Lovin' From the Oven

A little snippet from Paris: Part 1

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I’m currently still trying to get back into the groove of things, but finally… some Paris pictures for you guys! Upon our arrival in Paris, my parents’ friends spoiled us with a fresh breakfast (which we soon learned that they would spoil us every morning with these pastries):

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We walked around a lot, meaning we got hungry a lot. Good thing food’s on every corner!

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You will never believe that these are the McCafe’s inside Mcdonald’s… they have their own gourmet counter!

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filled with bommbbbb pastries.

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my sundried tomato and mozzarella panini:

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There was eye candy inside every store I went into. They tasted just as good as they looked.

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My favorite pastry? Palmiers. I could eat them after every meal.

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We went to Chinatown to meet up with some more of my parents’ friends. Dim sum for lunch!

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Now, as awesome as Paris may be to some people… I just didn’t fall in love with it. I’m also really glad that I made the decision not go to to culinary school there a while ago because I’m 99% sure I would have been miserable. Don’t get me wrong– the pastries are amazing, but it’s just not for me. I did manage to learn some things while I was there, though.

  1. Couples have no shame with PDA. They make out anywhere and everywhere. Barfalicious.
  2. On the metro, you actually have to open the door manually by pushing a button or holding up a lever. The doors don’t open by themselves, as they normally do in the states.
  3. Milk is not refrigerated there. I mean, you refrigerate it after it’s opened, but it stays stored in the cabinets until then. Is that only weird to me?
  4. There’s dog poop everywhere on the sidewalks. Apparently people don’t believe in cleaning up after their puppies.
  5. Everything there is mini sized. The restaurants, the food servings, the cars, and the living spaces. 
  6. McDonald’s breakfast menu has four things: espresso, orange juice, sliced apples, and pancakes. No McMuffins, no hash browns, no oatmeal. 
  7. The sun doesn’t set until around 9:30 PM. How awesome is that?
  8. No one smiles there. I looked like a crazy person because my teeth were always showing.
  9. Food is ridiculously expensive. A caesar salad (which consisted of four leaves) cost 16 euros (about 24 dollars). Uhhhh…. I could buy 48 Del Taco bean and cheese burritos with that!
  10. Most of the roads are historically preserved, meaning they’re still made of cobblestone. It’s very dangerous for girls with heels. Use extreme caution!
This is not even half of the food pictures that I took, so Part 2 is coming soon!

Star Wars Brownie Roll Out Cookies

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Just about to go into the oven:

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and baked!

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Happy May 4th! aka “May the 4th be with you” aka my DB’s birthday. I thought this day would be the most appropriate to share these Star Wars cookies that I made not too long ago. I picked up these cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma. They also had Star Wars pancake molds, food dyes, and aprons– perfect for the girlfriend with the Star Wars-loving boyfriend!

Funny thing about Star Wars.. I still have yet to see it. I know, I know… I’m a terrible person. But don’t worry. I’ve started! … kind of. Let’s just say that my DB’s doing better with the Harry Potter series than I have been with Star Wars. Oops.

But there is one person that I know who may or may not be a bigger Star Wars fan than my DB. That, my friends, is Donald Faison. Don’t know who that is? He’s also known as Turkleton from Scrubs (my favoriteeeee show of all time). I ran into him at Katsu-ya and he actually called me over to ask where I bought my DB’s Star Wars t-shirt from. Next, he pulled up his sweater to reveal a t-shirt that read “I <3 Star Wars." Amazing, right? Donald Faison's every bit as awesome as I thought he would be. He even took a picture with me! Listen to myself.. I sound like a little fan girl. Oh dear. IMG_1255

Okay, no more fan girl.. back to the baked goods. This recipe from Smitten Kitchen made the most perfect cookies. By perfect, I mean perfect for detailed cookie cutters. The taste was a little bland, but I do admit that they make some beautiful cookies.

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s dark)
  1. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. 
  2. Cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. 
  3. Gradually add the dry flour mixture into the wet mixture. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  5. Roll out the cookie dough on floured counter. Use cookie dough cutters to cut into desired shapes.
  6. Bake on a lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.

Cheerio Snickerdoodles

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I’ve been a bad blogger. I’ve totally been MIA. Sorry I didn’t update while I was out… but I was in Paris! Carpe Diem! More on Paris, later… I’m just glad to be home.
Honey Nut Cheerio has always been one of my favorite cereals. I always try to convince the DB to get the pack from Costco when we’re there, but he argues that it’s just too much Cheerio for two people. Fine, you win. So, I drove over the local grocery store and buy it there instead. I was curious as to if Cheerios would go well in a cookie, so I gave it a quick Google. Sure enough, someone else has thought of it before me!
Cheerio and snickerdoodles. Why haven’t I thought of it before? They sound like they go together.. the cinnamon, sugar, and honey.. and of course they did! These cookies were so good. I kept eating the cookie dough like there was no tomorrow. I also refrigerated my dough overnight just to make sure the cookies were going to come out sturdy. The Cheerios gradually softened while in the fridge, so the cookie dough only tasted good just after mixing (I’m not encouraging you to eat cookie dough.. that’d be terrible of me!). The cookie turned out a bit crispy on the edges and soft with the bite. Adapted from The Caramel Cookie.

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 3/4 cups Honey Nut Cheerios

For cinnamon sugar:

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  1. Mix together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
  2. Cream butter and both sugars together until well mixed. Add in the egg and vanilla.
  3. Mix in the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Slowly stir in the Cheerios.
  4. Chill the dough for 2 hours.
  5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  6. Shape dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving cookies to a cooling rack.

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