choose, and I do recommend that you do, sprinkle a very fine dusting of good quality sea salt. Fleur de Sel or Murray River Pink Salt are my recommendations.
Bake at 360* for 12 minutes. They should be lightly golden on the outside but still look gooey on the inside.

PS - I made my trusty Cakie recipe as well. This time, I tried Red Velvet cake mix and added white chocolate chips. You just need to follow the original recipe and use white chocolate chips instead of regular chocolate chips or M&M's. It was fantastic (aside from the stains it left on my hands). I failed to get a great picture, but you get the idea here.

It's a Piece of Cake to Bake a Pretty Cake

Cake.



Possibly my favorite food in the world. I love cake. Cakes with frosting must have at least two layers. The thin coat of frosting between two layers of cake is what I imagine Heaven to be like. I am not sure if you will know what I mean because I am getting really specific here, but I like the way the cake sticks to either side of the frosting when the two layers come apart.

Enough about cake with frosting because this cake has something better (yes, better is possible in this situation only): rum. Rum cake is God's love raining down on mankind in the shape of a bundt pan. My aunt Janet has always made the best rum cake every year for Christmas since before I can remember. It is the food I look forward to the most every time our family gets together for Christmas Eve dinner. It is a rich cake with a buttery bittersweet flavor. Sweet pecan bits are baked into the top of the cake to give it a great contrast of texture from the outside to the soft, smooth inside of the cake. It is so easy to make (using cake mix), and it comes out just like my aunt Janet's.



This is one of my favorite desserts in the world. In fact, I would give it a slot in my top 10 (in no particular order):

Stonewood Grill and Tavern Chocolate Bread Pudding
Polar Cup (strawberry or watermelon or lemon) - I always thought this was a huge establishment, but Polar Cup is a hometown thing...you need to find some if you are ever in Tampa, Florida.
Sweet Lady Jane Triple Berry Cake
Yogurtland
Diddy Riese icecream sandwiches
Better than sex cake (chocolate or vanilla - recipes to come later)
Chocolate pecan bourbon pie
Cakies
Almost any kind of frosted cake with multiple layers

And of course, Aunt Janet's Rum Cake:

For Cake:
1 box Duncan Hines golden butter cake mix
1/2 C light rum
1/4 C oil
1 C chopped pecans
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 C water

For Glaze:
1 C sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 C rum
1/4 C water

Preheat the oveN to 325 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix all the cake ingredients except for the pecans. Use a beater to combine thoroughly.
Grease a bundt pan, and sprinkle the pecans around the bottom of the pan.
Pour the cake batter in the pan on top of the pecans and bake for 50 minutes.

Start making the glaze when you take the cake out of the oven.
Combine all ingredients for the glaze in a small pot, and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes.
While the cake is still in the pan, pour the glaze all over the cake (poke holes all over the cake with a fork or a toothpick so that the glaze can seep in).
Once the glaze is absorbed, turn the cake over onto your serving plate.
Allow cake to cool for at least two hours before serving.



The rum flavor in this cake is pretty strong. It is slightly surprising with the first bite; that is how you know it is right!



I will leave you with this video in case you really want to understand the inspiration behind this blog post...and get a great song stuck in your head at the same time.

All Out: Christmas 2009

"If you're gonna go, go all the way".



Of course, that was the first thing Aunt Janet said when we started making the arroz con gandules on Christmas Eve, but I think that statement can be applied here as well.



This was, no doubt, the most hectic Christmas this family has ever seen. If you know me, you know that by "hectic" I mean a blast. I love a crazy mess every now and then, especially if it means I am surrounded by people I love. Christmas Day was relatively quiet compared to the days surrounding it. The roster consisted of my mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, two nieces, uncle, uncle's girlfriend and me. We took our time getting to the presents in the morning as we enjoyed this impromptu little spread:



I get nostalgic this time of year. Here are a couple things I was reminded of this time around:

Christmas 1992: My big brother, Brian and Uncle John "hosting" their own sports talk show in front of the video camera. I was in charge of the intro music (for the show opening and coming back from the fake commercial breaks), and my dad would play the voice of "the callers" phoning in to ask their controversial questions about players, coaches and other sports drama.

We went all out.

Christmas 1993: My 3rd grade class memorized and recited the Christmas story from the book of Luke. I remember we would tackle about two verses at a time. At the end of each week, there was a free reading time (if you were really good, you got to sit on a special bean bag chair). Each student was called to the teacher's desk individually to recite the verses for that week from memory. This was done in every 3rd grade classroom so that at the end of the quarter, right before the holiday, the entire 3rd grade class stood in front of the whole school to recite the 20 verses:

Luke 2:1-20
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom his favor rests!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

We went all out.



So why wouldn't this family go all out when it comes to the food at Christmas? I know a lot of people cut back on gifts and spending this year for obvious reasons. Two things I love about food is that it is relatively cheap, and it promotes togetherness. There is really nothing I love more than coming around the table with great people to share a meal. Uncle John and his girlfriend, Connie, were gracious enough to bring a delicious ham from the store that is their new obsession: Costco. We all contributed to the table with dishes including: Katie's spinach and artichoke casserole (from a friend's recipe), dad's green bean casserole, Publix's dinner rolls, my stuffed jalepenos wrapped in bacon and goat cheese mashed potatoes and Uncle John's sangria (recipes soon to come).

Everything was delicious, but more importantly, it was really special to have the opportunity to share the meal with some of my favorite people.

Dessert. There is a lot of pressure to finish off a great meal with a delightful dessert dish. The Costco crew brought an extra large pecan pie which I will continue to enjoy for the next few days. However, I wanted to try my hand at another cake. In an attempt to counter the state of the economy, I aimed at making the richest cake possible. I found a recipe for a dark chocolate cake that included ingredients like bailey's liqueur, dark chocolate chips, chocolate pudding and sour cream.



I went all out.

Rich Even When You're Not Chocolate Cake

(recipe from All Recipes)

1 package dark chocolate cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix (about 4 oz)
16 oz sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup baileys liqueur
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 10 inch bundt pan, and lightly dust with cocoa powder.
Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another (large bowl); whisk the contents of each bowl.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients little by little, mixing in thoroughly.
Beat until ingredients are well blended.
Fold in the chocolate chips to the thick batter.
Scoop the batter into the bundt pan.
Bake for 1 hour.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
Turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving (even though we ate it warm).
Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the cake using a sifter to make it pretty.



Tip: A lot of people on the message boards for this recipe on its original post recommend using andes mint chips in place of the semisweet chocolate chips and creme de menthe instead of baileys for a mint chocolate cake. Other suggested adaptations include using raspberry or orange liqueur. Be creative.