Martha Stewart Cookies

So Saturday night, the cool people that we are, my roommate and I decided that instead of going out and enjoying New York City to the fullest, we were going to make cookies. Okay, that's not quite true. We didn't know what to do, and at 11 o'clock, after it was assessed that we were not going out, making cookies seemed like the best alternative. Usually, when I make the classic chocolate chip, I always fall back on Alton Brown's classic chewy recipe, but to make those, you a) need bread flour b) need to refrigerate and c) really need a mixer. Having none of said items or time, I decided upon another classic's recipe - Martha Stewart. Charlotte mixed it almost all entirely by hand - clap clap Charlotte! - and this was her first "cookie dough/sleepover" experience. Whatever that means. Having no mixer caused it to be a little runny since we couldn't cream the butter properly, but aside from being a bit flat, they were classic chocolate chip cookies. The perfect fix for our late night craving.

Thumbs up from Jessica.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Adapted from The Martha Stewart Cookie Book

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

Of course we had to make a super big one for everyone :-)

An American Experience

A few nights ago, my roommate and I discovered something a magical - a store within our dorm that accepts dining dollars!! What does this mean, you might ask? Well basically, dining dollars is money that is paid by the powers above (i.e. our parents) so when spending it, it's not technically "your money." So within this lovely little convenience store, they sell a plethora of goods - candy, drinks, sudafed, and KRAFT Mac and Cheese. Now if you venture into our kitchen you will see a list of rather American looking foods on our fridge - frozen yogurt, grilled cheese, twinkies, mac & cheese - all foods that our dear Charlotte has yet to try, given her status as an expatriated French women. Well anyway, upon seeing the Mac & Cheese downstairs, I pounced and bought it (well Charlotte technically used her dining dollars because I had left my ID upstairs) and proclaimed we would be having a fine Americanized lunch of mac & cheese the following day. As I prepared the lunch the following day - Charlotte was too afraid to do it by herself even though I was 30 minutes late arriving home - her first words upon seeing the very orange packet of cheesey stuff was, "That is not cheese." I had to agree, but then again, this is Kraft, and this is America where nothing is what it seems. All I can say is, not matter what the substance was that was added to the macaroni, it was quite delicious. Charlotte seemed to agree and upon completion of her very first bowl of American Mac & Cheese she said "It was very good." Now will we be making it again? Probably, but more so because mac & cheese is quite inexpensive, and after all, we are hungry/poor college students. :-)

Dorm Room Dinner Night

So I'm all moved in to college! My dorm is spectacular. I have a huge room, a great roommate, and an awesome kitchen/common room. Sadly, I am in the one tower of my building that was not renovated over the summer, so the other towers are a tad bit nicer then ours is, but oh well. It's the people that counts, right ;-) Weeks ago, when all my suites mates and I first started talking on facebook - there are 6 of us - we decided we wanted to have a big dinner to share our love of baking and cooking with each other when we arrived in the dorm. Well, tonight was the night. As I said, our kitchen is rather small and the oven has some faulty temperatures, but it still turned out great. We had spaghetti, quiche, salads and some very yummy baked goods compliments of Shaina and myself. It was by far the best meal I've had since being on campus, although I have only eaten in the dining halls here twice, so I can't make so swift decisions quite yet on the campus food. We are hoping to make this weekly dinner/roommate bonding time a bi-weekly event, so I am greatly looking forward to what everyone holds in store for next time. I know I shall most likely continue to contribute some baked items, but after playing with the oven, I'm realizing that making a cake or anything that needs a more constant oven temperature might be a little difficult.

My cookies - macaroons

Katie and Jessica at the stove/sink

Shaina's oatmeal raisin cookies

Jessica, Sally, and Shaina

Mallory, Katie, and Charlotte