Rainy Days and Cookies



How dare you let me out in this weather...

Here in Dallas, we graciously accept whatever rain we can get, but on weekends like this one when there are so many outdoor festivals going on, it gets a little boring. Even Charlie isn't a fan of the weather, and when went to check on him after letting him outside, he makes sure to let me know how much he doesn't care for the wet by sitting in the wicker chairs.To fight the cabin fever blues, I decided to make cookies, both human and canine.

The human cookies I cheated on, we had a bag of the Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mixes on hand so I went ahead and used it. While of course cookies from scratch are the best, I think these are the next best thing if you don't feel like dirtying the whole kitchen up. Most of the time people don't even know the difference if I bring these to events! As always, you can customize it easily to suit your preferences, I often throw extra chocolate chips or mix it up with butterscotch or white chocolate. It's a great way to get that homemade taste without the mess, and its SO much better than those refrigerated ready-made doughs.



Cute puppy themed shapes for cute pups!



Unfortunately the concept of keeping the kitchen clean by using the mix was defeated by making cookies for Charlie and Luke.We usually get just a giant box from Costco, but sometimes its nice to do something nice for the pups since they love these ones so much. Its also a good opportunity to really KNOW whats going into their treats since its all being done from scratch. I love the recipe because its so flexible and easy to customize to your dog's tastes; and if you're REALLY curious, you can try some yourself. Click Read More at the bottom to check out the recipe.

Homemade Fuzzy's Tacos

Credit: here

I love Fuzzy's. The first time I went and got the shrimp tacos, I couldn't get enough of them. What I didn't love was $2 price tag on each of these tiny things, which is pretty much why I could never get enough of them to get full. My family was craving some Fuzzy's, and it occurred to me that we can probably just make them at home. I was right! For less than the price to feed two people at the restaurant, we were able to feed five and have leftovers! For generosity's sake, we made both chicken and shrimp tacos. We served this with some Mexican rice (A recipe I may share eventually, but for now I'll keep the secret), chips, and a creamy avocado lime dip. Read More for the recipe!

Yum! Served with tortilla chips and a creamy avocado dip

A Tribute to Bacon

Since I've been at my parents for a while, I haven't done much in terms of cooking or puppy activities, so I thought I would make a slight tribute to one of my favorite foods: BACON.

 Lately bacon has gotten quite the reputation for more than just the delicious smokey strips that you eat for breakfast. You can now buy bacon themed items in almost any genre, such as non-breakfast snacks, body care, and dental hygiene. Who would have thought? Here are some of my favorite examples:

Bacon Air Freshener

Bacon Pop - bacon flavored popcorn

Man Bait- Maple Bacon Lollipop

Fair enough, a little strange, but here is where stuff starts to get REALLY weird...

Bacon Soap

Bacon Toothpaste

So for all you bacon lovers, there is a bacon themed product to match your every need.  Although, you may want to skip out on some of the body care bacon items.

A while back, there was also a magnificent thing called the Bacon Shake at Jack in the Box. Unfortunately I couldn't find anyone brave enough to try it with me and I was too wimpy to try it alone so I missed out. If you're still in doubt, you can read more about it here.

Quick Procrastination Cookies

As final exams roll around, of course I would find ways to substitute studying with eating.  These cookies were a quick and easy solution to my sweet tooth procrastination. I love cookies because its so easy to experiment with the ingredients once you have the basics. Oatmeal, nuts. and vanilla extract can be added to your liking, and I also added coconut flakes to some of the dough - the result was cookies resembling almond joys. If you prefer the taste of brown sugar to white sugar, you can substitute to your liking. Also, I only have myself to eat the cookies, so feel free to double the recipe to make more. Read More for the recipe!

Cooking chicken on a pig

The idea of attempting to operate a real grill intimidates me, so when I saw this cute little Terra Cotta Pig at World Market, I thought it was right up my alley. Combined with a $10 off coupon I couldn't really say no.

I made my first attempt with it the other day, and confirmed my fears of the grilling world. After a lot of lighter fluid and several dangerous pyrotechnics, I managed to get the coals lit. Needless to say, the food was the easiest part, I went with the simple route and made some Hawaiian Chicken Skewers, with chicken, pineapple, and green peppers. The ones that I had put on the pig first were a little smokier, but had a questionable taste from what I am assuming was the lighter fluid.... but the rest were good! Just put the skewers over some white rice and made it a meal. The leftovers made a really delicious and fresh tasting lunch the following day as well.

Next time I make this I will:

1. Wait until my boyfriend is around to start the charcoal for me. I could learn myself and practice, but why do it myself when I can get him to do it?
2. Not wait until last minute to start making this. It does take a couple of hours total to make (a lot of it is just waiting, maybe only 20 min of actual work), so this is not a good dish to make if you're hungry RIGHT NOW.

This recipe is really flexible depending on how much you want to make (so I won't put amounts), and its easy to get creative with! Make more or less marinade depending on how much chicken you make. Read More for the recipe!

Pan-Asian night

So tonight I wanted to cook something a little bit different, so it was coconut-curry chicken and a vegetable stir fry. Yes, I realize that those two really aren't supposed to go together since they're from two different countries, but I needed to vegetables and I wanted an excuse to have baby corn.

This was my first time doing any real (at least from scratch) cooking with curry, and lets just say I had a slight learning curve at the beginning. I was tossing around whether or not to use curry paste or curry powder, and the first time around I made the big mistake of heating the oil BEFORE adding in the curry paste. My white wall next to the stove is now tinged a little bit orange. After sufficiently burning the paste while trying to mix it with the oil, I gave up, washed the pan, and started over... this time heating the oil with the curry powder at the same time. Much better, and virtually no splattering. Unfortunately I found other ways to make a mess, flinging the curry sauce between the crack next to the stove top, and spilling coconut milk everywhere (let it be said, that if you get the Thai Kitchen coconut milk, you're supposed to open it from the bottom end). Otherwise it went seamlessly once everything got added in. I only put in about 1 lb of chicken, and I let it simmer for a little while longer (hourish?) because I prefer a thicker sauce, and the results were pleasing. Even my roommate who tends to prefer bland flavors really enjoyed it. I think the tomatoes created a fantastic bridge between the curry and the coconut flavor.

Next time I make this I will:

1. Open more windows (and subsequently annoy the neighbors in my apartment)
2. Possibly invest in a splatter guard
3. Add some fresh tomatoes and/or add a little more 'kick' to it.
4. MAYBE try again with the curry paste, since word on the street says it makes curry dishes all the more delicious.

As for the stir fry, the consistency and the vegetable flavors were great (carrot, broccoli, green pepper, baby corn, water chestnuts), but I'm starting to realize not owning oyster sauce is going to cause me to run into some problems as I cook some more Asian dishes.  Putting that on the shopping list for next time. Sauce for the stir fry was okay, but without any oyster sauce and using soy sauce and teriyaki sauce as a substitute, it didn't really have much character. Since I didn't really follow a recipe, I won't write one until its a little better tasting. Read More for the recipe!