Sweet Treats and Things to Eat

I didn't mean to talk about that so much, but it happens. What can you do?

If there's one thing the Internet loves more than cats, it's ridiculous baked goods. Along with reading a cooking blog or two, I have seen treats upon treats all over the web that make me drool. Pinterest is basically food porn. Like chocolate chip cookie dough truffles:

or maybe Reese's cheesecake brownies:

Or perhaps chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars?

Guh. I die. Can you tell I love cookie dough/cheesecake/peanut butter? Because those are my favorite desserts.

Along with the Pinterest food deliciousness, I've been reading all about Cake Week. It happened this week, and what happened was a group of bloggers each made a different type of cake. Honestly, I'm not a cake person. Sure, there are some delicious cakes, but it's not at the top of my dessert list. I will chow down on the batter like a madman however. Any type of batter? I will lick the bowl clean. That's probably the reason I love cookie dough so much.

So I don't like baked goods, I like un-baked goods? Oh dear. Probably not good for my health.

On the actual baking side of things, I'm not much of the cake or brownie maker. I can make a pretty swell chocolate chip cookie, or more likely dough. There is one baked good that I do love, and it's baking bread.
As you may recall, I bought a bread baking book earlier this summer that I lovingly call the Bread Bible. Since then, I've baked 21 different loaves of bread from the book, not including the ones that I've repeated. I've had some ups and downs with my breads, like not baking long enough or baking too long. I've had many that didn't rise very well. Actually, the breads I've tried baking in my oven here have been having the most issues... Then again, I think my oven turns off in the middle of baking. I'm not sure if I can confirm this, but the little light turns off on the outside that says, "Oven on". So that might be happening.
Anyways, one of the breads that I've been baking that I find delight in are sweet breads, or quick breads. Alright, these don't really count as real breads. It's like when you justify having a muffin for breakfast. Stop lying to yourself, that's cake without the frosting.

I baked some strawberry bread this week because I though UFO was having another bake sale. Turns out they're not until next week. Perhaps I'll make the strawberry bread into breakfast bread instead. Strawberry and peanut butter? Odd but good combo.
So here's some of what I can bake:

Eat your heart out Pinterest.

Oh, what am I saying? My bread looks sad. However, it does taste like fresh strawberries, even though they were frozen. Perhaps I need a better place to model my food? My kitchen is very sad and has icky lighting.

Well, I'll keep working on the bread baking thing. I do have more than 300 recipes left in that book.

What's your favorite dessert? What's your dessert making specialty?

Winning Things and Home Alone

We've gone into the zombie state of this vacation. That's right: The concept of getting anything done is covered in a haze of laziness. I know, I have a problem.

What I don't have a problem with is winning stuff! Recently I won a giveaway over at Gingersnaps, and the prize came today.

It came with a nice little written note, some coffee samplers, coupons, and an apron, which I was planning to wear right after I opened it. ...Then five seconds later while I was baking some bread, I realized I had forgotten to put it on. I'll get it, I swear.

Recently, I was hanging in the house all by myself. No parents, no sister, just me. (I'm saying this now due to the fact that I'm no longer alone in the house. I'm not that dumb to say when I'm currently in the house alone.) Something odd happens when you're in a house by yourself. You tend to act... differently? Or maybe that's just me.

For y'see, when I've got a house all to myself I happen to walk around in the nude. Well, maybe not all of the time. It's more of an after-shower thing. Still, it's not something I'd do if there were others around. I'll nonchalantly wander the halls and just feel comfortable in the nude. If anyone else was around? I'd be covering up.

Now that I've terrified all y'all, I have to ask: What do you do differently when you're home alone? Perhaps listen to music on full blast? I'm guessing people aren't as weird as I am.

Baking Cookies

Today I had some people over, and you know what we did? If you said baked cookies while Hannah ate far too many, you'd be right!
And I forgot to take the camera out again. It happens. With me, anyways.

During this baking session, we happened to make one of my favorite holiday cookies of all time: Treasure Cookies.

What are treasure cookies you ask? Here's a look:

Simple, eh. But then split it open:

And that's where the magic happens. To make it, you pretty much just take a piece of candy. Then wrap it in cookie dough. Then bake it. Amazingness.
Really, it's just an excuse for me to be able to eat more peanut butter cups.

I think my favorite overall cookie is chocolate chip though. When I was younger, I adored snicker doodle. Don't know why I don't love them as much anymore. Perhaps it's because of the lack of chocolate.

This is my favorite seasonal cookie. This doesn't seem like it's very festive, but this is the only time that we usually make them. Probably because if we made them at any other time of the year, we'd all gain twenty pounds every week.

Cookies. Just one of the best desserts ever in my opinion.

What's your favorite type of cookie? Do you have a special occasion cookie?

Saturday Night and Such

Whenever I have trouble starting out a blog, I start surfing the web. It happens. I suppose it's because my thoughts are a tad scattered tonight.

Good news on the book selling front: I already sold a book! Granted, it was probably for a lot cheaper than it should have been, but I think I made a decent buck. Well, once I get paid.

On another note, new SNL tonight! Huzzah! I keep forgetting what day it is, and it's barely been two days. It may seem like I've been watching a lot of television, but I'm really not. One thing I had to watch? My Theatre professor from last year being on a television show. WHAT. That's the craziest thing ever! So nicely done Ted. Sorry you had to be eaten by rats. (Grimm is a pretty morbid show.)

My aunt was thinking about me when she saw these adorable little loaf pans!

I can't wait to use them! Also, can you tell my family members like to shop? They just buy things... even if it's not for a holiday gift or anything. Just because it's there. I it's a very nice trait, but I'm glad I don't have a weakness for buying things "just because they're there". I'm surprised the members of my family haven't gone broke.
I simply never buy things on a whim, really. That includes for myself. The last thing I bought "on a whim" for myself was in October, when I bought a Portland Marathon Mug, a headband, and a sticker for my car. Unless you count half marathon registration in November? I dunno.

I really thought I would have a lot more to say today, but honestly I do not. It's just one of those days I suppose.

What was the last thing you bought "on a whim?"

Random Thoughts and Goals for December

Before we get started, I'm just gonna toss out a few things on my mind.

• I'm getting an allergy test tomorrow, to see if it's true that I can't have shrimp. I hope it's not. I love shrimp, I don't want it to hurt me.
• For the last two days, I've had the lyrics "An elephant never forgets, so my dick remembers everything" stuck in my head. Yeah. I like the song "Freaks and Geeks" by Childish Gambino, although all I can think is, "Silly Troy, why are you rapping?"
• I got accepted to be a member of APO! Yah! I did all of the stuff, so it was kind of expected but still. Huzzah!
• Why is it that I can't bake small things? I always burn the bottoms. I never have this problem with loaves. Sure, the rest of it is fine but burnt bottoms are never fun. I ended up scraping off the bottoms of some Chocolate chip scones so they're acceptable to give away.
• It's my mother's birthday! Happy birthday mom, love ya! Thanks for raising me to be mostly normal.
• This week has been Dead Week, and it's actually been surprisingly dead for me. I have a paper to edit for Friday but other than that... classes have been reviewing stuff. I know that a lot of the people are doing projects this week, but I also think that they have less to do during finals week. I do have three finals...

Are we good? We're good. Anywho, what I wanted to talk about today are goals. I see bloggers always posting their goals, and it seems like a good way to stay on track. They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Or is it 28? Whatever. All I'm saying is that it's time I make monthly goals.
I'll admit, I actually did have a goal for November, and I stuck to it pretty well. It was:

• Eat 2 servings of fruits and 2.5 servings of veggies
• Only one serving of cooked veggies a day
• Only one dried fruit for a fruit serving per day

Other than Thanksgiving where everyone has plates of tan and white, I did quite well on this! I ate salad, and I even got back into grapes! I used to not like grapes because I'd always grab the bunch with the gross squishy ones. It tainted my memory of grapes.

Now that we're starting December (!) it's time to work on a new goal. I actually have two things to work on this month. First, is to track my computer time and cut way back. I've talked about my obsession with the computer, and it's horrendous. The thing is, I never actually see how much time I spend on it. I think if I track computer use, it'll make me want to spend less time on it because of all of the shame I will feel.

My other goal is to not spend money on soda or gum. Now, this is kind of cheap since I'm going to probably spend a good chunk of time at my parents' house (which is always stocked with some sort of diet soda). However, I'll push this through January as well. Gum and soda? I should not waste money on you. Even if you are delicious. The biggest problem I have with this though is that I like having some sort of flavor in my mouth at all times. Yeah, that sounds dirty. Due to this, I tend to munch more when I don't have something occupying my taste buds with zero calories. Guh.

I think it'll be good just to have two goals per month, because it's easier to work your way up. At least that's what I'm hoping will happen.

I don't want to go to classes anymore. I want it to be winter break now. Can we arrange that, with me still getting good grades in my classes? No? Boo.

Do you have any goals for December?

Hitting 20 and More Bread

Hello. My name is Hannah, and I ran 20 miles today.
...
I ran 20 freakin' miles today! Holy Grilled Cheezus!
(I'm allowing myself to say that, I ran 20 miles today.) Here's the proof:

Yeah, I ended up going at almost a 10 minute mile pace while two weeks ago I ran 19 miles at a 9:30 pace, but I don't care. I could have probably walked the last mile, and gone faster than I was going. But I don't care. I wanted to continuously run for 20 miles, and I did.

Why does 20 miles seem like such a big deal anyway? I mean, I ran 19 miles two weeks in a row, 20 is just one more mile. It's different somehow though. 20 miles is how much you're supposed to go before a marathon. Sure, you can go more than that, but at least 20 miles is what most training schedules tell you to do for your longest run. I ran that.

So... Yeah. Pretty pumped about that. Also, it used to gross me out whenever I'd get really salty after runs. This was after races in high school mind you. Now after my long runs, I look at the side of my face seeing what appears to be someone dumping salt on the side of my face and thinking, "Holy crap! Cool!" I think this is just another thing that makes me officially a runner. Or maybe I'm just a dude in the body of a girl. Naw, I don't like bodily functions humor.


There was a lot more salt before this.

Since I don't understand the meaning of a nap, I've been doing things around the house. I suppose some of the doing things around the house involves acting like the hedonism bot and chilling.

Replace grapes with craisins, and you've got me.

I am baking some bread! Yeah, yeah. There are some strawberries in our house that need to be used, so I browsed the pages of my Bread Bible and found a recipe involving strawberries.

That's not for strawberry smashing! Ah well.

It smells AMAZING. Really, it's more like strawberry cake. I'm taking it up with me to my cousins as soon as it's done.

One thing I've noticed about my bread baking endeavours is that I'm the only one who ever eats my bread. Sad. I know that my mom won't because she's eating healthy foods (that don't involve bread), but what about my dad? Does he think I'm trying to hoard it for myself? Or it could be that he's scared of my cooking. I don't know. I know last year for Christmas I made him food as a gift, and he never ate it.

So, if for some reason you're at my house and I have some bread made up, feel free to eat some! Although I don't know who out there would be at my house. Hm.

Hit any big goals lately? Do people act weird around certain foods you make?

Old Hobbies Become the Quest of Today

My sister called me to listen to her figure out Netflicks. Yeah. Then she went on to say how much she loves anything British. Seriously, she does. Apparently.

I've mentioned before how I used to be a pretty big nerd. I used to draw a lot, read comics all of the time... Yeah. As time has past, I haven't read many comics. I haven't drawn much. Just a little disappointing.

However, with the new Spiderman coming out, I was intrigued. I decided to try to find a copy, so I ventured over to the comic book store.

When I used to buy comic books of any kind, I went to Borders. Now that they're closing, I knew that they wouldn't have what I was looking for.

Bookstores are always fun to wander around in, and comic book stores are no exception. You always find the strangest things, comic books about things you had no idea there were comics about.

Did you know there's a comic book for the story of William and Kate? Yeah, I didn't either.

Unfortunately, there were no copies available. What can you do, right? I did manage to get a new baking stone today though! (Not at the comic book store, mind you.)

Other than that, I'm just a little grumpy but I'm not going to get into that. It's not that hard to guess if you really think about it. Eh, what can you do, right?

What's something nerdy you like?

Fancy Cheeses and Bread Breaking Other Things

Recently I was reading a book about health and food when I came across a section on fancy cheeses. Being a fan of cheese, I decided to take a more serious look at the cheese page.
It's a shame that some people can't appreciate a good cheese. I'm not talking about some simple cheese from a plastic container, oh no. I'm talking about the types of fromage that you've barely heard of, or maybe have never heard of. I don't even think I'm that much of a cheese person, but I love myself some fancy cheese. For example, during the holidays my family and I dive into a baked brie wrapped in roll dough that's about the size of a baby. Sure, it's not the fanciest (or classiest, for that matter), but it's a tad fancier than that stuff you get in the plastic wrapper.
Back to the book, I was reading about all of the cheeses when I came across the cheese Comte. Under suggestions, it said, "Why don't you try an adult grilled cheese with slices of apple and Comte?" As soon as I read that, I knew that this needed to be done.

I bought the cheese. I sliced the apples. I even made the sandwich with bread I baked. If this doesn't get me ready for the "hip, urban lifestyle" of U of O, I don't know what will.

Sure, it didn't turn out that pretty. However, this sandwich was incredible. The Comte had such a distinct taste, but the apples toned it down. Crunchy, gooey, sweet, savory... Yum.

On the topic of cooking, I ended up baking some more bread. I know. However, this bread had some issues. You see, before this bread went into the oven, it sat in a fridge overnight as instructed by the recipe. I placed it on the trusty baking stone, and put it in the oven.
If you already see the problem that arises here, you're smarter than I was Monday morning. As you might be able to see...

...The stone cracked. Most likely due to the fact that you shouldn't put something that is kind of cold into a freakin' oven. I suppose I can say I've learned something? Also, I need to buy a new baking stone. I don't know if my parents ever used it, but I like having it. Good for bread.

Oh, the bread I made? I took it out of the oven too soon mainly because I was in a rush, and it ended up not being cooked completely. Tastes okay, but doughy.
Yes, I eat my doughy defect bread. I grated a lemon peel for it! (Which happened to make it smell AMAZING.)

What's the last food you made into an "adult version"? Have you ever tried it?

What's your favorite type of cheese?

Bakin' Bread

There's something that I've been keeping from the blog world, and it's that my bread obsession has grown to an all new high. I have a problem.

On my adventure Borders awhile ago, I happened to also buy one other item. Here is what I bought:

Yes. A big ol' cookbook of bread. Only bread, like a bread bible. And no, I didn't buy it all willy-nilly. I thought long and hard about if I really wanted to buy a bread book.

I made my first loaf from this book last Friday, and have currently made three different loaves in the last five days. (They were before I had a boatload of homework, and one today). Like I said, it's a bit of a big thing. Instead of having English muffins in the morning, I've been using toast. 'Tis delish!
Also, I've been waiting until one loaf is (mostly) gone. Half of the Banana bread went to my cousins, so that went fast, and the other loaf was munched at quite a bit on my long run day.

So it turns out, I can bake bread. I'm not so great at cooking, but I can live off of bread, right?
Bread, eggs, craisins, veggies, and peanut butter... sounds about right.

It's time for me to rush off to bed. Ta ta!

Have you ever baked bread? What's your favorite kind?

Getting into Cooking Mode

The kitchen smells like curry. I smelled like curry in the shower. The whole house smells like curry.

This means that I was able to cook something! And not kill myself from food poisoning in the process.

I've mentioned before that I'm a terrible cook. I don't know much about it, but I sure can bake. Well, cookies I suppose. I almost have the recipe for chocolate chip cookies memorized, but I digress. However, with my lack of cooking experience, I've always wanted to know how to cook. I remember in high school signing up for Foods class every term and I never got in. Don't ask me why, I seriously don't know. Along with the desire to cook, now it's something that I need to learn how to do correctly due to the fact that I won't be living in a place with a meal plan.
I have baked some bread this summer, but one cannot live on bread alone and not get bored. I like my meat!

Back to the dinner. I made something called West Indian Chicken Curry Flurry. More complicated than toasting an English Muffin, but I was ready for the challenge. Pretty much every way you could put yourself in danger while cooking? Probably did all of that. Cooked in clothing that was likely to be hazardous? Check. Almost get attacked by hot oil? I tried doing this correctly, but somehow the oil was still after me. I'm onto you oil. Sure, it may look a little terrifying...

But you know what? I'm happy. And eating what looks like a real meal?

Ranch from American Dream Pizza. You can't throw that stuff out.

That feels pretty good. Yeah yeah, it's a little pathetic that I'm getting so excited over this, but I just haven't really cooked much. I'm always worried I'm gonna screw it up, but I realized that cooking? Not that difficult.
It was way overly spiced though. Ah well.

It's been quite a long time since I've done a Things That I Have Learned from Fictional Characters, and I think I should do something with that again. Therefore, I have a simple thing that I learned while finishing up Paper Towns last night. No matter how much we want someone to be the version of them that we perceive, it may never be who they really are. People are not ideas we make them out to be, they're just people. I wish I had a better way of explaining myself, but for now I do not.

More cooking will commence! I also want to make more bread. As for tonight? It's time for me to go to bed.

As for comments on the last two posts:
Man, I want to read Bossypants!
As for the search for Draco, they don't do much with it in the movie in my opinion.

What have you cooked recently that was different for you?

Busy Little Things, Baking for Bribery and Positive Influences

Today, because I did not have any actual classes, was thought to be a very chill, relaxed day. That was before I actually started the day. Now, I am standing here typing this blog post past nine, frazzled and confused that the day is already over.

Fun fact: I spend a lot of my time on the computer standing up while it sits at typing level on my pillow. My bed is very elevated.

It hasn't been work that has been taking up my time, it's simply been things. So many things! Hopping from one thing to another. Still, when I'm out of school I'll probably look at this time and think, "Wow, I had so much time back then."

Oh, I happened to see my aunt today! She was doing a presentation at my school for the day, and so we went to lunch. It was quite lovely. Some people of insanely positive. She is one of them. Being around her makes me realize that perhaps college has made me more cynical. Good thing or bad thing? Will it help me against the world more? I cannot say.

The day included baking as well. Tomorrow is my project, (which I'm still not sure how that's going to turn out), and she said bribing is a good thing. Betty Crocker cake mixes happened to be made in the forties too, which is just a bonus.

Cupcakes and other things in the community fridge. I worry about their safety.

Time to get ready for what tomorrow throws at me.

Are you busier on your busy days in college, or are you busier on your busy days of work?