Oatmeal Cookies: It Was Charlie's Fault

A while back, my parents heard somewhere that there was a recall on some particular dog treats that we happened to give to my dog. Of course, since my dog, Charlie, is basically considered the third child/sibling in my family, my parents reacted by getting rid of the bad dog treats and looking for an alternative. My dad found a recipe online for homemade dog treats and a week later, my mom made my dog essentially his own oatmeal cookies. Of course, there were some modifications, but they looked and smelled eerily similar -- so much so that my dad came home from work that night and almost ate one until we told him they were strictly for the dog.

The recipe called for oats, and since we had so much leftover from the dog's treats, I figured I'd make some cookies meant for human consumption. Again, similar to my chocolate chip cookie experience, I consulted the back of the oats container for a recipe. I'm sure if I searched through my mom's cookbooks or via the internet, I'd find some inspired recipe that would change my perception of oatmeal cookies forever and after, but the recipe was easy, simple and right in front of me, so I was ready to go.

Since my dad is the main oatmeal cookie lover of the household, I catered the cookies to his preference: adding raisins. I could give or take the raisins, but in an effort to prevent myself from eating yet another entire dish of cookies, I figured I'd add them perhaps avoiding that same fate.

The cookies were very easy to make, although adding the oats and the raisins definitely made the dough a heavier consistency than I was used to after making the chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake.

As usual, I made a mess. No surprise there.
I think managing to keep the kitchen clean while I cook has been more difficult than baking and cooking.

Though the recipe was very simple and didn't call for many ingredients (at least, many ingredients that you wouldn't already have handy in the kitchen), I failed to read one MINOR part of the recipe. I may or may not have overlooked the fact that the recipe would make four to five dozen cookies. I only realized it when I was rolling the dough to put on the cookie sheets. I looked into the bowl with all of the mixed ingredients and had a "huh?" moment. There was still so much dough left in the bowl, despite having put two dozen dough balls onto the cookie sheets already. Oops.

Now, I love cookies just as much as the next person, but there are only three people in my house and one very human-like dog. We do not need that many cookies. You know what would happen if I baked five dozen cookies and left them hanging out on the kitchen counter? I would probably eat half of them and slyly slip one to my dog.

So to prevent what would be an inevitable fate, I froze the rest of the dough and stuck it in the freezer for the next time my dad is jealous of the dog's oatmeal cookies.

They look pretty good, if I do say so myself...and taste just as good!

And here's a picture of Charlie, the dog who provoked it all. As you can see, he has claimed this chair as his own.

The Whole Enchilada

I am generally not someone who enjoys spicy food. I don't know why -- my tastebuds simply are not cut out for it -- but occasionally, I do treat myself to some Mexican food. Granted, it has to be the most mild Mexican food that particular restaurant or venue offers, but it still satisfies my craving.

Cue earlier this week. That same craving for Mexican food returned out of the blue, except this time, instead of running to the nearest On the Border, I decided, "Hey, I'm supposed to be learning this whole cooking thing -- why don't I cook myself some enchiladas?" And thus began my online quest for a recipe that looked both delicious and easy.

Usually I alternate between a few sites to find recipes (my favorites are FoodNetwork.com, FoodGawker.com and Pinterest) or my mom will have one handy and leave it out for me. Whenever I look for a recipe on the Food Network website, I filter them by difficulty level so that I don't get in over my head and end up burning down my kitchen.I settled on one by Emeril that was labeled as "Easy," but still looked foreign enough to me that it would render itself a challenge. Tuesday afternoon, my mother and I went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients not already found in our pantry, and then I came home to begin cooking.

Most of the ingredients for the recipe were some that I had never used before. Granted, I haven't cooked much, but I also haven't seen my mom use Mexican Chili Powder very often either. I decided to use a few shortcuts, such as some already cooked chicken and the already shredded cheese, because I was trying to get dinner on the table by 6 o'clock at the latest, and if you can note the very small number on the microwave, it was already quarter of 5.

The enchilada cooking process could be broken down into essentially three parts: making the sauce, making the filling, and baking in the oven. In hindsight, it was actually a fairly easy recipe, but of course, during the actual cooking, I asked my mom a million questions ranging from "Wait, which sauce pan should I use?" to "How do you chop an onion?" I am not ashamed to admit I asked those questions -- I am learning! And there is no such thing as a stupid question right?

My nose was not prepared for adding the chili powder... it certainly packed a punch

I made the sauce first. All I really had to do was mix most of the ingredients in a pot, adding them in one at a time. I doubled up on the sauce recipe to make sure that I didn't skimp on what was the most important part of the enchiladas.

My mess, mid-cooking, as usual -- this was probably the biggest mess I made to date while cooking.
I didn't think it was possible to be messier, but I surpassed my own expectations this time

Mixing the filling was even easier than the sauce. All I had to do was mixed the shredded chicken, cheese and chopped onion in a bowl to later wrap in the tortillas. I asked my mom if I would cry while chopping the onion, to which she responded "Maybe," but while I was chopping the onion, I forgot about the "tear factor" and didn't. Maybe this means I'm a super human cook. Or maybe it means I didn't chop enough onion.

After preparing the sauce and the filling, I now had to combine all of the enchilada goodness into the casserole dish. The recipe suggested dipping the tortillas in oil (on a skillet) then draining them to make them easier to roll, but I didn't think that part was necessary. All it ended up doing was causing me to make a bigger mess. If anything, I read that other recipes suggested warming the tortillas in the oven wrapped in aluminum foil. That probably would have been easier and would have required less dishes for me to wash later.

To create the actual enchilada dish, all you really have to do is put the filling into the enchilada, and then add some sauce inside and on top of the enchilada. The recipe also suggested that you dip the tortillas in the sauce, but all I could see in my mind was one HUGE mess, so I decided to modify that part to appease my mother. I rolled the enchiladas and placed them seam-side down into the casserole dish, then baked for 30 minutes.

Bye-bye enchilada dish. You will emerge tasty and spicy and ready for devouring.

Okay, so the enchiladas did not look particularly appealing, but if you were in the kitchen, it certainly smelled amazing. All of the spices -- especially the chili powder and cumin -- were so aromatic as my dad walked to the kitchen, all he could say was "that smells so good!" I let the enchiladas sit for a few minutes before serving, and I have to say, they weren't that bad for my first Mexican attempt. My dad went back for seconds, which is always a good sign, and I found that it was spicy, but not too spicy that I couldn't eat it. Overall, it was another successful cooking attempt by the self-proclaimed messy amateur chef.

I added chopped scallions and sour cream in an attempt to make the enchiladas look fancier and more appetizing.
It kinda worked.

Pros & Cons of Unemployment

In the past five weeks or so that I have been unemployed, I have certainly struggled with trying to find a job and what to do with my time. While I won't say that sometimes I haven't enjoyed my laidback days of sleeping in and lounging around, for the most part, I have been bored and itching for something to do to fill my days -- namely, in the form of a full-time job. I figured I would compile a list that would give you some insight into my daily internal conflict over being unemployed.

What I LIKE About Being Unemployed:

• Sleeping in: I usually have no need for an alarm, unless I want to get an early start on doing nothing.
• Plenty of time for the gym: I no longer have the excuse that I am too busy to work out and instead, can devote at least an hour a day for gym time. With a pending family vacation in the works, this gives me ample time to be bikini ready. In fact, I can be bikini ready AND have a bacon cheeseburger with a chocolate milk shake at the rate I'm going.
• Quality time with my dog: Nothing brightens your day quite like hanging with man's best friend, and with my poor dog usually confined to spending his days alone when I was at school, I can now accompany him on the couch.
• Dedication to my cooking and baking: With all of this free time, I have plenty of time to concentrate on my resolution to practice cooking and baking. My cousin claims this is a phase that both she and her neighbor went through when they were job hunting, and whether or not this truly is just a result of my being unemployed, we will find out. But for now, my family gets extra baked goods and my mom doesn't have to worry about cooking dinner all the time.
• Finishing grad school apps: I am exploring graduate school as one of my potential options for the future, and being unemployed certainly allows me enough time to work on my grad school applications.
• Blogging: One of the perks about being unemployed is that not only do I have ample time to plan and post on this  blog, but I can share my trials and triumphs in the job search with my many devoted fans (okay, with my three devoted fans?)

What I DISLIKE About Being Unemployed:

• Sleeping in: The fact that I have nowhere to go, and thus, no need for an alarm, makes me feel lazy. I want to get an early start and be productive! I just don't have much need for being productive, only perpetuating the feeling of being lazy.
• Plenty of time for the gym: With the exception of offering to run errands for my mom while she's at work, most of the time, the only thing I have planned all day is going to the gym. That is my lone activity, and occasionally, the only reason I leave the house.
• No money, mo' problems: This is clearly one of the biggest reasons that I dislike being unemployed. Unfortunately, without money, I really can't do much. For example, I have to share a car with my mom right now, so I don't always have access to a car. With a car comes freedom to actually leave my house and go out and do things -- which also requires money. It is a vicious cycle, but I'd like to actually be a part of the cycle.
• My resume is at a standstill: Instead of utilizing this time to be gaining work experience and adding skills to my resume, I spend it blogging, going to the gym, spending time with my blog...You get the idea. I want to be using this time working and learning.
• Having to answer the question "how's the job hunt going?": Clearly, I haven't had the most active job search -- minimal phone calls and interviews namely. So when I am asked the question of "how is the job hunt going," I feel somewhat embarrassed when I say that I haven't found anything yet and that I'm still searching. Then I have to go on to explain my whole search process, what I've been looking for, and sometimes, have to figure out what I'm doing wrong. While this conversation is oftentimes useful, it only makes me think that I am a bum with a degree and wonder if there's something wrong with me.

There you have it. A bit of insight into the mind of an unemployed recent graduate. It's not always easy, but it certainly is a learning experience in and of itself. One of my friends, Mimosa (of Musings by Mimosa) commented on a post saying no to worry, that "once you find a job, you'll be working for the rest of your life." This sentiment helped put things in perspective for me, so I'm trying to keep that thought in mind while continuing on the job hunt.

The Chocolate Cake Attempt

My mom's birthday is tomorrow, so staying in line with my resolution to bake more and because I am a kind and generous daughter, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to try baking a chocolate cake from scratch. Chocolate cake is hands-down one of my favorite desserts -- preferably chocolate cake with chocolate frosting: super fudgy and super delicious -- but the only time I have made cake, it's been from a box (thank you, Betty Crocker). Needless to say, I was nervous about tackling this dessert because of the high stakes: favorite dessert, mom's birthday, unsupervised baking... However, no risks mean no rewards.

I found a simple recipe online for both the chocolate cake AND vanilla buttercream frosting. Yes, if I was going to bake the cake from scratch, I couldn't possibly use store-bought frosting as well. All of that effort to bake a cake without the help of Duncan Hines or Betty, and I'd just be using their frosting? No way. I would brave the unknown and attempt my own frosting. As back-up though, I thought it would be best to grab some frosting because if I successfully made the cake and unsuccessfully made the frosting, well...Who would want to eat that?

To prepare for my cake-baking adventure, I double-checked that I had all of the ingredients that I would need already on hand, and those I didn't have, I marked down and then went to the grocery store to retrieve.

Necessities for the birthday bonanza

Both the cake recipe and the frosting recipe required the use of a mixer. Unfortunately, my mom's very handy KitchenAid stand-up mixer was broken, so I had to revert to using an old hand-mixer. At one point while mixing, I thought something smelled funny, and wondered if I had added too much of one ingredient, but then I just realized it was the mixer, probably not used to working this hard.

I realized that using a hand mixer from the Middle Ages wasn't too difficult, except that I probably should've worn an apron because at times, I accidentally would splatter myself with whatever was in the bowl. Mixing up the chocolate cake batter was great through -- so much cocoa power! All I could smell was chocolate and it motivated me to go on!

The chocolatey goodness prepared for baking

Once I got the batter finished and the two pans in the oven, I was moving on to more unfamiliar territory: homemade frosting. The recipe called for whipping cream and I realized: I would have to make that too. I made it once and it didn't seem to come out like I thought whipping cream should come out. It was too liquidy and not fluffy, as the "whipped" part of the name would imply. So I tried it again, and this time, it still wasn't very fluffy. I figured that would have to do and hoped for the best.

Now I had to actually make the frosting. It was easier than I had thought -- minus the whole whipped cream confusion. However, the hand-mixer and I did not get along for this part of the baking process. I may have accidentally got some of the frosting on the wall, but, as you can see, the majority of the frosting stayed in the bowl. I also accidentally added too much vanilla to the frosting, which, I realize later, may have been the reason the frosting tasted a little too salty or vanilla-ish (go figure). I went to add just a teensy bit of vanilla and ended up pouring more than anticipated. Despite my mistakes, the frosting wasn't half bad. I made sure to have my dad taste it prior to frosting the cake so that I didn't ruin the entire birthday cake and, in turn, ruin the entire birthday (a birthday's success can hinge on its baked goods).

Side note: I managed to burn myself while taking the cakes out of the oven.
Battle wounds of birthday cake baking.

Once the cakes were cooled and the frosting was finished, I then had to frost the cake. This part is where my chocolate cake went downhill. Maybe it was adding the food coloring to the frosting and turning it into a strange pink color or maybe it was my shoddy frosting job or the fact that there wasn't really enough frosting... But once the frosting was on the cake, it kind of looked disgusting. Don't get me wrong, it smelled fantastic. However, there was disconnect between my aesthetic vision and its sweet chocolate and buttercream aroma.

Despite all of this, my parents both "oohed" and "aahed" at my completed cake as kind parents would. My dad assured my mom that the frosting tasted delicious and my mom even had to stick her finger in the cake to have a sample. She also seemed to be impressed with the frosting. However, the true cake test will be when we eat it tomorrow night for my mom's birthday -- if the delicious taste will surpass the childlike frosting job.

Maybe I should just pretend that my dog frosted the cake, then it would seem impressive.

It's Finally Here

My degree came in the mail today. It seemed so unofficial -- showing up via the postman in a little cardboard tube, without a frame or anything to hold it in. But there it was -- 3.5 years of my private education summed up on one piece of paper. It's pretty surreal, but a huge milestone.

Now all I need is a place to put my degree. If only I had an office...But I suppose that would require having a job first.


*** Correction 1/26: Turns out, there was a little miscommunication and I graduated summa cum laude instead of magna cum laude! I knew there was something off when I found out what the GPA distinctions were between magna and summa and then compared it to my GPA in both majors and cumulative. I had to email the Registrar's Office at my school and badger them to make sure that they had it right and that I was understanding it correctly, but it paid off because now I am getting a degree with the correct GPA distinction. When you put in all of the hard work, you want to make sure it's acknowledged (and looks nice framed!)