I need to take a moment here to talk about gif's. That's right - gif's.
gif's were this entity that I barely registered before a few months ago. I'm not on tumblr or twitter (no plans to either... yet... whatever) so these moving picture thingy's were usually part of replies/comments to articles that I read online. I barely ever looked at them really. And then I began to realize that they were pretty funny... sometimes really funny. Closely follow that with Kid #1 joining to bottomless hole that is tumblr which as far as I can tell is just a whole lot of young people having gif conversations, only occasionally accentuated with written language. I am taking more notice of these gif's. I realize that they are quite funny and smart-ass-like... right up my alley.
Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague in which she lamented that she couldn't easily text gif's from her phone. This was an epiphany moment for me.
I have never considered myself much of a computer/technology person - spreadsheets are still a source of endless frustration for me (why can't it fit on the computer screen properly or why aren't computer screens longer? why do the templates never work... you get the idea) The popularity of the internet though changed my interest in technology slowly but surely. I've learned to embrace the changes that technology offers - as much as I can - and am committed to continuing to learn despite my refusal to tumblr or tweet (really - I'm not a celebrity or business or whatever) The realization that I could now text my own gif's to friends or colleagues opened a whole new world of possibilities for me.
What if I could text and entire conversation of back and forth gif's
What if I could have an in-person conversation enhanced by the use of appropriate gif's
What if I could represent each of my student's mark with a gif instead of a mark

So far I am adding gif's to my texts as much as possible and only one person has texted me back in gif... it's a start
It's so obvious to me now that emoji's were really just a step along the road to conversing in gif. Emoji's are so cute. I read this article recently and I have to admit that it's gif is pretty awesome AND that D and I have totally had that argument about how to pronounce gif. If you have lots of time on your hands then scroll through the reply threads and enjoy the ensuing gif-storm.



As you all know well, Kid #1 and #2 were well disposed to eating these bars. The bars have all of the requisite sweetness and chocolate and none of the disgusting fruit and/or non-chocolate that send out the 'don't eat me' vibe.



Peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate bars
adapted slightly from Crazy for Crust

1 1/2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter (smooth preferably but doesn't really matter)
3/4 cup (scant) brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 - 2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups dark and milk chocolate mix

Preheat oven to 350°F
Line a ..... baking pan and and set aside.
Cream together the butter and both sugars until smooth and creamy.
Add in the egg and milk, salt and baking soda and mix well.
Add the flour and mix until it forms dough
Press about 1/2 - 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the pan
Sprinkle the chocolate on top of the pressed dough
Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the chocolate without getting it too close to the edges of the pan
Sprinkle the rest of the dough on top of the chocolate mixture (only press the dough in very lightly)
Bake for about 30 min (a little more depending on your oven)
Cool for 10 minutes before cutting.

True Story:
I had a small epiphany at work the other day.  It was a personal epiphany as opposed to a work related epiphany.  I'm not even sure that's a thing.  Sometimes I think about things other than work while at work... it's a bad habit and I'm working on it.  So, I have a colleague who loves to come to my office about 10 minutes before I'm planning to leave.  He comes in, plops himself down and sets in for a nice ole chat.  Since he's probably the sweetest person on the planet, I tell myself that it's ok.  Even though I'm super busy trying to wrap things up and get out the door so that I can pick my kid up from school.  It's ok - keep chatting.  Tell me more... I'm changing my shoes under my desk where he won't see.  I'm trying really hard not to check my phone every 15 seconds to see what the time is.  I'm working even harder to quell the rising tide of panic in my chest.  I smile back at him but I'm only thinking about how to slow down my breathing.  When he finally makes his way back to his own office, I wait to hear his door close and then bolt.  Bolt to the subway station.  It's not until I'm on the train that I finally feel calmness restored.
In speaking to another colleague about it, how conflicted I feel because he's so sweet and how weird I feel inside when it's happening, I realized something kinda cool.  When I was a kid I took skating lessons.  I loved skating and still do.  I only stopped skating lessons because when I was about ten the demands just got too intense and none of us (Mom and Dad and me) were willing to commit the kind of time and effort that it demanded.  When I started doing lessons I was about seven - still have the super cute pictures of me in my little skating suit with the top hat for my first end of year skating show.  My skating class was at a time when the zamboni was scheduled to come on after and clear the ice - or maybe the zamboni does it's thing after every class... whatever.  It was coming on.  So even though my skating class was clear across the rink, far away from the exit off the ice and my teacher was still talking and/or showing us some super cool move once I sensed movement from behind the zamboni gates I was moving.  Can't explain it really.  I wanted to yell that it was time to end, tell everybody to start getting themselves off the ice - yep, the gates are opening now, he's ready and he's coming - why is the teacher still talking - we have to go - he's started the engine now and my teacher is still telling us about our ankles(!) - ok that's it... and Wanda is backwards skating away from her class, across the rink, towards the exit.  Wanda's teacher is calling her back but she ignores it because she is getting away from that zamboni damn it.  You all can stay but I'm leaving... Wanda out.  Panic.  I was having an anxiety attack at seven.  Almost everyday at work at about the same time I have a little mini I-have-to-get-out-of-here-now anxiety attack.
And now I know.


The moral of this story is: When experiencing daily anxiety attacks (or not) it helps to make cookies. You can eat them if you choose but you don't have to (I usually don't).

BTW - this song is haunting me.



Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Sugar Cookies adapted from 'Averie Cooks'
makes about 2 dozen med/small cookies

1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 lg egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
4 oz dark chocolate chunks
2 oz milk chocolate chunks

Line a cookie sheet with a silicon liner or parchment and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl mix together the peanut butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy and no longer grainy.  I used a hand mixer for about two minutes but be careful not to over beat because then the oil will start to separate from the peanut butter... gross - not the end of the world as it won't ruin the recipe, it's just oily.
Once mixed until light and fluffy then fold in the chocolate until reasonably mixed (there should be lots of chocolate)
Spoon about 1 1/2 tbsp full into your hand and form a ball.
Place balls on cookie sheet, leaving a little space between each.
Bake for about 8 minutes or until the cookie edges are just beginning to brown.
Remove cookies carefully (they'll be gooey) and cool on wire racks.

I know that judging by the contents of my blog over the last month or so, one might think that we've been eating only jam, pickles, bread and desserts.  It's not exactly true.
Over the last couple of months I've discovered that my life was incomplete before using Hoisin Sauce and I've set out to complete myself by using Hoisin Sauce in just about everything I can get my hands on.  Really... that stuff is off the effing chain peeps.  I've also realized that cabbage has this wonderful substantialness and sweetness (kinda like me) that works beautifully when it's slowly caramelized with some onions and bacon (yeah... I said bacon), then just barely bathed in cream and generously sprinkled with parmesan.   Yup.  It's good.  I've also made some pretty disgusting turnip and potato patties that I took pics of but felt so gross when I ate it that I couldn't bring myself to use them.  If I ever post it I will be tagging it as a disaster - if I can stomach posting it.  Lastly, there's this idea I have for a Focaccia bread thing of goat cheese, roasted tomatoes and roasted Cavalo Negro Chard that I'm tot's gonna steal from my kids school garden (seriously, nobody is using it and it's gonna go bad - I'm all ready to run over there during the night and cut it all down).  Sounds good doesn't it?
Even though all of that is going on I just can't seem to bring myself to post any of it.  The turnip/potato crap for obvious reasons.  The cabbage elixir I haven't posted yet because I haven't been able to get some good pictures of it.  The Hoisin Sauce perfection - well,  I kinda feel like I've posted a lot of that kind of thing already.  I guess I just feel kinda guilty and dumb.  I haven't actually committed the Cavalo Negro crime at the school garden yet.  The post will of course follow the crime... and the final product.



I'm posting these cookies instead.
It took me a while to figure out that they were called Monster cookies because the recipe called for making them BIG.  Duh.  Whateve's people, I'm tired these days.  I can deal with something so inane taking me a long time to figure out.  The original recipe called for M&M's.  I didn't have any and to be totally honest, I kinda like the idea of this better.  I would also totally add something crunchy, like a flake cereal or something.  That would be fun.


So my cookies weren't monsters but more like almost normal sized one's.  As a result, it makes a truck-load of cookies.  If you don't want as many cookies (just a p.s. on that though - you're still using the same amount of dough) then just make them bigger and watch them more carefully cause they'll need a couple of more minutes in the oven.  Otherwise, set up a network of friends and family who are happy to take baked goods off of your hands.  People like you when you share and it makes you feel good.
So, I'll be getting to some savoury, healthy, seasonal, colourful recipes soon.  In the meantime, I'm going to run a half marathon (no jokes) and eat some cookies.


Monster Cookies with Dark and Milk Chocolate adapted from 'Baked'
makes about 4 doz med sized cookies

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking soda
dash of salt
5 3/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup cold, unsalted butter in cubes
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
5 lg eggs
1/4 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used organic/natural)
1 cup milk chocolate chunks
1 cup dark chocolate chunks (about 80% cocoa solids)

Combine the flour, baking soda and slat together in a large bowl.  Add the oats and mix well.  Set aside.
Cream the butter until smooth and pale yellow (you can use a mixer).  Add the sugars and mix on low until just blended - DON'T OVERMIX.
Add the eggs, one at a time and beat for until it's incorporated (15 seconds or so) - scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Add the corn syrup and vanilla and mix lightly.
Add the peanut butter and mix until just blended.  Add the oat mixture in three additions, mixing on low until just incorporated (I actually did this part by hand though).
Fold in the chocolate chunks.  Cover the mixture and refrigerate at least 5 hours (or overnight is what I did)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet (parchment or silicon liner).  Scoop out the cookie dough in about 1 1/2 tbsp balls onto the sheet.  Keep about 2 inches distance between each.  Bake for about 12 - 14 minutes, turning the cookie sheet half way through baking.
Remove from the oven once they look browned on the top and not completely wet anymore.
Let them cool for a minute and then carefully remove them to a cooling rack.
Will keep for about 4 days but taste best the first two days.

This post is overdue.  Way overdue.
I got distracted.
I'm sure that you are wondering what could have been so big that it distracted me from getting this post done.  And since you've asked then I suppose that I'll fill you in.  A bit.
I was celebrating.
My birthday.


I know that in my last post I told you all that I was beyond it, that I had matured and I was ok with things being a little more subdued than usual.  I didn't feel the need to have elaborate gifts this year (cause we're broke mostly) or go out to a fancy joint for some fancy food.  Truth is though that maybe I wasn't as mature as I'd hoped.  The gift thing... well, yeah.  It's nice to get something but maybe I am truly moving past the whole gift thing (love and hugs to those of you who gave me AWESOME gifts BTW).  I was lonely though.  I missed my friends both near and far.  I missed them a lot and I'm including family as my friends p.s.
D made it special... champagne and some chocolates from my favourite local (Torontonians into chocolate must frequent this place... MUST).   I had about 52 (not that I counted them or anything) birthday wishes on FB (I don't have a ton of 'friends' on FB ok - I'm choosy, Jeez).   Then I was thrilled when I got to go out with my BFF KT a couple of nights ago.  Just us... here, eating, drinking and having a great time together.  THEN... my other bestie T came over and cooked a meal for me... just ME.  And he brought champagne... 2 bottles (eek).  Then we sat back and had a great night.  Just eating and drinking and talking and lots and lots of laughing.  My kids made me the awesomest card and Kid #2 is just old enough now to write in his name.  It's the best.  So, with all of that going on I just got... distracted.  Who wouldn't with great friends like that around.
Can you imagine what this post would have been like otherwise... depressing.
Make these squares.  If you don't count the cooling in the fridge time then it will probably take you about 15 minutes (the fridge time adds another hour or so but the silver lining is that you don't have to sit in the fridge with these puppies and do anything to them).  Don't do what I did and forget to add the butter to the syrup stuff and then panic and spread butter over top of the pressed cereal in the pan.  Yeah that was weird but at the end of the day nobody cared 'cause they're damn tasty.



Crispy Rice, Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
1 square pan of bars

Crust:
1 3/4 cups crispy rice cereal
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp light corn syrup
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (I totally forgot this BTW)

Filling:
5 oz good milk chocolate coarsely chopped
1 cup creamy peanut butter (can I just tell you that I was VERY generous with this)

Topping:
3 oz good dark chocolate (at least 60% cocoa solids) coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp light corn syrup
4 tbsp (1/4 cup) unsalted butter

Crust:
Grease an 8 inch square baking pan.
Place the crispy rice in a bowl and set aside.
Pour 1/4 cup water, sugar and corn syrup into a heavy bottomed small sauce pan.  Gently combine with a wooden spoon.  Heat the mixture until a candy thermometer ready 235 degrees F.
Remove from heat and quickly add the butter.
Mix this with the crispy rice just until the rice is all coated.
Press into the bottom of the baking pan.
Cool to room temperature and make the...

Filling:
In a metal bowl (nonreactive) mix the chocolate and peanut butter.  Place over a pot of simmering water.  Stir until the mixture is smooth.  Remove from the pan and cool just a minute or two.  Pour over the room temperature crust.  Refrigerate for about an hour or until it's hardened.  Then add the....

Topping:
In another nonreactive bowl combine the chocolate, corn syrup and butter.  Simmer over a double boiler until it's melted and smooth.  Remove from the simmering water and cool just a minute.  Pour over the hardened peanut butter layer.  Refrigerate about an hour or until the top layer is hardened.
Cut the bars into squares and store in a tightly covered container.

Well, it's August.
What a summer it's been so far.
I haven't gone away for vacation - I might still but I might not either.
So far I've been keeping myself occupied but not busy with lots of stuff.
Here's a little run-down of things that I've been doing and/or working on:
 - Starting my half-marathon training nice and early... 'cause I want a good time this year, Oh Yeah.
 - Trying to figure out why one of my tomato plants is drying up.  Figuring out that it's getting too much water and then nursing it back to health.
 - Reading... lots. Trying to read things that make me think without getting me too dark.  It's hard and it often doesn't work 'cause I'm not terribly interested otherwise.
 - Going here... and here... and seeing this at a cheap theatre... and getting together with lots of friends.
 - Trying to figure out how not to be completely broke by about the middle of August (might almost be successful this year)
 - Actually taking Kid #2 to a park (!) on two different occasions.  It really is a big deal.
 - Making lots of birthday cakes and presents (July is birthday central around here)
 - Not cleaning my house.
 - Making ice cream.


Yeah.  I made ice cream... again.  Peanut butter... again.  With Caramel ripple this time... I burnt the caramel.  That sucked.


The peanut butter ice cream recipe is good but this one was better.  I think that the honey thing changed the texture too much for me.  I used a creamy honey rather than a clear, runny variety.  I wouldn't do that again.  Generally though the other peanut butter ice cream recipe was just a more pleasant taste and texture for me.  I also wasn't in love with the caramel ripple thing.  I think that the chocolate worked better.  Quite honestly I think that the caramel ripple idea would work better with vanilla ice cream or something like it.  A simpler ice cream to showcase the caramel.  Caramel is special and shouldn't be competing with a strong flavour like peanut butter... I know, right?
Seriously, I have a cue of ice cream recipes that I want to try out.  I'm not sure where to go first.  Coffee maybe... I don't know.  There are so many.  Maybe this one?  Either way, if you want to make peanut butter ice cream I wouldn't honestly go with this one.  I would make the other one... and if caramel sounds like the perfect addition for you then by all means go for it - add the caramel recipe below.


Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Caramel Ripple
adapted from The Kitchy Kitchen

2 cups heavy cream
2 cup milk
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 or 4 (I used 4 because I had an extra yolk leftover from something else that I forgot about until the last minute so I threw it in)
3/4 cup regular peanut butter
4 tbsp clear, runny honey (if you use honey infused peanut butter  - like I even knew that existed - then decrease the amount to 2 tbsp)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla

Caramel:

1 cup sugar
4 oz butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla

Using a heavy bottomed saucepan heat the cream, milk and sugar until the sugar is melted and the mixture is just under a boil.  Turn the heat down to low.
Mix together the egg yolks and set aside.  Add in a little of the heated cream/milk to the egg yolk bowl, stirring  constantly.  Once the cream/milk has warmed the yolks then add the whole bowl back into the saucepan.  Heat again over medium heat until the mixture reaches about 170 degrees F or is thick enough to do the finger test successfully.
Remove from the heat and add in the peanut butter, honey, salt and vanilla.  Stir until everything is well blended.  Run the mixture through a seive.
Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, placing the wrap right onto the custard so that it won't form a crust on the top.  Refridgerate at least 3 hours but overnight is best - the mixture needs to be completely cooled.
Churn in an ice cream maker as per normal.
Layer the churned ice cream and the cooled caramel (directions below) alternately beginning with a little caramel on the bottom of the container.
Freeze... and then serve.

Caramel:
Heat the sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over med. heat until the sugar liquifies and turns brown but doesn't get burnt (like mine did) - as soon as it starts turning colour you could try turning the heat down significantly to prevent the burning.  Let it turn med/dark brown (it will get dark and burnt very fast so watch it carefully)
Remove from the heat and add in the butter (the stuff will bubble a lot so be prepared).  Mix well.
Add in the cream and vanilla and mix well.
Cool.

A couple of weeks ago Kid #1 came home from her Granny's and made a declaration.  You see, both kids go for an overnight together each weekend at their Granny's.  They get a piano lesson while they are there.  They get to watch tv.  They get ice cream and cookies.  It's a kids dream of course.
Kid #1's declaration made it to my blog because it's the reason that I made this ice cream.  She came home and declared that Granny made the best peanut butter ice cream ever!  Ever!
That's a challenge if ever I've heard one.  My Mother-in-law is a great cook.  She makes great pelau, stewed chicken, curry, paella... savoury dishes.  I have never been able and will never be able to match her chili as far as my kids are concerned.  Sweets however, are usually not her forte, that's my thing.  She does make a mean coconut ice cream.  Oh yeah, and Lychee ice cream too.  So I guess ice cream is her thing. After all, she is the reason I have an ice cream maker in the first place.  Anyway, it was still a challenge.  I knew I would have to rise to this challenge.
I found this recipe at epicurious and was intrigued.  Chocolate ripple is something that I have tried before in ice cream but it just hasn't worked for me.  I always find that the ripple thing hardens too quickly and turns to hard chocolate chunks before it can 'ripple' through the ice cream.  I didn't know if the water/chocolate combo would do the trick.  Why would that work anyway?  Water freezes, right?  Wouldn't you think that the chocolate/water thing would just get too hard and freeze?
So the thing is... it didn't.  It didn't harden at all.  It stayed syrupy enough that it rippled really well through the ice cream.   I have a exciting new ice cream tip for you.  Just last week I was making my regular batch of this ice cream (which I make regularly for D because he loves it and it's amazing and he deserves it) and I decided to try whipping the custard first.  So I let the custard cool and then whipped it nice and light (but not too fluffy) and then let it set again overnight.  I finished it off the next day in the ice cream maker and it was absolute heaven.  I could hardly stop eating it and that's sayin' something for me.  So with that tip in hand, I would try this ice cream again and do that too.


Aside from that, this ice cream is nice.  It's very peanut buttery (awesome) and the ripple was a success (see above) and the whole thing is pretty darn cream already but try whipping it a bit and letting it set again for finishing it off in the ice cream maker.  If you give it a whirl before I do then let me know how it works.
So now the only problem I've got with it is that Kid #1 is pretty sure that it's either 'just as good as Granny's or even better' but she's gotta keep testing it to know for sure... yeah, right.


Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ripple Ice Cream
adapted from epicurious.com
makes about 650 g container of ice cream

1 2/3 cup whole milk (I used 4%)
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used organic but sweetened not natural)
1/2 cup and 3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp water
1 1/2 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Simmer the milk, peanut butter and the half cup of sugar just until the mixture is creamy.  I just left it on for a couple of minutes but stirred it constantly.
Add in the vanilla, mix well and remove from heat.


Cool to room temperature.  Once cooled add into the ice cream maker and churn until it's thickened and light and fluffy.
While the ice cream maker is doing it's magic,  combine the 3 tbsp water and 3 tbsp sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved (I let mine just come to a boil).  Remove from the heat and add in the chocolate.  Stir until the chocolate melts completely and the mixture is smooth.  Cool for a few minutes.
Once the ice cream is ready put about 1/4 of the ice cream in the bottom of a container.  Line that with a little of the chocolate.  Layer this way until the ice cream is done.
Freeze the whole mixture for a few hours or until sufficiently frozen.
Thaw slightly before scooping.

This might not have been the best project for the end of a long work week.
This is another one of those recipes in my 'Must Try It' file.  I was really looking forward to making this stuff.  End of.
The reality is that I  was kinda grouchy, kinda tired, kinda already stretched thin.  Truth is though that I needed to get my hands into something but I was out of sorts enough not to be able to settle on something.  Just in a funk.
I thought that maybe the mundane rolling and dipping of balls would be just the thing to settle my mind and put me in the right frame of mind.  What the project did though was just frustrate me from beginning to end.
The forming of the balls got tedious and Kid #1 and Kid #2 couldn't keep out of it


- which is fine really, it just means that there is a lot of questions and possibly bickering and then eating of unformed balls and...


Then came the chocolate.
I didn't have a full 12 ounces.  I used the 6 oz that I had and decided that I would finish the rest tomorrow.
And then there was the dipping of the balls in chocolate.  If there is anything more frustrating then trying not to drop and entire ball into chocolate and then lifting it out, letting it drip off (while leaving some of the ball untouched by chocolate), placing it beautifully on a piece of parchment without the ball looking like it got poked or scraped or just generally mucked up then I don't know about it.


What really irked me was that the damn things tasted better than the sum of their parts.  The peanut butter stuff on it's own wasn't a thrill ride and we all know that dark chocolate melted and all by itself isn't gonna make fireworks in your mouth.  Combine the two and something kinda nice happens.  It's rich mind and one or two will do you (not a bad thing though when it comes to sweets, eh?)

Would I do this again soon?  NO... Hell No!  Was it worth it?  Now that I've had a glass of something that the kids can't drink I can honestly say that yeah it was worth it (but it wasn't worth it as much as those Twix Bars were worth it - I'm still dreaming about those things!)  


Buckeyes from Dana Treat from Baked Explorations
makes a boat load - about 40

1/4 cup cream cheese, soft
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 9 crackers)
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
3/4 cups unsalted butter, melted and cooled
12 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Combine the cream cheese and peanut butter together until it's well mixed.
Add in the graham cracker crumbs and mix well.
Add in half the melted butter and combine thoroughly.
Add in icing sugar and mix in thoroughly.
Add the rest of the butter and mix.
Let the mixture rest for a few minutes.
Form into balls by the tablespoons and place on some parchment or something.

Melt the chocolate (double boiler or microwave if you wish).
Let it cool just a little.
Take the peanut butter balls and use something brilliant to dip the balls into the chocolate without getting the whole ball covered (ie. leave some 'unchocolated').  Lift the ball and let the chocolate drip off a bit and then remove back to the parchment.
Let the beautiful chocolate balls harden or firm up or whatever...

I am totally fried.  I guess that sleeping in, only having one or maybe two items on my 'to do' list, eating great food and generally not doing anything before noon has kind of caught up with me.  THE hardest thing in the world has been getting up and seeing a 5 or a 6 as the first number on the clock.  I won't lie to you, I thought of calling in sick more than once.  My home studio is back in full force and by Wednesday I was a complete mess.  It was all I could do to get through the week in one piece.
I worked a lot.  I worked out a lot too.  I didn't cook.  Not a thing.  I had some soup in the freezer - Thank God! - and between that and some noodles it got us through.  I didn't even think about cooking.  I felt totally uninspired to cook but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.  I didn't have time to cook.
I've also been kinda tired of meat.  I didn't overdo it during the holidays so I can't really explain it but I'm just hankering veggies... there it is.


So, after coming home from work and really needing to eat (by now the soup is gone) but knowing that I didn't have time before I start job #2, I was overjoyed to find out that I had a last minute cancellation which meant I had an extra hour knocking around.  FOOD!


I can't believe that I haven't posted this recipe before because it really is one of my 'go-to' stir fry recipes.  Most of the time with this stir fry business it's really about Wanda throwing a bunch of veggies into a wok with a bunch of soya sauce and crap and something spicy and... Bob's Yer Uncle.  When it comes to the awesome peanut sauce thing I'm a little better.  My quantities will be totally whack but I'll get all the ingredients... mostly.  I got this recipe idea from my University friend Pam who was my accompanist for a long time (remember I'm a music person here people - classical singer by trade).  Pam was from Saskatchewan and she was Mennonite and totally into Harrowsmith (none of these things are necessarily connected - just so 'ya know).  I got this recipe from her Harrowsmith book (they really are gems) and it's a beautiful thing.


Tofu in Peanut Sauce (adapted slightly from Harrowsmith)

1/2 cup veg stock
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp (or more) crushed hot red pepper
2 tbsp honey
5 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
4 tbsp oil (sesame if possible)
3 tbsp fresh ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6 cups (at least) of veggies - assortment of onion, carrot, pepper, broccoli, zucchini... you get the idea
1 lb (about 1 pkg) of firm tofu, cut into smallish chunks

Heat wok over medium heat.   Add in the oil and throw in the veggies (remember the 'throw in' part) and let them cook for a while - 6 or 7 minutes let's say.  Throw in the garlic, ginger and tofu.
In another bowl combine the veg stock, peanut butter, hot red pepper, honey, soy sauce and red wine vinegar.  Whisk together until everything is mixed well.  Pour onto the veggies and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  Check the tastes and adjust (the heat ;-) if necessary.
This gives you time to get the rice or noodles ready...

Beautiful day today.   Perfect Toronto Fall Day.  Weather: Sunny and 16 degrees C, trees: changing colour beautifully... great day for a run...
Today I ran the Toronto Half-Marathon.  My time was 2:03 (2 hours, 3 minutes).  Yeah, that's ok - next year will be even better.  I came home afterwards, had a good rest (watching my Sunday afternoon Bollywood *sigh* - with Salman Khan!) and then got to it and made these babies.


Let me back up just a little bit.  Yesterday was a bit of a run-around because the race people decided to change the chip at the last minute.  The chip is this bit that goes on your running shoe which clocks your time across the finish line and gives the final run time.  If you want to qualify for anything (like Boston or New York) then you gotta get a qualifying time.  Well, I noticed that my kit bag had no chip in it so I dragged the kids down to the Exhibition grounds to the Marathon Expo to find out what was what.  The marathon people had changed things at the last minute and not updated their website so I had everything that I needed and in the end it was all good.  However, by the time we got home we were exhausted


AND the lovely lemon slice that I'd bought earlier at the bakery was crushed in my bag.  :-(  Didn't let it stop me from eating though... it was delish.


These cookies really just happened because I got bored.  After the bollywood film I just didn't know what to do with my poor, sore body.  Everybody likes cookies when they come home from school (or work ;-) and so, tomorrow being Monday,  I thought I would put this together.  Really this is a recipe for peanut butter and jam thumbprints so feel free to substitute if you would rather.  I'll post directions for both chocolate or jam.  I just really felt like using some chocolate today.  Since I was making some of this up, I did screw up a little and my first batch of cookies were kind of looking like UFO's.


I pushed the bottom out of some of them... OOPS.  Dang they still tastes good though.  That's the fun part of making it up... right?


Peanut Butter and Jelly (or Chocolate) Thumbprints (about 2 doz)
from Canadian Living Magazine

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup grape jelly
OR
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1 1/2 tbsp corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment or a silicon mat.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl beat together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, egg and vanilla until fluffy.  Beat in the peanut butter until well combined.
Add in the flour mixture and mix well.  Drop by tablespoons, leaving about and inch of space between, onto the cookie sheet.  Make a criss-cross pattern with a fork (flour it if it's sticking too much) and with your thumb or the back of a spoon (I used a measuring spoon) make an indentation.
If you are using jelly then fill each indentation with a little bit of jelly and bake for about 10 min.


If you are using chocolate then:
Melt the chocolate and corn syrup together in a bowl over simmering water.  Bake the cookies for about 10 min.  Once out of the oven place a little of the melted chocolate in the indentation of each cookie.
Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Here's the thing.  It's my birthday.  Yeah... it is really.  September 27th, make sure you write it down.  I get kinda funny around my birthday.  You see, even though I'm a singer, a classical singer,  a soprano in fact,  I'm not a Diva.

Most of the time.

When it comes to my birthday though.  That's a different story.  It's a Diva explosion and I don't know what else to call it.  I want it all.

Here's my logic.  Christmas?  Meh, not my birthday so I don't really care about getting presents and besides we're all buying presents for everybody so when it gets spread thin like that I just think why bother.  Go big or go home.  Diva, right?  Mother's Day... again, not a big deal.  I've got to share this day with every other mother out there AND who are we kidding, do I really need a big present that day?  NO.  Anniversary... duh, sharing that with my husband and again presents?  Really???
I think that as a group we're addicted to presents and buying crap.  I don't need it... until it's my birthday.


I need something extraordinary on my birthday.  I'll let you know what the pressie is at the end of the day.  However, my Diva explosion also extends to the birthday dinner (it had better be good) and the birthday cake.  IE.  If I ever got one of those sheet cake things from the grocery store.  Yeah, You know what talking about.  The ones with the too-sugary, fluorescent icing, crappy flowers and tasteless cake.  Yeah that stuff.  If I ever got that for my birthday I wouldn't even eat it.  Life is too short and calories are too precious people.  So, not wanting to make my own cake (Diva), I decided to make these instead.


Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies from Martha Stewart Cookies
makes about 3 dozen

3 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp
2 cups sugar
2 lg eggs
2 cups buttermilk at room temp.
2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
1 1/2 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
1 cup unsalted butter at room temp.
1 1/2 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or silicon baking sheets
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl cream together the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.  Slowly add in the dry ingredients until well combined.


Drop by 1 1/2 tbsp measurements onto the cookie sheets (does anybody really measure that?) until the batter is all used up.  Bake for about 8 minutes or until set (ie. when you touch the top of the cookie it's soft but not wet) - it says to rotate these puppies half way through baking - so I did.
Cool completely on a wire rack.


Filling:
Beat together the peanut butter and butter until well combined and smooth.  Add in the icing sugar and mix well.  Keep on beating and mixing the stuff just to make sure that you get your workout for the day - unless of course you have an electric mixer or stand mixer in which case you won't feel a thing.  Beat till smooth and fluffy.

Spread 1 heaping tbsp of filling onto the flat side of one cookie and sandwich it with the flat side of another cookie.  Keep on going until they are all connected with a partner.  Pray that you baked an even number of cookies OR just ice the left over one and pop it in your mouth.... that's not what I did or anything.