Dessert : Almost Brownies

I was in the mood for brownies when I made these but I also wanted to try my White Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe as a cookie bar. In order to do that, I reduced the flour back down to the original amount and then doubled the entire recipe. It fit perfectly in my quarter sheet and I can easily see why this was meant as an ice cream sandwich cookie.

Ingredients:
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
* 1 1/3 cups sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prep your baking sheet by rubbing in some olive oil everywhere. Then mix all the ingredients in the above order until well blended. I add ingredients one at a time and mix thoroughly by turning on the kitchen aid and walking away so I don't watch it so much. Spread the batter into the baking sheet after it's thoroughly mixed. Be sure to make sure it's evenly spread. It will settle a bit and distribute itself as it cooks. I cooked this for about 15 minutes or 20 minutes. You just want to be sure it looks like a fully baked cookie on top.


They come out with a nice soft and moist center. Similar to brownies, but still not quite.

My Kitchen : Wok

I've praised having a wok a few times before but it's really proved to be invaluable in our kitchen. I love the sloping sides instead of a rounded cylinder like so many other pots and pans are. We bought ours a few years ago at Target when they had the Blue Ginger line. I still see some of the food, but I don't see the cookware anymore.

It's a nice small 9 inch wok, which is perfect for us. We use it for everything - popcorn, tomato sauce, boiling noodles, making cheese sauce. It really is a great multi-functional tool. I'd show you ours, but with so much almost daily use it doesn't look so pretty anymore. I'm actually looking to replace it but haven't found anything similar enough. Everything else seems to be a 12 inch or just... I don't like something about it. Maybe if I just buy a 12 inch one we'll get used to it. The nice thing about our current wok is that one of the glass steam lids from our pot and pan set fits the wok perfectly, as it didn't come with its own lid.

Snack : Stove top popcorn

I have been beyond busy lately. No I haven't forgotten about this blog, just busy!

So I love popcorn. So much so that I'll eat it as a light meal if I'm in the mood for it. I haven't had microwave popcorn in years and I think movie theatre popcorn is generally pretty gross. I actually have a special popper that allows you to pop kernels in it in the microwave. Not long ago though, we started making it on the stove when we ran out of the special paper accelerator cups for the popper. The only oil we had around the house was olive oil. We no longer buy anything except olive oil unless we need something for a very specific recipe. The taste was pretty unique at first, but now we're used to it and love it. I much prefer home popped stove top popcorn to anything else.

We actually use our wok. We use less oil because of it. We have a rather small wok so we just pour in enough popcorn kernels to cover the bottom of it. Then we drizzle in enough oil to lightly coat the kernels.

Ingredients:
* popcorn kernels - we're partial to Jolly Time brand
* olive oil - but any will work
* salt (to taste)

Directions:
We set the stove to about medium and pour in the popcorn. I would say it's close to about 1/4 cup of kernels. Then we drizzle in some oil - maybe a tablespoon or two? When the kernels begin to pop we turn the heat down one number, so between medium and medium-low. There's no set cook time for doing this. You'll have to stay at the stove to keep an eye and ear on it. I make sure to shake the wok every so often so that the oil can recoat the kernels and it seems to prevent burning. I say keep an ear on it because I go off sound for when the popcorn is done popping. When the rate slows to about 1 second between pops it should be done. However, it's always easier to pull it earlier and fish out the unpopped kernels than deal with the scent of burned popcorn. After it's done, salt to taste (or don't) and then sometimes I'll drizzle some melted butter on the popcorn and toss it until it is well distributed.