Highly Improvised Cookies (Tutorial)

Hello my dudes,

This is how to make the peppermint meltaway cookies I've made before, having realized that there's no peppermint extract in the house and the stores are closed. Enjoy!

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Materials:

• mixing bowl (small)
• spoons (1 large, 2 small)
• baking sheet or something
• oven
• butter (1 cup = 227g)
• powdered sugar (1/2 cup = 60g)
• corn starch (1/2 cup = 60g)
• flour (1-1/4 cup all-purpose = 150 g Type 405)
• something pepperminty
• some sort of frosting
• a desperate need for peppermint cookies

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Procedure:

1. Weigh or measure everything out. I realized later that I did have measuring cups here, but where's the fun in that? Plus they're harder to clean than the plates I used, and not as aesthetic if I do say so myself.

Don't forget the peppermints!

2. Wait for the butter to get to room temperature.

3. Put the butter in the bowl and squish it around with the back of the large (table) spoon, to get some good surface area and kind of oil the bowl. Add the sugar and squish that around until well combined and fluffy. In other words: "cream the butter and sugar". If you have a mixer, this goes a little faster, but the back of the spoon is so much better than any spatula.

4. Add the flour and corn starch to the mix. I combined them separately just because the flour was already in a big enough bowl, but who knows if it's really necessary?

It's a sort of messy process.

5. Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes. Fortunately, there was room in my fridge. Otherwise I'd have had to put it outside!

6. Use two teaspoons to scoop out teaspoon-sized balls and place them on your baking sheet. These will expand so leave some room. My notes say 2 inches between cookies but not even I follow that. I had too much dough for one sheet and much too little for two, so of course I just ate the rest. Didn't feel great after a few bites but to me, it feels better than wasting it. I could've made a big cookie or something but they're crumbly enough as they are.

Okay so maybe those are bigger than a teaspoon.

7. Preheat the oven (350˚F = 175-ish˚C), then put your cookie sheet in and wait until the edges are a little brown on the bottom (10-15 minutes).

They do flatten quite a bit.

8. Remember that you had a peppermint Ritter Sport.

9. Let the cookies cool and frost them. I left them on the baking sheet because it was a reusable paper thing over a metal rack, but I think you're supposed to transfer them to a normal rack without paper after 10 minutes. Anyway before they get too cold, stick a piece of your lucky find (see above) on top and let it melt so you can spread it around.

10. There is no Step 10. You're done. Let them cool or eat them hot and melty, that's your call.

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Commentary:

The mints melt weird and threaten to stick to your teeth but will also melt in your mouth faster than candies. It's a little annoying but hey, peppermint. I get desperate when the only candy canes around here are strawberry flavored. The "frosting" really pulls these together into something beautiful.

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Life Story:

Merry Christmas!

I'm home alone today but that's perfectly fine. My housemate's room is basically a professional recording studio and he's letting me use it, so I'm happy as can be. Of course I miss people, but believe me, I'm an expert at distracting myself. Feel free to video call me if you're out there missing me, though. I'm up at all sorts of crazy hours lately, but if it makes you feel better you can shoot me a message first.

Love you lots! 😘🎄🎅🎉

🎆And in case I don't update by then, happy New Year!🎇

Mushroom + Cheese Omelette Recipe

Last Saturday, I got hungry (surprise!). Here's how I fixed it. As usual, life story after the recipe.

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Materials:

• Pan
• Butter
• Mushrooms
• Knife
• Nonmetal Spatula
• Small Bowl
• Eggs
• Milk
• Fork
• Cheese
• your go-to Seasonings
• Plate

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Procedure:

1. Heat the pan on medium heat on the stove. I had mine set to 4, if that helps.


2. Take the butter, peel back the wrapping, and paint the bottom of the pan with it. (Note: you might just want to slice some off like a normal person depending on who you share the butter with or how clean your pan is.)


3. Clean your mushrooms. See here, Step 1 if you're not sure how.


4. Slice the mushrooms directly into the pan. You could use a cutting board, but I didn't and the world did not, in fact, end.


5. While you're waiting for your mushrooms to cook, crack your eggs into a bowl and add a splash of milk.


6. Scramble the eggs with a fork, but don't over-beat them.


7. Keep an eye on the mushrooms, turning them occasionally with your spatula. Now is a good time to go grab your camera so you can take pictures for your blog.





8. Once the mushrooms are cooked, remove them from the pan. I put them on the plate that would hold the final product, because who wants to do more dishes than they have to?


9. Pour the egg-milk mixture into the pan. Don't adjust the temperature, as medium is just fine for our purposes. Swish it around as you would to make any omelette, making sure to keep the pan coated.





10. Wait until the eggs are cooked almost to your liking, then add the mushrooms on one half and slice the cheese on top. Now is a good time to add any seasonings. I totally forgot and just added them on top at the end, which was also fine.





11. Fold the unoccupied half over the full half, careful to keep the eggs intact. Flip immediately so the cheese is on the bottom, melting.





12. Once the cheese is done melting, slide it onto your plate. Add any seasonings you like.





13. Eat.

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Life Story:

I'd be out partying with the international students but I can feel a cold menacing in the corners of my nasal passages and would rather avoid inviting it in. It is indeed Halloween and I'm sitting at home tonight, reminiscing about last week's lunch menu. tomorrow is a holiday and Friday I dance with my folklórico group for Día de los muertos. I feel normal in the practices but I will probably cry at some point on Friday. Folklórico connects me to my grandma, who'll be able to visit Friday, if you believe in that sort of thing.

I am not wearing sandals anymore; in fact, it has snowed near my house already.

Anyway, my life is probably boring to talk about at this point - all schoolwork and stuff that belongs in a journal. Maybe I'll post another rant sometime, but not today.

Later, dudes. 🤙

Lemon + Champignon Salad Recipe

I went looking for something like this and didn't find what I was looking for, so I made it and thought I'd share. Story at the end because I myself am not a fan of scrolling through a whole page of life story to get to the recipe. If you're here for the story, click here.

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DISCLAIMER: All amounts are approximate and highly dependent on what I had on hand. Everything is optional, substitutions are encouraged, and everything else they never taught you in school. If that's not your style, consult the cook in your family for advice before proceeding. Or trust yourself and jump in!

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Materials:

• Bowl
• Knife
• Cutting Board
• Champignons
• Parsley
• Lemon(s)
• Lemon Pepper
• Sea Salt
• Tajín
• Chili Flakes or Powder
• Bell Pepper(s), aka Paprika
• a plate, I guess

Procedure:

1. Clean your champignons and paprika. I'm pretty sure it's standard to just wipe mushrooms off, but I put them under running water and everything turned out fine. I used about 4 mushrooms and one paprika, but none of this is to scale so adjust as needed.


2. Slice your champignons and put them into the bowl. I cut them in half before slicing them thinly across the cap. Really all that matters is that they end up thin. Use a cutting board for a safety boost, and a sharp knife for quality.


3. Chop and add the parsley. Or if you're using frozen parsley like I did, pop it out of the freezer and into the bowl.


4. Slice the lemon(s) and squeeze it into the bowl. Toss or stir to coat the mushroom slices. I also added a bit of the zest, but without a proper zester I lost motivation. I only mention this so you don't have to wonder what the yellow thing is in the picture.


5. While you're impatiently waiting for the lemon to "do its thing",  add in the spices and adjust to taste. If you're not the biggest fan of lemon flavor, you may want to add some olive (or other kind of) oil. I personally will eat a lemon for the heck of it, so my salad had no added oil in it.


6. Cut off the top of your paprika and remove the seeds. I accidentally sliced my paprika in half too, which probably makes it easier to eat but was not the original plan. 🤷


7. Stuff the salad into the paprika halves.


8. You're done. I chose a hybrid between eating this refreshing Second Lunch over the sink and putting it on a plate the way Mom would want me to, but only because I wanted to take a picture and share.

I did take inspiration from this Paris Mushroom Salad, but like I said earlier, it wasn't quite what I wanted. This recipe may not fit your mood or taste either, which is why I'm saying make it what you want it to be.

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Life Story Bit

My life is going well so far this third week of the second semester of my studies here. I've got a hobby for every night of the week, so skipping one day doesn't mean missing out on a whole week of personal growth / sport / music / social interaction / etc. And I've taken to reading on my commute to and from uni, so that's been a focus boost.

The weather got cold for about two days before jumping back up to comfortable, I-can-still-wear-sandals temperatures. The leaves are starting to turn colors and fall, and there are red squirrels that take walnuts right out of the tree across the street, which is a funny sight.

I'm also hanging out with the international students more this semester, and I figured out why I was hesitant to last semester: On exchange, for most of us exchange students, the schoolwork counted for absolutely nothing, so most didn't take school seriously. Here, on the other hand, they're either doing their entire Master's here or are taking classes that will count for something back home. Not only do the international students at this level take uni seriously, but they also have perspectives to offer - cultural, political, personal experience, general curiosity. Plus, lots of them know how to dance and where to go that'll play good dance music.

Amy's birthday was a lot of fun, and Taya seems to be settling in well. I video called Nabeelah the other day and she seems to also be well, besides really wanting to visit Germany.

TL;DR: I'm good, my people are good, also the food was good today too.

I hope to do more regular updates, but I can't promise anything.

That's all for now, folks!