Baker's Dozen Cookies (Chocolate Chunk Variation) by, the Hangry Foodasaurus

For about 4 1/2 years, I worked at a continuing care retirement community as an "activities associate."  Essentially, this means that I planned and led recreational activities for residents of the long term care and assisted living communities.  I quickly learned that nothing boosts morale quite like baking cookies.  

Every Wednesday morning, an elderly volunteer led a cookie-baking group.  By 10:30 am the wonderful scent of cookies baking would be wafting down the hallways--even clear across the building!  It would draw the attention of the residents, staff and visitors.  Only those with the most intense willpower could resist a homemade cookie fresh out of the oven. We had 3-inch thick binder with hundreds of recipes protected by clear plastic sheets to choose from every week.  Everyone had an opportunity to request their favorite cookie to be made in an upcoming session.  "Cookie day" quickly became the highlight of everyones' week and we always made at least 6-10 dozen cookies to share.  


Somehow, that wasn't enough.  When we ran out of cookies--look out!!!  There were some very hangry residents when 3 o'clock tea time rolled around if we didn't serve the expected homemade cookies and had to resort to the dreaded, store-bought varieties.   This cookie shortage was remedied by adding an additional baking day (Sunday morning) as well as an emergency day if needed.  We'd truly created a monster, well, a group of elderly cookie monsters!  


Our cookie volunteer inspired me to attempt my own cookie recipe.  After all the years of practice, at least 2x/wk for 4 1/2 years, I've become adept at whipping up my own cookies without a recipe.  What I have to share with you is my go-to cookie recipe.  I finally decided to write it down after numerous requests from friends and family.  It is so good that we make them at least once a month for dessert.  I hope you like them as much as we do!  Before beginning the disclaimer I will give you is that I have only made these cookies using organic or at the very least natural ingredients whenever possible.  The shortening I use is organic, non-hydrogenated and all-vegetable.  I honestly don't know how they'll turn out without super high-quality stuff.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In one large bowl add:

• Approximately 1/3 cup of shortening 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Crumble above ingredients with fingers until moist.
Next, add one egg, beaten and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla-stir into wet mixture.
Then add below (dry) ingredients to the wet mixture using a wooden spoon and hands if needed.  (no need to dirty another bowl if you want you can just add them into the large bowl)

• 1 cup 50/50 (whole wheat/white) + 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• dash of salt

Lastly, take a block of Callebaut semisweet chocolate and chunk it until you have about one cup.  (The sizes of the pieces will vary, but it doesn't matter)
Mix chocolate chunks into dough.  Form dough balls with two teaspoons or hands and place on one cookie sheet.  We've ended up with anywhere from 9-13 cookies, just depends on your size preference. 
Bake for 8-12 minutes (size dependent) or until center of cookie is slightly firm when you press on it with a finger.  Let cool on cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes
Using spatula, slide onto wire racks.  Eat them while they're warm with a glass of milk!
Note: for other fun variations you can use chocolate chips or sundrops.  Have fun!

A recent chocolate chip version, yummy!

Hanger Management

Well, I'm back!  Maybe you didn't know I was gone.  I got hit hard and fast by a flu that left me feeling that the only thing I wanted to do was sleep, eat lozenges and drink hot water with lemon and honey.  Those days are over now and I am proud to say this is the first day I made it through without taking a nap--but the day is young!


One interesting thing to note was that during this one-week period of illness, I didn't experience any symptoms of hanger.  I was rarely hungry, but did get a few cravings for popsicles, toast, soup and ginger ale.  Once the senses of taste and smell are gone, the HF is left to ponder the question, "What is there to life besides eating?"  I guess that's one way to control your hanger (but it isn't very fun)!


You know that weird feeling you get when your eyes become glassy, you have the occasional cough or sneeze and you just feel off?  As soon as I felt it coming on I immediately decided to make some chicken soup and bread.  My darling cousin gave me a wonderful gift for Christmas entitled, The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, by Dinah Bucholz.  There were some fun recipes I had been meaning to try that were perfect for the upcoming St. Patty's Day holiday.  I made a Mulligatawny Stew and served it with an Irish Soda Bread.  This bread made the most delicious toast to accompany something savory or to eat alone with some preserves.  It was more like a pastry or scone than a bread.  


Irish Soda Bread adapted from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook


4 C flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t cream of tartar
1 t salt
3 T  sugar
 (4 T) butter (cut into small pieces)
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 C buttermilk (or powdered buttermilk with added H2O)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and grease and flour 9-inch round baking pan/dish.  Glass or metal can be used.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, soda, powder, cream of tartar, salt and sugar.  Rub in small bits of butter with your fingers.  The mixture will seem very floury but that's OK.  
3. With a large spoon, fold in the egg and buttermilk until a dough begins to form. Remove now-beginning-to-form-ball from bowl and knead briefly on floured surface until dough comes together.  Will be a little flaky in appearance.
4. Form dough into a round shape and dust top with flour.  (I used a little wire strainer to get the dusted effect).  Place dough into the prepared pan and using a sharp knife, score with an X-shape about 1/2 inch deep on the top of the dough.
5. Bake for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake another 40 minutes until the bottom is dark golden brown.  Each oven varies, so keep an eye on it.  Remove from oven, and after a few minutes place on wire rack to cool.
6. Yummy served slightly warm.  Makes amazing toast after the first day.  Great served alone, with butter and jam, and also works well with savory soups.   

My friends have been raving about this and saying it tastes like and has texture of a cornbread/scone hybrid.  Since it looks artisanal, it is fun to bring to a potluck!

Makes 1 loaf (and an explosive floury mess in your kitchen, but if you're sick you can leave it and hope your housemate/partner will feel sorry for you and clean up).  It worked for me!

An Historic President's Day in Cambridge

Lots of exciting things happening in the world of the HF!  The new space & time website was launched, we had friends visit over President's Day weekend, and bonus: said friends brought us Gimme Coffee--boo-yeah!  It has been a long, lonely winter and business achievement + amazing friends + high quality food and coffee = one happy foodasaurus.  

It just so happens that our guests are amazing cooks and even made us dinner (we love you forever).  Who could ask for more?  We trekked around Cambridge and Boston visiting notable places like: MIT, 1369 coffeehouse, Lyndell's (red velvet cupcakes, you rock my world), The Garment District (vintage finds for $1/lb, yes, please!), Flour Bakery (curried tuna sandwich, hooray), the Institute of Contemporary Art (Mark Bradford exhibit is stellar), The Boston Commons, Quincy Market for clam chowder, Pavement (too stuffy for our liking, shame cuz the coffee was great), Giacomo's (try the mussel and clam linguini with their special blend of a fiery red mixed with cream sauce), Durty Nelly's, Mike's Pastries (amaretto and florentine cannoli, oh how we longed to have more when you disappeared) and of course, Trader Joe's.  It is a rare day that I don't stop at TJ's for something or other.

As predicted, there was a medical emergency on the T (you have to experience that when in Boston) and so we had the great pleasure of a cab ride home through the city, which was actually cool because it gave us the opportunity to see the sights when we would have otherwise missed the scenery.

Our home-cooked meals included build-your-own flatbread pizza night, bagels with lox and cream cheese, our guests' special recipe for roasted chicken and veggies and spinach arugula salad with prosciutto and balsamic vinegarette, bike shop bagels (a creative contribution from our guests involving roasted red pepper paste, pesto, cream cheese and spinach (or arugula, in our case) on bagels, and our final meal together: omelettes loaded with veggies and fontina cheese with a flashback of MTV's the State and Singled Out.  Does anyone remember how awesome these shows were?  

Here are some photo highlights.  Thanks for a memorable visit!

Quick Meal Using Only 3 Ingredients!

I was absolutely starving after yoga on Monday night and this was the perfect dinner.  All you need are 3 basic ingredients:

1) Whole wheat pasta (or any other type you like)

2) Pesto (pop some out of your freezer or use a quality brand from the store)

3) Sun-dried tomatoes (I used the diced kind packed in olive oil)

This was so easy, fast and delicious.  Follow these steps to have a flavorful meal with nice texture and beautiful color during this dreary time of year.  Unless you live somewhere warm, in which case, please don't tell me about it because in the words of a friend's grandchild, "I can't like that."

Tip: If you want to whip this up in less than 30 minutes, cook the pasta in advance until al dente, drain, and rinse with cold water to stop cooking and sprinkle lightly with extra virgin olive oil.  Store in the fridge in an airtight container until ready to prepare the full meal.

Prepare the pasta, pour into a medium sized pot on the stove top.  Add desired amount of pesto and sun-dried tomatoes.  Stir everything together gently over a medium heat until everything is heated through.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese if you like.  That's it!  

You can alter the quantities depending on how many you're serving.  I used about 2 cups of uncooked pasta, 1/3 cup of pesto and 3 Tablespoons of sun-dried tomatoes to serve 2 people which was more than enough.

Prosciutto, spinach and onion quiche, created by the Hangry Foodasaurus

I love using my grandma's pie pan when I make quiche!

Yummy prosciutto on top.

Looks especially delectable on a Frog Hill Pottery plate.

This is my first attempt a posting a recipe, so we'll see how it goes!

Ingredients:

-3 free range eggs

-1/2 cup plain organic yogurt

-1/2 cup organic milk

-Approximately 1 cup cheese, shredded (I usually mix a few varieties like parmesan, fontina, cheddar, gouda for example)

-Splash of extra virgin olive oil 

- 1-2 cups organic baby spinach

-1/2 large organic onion (any type) or shallot, chopped

-A few strips of prosciutto, diced and a few extra decorative slices for the top

-Black pepper, kosher sea salt to taste, chili pepper flakes for the top (you may not want a lot of salt because of the cheese and meat)

-Pre-made pie crust (you can use a frozen one or the kind that you thaw and roll out or if you're super-ambitious you can make your own!)

How to:

-Prepare pie crust in pie pan

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

-Add a little oil to small skillet and lightly brown chopped prosciutto.  Set aside.

-Saute chopped onions and baby spinach in same skillet until spinach wilted.  

-Meanwhile, beat eggs and add milk and yogurt and seasonings to egg mixture

-Shred cheeses and add most of them to the egg mixture.  Reserve some for sprinkling on top

-Add prosciutto to egg mixture

-Spread layer of spinach and onion along bottom of pie crust

-Pour egg mixture all over veggies.  It's OK if a little bit is poking out, but try to spread it around so all is covered.  Add another egg if needed depending on pan size.  Sprinkle with extra cheese, black pepper and chili flakes

-Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.  Crank up the heat to 425 degrees F

-Remove from oven and add strips of decorative prosciutto on top of the quiche

-Continue to bake another 15-20 minutes until top browns, prosciutto gets crispier and it is no longer jiggly in the center

-Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving

I love making quiche because there are so many ways to mix it up and have something uniquely different every time. 

Hanger Danger

I am sure that you are all aware that grocery shopping on an empty stomach leads to some pretty interesting (an usually unnecessary) purchases.  I am pretty sure after our trip to Whole Foods after yoga class our basket contained:

• A pint of cappuccino chocolate chunk gelato
• Teriyaki chicken wings
• Moroccan bean and vegetable stew
• Cat food, not for me =)
• Yogurt
• Apples
• Sharp Cheddar
• Green beans
• Multi-colored potatoes
• Garlic
• Two Meyer lemons

After inhaling apples and cheddar the shakes subsided.  I chased that snack with the Teriyaki chicken wings, quite tasty, and then the soup and finally a supplemental Trader Joe's white bun (who am I)?  Needless to say I wasn't feeling so great.  Originally, I was all about the gelato for dessert, but the thought of it wasn't so appealing after all the other random stuff.  This is a clear example of how hanger can distort your common sense!

How to Provoke a Hangry Foodasaurus (HF)

If you want to see a Hangry Foodasaurus in it's finest moments (and by that I mean ferocious and unpredictable) take note of following lessons:

Lesson 1) Attempting to tell jokes, make light of a situation or use humor in any of its forms is an extremely effective way to get the dragon eye look on the face of the HF.  If you are really lucky, the HF might even begin to breathe fire.

Lesson 2) Trying to have a rational conversation with the HF.  This leads to frustration and miscommunication because the HF is generally shaky, irritable and unable to think clearly.  A sure-fire way to cause everyone frustration.

Lesson 3) Giving the HF a quick fix item like a cookie or other sugary snack.  This initially seems like a great solution as it temporarily reduces hanger.  However, if not fed properly in a reasonable amount of time, this sugar high plummets into a major catastrophe thereby magnifying the hanger, shakes, dropsies and such.