Garbanzo Beans

        When I was at my friend Lily's house her mom made us a delicious snack. She took some canned garbanzo beans and drizzled them with balsamic vinegar. It was so yummy! I really loved this snack because I love balsamic vinegar. It's very tangy but it's also sort of sweet. It goes very well with the slightly bland garbanzo beans and I also added olive oil, salt and pepper.

Spaghetti with Oregano

       Today my lunch was one which I commonly have but rarely tire of.  Whenever we have spaghetti for dinner there are always leftovers,  so my mom always gives them to me for lunch.  But she doesn't just give me plain noodles or noodles with marinara sauce. She always puts oregano, Parmesan cheese and garlic salt. It’s always delicious. 

Tuna Steak

          For dinner my dad mad tuna steak with broccoli and sticky rice. The Steak was beautify seasoned and cooked perfectly. I prefer my steaks to be closer to well done rather than rare but most people don’t. I was lucky because one of the smaller pieces was cooked all the way through while the rest were still rare so everyone was happy. 

Pancakes!

        Tonight for dinner we had pancakes. They were perfect! The chocolate chips were warm and melty and made the pancakes very moist.  There is nothing better than a nice fluffy chocolate chip pancake after a day of finals. 

Lemon Tartlet Part 2: Shell

          The second step of the tart was to make the pastry that holds the curd, the shell. The dough has very few ingredients. It consists of; flower, butter, water, salt and oil. The dough came out very oily so I decided to add some extra flower just in case. I then cut the dough into 24 individual pieces. I was worried that after I put them in the pan I wouldn't be able to get the out to I cut strips of wax paper and placed the on the bottom of the pan so I could easily lift the shells out.  I then placed a piece of dough in each hole and spread it up the sides. I then backed them at 325 until they were golden brown 

Lemon Tartlet Part 1: Lemon Curd

For my final I decided to make Lemon Tartlets. These interested me because they were very small and cute but also because I love lemon things. The first step was to make the lemon curd which was to be the filling of the tarts. The filling required lemon juice, lemon zest, and egg and two egg whites, sugar and butter. I used a thick bottomed pot to cook the curds so they would not heat too fast. I whisked them together until the curds thickened I then poured it into a bowl and put into the fridge to chill. The curd turned out nice and tart, just the way I like it. 

Chocolat Ice Cream

On ice cream day I brought in my hand crank ice cream maker. Everyone else brought in electric ice cream makers so their ice cream finished a lot sooner than mine. I spent almost the entire class mixing my ice cream but it was worth it in the end. the ice cream came out smooth and creamy rather than icy and it was very rich.

Pumpkin Bread Fail

   
    My Grandma makes the best pumpkin bread, but this time it din't quite work out. Usually the cake is moist and fluffy. This time the cake came out hard as a brick and the bottom was still doughy while the top was overdone. My grandma didn't understand why this was happening. Eventually she remembered that she had forgotten the baking soda but by then she was back home.

Salads Day Three

        Today's salads had a lot of variety. The cucumber apple salad was very good and I really like its simplicity. Also because the two main ingredients look so similar, each bite was a surprise. The barbecue chicken chopped salad was delicious even though my portion did not include and chicken. I really liked the garlic ranch dressing because it gave the salad a little kick. The jicama also added a nice crunch and subtle earthy flavor. The pomegranate a feta salad was amazing! The cheese was so creamy and delicious and went really well with the tart pomegranate seeds. The Cesar salad was also very good but I think the dressing was little bit too garlicy and could have been a litter thinner. The leek salad was interesting because I have never had leaks before so I didn't know what to expect. I like the mustard flavor but I feel that it could have used some salt and pepper.

Salads Day Two

   I could only try two of the salads today but i enjoyed both of them. the bean salad was really good because all the flavors wet together really well. I also really like the spinach salad because it had feta cheese in it which, too me, is a very good salad ingredient

Salads Day One

        I really enjoyed all of the salads we tasted today. I have never had a green been salad before so that was new to me. I really enjoyed the dressing but I though it could have used a little bit of salt and pepper. I also always enjoy salad with a vinaigrette because the dressing is so flavorful.  My favorite was probably the macaroni salad because it was simple yet tasty. The mayonnaise and pickle was a very nice combination.

Indian Omelet With Tater Tots and Baguett

      Tonight was leftover night so my dad made an Indian omelet. Just like most other omelets this was pretty simple but very tasty. It's basically a fried egg with Indian food on top. That's it! It's really good because the egg is really crispy on the bottom and the Indian food is so flavorful, the two ingredients just go really well together! And you can never go wrong by adding tater tots to a meal!

Kosher Steak, Roasted Coli flower and Smashed Potatoes

            Today was my dad's birthday so for dinner we had one of his favorite foods, steak. I just want to say, kosher steak is not cheap or easy to find so for us this was a real treat. The steak was broiled with garlic salt, salt and  fresh ground black pepper. It was delicious! It was cooked beautifully and the spices just blended perfectly. The other two dishes were also delicious. The smashed potatoes are made by boiling whole potatoes, we used fingerling potatoes but any small potato works, until partially softened. the potatoes are then cooled and the smashed by hand. we smash them by covering them with a towel and just pressing them flat. after they are smashed the potatoes are placed on a cookie tray, drizzled with oil and sprinkled with the spices of your choice, in this case all season salt and pepper, baked in the oven until slightly crispy. Baked coli flowers is one of the household favorites and made often.The collie flower is first baked in the oven with olive oil and salt, wrapped in tinfoil. Then the tinfoil is removed and the tray goes back in the oven. The coli flower caramelizes making it crispy and sweet. Yummm!

Noodle with Creamy Salmon Sauce

           For dinner tonight we had noodles with salmon sauce. This is one of my favorite dishes and I finally learned how to make it! It's surprisingly simple, it only takes five minuets to make the sauce! The sauce is made with sauteed onions, olive oil, flower, milk, salmon and tarragon. Then just cook up up some noodle poor on the sauce and your done! Delish!