Birthday Cake

On Thursday, I was able to bake a layered cake for my mom's
birthday! It was vanilla and German Chocolate and I made my own chocolate frosting for the sides of the cake, but had to use store-bought frosting for the sides. I had trouble decorating it, but it didn't turn out so bad. My family all agreed that I actually did do a pretty good job with the flavors of the cake. On my scale, I would rate it with a 4 for accuracy, a 3 for presentation, a 4 for texture, a 4 for proportions, and a 4 for overall taste, this gives it a total score of 19/25! I consider this a relative success.

Dec 10: Birthdays 🎂

This Sunday was my sixteenth birthday, and I got the opportunity to make cupcakes with my mom and twin sister. Cupcakes can definitely be simple, but they are also easy to drastically mess up with a small mistake. I was really happy that the cupcakes turned out well, and I actually learned how to make frosting for the first time ever. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture, but I think they looked nice as well. What my mom didn't know, however, was that in the afternoon I started practicing and preparing for making a birthday cake for my mom on Thursday. This is so important because it's the biggest project I've done by myself so far, and there is a lot of pressure, as I don't want to mess up her cake. In order to prepare, I researched recipes, made a shopping list, watched to tutorials, and practiced making frosting again. I can't wait to get started on the actual baking!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

December 3: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

In addition to the chicken soup I attempted to make, I also tried to bake white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. While everything didn't go exactly as planned, I'm not entirely unhappy with the result. I think that the the process of baking these cookies was going well until I put them in the oven. I allowed myself to get distracted when I was helping my brother with his math homework, and the cookies were in the oven for longer than I would have liked them to be. I think that the cookies still tasted pretty good, so on my scale I would give them a 3 on accuracy, a 4 on proportions, a 2 on texture, and 2 on presentation, and a 4 on overall taste, giving them a total of 15/25.

December 2: My First Attempt at Soup

This weekend, I tried my hand at making soup for the very first time. Unfortunately, I did not go very well. Though the basic chicken soup recipe appeared to be simple, it was actually rather difficult for me. Somehow, I managed to burn some of the soup onto the pot! While this definitely wasn't a huge success, I'm glad I tried it early in the project, as now I have adequate time to improve. Next time, I hope to be able to follow the directions more carefully. As for now, I find it hard to even apply this to my scale, but I know that there is lots of room for the growth of my skills.

November 23: Thanksgiving!

For the first time this year, I was able to participate in the cooking on Thanksgiving! Due to my incompetence in the kitchen, in the past, I've been sent out to play football with the men in my family while everyone else, including my twin sister, got to stay inside and make dinner. And while I could attribute my mom's change of heart to the fact that my grandmother was not able to attend this year, I prefer to think that she'd seen my improvement over the past few weeks and no longer believes I would be a danger to myself or others in the crowded space 👍. Nonetheless, I was able to help cook some pretty awesome dishes this year and gain lots of experience! I helped make green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and homemade chicken nuggets for the people in my family that don't like turkey (pictures can be found in the media tab).  With the help of my family, I think they came out great! Overall, it was amazing to reach a milestone so early in the project. 

Baseline Tests: Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Baseline Tests: Salmon Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound salmon fillets
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dried dill weed

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• sea salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2. Place salmon in the baking dish. Mix the butter and lemon juice in a small bowl, and drizzle over the salmon. Season with dill, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper.
3. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until salmon is easily flaked with a fork.

Baseline Tests: Madeleine Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter and flour 12 (3 inch) madeleine molds; set aside.
2. Melt butter and let cool to room temperature.
3. In a small mixing bowl, beat eggs, vanilla and salt at high speed until light.
4. Beating constantly, gradually add sugar; and continue beating at high speed until mixture is thick and pale and ribbons form in bowl when beaters are lifted, 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Sift flour into egg mixture 1/3 at a time, gently folding after each addition.
6. Add lemon zest and pour melted butter around edge of batter. Quickly but gently fold butter into batter. Spoon batter into molds; it will mound slightly above tops.
7. Bake 14 to 17 minutes, or until cakes are golden and the tops spring back when gently pressed with your fingertip.
8. Use the tip of the knife to loosen madeleines from pan; invert onto rack. Immediately sprinkle warm cookies with granulated sugar. Madeleines are best eaten the day they're baked. Leftover madeleines are wonderful when dunked into coffee or tea.
9. Variation: Chocolate Madeleines: Omit lemon zest. Increase sugar to 1/2 cup. Substitute 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder for 2 tablespoons of the flour; sift into batter with flour.

Apple Pie

Salmon, Bell Peppers, and Rice

Madeleines