I made flat chocolate chip cookies

My cookie making career has come full circle.  In the early days, inspired by the cafeteria cookies in Grade 7, my friends and I used to clamor for flat, gooey, semi-raw chocolate chip cookies.  And the funny thing, is that I remember our cookies that we baked, turned out just like the one’s at school-flat, gooey and undercooked.

Then I graduated to baking mounds of dense chocolate chip cookies that rose in the oven instead of spread out, which soon became my new favourite.  I scooped these cookies out in ice-cream scoops or by the quarter cup and molded the domes on the baking sheet.  However, I came full circle on Sunday when I tried a new recipe out of The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, which was a holiday gift from my sister-in-law-to-be.   When I was organizing my ingredients, for some reason I thought there was a lot of butter and a lot of brown sugar, but maybe it was because I haven’t baked chocolate chip cookies in a while.  It turns out, the batter was a bit on the sticky side and not the consistency I was used to working with so I added more flour.

The result, the recipe produced flat, chewy, gooey chocolate chip cookies (the first batch were semi-raw, a homage to the good old days) and they were tasty. The batch left my house this morning and were sent to the office and were gobbled up according to the reports.

Recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

225 g of butter
350 g of brown sugar
2 eggs (room temp)
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
400 g of flour
1/2 tsp of salt
2 1/2 tsp of baking soda
225 g of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F or 170 degrees C-

In a mixer, mix butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Scrape down bowl after each egg.  Add the vanilla, mix again. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl, mix and then add to wet ingredients.  Add chocolate chips and scoop out onto baking sheet.  I baked mine for 10 minutes and they were golden brown- but of course watch and adjust depending on your oven temperature.

Enjoy with milk!

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Love This: Wedge Shaped Pie Boxes

I have to share this find with you all: Wedge shaped pie boxes!!  So you can serve or gift your pie in an individual, perfectly fitted container with a cute little wooden fork.

I read about these pie boxes on a post from Sunday Suppers (about a beautiful looking chocolate and lavender pie- see photo below) and applaud Petitmoulin aka Stephmodo, on Etsy, for creating these.  I love these things!

via etsy

via etsy

via sunday suppers

If you are looking for some fun projects, recipes or ideas this weekend here are some thoughts that I’ve been looking at:

1. A Chinese New Year themed party from Lorajean’s Magazine

2. Hanging Heart Charms in prep for Valentine’s Day from Made

3. The doughnuts in this picture from Fjellby

4. A vegan soba salad from Scandi Foodie

Found Muji

Have you heard the news? Muji, the Japanese home goods brand that continues to expand around the globe and entice customers with its simple, everyday products, recently re-branded and re-launched the location of its first ever Muji store in Tokyo’s Aoyama district and called it Found Muji.  Every time I am in a city and see a Muji store I stock up on cute little items, especially their pens.  When I was living in Hong Kong in 2003 and again in 2006 I couldn’t get enough of their colourful pens and office organization items and simple brown paper notebooks.

For those of you Mujites who love the brand’s minimalist, affordable products, natural style, and endless hours of in-store fun, Found Muji looks to be even cooler.  I love what they did with the concept behind the new store.  Instead of showcasing their own Muji brand, they are selling the goods produced by small businesses and revealing the stories behind each of the products they’ve selected for the Aoyama store. Now that I think about it, Found Muji actually reminds me of ABC Carpet Factory in New York, of course with an entirely different aesthetic-

Maybe this will be a concept that expand globally.  What a treat if they do!

via Tmagazine

via 2121 design insight

via huh magazine

via muji

via muji

Love This: Saskia Diez

I love the products of Saskia Diez, a German jewellery and accessories designer based in Munich.  What initially drew me to her site was a photo I saw from blog, Style Work in Progress, of Saskia’s award winning “Paper” bag collection, a series of travel bags made from Tyvek, a recyclable, synthetic, lightweight paper material. I am always looking for fun and interesting weekend or travel bags and I would love to add one of Saskia’s bags to my collection.  I am particularly enamoured with her blue travel bag.  The colour is so rich, however I also love the black one too.

Source: saskia-diez.com via Sarah on Pinterest

via saskia diez

 

via saskia diez

Torvehallerne Market

Copenhagen got a bit more fabulous in September 2011 with the opening of its Torvehallerne Market on Israels Square.  Torvehallerne market is an upscale, culinary emporium which is spread across two buildings and houses a mix of local delicacies and foreign goods.

From fish, and meat, to bakeries and coffee and everything in between, this new food market, in a city that is increasingly being recognized for its cuisine, is a welcomed addition to the area that was once known for pigeons and cars.  Come to think of it, Prague could do with one of these!  Prague architects and developers take note.

I am super excited about Torvehallerne, and when I eventually travel to Copenhagen, the market will be tops on my list of places to visit.  If you are interested in reading what others are saying about Torvehallerne, there are some good reviews in the New York Times Travel Section, 60×80, The Daily Meal and CPH Private Guide.

via TMagazine Blog

via Spiselig

via cheery observations

via valdemasro

via aok guide

Chinese New Year Treats

via the smiling baker

Deelish: Mother Wolff Soup

I’ve been on a soup making marathon the past couple weeks, where I’ve been making a new soup a week.  My soups have typically been vegetable based and based on what I could find (that looked good) in the grocery store.  However, this week I wanted something a little less like a “baby food puree” and a little more hearty.  I don’t own a slow cooker and I found a recipe that sounded like it should be made in a slow cooker as it takes almost three hours to make from start to finish but I wanted to give it a shot.  Not deterred by the time commitment, I went ahead and gave it a shot.  The recipe, Mother Wolff Soup, comes from the New York Times Jewish Cookbook and it was adapted from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant.

Here is the recipe if you are looking for something delicious and filling to make this weekend- Note it’s a big recipe so you’ll have left overs- or invite five or six people to join you for soup:

In a large pot, put in the rice, barley, garlic, dill, bay leaf (beans if using) and water, bring to a boil and let it simmer for 1.5 hours- add more liquid if it looks like its all being absorbed. After an hour prepare the rest of the vegetables.  Saute the onions, celery together for a mintue or two.  Spinkle in the paprika, give it a stir so it coast the onions and celery.  Then add the potatoes, carrots, salt and pepper.  Let cook until the vegetables start to soften.  From there add the green beans if you are using and cook for a few more minutes until all veggies are tender.  Go back to your soup, take out the bay leaf, add the sauteed veggies to the soup and also add your chopped tomatoes to the pot.  Simmer for another 1.5 hours and adjust seasoning as you prefer.  I wanted to add tofu to the soup for some protein but got side tracked 🙂  Stir everything once or twice while the soup is cooking so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of your pot like mine did!  I also added a bit of veg boulion to the broth to give it more flavour.  It’s hearty in weight but tastes very clean and pure.  It was delicious with some fresh rye bread and a glass of white wine. Happy weekend cooking.

16 cups of water
1/2 cup of dried beans (soaked overnight with water) – I omitted this because my fiance cannot eat beans
1/2 cup of rice
1/2 cup of barley
3-4 large garlic cloves peeled and minced
1 tbsp of dried dillweed (I used fresh dillweed and a lot more then 1 tbsp)
1 bay leaf
1 cup of diced onions
1 cup of chopped celery
2 tbsp veg oil
1 tbsp of Hungarian paprika
1 cup of diced potatoes
1 cup of diced carrots
1/2 tsp salt + ground pepper
1 cup of fresh or frozen peas (I omitted this because I didn’t have any)
1 cup of chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)- I did fresh
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Love This: Winter Whites

I am heading for the hills in search of snow tomorrow after work with a bunch of friends. In light of my pursuit of snow, I created a board of lovely white things that I love.  For the mini-weekend get-away, I am planning on baking a couple loaves of banana bread and buying some fresh fruit and snacks to bring in the car.  Look forward to sharing more about the experience when I return.