Baking Mistake

My blog has been woefully neglected. There is no excuse, and I am going to jump back in. A very dear friend of mine suggested that at least once a month I could do a post. This is a photo of her son that I found on a memory card. He looks great on a trapset!

Just a memory: I made the worst batch of cookies that I ever have made tonight. I made oatmeal cookies. It's not that they're unedible. If I was expecting a breakfast bar or a healthy trail mix, granolay type snack, they'd be okay. But we were all wanting a sweet treat. The recipe called for 1 teaspoon of baking soda which was entirely too much. I usually cut down on the amount of sugar in a recipe, but in this one I put in the exact amount that it called for, and it wasn't enough. The cookies do not taste sweet at all. Also, I didn't use quick cook oats. I uses organic, raw oats. I may crumble it up and use it for granola to sprinkle in yogurt or something. Kind of disappointing for the boys. Jeremy, who is my little encourager and who tries to sugar coat things, said, "these are terrible". I gave him a glass of milk to go with his cookies, and he said that the milk was more of a treat than the cookie.

It kind of reminds me of the time I made bagels in college. When you make bagels, you gently boil the bagels first, and then you bake them. I put the water on to boil, and the recipe said to put a certain amount of salt and baking soda in the water. I got to doing things and left the water on to boil for a long time. I put the bagels in the water for the alloted amount of time, and then I baked them. I was so pleased because they looked just like bagels in a store. There was this ministerial student who was also on the basketball team who used to come over to the house that I shared with a few other girls. I asked him to try the first one. He made a horrible face and cried out, "baking soda!" I had let the water boil so long it turned into somewhat of a brine. I was so disappointed. Well, atleast they looked good. My next batch after that tasted great. No need to make homemade bagels anymore. The ones at Market Street are a-okay.

Speaking of homemade stuff, did you know that you can make cheese at home? I know that sounds silly to do because you can go to the store and buy some great cheese from all over the world. I was just intrigued that you can make cheese in your own kitchen. The first video is for mozzarella, and the second one is for a soft cheese. They're both about four minutes long. The second one is much more entertaining because it is narrated by a witty, funny chef who kind of has his own show.