Cooking bacon

Tonight I made my first attempt at cooking bacon. The result? Other than the foil splitting and having to use my baking tray rather than a grill pan, it was a success. I cooked the bacon to the point where nearly every rasher of it was at least slightly crispy on both sides. After all, bacon is pork and pork needs to be cooked properly; I figured it best to err on the side of slight overcooking rather than risk any sort of undercooking whatsoever.

I can now cook bacon. Yay!

Overdone steak

This evening, my grandfather gave me the chance to cook my own steak for my dinner:

I overcooked my steak and the resulting toughness meant I was forced to cut the meat up into small pieces to eat it but it was tasty, nevertheless. I was concerned about undercooking the meat given my relative inexperience with cooking steak; out of the two, I would say it is better to overcook.

"Baking Bad" for the "Friday Fuddle"

Okay, so I haven't really been "baking bad" but I certainly have been baking this evening and there is most definitely a fuddle taking place tomorrow (a fuddle is a Nottingham word for a pot luck). Friday is the last day of the first term of this academic year and while some still have their Psychology presentations to finish, tomorrow will be a lighter day to celebrate the end of the year and the term.

I baked brownies and I put two large bars of Cadbury Daily Milk chocolate bars in them. My grandparents eagerly taste tested my brownies and approved of them; I'm hoping my college class will, too.

Homemade cake - after a while

For the first time in a long time, I ate some homemade cake:

My brother cooked a mint chocolate cake. I'm glad he did - I do enjoy his cakes!

Stir fry with cheese

My mind has been blank all evening and I had no idea what to write. Fortunately, I photographed my dinner:

It's a stir fry, which I prepared - save for the meat - and cooked. I also added some cheese slices for a little extra taste. It was a highly pleasant meal. Do you think it looks tasty?

Uncle's beef stew

My East of England uncle cooked up an excellent beef stew for tonight's dinner. In addition to beef, the stew consisted of carrots and potatoes, plus a wide variety of spices. I haven't had much of an appetite recently but I was able to consume the stew and appreciate it. It truly was excellent!

I don't have any pictures of the stew nor do I have its recipe but I do have a picture of the bread that my uncle served with it for my next Secret Life of Bloggers Blog Party.

Freezer success

The frozen brownies were a success. They defrosted overnight and when I ate them for breakfast this morning, they had retained their usual texture rather than transformed into mush. I would even go as far as to say that the brownies had developed a deeper chocolate taste after a spell in the freezer.

In the meantime, it honestly will be a while before I bake any more brownies. It's fortunate that I frequently walk, otherwise I might have gained weight from my recent cooking!

The need to finish them

Remember those brownies I baked a week and a half ago? My grandparents and I are still eating them, and I am not joking when I say that I have eaten brownies for breakfast on at least one occasion.

Nearly a week ago, I was forced to place the brownies in the fridge because mold was starting to develop on them. Fortunately, the mold is only growing on the exterior of the brownies and can be scraped off with ease but still, I was shocked by how rapidly the mold began to encroach upon my baking.

One of my friends at college recommended that I place the brownies in the freezer. I've never tried that before but last night I wrapped two brownies up in foil and put them in the freezer. I'll check them in a few days time; I am curious to see how well they fare while frozen and to see what happens to them when they defrost.

Sharing baking

During the break in class this afternoon, I shared some of the brownies I baked on Tuesday. I brought 38 with me and about half of them were eaten; the reason some brownies remain is because I wasn't able to offer them to everyone.

The verdict on my brownies? Everyone who had them seemed to enjoy them and I was delighted whenever someone - my teacher included - asked for seconds. I think the best compliment about your cooking is when someone wants more of it.

I hope to bake either cookies or a cheesecake next; it just depends on what type of food is both moderately fancy and easy to transport. It'll be a short while before I bake anything again, but I look forward to the next time.

Primary cook

I achieved something this morning: I baked chocolate brownies by myself. I was not assisting anyone else with their cooking: the cooking was solely mine. I baked four trays of brownies, which brought me to a total of 79 brownies. There was a fifth tray of them but I accidentally dropped it on the floor; that mixture became brownie bits rather than actual brownies, but they still taste great.

I fully intend to share these treats. There is no way that I can eat all 79 of them and the fragments; if I did, I would probably be physically sick and be sick of brownies. Fortunately, it was my intention from the start to share the brownies.

I am pleased that I have now cooked something entirely by myself. Sure, brownies aren't particularly difficult to make but one has to start somewhere!

White chocolate brownies

A few days ago, my brother and I baked a batch of white chocolate brownies:

These brownies weren't for me nor were they something we baked out of the blue. No, they were for a recent special event, and they were served with strawberries and cream. Let's just say that with the the desserts I've eaten these past few days, I'm glad I walked 20 miles last week; I might have to walk that far again soon!

Chocolate cream cheese icing recipe

As promised, here is the recipe for chocolate cream cheese icing:

9 ounces of plain cream cheese/soft cheese

1 half-cup of powdered sugar

1 quarter cup of chocolate powder

 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 blender

It's a fairly easy recipe. I usually mix the cream cheese by itself first to soften it some more and then I add the sugar, mix again, add the chocolate and the vanilla extract and then mix for the third time. In the absence of a blender or any other type of food mixer, stirring thoroughly with a spoon also works.

I double-checked with my brother to ensure that these were the correct ingredients.

Chocolate icing and hot cross buns

Do you remember the icing that was made for my birthday cake from last year? My brother and I made another batch of that type of icing:

What caused us to make more of it? Well, these did:

Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns are essentially sweet rolls with raisins and are eaten as a dessert. My parents and brother put all sorts of condiments on their hot cross buns but I don't, usually; however, I did recommend making the icing again, as that was something I thought would be tasty on hot cross buns. The result? Pure deliciousness.

The hot cross buns, which were bought from a store, are now finished and there is a pot of the icing still left over. Fortunately, this scenario was anticipated: my brother made a cake so that the remaining icing could be used for that, although eating the icing straight of the pot did hold some appeal.

If anyone is interested, I will try to obtain the recipe for the icing.

Food for Valentine's Day

For this Valentine's Day, my brother and I made some brownies (yeah, more brownies! They're just so easy to make.). These ones are chocolate with coconut and cherries:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Additional baking

Yesterday afternoon, my brother and I baked some more treats. We made some more brownies, but rather than using chocolate chips we used, at my recommendations, raisins:

These brownies taste even better than the ones we baked last month. The raisins help enhance the flavour of the chocolate and vice versa. The long brownie hasn't been divided into smaller pieces yet because it was the only brownie segment that I was able to extract from the pan whole.

Don't worry, we can bake more than just brownies and flapjacks! It's just that we wanted to try making some brownies with raisins in them.

Winter barbecue

Dad pulled off a winter barbecue this afternoon. He had decided to do one more barbecue this year, with today being the perfect day to do it; the sun shone all day and there was no threat of rain. Wonderful walking weather, too.

Why did he want to barbecue? Well, he wanted some barbecued meat and likes to barbecue. What did he barbecue? Chicken, sausages and salmon. Those meats, combined with the remaining Christmas turkey, mean that we have leftovers for the next week! Not that leftovers are a problem, of course; leftovers often make the tastiest meals. They also come with the added benefit of helping you save money.

More 2013 baking

My brother and I did our second batch of Christmas baking; these are mixed-fruit oatmeal cookies:

Don't worry, we'll be doing more than just oat-based desserts. We have one of my favourites coming up this Sunday!

Cold right now

It has been an incredibly cold day! At least, it has been to me, anyway. It's been the first time in ages that I've had to wear three layers of clothing to keep warm. Perhaps the worst part has been my cold hands. My hands are usually fairly cold but when the weather itself feels as though it's freezing...well, my hands become even colder and it can be tough to typ.

With the cold temperatures - combined with strong winds and heavy rain - today has definitely felt like a winter day rather than a misplaced fall day. Fortunately, my brother and I are doing something tomorrow that should warm me up: the next baking batch! I'm looking forward to it; I'll be sure to take some pictures of the baked goods.

Starting the baking

My brother and I began the Christmas baking; we made two apple and oatmeal cakes, plus these cherry and coconut oatmeal cookies:

For Christmas this year, we're doing two, possibly three, batches of baking and ensuring that there is a short period of time between each batch. Last year, we baked a load at once and had to eat it all quickly to ensure that none of it went mouldy. Instead, we can eat these at a slower rate rather than rush it.

Oh, and last year we ended up with a record amount of Christmas candy, too, so we had all of that after the baked goods!

More baking-related posts will be coming soon.

Birthday 2013

My 23rd birthday took place this past month. It was quiet for the most part, given that it rained for a significant portion of the day; here are three pictures:

This is my cake, a homemade chocolate cake; my brother and I used our breadmaker to make the cake the day before my birthday. It looks delicious but in this state it wasn't yet ready to eat. The above picture was taken a few minutes before this happened:

The icing! The cake's icing was made from cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla and a bar of melted cooking chocolate. It is the best homemade icing that I've eaten to date. Honestly, it tasted amazing.

Do you remember Run Off? (Posts here and here.) My brother and I played a game of it; it had been months since we'd last played it and I wanted to have a go for my birthday. My brother won; his states are yellow and mine are purple. To say that this sort of electoral alignment is unlikely in an actual American election is an understatement! Coincidentally, the result here (272-266, my brother's victory) is the same as the one for the game mentioned in the second linked post at the start of this paragraph.

It was hardly an exciting birthday but I was happy with it. I don't have any complaints.

Note: the above image is not originally mine, but rather, is a modified version of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ElectoralCollege2012.svg. Licensing is listed on that page.