Behold the Cookie Monster

Posted on December 15, 2010 by kissmybroccoli

I think I may be a little blue. I’m not talking “seasonal depression.” I’m talking actually BLUE!! Don’t believe me? Well, I just took this picture of myself a couple of minutes ago…

See, it’s true! I have actually morphed into the blue furry state of an authentic cookie monster!

Since the cookie exchange/shower on Sunday, I have incorporated cookies into every meal I’ve eaten, including breakfast!

Tuesday’s Chocolatey Oats with Peanut Butter Cookie Crumble

Wednesday’s Vanilla Bean Oats with PB Cookie Crumble

Want to know what “Peanut Butter Cookie Crumble” is? That, my friends would be my first attempt at making Mama Pea’s Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls!

Notice the first step in the instructions? Let me reemphasize: “Using a stand mixer, beat margarine, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla until fully incorporated.”

Sadly, I have no fancy smancy stand mixer that the rest of the world seems to have and am forced to make cookies with a small and somewhat inept electric hand mixer. Are you paying attention, Santa?! Let me forewarn you right now, if you are not the proud owner of one of these sexy little things,

prepare to morph into a hue of your own…

I’m just sayin!

I mixed and mixed and MIXED until I had some serious “Hulk arm” going on, but the dough just wasn’t turning into the creamy consistency like Mama Pea had pictured. So I gave up…well, not completely. I really REALLY hate wasting food…so I spread it out and patted it down into a baking dish and attempted to make dough bars instead.

All was looking good until I tried to “cut” one out!

That’s when I thought…FAIL!

Until I took a bite! Yeah, I had this spoonful x …well, we won’t go there! 😉

I decided to try it on oats the next morning so I didn’t feel so guilty about attacking a large baking dish with a spoon, especially at 6AM! The crumbles melted into the warmth of the oats and created a smooth doughy texture that I swirled around my bowl in utter bliss. Best darn cookie fail I’ve ever had!

But of course I, being the perfectionist that I am, could not stop at fabulous cookie dough crumbles. I had to have the real thing! I had to have balls! (TWSS)

After about one hour and one wickedly sore arm, I turned these babies out!

Perfection!

I will tell you they are not quite what I imagined they would be. The consistency is more of a flaky, crumbly cookie instead of a gooey mound of dough. But believe me, it hasn’t stopped me from continually “taste-testing” to uh, get a well rounded review! 😉

This morning, hippie-roons, dough balls, and the rest of the “loot” from the cookie exchange were packed up and taken to the hospital to feed the masses (aka my co-workers) and after some bribery kind offering, I took home two empty containers!

Yeah, sure part of me was like, “No, no, no, they’re mine!” *insert crazy hobbit eyes*   “My precious!” but c’mon now, Christmas pictures are coming up and I really have to do something about this sudden change in my complexion!

 

Posted in Breakfast, Holiday | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Dinner From Down Under!

Posted on December 14, 2010 by kissmybroccoli

Creamy pumpkin soup with a hints of lemon and warm winter spices served with an authentic Australian soda bread.

Awesome Aussie Eats!

Did I get your attention?

I thought I’d close our week-long global foodie domination trip with a stop in the ol’ Down Under! Since I just happened to be fresh out of kangaroo, I consulted my trusty crystal ball (aka, Google) and discovered that pumpkin soup is actually very popular with the Aussies!

Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Lemon & Carrot: (serves 4)
Inspired by pumpkinsoup.org <–How awesome is that to have an entire website dedicated to pumpkin soup!?!

  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, diced
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 15 oz can pumpkin puree
  • 1 1/2 cup turkey stock
  • 1/2 cup vegetable stock
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. cloves
  • 1/8 tsp. pepper
  • dash of salt
  • 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice

1. Saute carrot in 1 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet for 5 minutes over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion and garlic and continue to cook until tender.
3. Transfer to medium soup pot and add remaining ingredients except yogurt and lemon       juice.
4. Cook, covered, on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.
5. Stir in yogurt and lemon juice.
6. Blend with immersion blender until smooth and creamy and serve with Australian soda bread (recipe below).

Delicious Damper (Australian Soda Bread): 1 loaf
From allrecipes.com

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
3. Stir in milk until a soft dough forms.*
4. Form into a round and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove loaf from oven, cut in half and continue baking for 10 more minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool before serving

*Many of the recipes I saw called for kneading before baking. Once the milk was incorporated, I kneaded the dough for about 5 minutes before forming into a ball.

 

Fresh out of the oven and basted in butter!
All sliced up!

This meal was incredibly easy and soooooo much better than going to Outback! Wow, saying that reminds me of the days when I used to order the Aussie Fries appetizer and after polishing off half of that would then have my entrée! It’s been over 3 years since I’ve even stepped foot inside of the restaurant now. Funny how knowledge of what’s in our food can totally change the way we chose to eat! For instance, THIS is why I stopped eating Aussie Fries. Talk about a wake up call! Did you get the part where this is the #1 worst food in America?!

How about you guys? Any foods you used to love, but now wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Posted in Entree, International | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Home SWEET Home!

Posted on December 13, 2010 by kissmybroccoli

Whew, I have had the CRAZIEST 24 hours!! Last thing you guys knew, I was heading to the cookie exchange (which was also a baby shower) with my co-workers yesterday. Little did I know there was much more than cookies in store for me!

 

My cookie contribution: Hippie-roons & PB Cookie Dough Balls

View from my back porch

See? Just a dusting!

I drove out to my friend Judy’s house, which is about a 30-40 minute drive from my house in the city out to her place in “backwoods” country. Snow had started falling here in Clarksville around noon and kept up passed the time I left my house at around 2pm.

The snowflakes had just been whirling around all afternoon, but I didn’t think anything of it because #1: It’s Tennessee and we NEVER get snow accumulation this early in the year and #2: I’m a dummy that NEVER watches the weather report!

Anyways, back to the party! Judy is always the “Hostess with the Most-est” and she definitely went all out with her preparation for this occasion! Do you spy the buckeyes, my all time favorite holiday treat? She made 160 of them!! Yeee-ow!

A baked cheesecake appetizer dip! Tasted JUST like lasagna filling!!

Spinach Balls

The hot cocoa station

Assortment of hot tea

We were all having such a good time chatting and cookie munching that we didn’t realize that in only TWO HOURS this happened:

So, at 5:30 we all decided it was time to “try” to head home. Long story short: 3 cars left and an hour later, one car made it back with all of us in tow! I ended up having to abandon my car on a hill that was just impossible to climb (I know, I tried TWICE)!

It was a pretty late night, but we were all finally able to get back into the city thanks to one of the girls and her 4WD Pilot. AFTER we’d driven all the way back, I realized my house key was back in the car that had been abandoned! :*(

Luckily, I was able to crash at a co-worker’s house and she drove us to work this morning. Due to our impromptu “sleep over,” I got stuck wearing these to work with a pair of hospital scrubs!

Oh yeah, styling and profiling! 😉

After work, I was able to get a ride to my poor little car and after a bit of spinning and sliding, I got it back on the road and all the way home! There really is something to be said about coming home after a day of “adventures”-yeah, that’s what I’ll call it-and just relaxing and finding comfort in the familiar.

After my poor hospital food eats today (n0 packed lunch today), I decided to make something warm and comforting for dinner: Mama Pea’s Spicy African Peanut Soup What, you didn’t think I’d let a little day of chaos stand between us and our globe trotting, did you?? Noooo, nah-uh, not this foodie!

I put all the ingredients (using millet inside of lentils) in the crock-pot and set to HIGH for 3 hours! Mmm, warm, creamy, spicy comfort in a bowl! Just what I needed after today!

I promise…nom, nom, nom…to pay attention to the weather report…nom, nom, nom…from this day forward! Wow! This soup is delicious! Go make it NOW!

 

 


Posted in Entree, International | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments